Nine time No.1 Best Selling Military Historian, Author and #Falklands War specialist. Occasional TV Historian. Dog Lover & Rescuer. All books on link below:
For everyone following my retelling of the build-up to the Falklands invasion, please remember I have two books on the subject: The First Casualty and its companion Pictorial History, both available on Amazon 😊
amazon.co.uk/s?k=ricky+d+ph…
April 2nd 1982: Admiral Sir Henry Leach goes to Parliament in full dress, straight from a function and tells Margaret Thatcher that she absolutely must respond to the Argentine invasion... She asks why....
(continues)
May 28th 1982: The Argentine Air Force orders an attack against the British Hospital Ship SS Uganda. Argentine pilot, Squadron Leader Mario Jorge Caffaratti, defies two direct orders to carry out the mission and finally tells his superiors: "Why don't you go to hell?"
A classic moment... I was contacted on Facebook by an Argentine guy claiming he was going to expose me as a Nazi and that he had proof... Apparently this photo of me in 2015 with the two French Imperial Eagles captured at Waterloo in 1815 is his "proof" that I am a Nazi! 🤣🤣🤣
May 28th 1982: The Argentine Air Force orders an attack against the British Hospital Ship SS Uganda. Argentine pilot, Squadron Leader Mario Jorge Caffaratti, defies two direct orders to carry out the mission and finally tells his superiors:
"Why don't you go to hell?"
Sad news, upon hearing of the passing yesterday of Commander Nigel "Sharkey" Ward, a true hero of the Falklands War... Rest in Power, Sir.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharkey_W…
Leach tells her: "Because if we do not, or if we pussyfoot in our actions and do not achieve complete success, in a few months from now we will be living in a different country, in which Britain's word in the world counts for nothing."
And so the die is cast.
June 1st 1982: The "Little men from Nepal" arrive in the Falklands. Argentina is terrified of the legendary Gurkhas and the junta begin a propaganda war which backfires, frightening their own men witless. They even complained to the UN that Gurkhas should not be allowed to fight.
May 29th 1982: The Union Flag is hoisted over Goose Green. It is a tiny place in real terms but the second largest settlement after Staley itself. The battle has been long, hard and costly, but the freedom of the local people has been worth it...
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And so we end on June 14th 1982, and thousands of you from around the world have followed and joined in. It has been incredible & exhausting, and there's more to go, but for now we finish in remembrance of the last ten weeks as we always do: hit the link.
youtu.be/C5etpMmcWF0?si…
April 25th 1982: Argentine submarine ARA Santa Fe leaves Grytviken, South Georgia, at 5am, heading for the open sea, but is surfaced to avoid icebergs and rocks. Coming through Cumberland Bay, she is detected, and British ships prepare to take her out...
(Long thread continues)