Summary of
Main Participating Military Bases in Britain
NORTHWOOD
(Task Force HQ)
ROYAL
NAVY
Culdrose (HMS Seahawk)
Devonport (HMS Drake)
Faslane (HMS Neptune - SSN's)
Gosport (HMS Dolphin)
Portland (HMS Osprey)
Portsmouth (HMS Nelson)
Rosyth (HMS Cochrane)
Yeovilton (HMS Heron)
ROYAL MARINES
Arbroath (45 Cdo RM)
Plymouth (3 Cdo Bde RM, incl. 40 & 42 Cdo)
RM Poole
BRITISH ARMY
Aldershot (2 & 3 Para)
Church Crookham (1/7 Gurkhas)
Hereford (SAS)
London (2 Scots & 1 Welsh Guards)
Marchwood (RCT)
Middle Wallop (AAC)
Netheravon (AAC)
Sennybridge (5th Inf Bde training)
ROYAL AIR FORCE
Brize Norton (VC10?s)
Coningsby (Phantoms)
Kinloss (Nimrod MR2?s)
Lyneham (Hercules)
Marham (Victors)
Odiham (Chinooks)
St Athan (maintenance)
St Mawgan (Nimrod MR1?s)
Waddingtons (Vulcans)
Wittering (Harrier GR3?s)
Wyton (Nimrod R1?s)
Summary of
Main British Commanders (Honours awarded in
brackets)
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DEFENCE
STAFF,
WHITEHALL, LONDON
Admiral of the Fleet Sir (later Baron)
Terence Lewin, Chief of the Defence Staff,
Admiral Sir Henry Leach, Royal Navy,
General Sir Edwin Bramall, Army,
Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beetham, Royal Air
Force
TASK FORCE
COMMANDERS, NORTHWOOD
Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse (GBE), Task
Force Commander,
Major General J J Moore (KCB) MC and bar RM, Land
Forces Deputy,
and later
Lieut General Sir Richard Trant,
Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss (KBE), Air Commander,
Vice Admiral P G M Herbert, Flag Officer
Submarines
SOUTH
ATLANTIC COMMANDERS
Rear Admiral J F Woodward (KCB), Carrier Battle
Group,
Commodore M C Clapp (CB), Amphibious Task Group,
Brigadier J H Thompson (CB) RM, Landing Force Task
Group and 3 Commando Brigade RM,
Followed by:
Major General Moore RM, Land Forces Falklands
Islands,
Brigadier M J A Wilson MC, 5th Infantry Brigade
Eventual British
Casualties and Losses in Major Equipment
Four warships and a
landing craft,
One fleet auxiliary and one merchantman,
23 Navy, seven RAF, three Marine and one Army
helicopters and aircraft.
One thousand of the men taking part were killed or
wounded.
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British Aims
and Outcome - Once the decision was taken to
launch "Operation Corporate" and dispute the Argentine
invasion by force if necessary, Britain's military power
was rapidly mobilised. Commanders were appointed and
from bases thoughout the country, the highly
technological ships and aircraft were readied and
despatched to transport and support a limited number of
professional Marines, Paras and Guardsmen. Fighting as
infantrymen, they re-took the Falklands the hard way,
and at the end of an 8,000 mile long logistical
nightmare and lengthy chain of command. Directly
responsible to the
British Cabinet for all military aspects was the Defence
Staff at Whitehall not far from Downing Street with its
Chief, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Terence Lewin and the
other service heads. Working out of Northwood,
Middlesex, just outside London were the Task Force
Commanders led by Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse,
Commander-in-Chief Fleet, who in turn controlled events
in the South Atlantic through the commanders on the
spot. Taking part
in this vast undertaking were nearly 30,000 men and a
few women, and a large proportion of Britain's Navy and
Marines, fleet auxiliaries and merchantmen, aircraft and
helicopter squadrons, plus five Army battalions and
supporting arms.
Nuclear-powered
hunter-killer submarine HMS Conqueror, one of the
first Royal Navy
warships to reach South Georgia and then the Falklands
area. She torpedoed and sank the
Argentine cruiser "General Belgrano" on the 2nd May
1982
Up to the final Argentine
surrender, each of the ships, aircraft squadrons and main
military units, as they entered the South Atlantic for the
FIRST time in the campaign are introduced below. Ships
lost are in blue CAPITALS, damaged in
lower case blue letters:
Submarines
reaching the Falkland's Area, early April to May
Nuclear
submarines "Spartan", "Splendid", "Conqueror",
"Courageous"(?), "Valiant" and conventionally powered
"Onyx", with some SBS.
RAF
Squadrons reaching or deploying to Ascension, early
April to May
VC.10
transports of 10 Sqdn, Hercules transports of 24, 30,
47 and 70 Sqdns,
Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft of 42(TB),
51(?), 120, 201 and 206 Sqdns,
Victor tankers of 55 and 57 Sqdns,
Vulcan bombers of 44, 50 and 101 Sqdns,
Harrier GR.3 attack aircraft of 1(F),
Chinook helicopter of 18 and a
Sea King of 202,
Phantom fighters of 29(F) Sqdns,
Units of the RAF Regiment.
South
Georgia recaptured ("Operation Paraquat") on 25th
April
Naval forces
- Destroyer "Antrim", Frigates "Brilliant",
"Plymouth", Ice patrol ship "Endurance", RFA's
"Tidespring" and (earlier) "Brambleleaf" and "Fort
Austin".
Land forces - M Coy 42 Cdo RM, SBS RM and D Sqdn 22nd
SAS.
Carrier
Battle Group starting attacks on Falklands, 1st May
Naval forces
- Carriers "Hermes", "Invincible", Destroyers
"Glamorgan", "COVENTRY", "Glasgow", "SHEFFIELD",
Frigates "Broadsword", "Alacrity", "Arrow", "Yarmouth"
and RFA's "Olmeda" and "Resource". Joined later in May
by destroyer "Exeter", frigate "Ambuscade" and RFA
"Regent".
Carrier aircraft - Sea Harriers of Nos.800 and 801,
anti-submarine and assault Sea King helicopters of
Nos.820, 826 and 846 NAS; and later, Sea Harriers of
No.809 and RAF Harrier GR.3's of 1(F) Squadrons.
Land forces - SBS RM, D and G Sqdns 22nd SAS.
Amphibious
Group reaching the TEZ, followed by Landings in San
Carlos Water ("Operation Sutton") on 21st May
Naval forces
- including Assault ships "Fearless", "Intrepid",
Frigates "ARDENT", "Argonaut" and later "ANTELOPE",
RFA's "Stromness", "Tidepool", LSL's "SIR GALAHAD",
"Sir Geraint", "Sir Lancelot", "Sir Percivale", "Sir
Tristram" and (later) "Sir Bedivere", Transports
"Canberra", "Elk", "Europic Ferry", "Norland", and
Aircraft and helicopter support ship "ATLANTIC
CONVEYOR".
Land forces -
3 Commando Brigade RM including 40, 42 and 45 Cdo RM
and 2 and 3 Para, and 3 CBAS Gazelle and Scout
helicopters.
Other
Ships and Helicopter Squadrons supporting the Task
Force up to the End of May
At Ascension
RMAS mooring vessel "Goosander" and Tanker "Alvega";
also Detached despatch vessel "Dumbarton Castle".
Tanker Holding Areas in the South Atlantic and in Tug,
Repair and Logistics Area (TRALA)
RFA tankers "Appleleaf", Pearleaf and "Plumleaf" plus
Tankers "Anco Charger", "Eburna", Eight British
Petroleum "British" tankers, and Water tanker "Fort
Toronto".
Operating in Falklands area
Hospital ship "Uganda" and Ambulance ships "Hecla",
"Herald" and "Hydra" in Red Cross Box (RCB), Repair
ship "Stena Seaspread" and Tugs "Irishman",
"Salvageman", "Yorkshireman" in TRALA.
Reaching South Georgia
Requisitioned minesweepers "Cordella", "Farnella",
"Junella", "Northella" and "Pict", RFA tanker "Blue
Rover", RMAS tug "Typhoon", Detached despatch vessels
"Iris" and "Leeds Castle", Ammo ship "Lycaon" and
Stores ship "Saxonia".
Other Helicopters
Sea Kings of No.824 and also 846, Wessex of Nos.737,
845 and 848, Lynx of No.815 and Wasps of No.829 NAS on
warships, RFA's and merchantmen, together with one RAF
Chinook of 18 Sqdn.
"Bristol"
Group arriving in TEZ, late May
Destroyers "Bristol", "Cardiff", Frigates
"Active", "Avenger", "Andromeda", "Minerva",
"Penelope", RFA's "Bayleaf" and "Olna".
5th
Infantry Brigade reaching South Atlantic late May to
join Advance on Stanley, early June
Land forces - 5th Infantry Brigade including 2
Scots and 1 Welsh Guards, 1/7 Gurkha Rifles and
Gazelle and Scout helicopters of 656 Sqdn AAC.
Transports - "Queen Elizabeth 2", "Baltic Ferry" and
"Nordic Ferry".
Other
Ships and Helicopter Squadrons arriving to support
Task Force up to Surrender
RFA's "Engadine" and "Fort Grange", Merchantmen
"Atlantic Causeway", "Balder London", "Contender
Bezant", "Geestport", "St. Edmund", "Tor Caledonia"
and "Wimpey Seahorse",
Sea Kings of No.825 and Wessex of No.847 NAS.
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