The last stage of the Falklands War was the surrender of the Argentine Governor at Port Stanley.
The last stage of the Falklands War was the surrender of the Argentine Governor at Port Stanley.
At 21:00 on 14 June 1982, the commander of the Argentine garrison in Stanley, General Mario Menéndez, surrendered to Major General Jeremy Moore. The surrender was contrary to the Argentine Army code stating that a surrender should not happen unless more than 50% of the men were casualties and 75% of the ammunition was spent. [1]
The terms of the surrender document were slightly changed after negotiation by General Menéndez. The phrase unconditional surrender was changed for the term surrender. The Argentines were granted:
Present at the signing of the letter of surrender were:
The letter of surrender read: [3]
Headquarters, Land Forces
Falkland Islands
INSTRUMENT OF SURRENDER
I, the undersigned, Commander of all the Argentine land, sea and air forces in the Falkland Islands [Menéndez's signature, scribbled over the crossed-out word of "unconditionally"] surrender to Major General J.J. MOORE CB OBE MC* as representative of Her Britannic Majesty's Government.Under the terms of this surrender all Argentine personnel in the Falkland Islands are to muster at assembly points which will be nominated by General Moore and hand over their arms, ammunition, and all other weapons and warlike equipment as directed by General Moore or appropriate British officers acting on his behalf.
Following the surrender all personnel of the Argentinian Forces will be treated with honour in accordance with the conditions set out in the Geneva Convention of 1949. They will obey any directions concerning movement and in connection with accommodation.
This surrender is to be effective from 2359 hours ZULU on 14 June (2059 hours local) and includes those Argentine Forces presently deployed in and around Port Stanley, those others on East Falkland, (Menendez's signature) West Falkland and all outlying islands.
[Menéndez's signature] Commander Argentine Forces
[Moore's signature] J. J. MOORE Major General
[Pennicott's signature] Witness2359 hours 14 June 1982
Quantities are approximates:[ citation needed ]
Some of the equipment was rendered useless by Argentine personnel before the surrender.
The Argentine Rattenbach commission (Spanish : Informe Rattenbach) [4] was assembled after the war to investigate the causes of defeat. It recommended serious penalties for some of the officers in charge, but its influence on the later trial was practically nil. [5]
On 20 June, the British retook the South Sandwich Islands and declared hostilities to be over after removing Argentina's Southern Thule garrison at the Corbeta Uruguay base. Corbeta Uruguay was established in 1976, but the Argentine base was only contested through diplomatic channels by the UK until 1982.[ citation needed ]
The war lasted 74 days, with 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen, and three civilian Falklanders killed. [6]
The British Government decreed that all classified information would be available to the public in the year 2082. [7] However, following the Freedom of Information Act, a great deal of formerly classified material is now available.[ citation needed ]
The surrender document is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London. [8] As noted in the museum, the time of surrender was backdated three hours in order that both Zulu time (UTC) and the local time were recorded as 14 June even though technically it was already 15 June in London, in order to prevent possible confusion by Argentine troops who might have mistakenly thought that they were permitted to keep fighting until the next day, 15 June 1982.[ citation needed ]
Relations between the UK and Argentina were not restored until 1989 and then only under the umbrella formula which states that the islands sovereignty dispute will remain aside.[ citation needed ]
Since 1984 in the Falkland Islands, 14 June has been a public holiday called "Liberation Day". It is marked by a remembrance ceremony in Stanley. [9]
The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The conflict began on 2 April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.
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The Battle of Wireless Ridge was an engagement of the Falklands War which took place on the night from 13 to 14 June 1982, between British and Argentine forces during the advance towards the Argentine-occupied capital of the Falkland Islands, Port Stanley.
This is a list of British ground forces in the Falklands War. For a list of ground forces from Argentina, see Argentine ground forces in the Falklands War
Corbeta Uruguay base was an Argentine military outpost established in November 1976 on Thule Island, Southern Thule, in the South Sandwich Islands. It was vacated and mostly demolished in 1982 following Britain's victory against Argentina in the Falklands War.
The Invasion of the Falkland Islands, code-named Operation Rosario, was a military operation launched by Argentine forces on 2 April 1982, to capture the Falkland Islands, and served as a catalyst for the subsequent Falklands War. The Argentines mounted amphibious landings and the invasion ended with the surrender of Falkland Government House.
This is a list of the ground forces from Argentina that took part in the Falklands War. For a list of ground forces from the United Kingdom, see British ground forces in the Falklands War.
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The South Atlantic Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British military personnel and civilians for service in the Falklands War of 1982 between the United Kingdom and Argentina. Over 33,000 medals have been awarded. The South Atlantic Medal Association was formed in 1997 for recipients of the South Atlantic Medal.
Major General Sir John Jeremy Moore, was a British senior Royal Marine officer who served as the commander of the British land forces during the Falklands War in 1982. Moore received the surrender of the Argentine forces on the islands.
The 1982 British military campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands depended on complex logistical arrangements. The logistical difficulties of operating 7,000 nautical miles from home were formidable. The Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands came at a time when the Royal Navy was experiencing a reduction in its amphibious capability, but it still possessed the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and Invincible, the landing platform dock (LPD) ships HMS Fearless and Intrepid, and six landing ship logistics (LSL) ships. To provide the necessary logistic support, the Royal Navy's ships were augmented by ships taken up from trade (STUFT).
British sovereignty of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is disputed by Argentina. The United Kingdom claimed South Georgia in 1775, annexed the islands in 1908, and has exercised de facto control with the exception of a brief period during the Falklands War in 1982, when the islands were partially controlled by Argentina. The dispute started in 1927 when Argentina claimed sovereignty over South Georgia, and subsequently expanded in scope with Argentina claiming the South Sandwich Islands in 1938. The islands have no indigenous population, and currently only have about 30 inhabitants.
Mario Benjamin Menéndez was the Argentine governor of the Falklands during the 1982 Argentine occupation of the islands. He also served in the Argentine Army. Menéndez surrendered Argentine forces to Britain during the Falklands War.
The Bluff Cove air attacks occurred 8 June 1982, during the Falklands War. British troop transport ships were bombed by Argentine Air Force (FAA) Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter bombers at Port Pleasant, off Fitz Roy, while transferring troops to Bluff Cove, with significant damage and casualties.
The occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was the short-lived Argentine occupation of a group of British islands in the South Atlantic whose sovereignty has long been disputed by Argentina. Until their invasion on 2 April 1982 by the Argentine military junta, they had been governed by the United Kingdom since it re-established control over them in 1833.
The Battle of San Carlos was a battle between aircraft and ships that lasted from 21 to 25 May 1982 during the British landings on the shores of San Carlos Water in the 1982 Falklands War. Low-flying land-based Argentine jet aircraft made repeated attacks on ships of the British Task Force.
The 25th Mechanized Infantry Regiment is an infantry unit of the Argentine Army belonging to the 9th Mechanized Brigade, 3rd Army Division, and based at Sarmiento, Chubut, Argentina. This Regiment was the first army unit to land in the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982 and fought in the Falklands War.
Captain Roberto Curilovic is a former Argentinian Navy pilot. On 25 May 1982 in the Falklands War, he sank the transport ship Atlantic Conveyor with an Exocet AM.39 anti-ship missile.
At 10:15 pm (BST) on the night of 14 June 1982, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher announced to the House of Commons that negotiations had begun for the surrender of the Argentine invasion force in the Falkland Islands, ending the Falklands War. Her statement noted that "they are reported to be flying white flags over Port Stanley", the capital of the Falklands. This was based on an erroneous report from a front-line unit; in fact, no white flags are known to have been flown, though Argentine resistance ended, and a ceasefire was in place. The surrender was finalised by 1:30 am BST on 15 June. Thatcher's statement was welcomed from all sides in the House, and she left to join celebrating crowds in Downing Street. She later described the statement as "perhaps the proudest moment of my life".