PSYOP of the Falkland Islands War

SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret.)

The Falkland Islands are approximately 8000 miles from Britain and the only major island group in the South Atlantic, about 300 miles east of Argentina and the continent of South America in the Strait of Magellan. There are two main islands, West and East Falkland and more than 100 smaller ones. The Buenos Aires government, which had declared its independence from Spain in 1816, claimed sovereignty over the Falklands. Britain began settling the islands and declared a colonial administration in 1842. Argentina never recognized the claim and historically has demanded that the islands be part of that nation. They say that "Ownership is 90% of the law" and the islands have been continuously occupied by residents who have always demanded the right to remain British subjects. In the early 1980s, the period that we will discuss, the population was 1,813 with over half living in the capitol town of Port Stanley on East Falkland. Although there are less than 2,000 citizens, there are an estimated 600,000 sheep. Wool and hides are obviously the chief export of the Falklands. The islands were administered at the time by Governor Rex Hunt. They were far from Britain and certainly not an economic or military priority. There might have been some belief among the Argentineans that the occupation of these islands, called by them the Islas Malvinas would be treated by the British as a fait accompli. The Spanish first colonized what would be known as Argentina and controlled it for about 300 years. The nation gained independence in 1816 after a six year struggle led by General Jose de San Martin. From that time on there were a series of military takeovers and political dictators. The most famous is probably Juan Peron who was elected president in 1945. After Peron there was a series of petty dictators, with Peron himself being recalled to power in 1973. In 1976, another military coup put a junta made up of the commanders of the armed forces in charge. There were a series of generals in a revolving door leadership that led to Army General Leopoldo Galtieri holding power in 1982. Argentina was in deep economic trouble. Iinflation was over 600 percent, manufacturing output down 22.9%, and real wages down by 19.2%. In addition, the Junta has kidnapped, tortured and murdered large numbers of the population. The book War in the Falklands, the Sunday Times of London Insight Team, Harper & Row, NY, 1982 comments on the civil rights violations: In just over two years, according to estimates of human rights organizations, up to 18,000 Argentineans vanished, including thousands of high-school children. Most of the disappeared were young, radical, and middle-class. Over one hundred journalists and two hundred scientists vanished. Galtieri accepted the collective responsibility of the junta. He coldly stated: In any war, there are people who disappear. The Argentine people were clamoring for change, and the leadership decided that the best way to take their mind off the numerous problems at home is to give them a glorious patriotic victory and the return of the Islas Malvinas. The campaign was originally named Operación Azul after the blue robe of the Virgin Mary, but later changed to Operación Rosario (Rosary) in what appears to be an attempt by the Argentine government to give the impression of a patriotic Catholic religious crusade. The invasion was initially planned for 25 May, the anniversary of the revolution and one of the most important national holidays. Due to the mounting pressures on the government, and mass union demonstrations in late March, the date of the invasion was moved earlier to 2 April. Its main purpose was to divert public attention from the internal problems and restore the long lost popularity and prestige of the dictatorship. There were numerous previous provocations. In 1966 an Aerolineas Argentinas DC4 was hijacked by a group of twenty Argentine nationalists known as "Condors." They forced the pilot to fly to Stanley and land on the racecourse. The Condors took four Islanders hostage, handed out leaflets stating they had arrived to take over the Islands on behalf of Argentina, and raised the Argentine flag. They gave up to a local priest the next day and were eventually placed on an Argentine naval ship and taken back to Argentina where they received nominal prison sentences. Later that year a small detachment of Argentine Marines landed via submarine Santiago del Estero and reconnoitered potential landing beaches near Port Stanley. In 1968 another Argentine aircraft crashed while attempting a landing to publicize the Argentine demands. The 1982 Argentinean invasion did not start in the major islands. Instead, an Argentine businessman named Constantino Davidoff sailed to South Georgia Island to salvage scrap metal on the fleet transport Bahia Buen Suceso. It arrived on 19 March 1982 without British permission. The Argentine flag was placed near the work site. The British protested, the political situation escalated and Governor Hunt sent 22 Royal Marines to remove the workers, while Argentina sent 100 Marines to protect them. That quickly erupted into a gun-battle on 3 April and the Argentineans overpowered the smaller British force. The die was cast and military movements set into motion that was unstoppable. Did Argentina think that Great Britain would not defend the islands? There are often misunderstandings. Kim il Sung believed the United States had no interest in protecting South Korea in 1950 and Saddam Hussein believed the United States had no interest in Kuwait in 1990. Both dictators invaded their neighbors. According to the newsletter The Week, in an article entitled“How did the conflict start?” dated 21 March 2016: The Port Stanley invasion caught Whitehall off-guard. Just six months earlier, British intelligence had concluded privately that Argentina would not invade the islands. In January 1982, Margaret Thatcher's government inadvertently sent out a signal that Britain had no wish to fight over the islands when it scrapped the only British warship in their vicinity, HMS Endurance. Argentine confidence was further boosted after the British Nationality Act denied UK citizenship to many islanders. Britain protested in vain about the landing on South Georgia. On 26th March, British Intelligence reported that a number of Argentine military vessels were at sea. Hunt received a top secret telegram from the Foreign Office on 1 April: We have apparently reliable evidence that an Argentine task force could be assembling off Stanley at dawn tomorrow. You will wish to make your dispositions accordingly. Governor Hunt announced over the radio that an invasion was imminent. It occurred as expected early on 2 April. Port Stanley was defended by 40 Royal Marines and about the same number of naval personnel. The first landings occurred about 0600. The Argentineans attacked along a number of fronts with both helicopter and light armored vehicles. The British could not defend against such overwhelming odds and surrendered at 0930. The Argentineans quickly reinforced their troops to about 10,000 and put a military governor in command. Argentina made several immediate changes to the culture of the Falkland Islands. Port Stanley was renamed Puerto Argentino. Spanish became the official language of the Falkland Islands and traffic was thereafter to drive on the right side of the road. The islanders continued to drive on the left, demonstrating their determination to remain British. The Argentineans hoped that the British would accept the occupation. It was not to be. Britain announced a 200 nautical mile maritime exclusion zone around the Falklands to take effect on 12 April. Any Argentine ship found in the area after that time was open game. After formally surrendering his troops, Hunt was flown to Montevideo, Uruguay later that same day. In London, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher prepared for war. President Reagan talked of neutrality and involved himself in the peace process but it was an open secret that the United States later armed and fueled the fleet of her old ally from WWI and WWII. Britain won the diplomatic war, and gained the support of the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Commonwealth. Argentina failed to even win over the Organization of American States. The United Nations voted in favor of Britain with only Panama against, and Russia abstaining along with Poland, China and Spain. On 2 April, the Security Council passed Resolution 502 which said in part: Deeply disturbed at reports of an invasion on 2 April 1982 by armed forces of Argentina, Determining that there exists a breach of the peace in the region of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), 1. Demands an immediate cessation of hostilities;

2. Demands an immediate withdrawal of all Argentine forces from the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas);

3. Call on the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to seek a diplomatic solution to their differences and to respect fully the purposes and principals of the Charter of the United Nations. Britain had wide support, and General Galtieri discovered that he has totally misjudged the United Kingdom's resolve and world opinion. President Reagan then publicly offered military aid and announced sanctions against Argentina. We will not discuss the war in depth. Just reporting the "order of battle" for the forces would take several pages. This article is about the PSYOP used during the war. However, we should mention a few brief facts about the buildup and eventual result of the campaign to give the reader a feel for what was happening at the time. The Argentines should have controlled the air. They had modern Super Etendard fighter-bombers armed with French Exocet missiles. They also had Skyhawk attack bombers, Daggers, Mirage fighters, Canberra light bombers, and more than 35 Argentine-designed and built Pucara close support aircraft. When the war started the Argentineans had about 200 aircraft and the British about 20-odd Harriers. As the war went on, the Argentines were decimated while the British were reinforced. Among the Argentine planes lost in combat were a Hercules C-130, a reconnaissance Lear Jet, 2 Canberra bombers, 13 Pucara fighters, 10 Skyhawk fighter-bombers, 11 Daggers, and 2 Mirage fighters. The British established a naval task force under the code name "Operation Corporate." They set sail for the Falklands at flank speed with a modern fleet consisting of a carrier battle group, destroyers, frigates, troop carriers, tankers and submarines. They were at a disadvantage in the air, most of their aircraft being Sea Harriers, a jump jet that has certain advantages with a vertical takeoff capability but is certainly not in the class of a modern fighter aircraft. They were armed with American Sidewinder missiles and that evened the score somewhat. Just as Sam Colt made all men equal with his "peacemaker" revolver, modern long range missiles tend to make all aircraft equal. Despite the disadvantage, only six Navy Harriers were lost by accident or ground fire, and not one in air-to-air combat. The Argentine and British aircraft were both armed with the same Sidewinder missiles. However, the Argentine version was an older heat-seeking type that was fired from the rear toward the jet exhaust of the enemy. The Harrier had the ability to jump in midair. When an Argentine fighter got behind one, the pilot could rotate his nozzles downward and go vertical at a decreased speed. The Argentine fighter would pass the British fighter and immediately become a target. The British also "cheated" by getting 100 of the more modern American AIM9L sidewinders from their NATO stocks which could be fired toward the front of an approaching enemy. Those stocks were European war supplies and "untouchable," but President Reagan replaced them. The main advantage in the British favor was their well-trained Welsh and Scots Guards, Royal Marines, Special Air Service, and Gurkhas. They would attack lightly trained Argentine conscripts. It would be "no contest." One British Commando told me that some of the Argentine soldiers were so young that underneath their battledress they still wore school uniforms. The Argentineans were well dug in and according to military formula that should have given them about a three to one advantage. However, they were fighting a defensive battle while the British were moving quickly and aggressively. As the French found out along the Maginot line in WWII, speed and aggressiveness usually defeats a static defense. In One Hundred Days, the Memories of the Falklands Battle Group Commander, Admiral Sandy Woodward, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1992, the author mentions that in 1973 he worked on a report about Britain's ability to protect the Falklands in case of an Argentine invasion. This is reminiscent of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf having studied the problem of defending Kuwait prior to the first Gulf War. The result: It seemed to us that Her Majesty's government would be largely powerless to do anything whatsoever to stop them. We couldn't afford to station a large enough force in the islands themselves; nor could we get a reinforcement force out there in the time which would probably be available to us. Careful consideration inevitably pointed to the only conclusion: "impossible." A second coincidence is that Woodward had captained the destroyer Sheffield in 1976. The ship had caused him many problems at the time, the computer weapons program crashing about every four minutes. The Sheffield would cause Woodward and the fleet more worry during the war when it was hit by an Argentine Exocet missile. He mentions going to war with no intelligence data. Once again we are reminded of the fog of war. The American invasion of Grenada was carried out with some commanders using commercial automobile maps of the islands. Woodward says: Our knowledge was in fact largely confined to that which was in the public domain. Janes Fighting Ships, the standard reference book on the fleets of the world, was our main source of information on the strength of Admiral Anaya's navy. Likewise, Jane's companion book on the world's aircraft was our primary guide to the strength of their air force. On 2 May the British submarine Conqueror located the Argentine Cruiser General Belgrano just outside the exclusion zone and sunk her. The cruiser was previously the American "Phoenix" which had been at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The General Belgrano had a crew of approximately 1,042 of whom 368 lost their lives. Although the action is surrounded in controversy it did stop the Argentine Navy from taking further action during the remainder of the war. It never again ventured from the continental shelf where the water was too shallow for the British submarines to operate. There was some world outrage at the sinking, but the British explained that at any time the warship could have turned around and attacked the British fleet. The Argentine Navy fled the war zone and did not take to sea again during the next two months. The Argentines struck back on 4 May when the destroyer "Sheffield" was hit by an air-launched Exocet missile and sunk. The Exocet was named after the Exocoetus flying fish which skims over the waves. The British warning code for an Exocet attack was "Handbrake." Once the incoming missile was positively identified as an Exocet the warning signal became "Ash Tray." The British tried to defend against the missiles by having Sea King helicopters fly at the flanks of the larger warships during Exocet alerts using their greater heat signature as "bait" to draw the missiles away from the ships. On 21 May the British Commandos made a diversionary attack on Port San Carlos on the northern coast of East Falkland. From this beachhead the British infantry advanced southward to capture the settlements of Darwin and Goose Green before turning towards Port Stanley. The same day HMS Ardent was sunk by an Argentine air attack, but nine Argentine aircraft were shot down. On 23 May HMS Antelope was attacked and sunk but ten Argentine aircraft were destroyed. The British were bleeding at sea, the Argentineans in the air. We are now going to see the name of Royal Marine Captain Roderick Bell quite often. Bell was the son of a United Nations official and was raised in Costa Rica. Spanish was his first language and he spoke it perfectly and believed that he understood the Latin temperament and could talk to the Argentineans in a friendly and honest manner. As one of the only Spanish speaking members of the task force, he became almost the sole proponent of British PSYOP. On D-Day, 21 May, when the British discovered an unexpected Argentine observation post on Fanning head, at the mouth of the seaborne entrance to San Carlo, Captain Bell was called forward with a loudspeaker. The Argentineans had air-lifted a 60-man platoon to Port San Carlos code-named "EC Hermes" Captain Bell suggested that EC stood for "Equipo Combate" or Combat Team, which would be no more than a company in strength. Combat Team Eagle made its headquarters at Port San Carlos and sent 20 men forward to Fanning Head to set up an OP overlooking San Carlos Water. This group of Argentineans became known to the British as "The Fanning Head Mob." Bell called upon the Argentines to surrender. Four of the Argentines raised their hands but others opened fire on the Special Boat Squadron with a machine gun. Because some of the British troops were hit by the fleeing Argentineans, the British commanders temporarily lost faith in the value of the surrender appeal. On 26 May the British 2nd Parachute Regiment (2 Para), consisting of about 450 men moved against Argentine troops occupying Goose Green. Intelligence indicated that the settlement was defended by one weakened battalion (Bn-). By 30 May, after bitter fighting Captain Bell chose two Argentine senior non-commissioned officer prisoners-of-war to take a surrender message written by Bell in Spanish to the enemy commander. The Argentines agreed to surrender and to the shock of the British, about 1,200 troops marched out of Goose Green and laid down their arms. Bell's use of PSYOP in a well-written letter helped to save the day and avert what could have been a disaster caused by faulty intelligence. The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins, Norton, London, 1983, says: One of the many deficiencies revealed by the campaign was the lack of a PsyWar unit at the disposal of the Ministry of Defense. Even more astonishing, Bell - who had been co-opted as an interpreter from his usual job as adjutant of the Commando brigade's headquarters and signals squadron - was almost the only Spanish speaker available to the force. By 31 May the British have surrounded Port Stanley. Battles continue all over the island with vicious hand-to-hand fighting reported. War in the Falklands says that after surrounding the Argentine troops occupying Port Stanley, Captain Rod Bell and an SAS colonel (code-name "Reid") broadcast in Spanish starting 6 June appealing to them to surrender before more blood was shed: They began with a simple humanitarian request to assist civilians and casualties, but later hinted at the Argentineans hopeless military situation. They had fought a noble war and could surrender with their dignity intact. Gradually they raised wider issues; Britain and Argentina needed to be friends and a small offshore island should not be allowed to undermine that... On 14 June; he made a final sonorous appeal. "The position of the Argentine forces is now hopeless. You are surrounded by British forces on all sides. If you fail to respond to this message and there is unnecessary bloodshed in Port Stanley, the world will judge you accordingly." By 14 June the large Argentine garrison in Port Stanley is defeated, and the war is all but over. The Argentine commander agrees to cease fire and 9,800 Argentine troops throw down their weapons. British Major General Jeremy Moore flew in to Port Stanley at 2300 on 14 June, 1982 to meet with General Menendez. General Menendez is allowed to strike "unconditional" from the surrender document since he had been promised by the British PSYOP broadcasts that the surrender would be with "dignity and honor". General Moore does not allow him to insert the Argentine propaganda term Islas Malvinas after "Falklands." By 2359 the document was formally signed and the war was officially over. Both sides were plagued by tactical errors. The British had sailed off to war without careful preparation, and some units were stationed on different naval crafts, had left sections behind, or were without their supplies. They also learned to their horror that although aluminum ships do not burn, they do melt. Some British sailors called them "floating flares." The Argentines had worse problems. Navy Commander Admiral Jorge Anaya was the most warlike of the three-man junta and yet when the bullets started flying he pulled his ships back and never ventured into the war zone again. The British had spread disinformation that their hunter-killer subs were deployed in number in the exclusion zone and the Argentineans apparently believed the reports. The Army had 10,000 men who could have fought the British on the beaches and perhaps pushed them back into the sea. Instead, the majority of them stayed huddled near Port Stanley. Air Force Commander and junta member Brigadier General Lami Dozo was the least enthusiastic proponent of the Falklands war, but his pilots probably did the best job of all the Argentine services. However, many of the attacks were made in dribs and drabs, and if they had made one major assault using all their aircraft they might have broken through the picket line and attacked the British carriers Invincible and Hermes. That could have effectively ended the war. Admiral Woodward was in dread of such a mass attack all through the war, and even after the surrender of the Argentine troops. He could never be sure that the generals would not send one last wave of fighter-bombers to try and destroy the British fleet. The Falklands garrison surrendered, not the nation of Argentina. Since the war was undeclared, there really was no way for them to surrender. The war lasted 72 days and claimed the lives of 236 British and 655 Argentine troops. The war cost of at least 2 billion dollars. It helped revive and reelect Margaret Thatcher. In 1990 she would supply the backbone to George Bush and urge him to take military action when Iraq invades Kuwait. At the same time, the ignominious defeat severely discredited the military government and forced the resignation of Leopoldo Galtieri, paving the way for the restoration of democracy in Argentina. FALKLAND ISLANDS WAR PSYOP There is some debate about how much PSYOP was disseminated during the Falkland Islands War. It is agreed that both sides used radio to a great extent, but there is some question about the use of aerial propaganda leaflets. In the book Weapons of the Falklands Conflict, by Bryant Perrett, Blanford Press, Poole, Dorset, UK, the author mentions the radio war. He points out that the junta controlled the radio and television networks as well as the popular press and could broadcast whatever it liked. It had immediate access to visual material flown in from the Falklands so that the first pictures the world saw of the conflict were invariably Argentine, and these were accompanied by a suitable propaganda commentary. An unnamed author says in an untitled British Joint Services Command and Staff College abstract: Despite a lengthy political build up to hostilities there is little evidence of the use of tactical PSYOPS being used. PSYOP leaflet product was developed but the effort was entirely wasted as the means of delivery were not available. Badly informed and poorly led Argentine conscripts were targeted by PSYOP in the form of Radio Atlantico del Sur. Despite the assertion that this effort was effective, little evidence in the way of measures of effectiveness appear to have been gathered and it remains unclear whether this had a significant impact on in the Argentine Garrison's ultimate defeat. Had intelligence, production and dissemination been integrated into the campaign plan along with measurement of effect, the UK might have had an excellent opportunity to assess its tactical PSYOPS capability.

He mentions the sinking of the Cruiser General Belgrano and how the Junta's stations claimed that the ship had been needlessly and inhumanly sent to the bottom with great loss of life; what was more, the British had broken their own rules by carrying out the sinking well beyond the limits of the total exclusion zone. He says that the return of the cruiser's shocked but game survivors was carefully orchestrated for the media. International opinion suddenly became more sympathetic to the Argentine case, while even in Britain there was a pause for thought. He then points out where the Argentineans went wrong: Having made a good beginning, the propaganda machine then departed from the established ground rules of the game. In this it was doubtless doing its masters' bidding, for the junta's popularity soared with every success; therefore, the junta reasoned, its people should have a diet of success, while the enemy should be vilified. The Task Force was described as a pirate fleet, while Margaret Thatcher was portrayed as a Viking, a vampire and a Nazi Storm Trooper. There were endless stories of Harriers being sent tumbling in dogfights, of ships sunk, of Hermes and Invincible being damaged again and again, of soldiers dramatically repelling raids. Even failure was exploited to the full. After South Georgia had been recaptured by the British it was announced that Argentine Special Forces had retired into the island's interior, from whence they would continue to fight - and this, in one of the cruelest environments on Earth. When the British landed at San Carlos they were said to be surrounded and on the verge of a second Dunkirk. Sometimes, the propaganda machine simply placed the most favorable interpretation on the facts, but most of its output was the purest fabrication. Until the very last moments the Argentine public sincerely believed that they would win the battle. One of the odder aspects of Argentine propaganda was the story spread among troops on the Falklands that the British would butcher their prisoners; not only that, the Gurkhas would eat them! There seems to have been a genuine horror of the Gurkhas and the junta is said to have asked the government of Nepal to have them withdrawn. As the Nazis found out in WWII, overestimating your victories and deriding the enemy's strength can be quite dangerous. When the truth comes out, and it always does, the public is furious at being lied to and duped. It can easily rise up against the government in power. It is also dangerous to build up the ferocity of the enemy in your propaganda. In such a case as the Gurkha descriptions above, just the sight of the "cannibalistic' mercenaries was probably enough to have the Argentine conscript throw down his arms and surrender. If there is one rule to good PSYOP, it is that you always tell the truth. One Argentine broadcast to the approaching British fleet in May 1982 can be found on the Internet: Would you like to be reminded of your hometown?

[Sound of bells]

Yes, it's good old Big Ben. It's been a long time since you listened to it. There was never an organized British propaganda campaign. In fact, the Ministry of Defense made no provision for journalists of any kind to accompany the Task Force. Prime Minister Thatcher intervened and some reporters were "embedded" with the military units. As the American military discovered during Operation Iraqi Freedom, embedded reporters tend to identify completely with the troops they live and share danger with and as a result the stories from the front were very patriotic and pro-Government.

BLACK OPERATIONS In The Official History of the Falklands Campaign - Volume II: War and Diplomacy, Sir Lawrence Freedman, Routledge, London and New York, 2005, the author mentions British prospective 'black' and deception operations. He describes a Special Projects Group (SPG) charged with developing plans for deception and psychological operations. It would point out that British weaponry and technology was invincible while demoralizing the Argentines by pointing out their weaknesses. It would attempt to exacerbate Argentine inter-service rivalries, discredit the Junta and its members and point out economic problems in Argentina. It would imply that Argentine facilities on the mainland would be attacked by air and that the carrier group had an amphibious warfare capability that could land an invasion force on Argentina proper. The SPG proposed a rumor that Britain might resort to mining Argentine mainland waters. This mining, if actually done, would affect the Argentine economy as well as the movement of its military forces. The British might have taken part in at least one rumor [they call them "sibs"] operation. There was a mysterious report of a British helicopter going down in Chile and stories that it was on its way to or from a secret British fighter squadron that had been allowed to prepare an attack base on Chilean soil. If the Argentineans believed the rumor they would be forced to keep some defensive aircraft to protect the nation from an air attack from the west, leaving less to fight the British in the southeast. It was reported at the time that: One of the strangest incidents of the war took place involving Chile. About 17 May the Chilean authorities found a burnt out Sea King helicopter near the southern town of Punta Arenas. The crews of three gave themselves up and were returned to the UK to later receive gallantry awards for a number of hazardous missions. Presumably, and as announced by the Ministry of Defense, these include losing their way, ending up 500 miles from the Task Force and destroying their helicopter. The British quietly gave Chile a number of electronic reconnaissance, fighter and bomber aircraft. In return, the Chilean Army created increased radio traffic along the border to hold the elite Argentine ground forces in place, and the Chilean Navy put to sea under radio silence, a fact sure to make the Argentine Navy very nervous. The British also considered using Chile as a base for commando operations into Argentina and actually planned an Operation Mikado where two C-130 Hercules aircraft would crash land at the Rio Grand Air Base and a SAS squadron would destroy the Super Entendards based there, all the Exocet missiles, and kill all the Argentine pilots. British Intelligence also got involved in a number of very complicated black operations to insure that Argentina could not rearm itself with additional Exocet missiles. They set up various dummy deals with bankers, front-corporations and arms dealers so that if Argentina tried to buy the weapons, the money might conveniently disappear or the missiles get lost in transit. These operations seem to have been successful. The Argentineans were also active. They sent a 3-man team of Marines to Gibraltar to blow up ships of the British fleet. The team of divers was captured by Spanish police (tipped off by British Intelligence) on 17 May 1982 as they were about to attack the tanker British Tamar. The Argentineans were also able to create and use a secret land-based Exocet launch site to attack British ships shelling forces near Stanley. The system was placed on a heavy-duty truck body and powered by a WWII German generator originally designed for searchlights. Readers who want to know more about these various plots are advised to read The Secret War for the Falklands, Nigel West, Little, Brown and Company, UK, 1997. LEAFLET OPERATIONS The British newspapers and some service members who took part tell of dropping leaflets on the Falkland Islands. There are conflicting reports with other authors and military sites stating that leaflets were not dropped. It seems clear that if there were leaflet missions, that information never reached higher headquarters. Ian J. Strange wrote of his experiences during the war in The Falkland Islands - Third Edition, David and Charles, London, 1983. He says: 3 June. Propaganda leaflet raid of Port Stanley. On 3 June our diary made special mention that at about 6 a.m. a low-flying aircraft had been heard passing over the back of the town under cover of poor visibility. Later we connected this with the information that propaganda leaflets were being dropped over the Argentine positions. These leaflets, in the form of safe-conduct passes, offered the chance for individual troops to surrender. This was one of the mysteries of the conflict, for we never saw one of these leaflets, and have yet to hear from anyone who did. We wonder if they were dropped in some remote region where they still may be found, or whether instead of dispersing they might have landed in bulk and been quickly destroyed. Although the British have never confirmed the actual number, we believe that at least four PSYOP leaflets were dropped on the Falklands and have been illustrated in publications. They are entitled "Safe Conduct Pass," "Surrender at South Georgia," "Islands of the Condemned," and "South Atlantic Radio." The Falling Leaf, The journal of the Psywar Society, says in its autumn 1982 issue: We understand that all the leaflets were prepared and printed in England and then flown to the Task Force flagship for distribution. Quantities printed, actual dates of dissemination and localities involved as well as which leaflets were dropped are not yet known. At the time of publication, the Psywar Society researchers had seen four different leaflets. By the winter 1982 issue the Falling Leaf states that there are five such leaflets, but the fifth one is not named. Apparently the five leaflets were exhibited at the British Aerophilatelic Federation's National Airmail Exhibition held at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon, and depicted on a BBC television broadcast entitled "The Best of Collecting Now." The 15th (UK) Psychological Operations Group says on it website: A limited British PSYOPS campaign was developed during the brief Argentine occupation and subsequent liberation of the Falkland Islands. A radio station was set up on the Ascension Island, known as "Radio Atlantico del Sur" and broadcast to Argentine troops and included music, news and sport. Printed literature including Safe Conduct Passes, were developed but never deployed due to the UK's inability to air-drop leaflets at this time. The Official History of the Falklands Campaign agrees. It says about leaflets in part: Another high priority item was the preparation of leaflets for distribution over the Falklands. During the first phase, when there was still uncertainty about the future course of the campaign, three items were produced: a safe conduct pass, a message of inevitable defeat, which took the form of a message from Woodward to General Menendez, and a reassuring letter to the civilian population from the Governor. Later on extra items were produced, announcing the recapture of South Georgia and the opening of Radio Atlantico del Sur. Although 12,000 copies of each leaflet were produced and reached Hermes in time for the landing, unlike the leaflet rounds that could be fired from the big guns of the world wars, a similar capability did not exist for modern field guns so they were never actually distributed. A British government draft interim assessment for the radio station dating from about 12 May 1982 said in part: The overall objective of the project for the purpose of this paper is assumed to be purely military. It is defined as: 'Maximizing the use of radio to persuade Argentinian troops (particularly conscripted troops) currently occupying the Falkland Islands to surrender with minimum resistance at the time when British troops land to re-occupy the islands.' Several approaches have been rejected as counter-productive: Attempting to diminish or demean Argentinians loyalty to their flag; Trying to convince them that their government is not justified in claiming sovereignty of the Falkland Islands; Attempting to create dissension between officers and other ranks; Excessive reference to hardship caused by inadequate clothing or shelter. Three particular areas may be selected for positive treatment: The long-standing friendship on a person level between British and Argentinian peoples; The lack of training of Argentinian conscripts by comparison with British troops; The physical isolation of the troops on the Falkland Islands, with particular reference to their friends and families. CONCLUSIONS: The station must first build up credibility and “audience loyalty.” The advantages of radio’s immediacy will be wasted if either the programming is not ‘live’ or the necessary immediate material cannot be delivered to it. Broadcasts could at least persuade the Argentine conscripts to hesitate for even a fraction of a second before firing on British troops. At best they could, by keeping the hopelessness of their position in the minds of the garrison, persuade an earlier surrender than would otherwise be achieved. Bryant Perett says in Weapons of the Falklands Conflict: A further attempt to undermine the garrison's morale was the printing of leaflets in Spanish urging soldiers to surrender in their own interests and incorporating a safe conduct pass. There is some doubt that they were ever used, for the means of distribution did not exist. The best method of delivery is by means of a shell which bursts above the enemy positions, scattering the leaflets, but this type of ammunition was not available; nor could Harriers be used as a substitute and nor was it worth risking valuable helicopters in the role. Perett is wrong about the use of artillery for disseminating leaflets. It is not the best method. In fact, it is rather poor. Soldiers tend to keep their head down when being fired upon and are not likely to leave their fighting positions during an artillery attack. It is also difficult to pinpoint the enemy, and the blast of the shell often chars, crinkles and is some case burns the leaflet. Air dissemination is much preferable. More leaflets can be dropped over a much greater area. It is also true that any aircraft that can carry a bomb can carry leaflets, since they can be placed in cluster bomb shells, flare cases, or even specially designed containers. There are arguments for the dropping of leaflets too. We have the word of a seaman and several British newspapers of the time. Able Seaman Gunner Kevin Prout of the HMS Hermes said: I was a Sea Cat director/aimer stationed near the flight deck. The flight crews would often give us the leaflets as souvenirs prior to them being loaded on the Harrier aircraft. I don't know how they dropped the leaflets at 500 mph but few probably survived considering the conditions ashore. Most of the leaflets were dropped in the early days after the fall of South Georgia. I remember seeing boxes of them but they were gone after a while so I assume that they were all disseminated. I kept a small cache of the souvenir leaflets in my emergency lifejacket bag until I got home. Authors note: the Sea Cat was the first point-defense missile to enter naval service. War in the Falklands mentions the British dropping leaflets on Port Stanley just prior to 11 June in an attempt to avoid further bloodshed: For two days Harriers dropped warning leaflets on Stanley, spelling out the reality of the garrison's position. The London Daily Mailof 4 June 1982 published a story entitled "Surrender or Suffer Warns Admiral." It said in part: Thousands of leaflets urging Argentine troops to surrender were dropped on the besieged garrison of Port Stanley yesterday. British Harriers flew low over the Argentine trenches scattering the documents - one a letter to the enemy's commander from Task Force chief Admiral Sandy Woodward and the other a direct appeal to each soldier to lay down his arms. One of the leaflets includes a safe conduct to allow any Argentine who surrenders through British lines. The leaflets were dropped in a last ditch attempt to prevent a bloodbath. But the Argentines must move quickly to take up the surrender offer. The leaflet addressed to the soldiers carried a photograph of the Argentine commander of South Georgia, Lieutenant Commander Alfredo Astiz, signing the surrender document there. The second leaflet gives the text of a letter sent to the Argentine commander in the Falklands, Brigadier Benjamin Menendez, by Admiral Woodward. The Daily Star of 4 June had a similar article which said in part; Harrier jump-jets yesterday plastered the Argentine troops in Port Stanley with thousands of leaflets, urging them to surrender. The leaflets showered down like confetti on the Argentinean positions. The Falling Leaf adds: In late May the British Broadcasting Corporation had announced that leaflets had been disseminated by planes of the Task Force over East Falkland. No additional information appeared in the press on the following day so it was believed that this information was not for public information at the time. A phone call to the Ministry of Defense seeking details brought a very evasive and non-committal reply: Yes, we may have dropped leaflets and No, we have no confirmation. A second newspaper report said that another leaflet mission was carried out over Lafonia in the southern part of East Falkland, which resulted in the immediate surrender of 200 Argentinean soldiers. The paperback The Falklands War by the Sunday Times adds: For two days Harriers dropped warning leaflets on Stanley spelling out the reality of the garrison's position... Robert Fox adds in Eyewitness Falklands: Brigadier Thompson said that leaflets had been drawn up to be dropped over Port Stanley asking the Argentineans to give up honorably as their position was now hopeless... In Don't Cry for Me, Sergeant Major, authors Robert McGowan and Jeremy Hands say: BBC World Service reported that Harriers had been dropping leaflets on Port Stanley... Marines and Paras suggested what should have been written on the leaflets. "Dear Johnny Gaucho. You are done for. Be a good chap and chuck it in, then we can all go home." There are so many arguments for and against the dropping of propaganda leaflets during the Falklands War that it would seem impossible to come to a consensus. However, there is at least one report of the leaflet being found on the islands, and this would appear to prove once and for all that some were dropped. Leading Seaman Diver Tony Groom of the Fleet Clearance Diving Team based in the Mine Warfare School in HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, was assigned the task of deactivating bombs, and during his official duties ran across one of the leaflets. He says: I was serving in the Falklands during the conflict as part of a little known group, the Fleet Clearance Diving Team. Despite our title we did little diving, but a fair bit of bomb disposal. The day after the surrender we were tasked to render a house that was suspected of being booby trapped, safe. In this house I found the "ISLAS DE CONDENADOS," PSYOP leaflet, which I still have. I don't know if it has ever been proven that they were airdropped, but I can assure you this one was. It was found in a house that was still locked up tight due to the fear of booby traps. Besides the leaflet, we also found an Argentine officer's personal equipment. (Tony has recently published a fascinating book, DIVER, about his life as a Royal Navy and commercial deep-sea diver covering his time searching for underwater mines and repairing bomb-damaged ships during the Falklands war and other adventures around the world. For more details see here.) Since our original research some further correspondence has surfaced, although it does not really clarify the story. A 9 August 1982 letter from Government House, Port Stanley states in part: The Civil Commissioner well remembers being involved in the preparation of the leaflets but, oddly enough, we haven't been able to find a single leaflet nor do any of those who were here throughout the occupation remember seeing any. The Defense Secretariat Division 11 of the Ministry of Defense stated that three leaflets were carried with the Task Force and were available for dropping over the Islands and: ...no leaflets were in fact dropped on the Islands although serious consideration was given to their use and the Task Force Commander had them available. In the event the surrender by the Argentine forces was sufficiently quick for the dropping of leaflets to prove unnecessary. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office concludes in October 1982: The Ministry of Defense is rather sensitive about these leaflets because after having been assured by CINCFLEET that they had indeed been dropped, they publicly announced the fact. They later discovered that none had in fact been dropped - the rapidity of the final phases of the campaign made them unnecessary. This in itself would not have bothered them, but in the context of widespread allegations of Ministry of Defense misinformation and generally unsatisfactory relations with the press they have become very touchy about it all. Since some of the published articles indicate that leaflets 1 and 4 were dropped during the war we will depict them first. We will then show leaflet 2 which was found in a locked house on the Falklands by a Navy bomb disposal expert. Finally, we will depict leaflets 3 and 5 and remind the reader that it is possible that they were not disseminated. At least, no written evidence to support air-dropping has appeared yet.

The safe conduct pass that is reported above to have been dropped on 3 June is printed on blue paper. The leaflet is coded "1" on the front and depicts the Royal Crest of the United Kingdom at the top with the test "SAFE CONDUCT PASS" and the instructions in both English and Spanish within a frame. They are: INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE BRITISH FORCES The soldier who bears this pass has signaled his desire to cease fighting. He is to be treated strictly in accordance with the Geneva Convention and is to be evacuated from the area of operations as soon as possible. He is to be given food and medical treatment if he requires it and then be held in a place of shelter to await repatriation. J. F. Woodward

Rear Admiral

Commander

British Forces The back of the leaflet depicts a flag at the top and the following text: Letter to:

Brigadier General Benjamin Menendez

Commander in Chief of the Argentine forces. Undoubtedly you and the readers of this leaflet understand perfectly the serious military situation in which you and the military forces under your command find yourselves at this time. Surely it has not escaped your attention that the British forces under my command have established a dominant presence in the area and that there does not exist even the remotest possibility that your forces can receive aid or be rescued. It has now reached the point where it has become necessary for you to consider the wisdom and the justification for continuing to resist these overwhelming forces. You must now make a decision about your well being, that of your troops, and the civil population. Up until now your behavior has indicated clearly that the preservation of human life is of primary importance to you. I feel certain that this will continue to be a primary consideration for you. I understand perfectly that before you send me your decision, or before communicating your decision to the forces under your command, you will want to very carefully evaluate your position. Nevertheless, and given the difficulties in internal communications in the islands, I am sending you a copy of the orders given to my forces, which you will find reproduced on the reverse side of this leaflet. Rear Admiral John Forster Woodward, Royal Navy.

Commander in Chief of the British forces. The leaflet ends with the following instructions: If you wish to take advantage of the terms offered in this pass you should take the following action: a. Lay down your weapon.

b. Hold this pass in a prominent position

c. Move forward to the nearest member of the British forces. On 29 June 1982, the Daily Telegraph reported that the citizens of Port Stanley were looking to purchase souvenir leaflets asking for the garrison's surrender, but none had been found. The citizens claimed that they had heard a number of BBC reports of the leaflets being dropped over the town but had never seen any. The article continues: One local said he had heard a report that the leaflets were dropped in containers that did not open. He understood Argentine officers simply collected the containers after each drop. A ministry of defense or military spokesman was not available to comment yesterday in Port Stanley. There is the possibility that the leaflets were lost in the winds. The leaflet depicts a photograph of the Argentine commander of South Georgia, Lieutenant Commander Alfredo Astiz, signing the surrender document in the wardroom of HMS Endurance. It is notable that not only did he surrender his army and navy troops, but also the crew of the Argentine submarine Santa Fe. The surrender was photographed and forwarded for world-wide media dissemination. The Ministry of Defence then placed it on this leaflet. This leaflet bears the code number "4." The back is all text, depicts the symbol of the H.M.S. Endurance at the top, and says: SOLDIERS Your brave companions at arms on the islands of South Georgia have recently returned to their fatherland. Photographs of them receiving a military welcome with honors and being reunited with their loved ones have appeared in all of the Argentine newspapers (the press). The Argentine troops recently quartered on these islands surrendered the 24th of April. Within a short time period they were transferred by sea to the island of Ascencion and later sent by plane to Montevideo. They arrived in Buenos Aires the 14th of May. The captain of the frigate, Alfredo Astiz, commander in charge of the forces in South Georgia, becoming aware that the British forces possessed superior armed power, surrendered honorably. This photo shows him signing the document of surrender. The British and argentine people are two nations with a traditional bond of friendship encompassing more than 100 years. We do not want to spill any more blood, but we are determined to do so if there is no other alternative. More useless loss of life will only create more disconsolate mothers. Your companions at arms in South Georgia made the right and honorable decision. You must now do the same. Think of the danger in which you find yourself. Your rations and military equipment are in short supply due to the British naval blockade. Matters will worsen. Think of your loved ones and your home where they await your happy return. The Daily Express of 4 June 1982 depicted the safe conduct pass and Argentine Lieutenant Commander Alfredo Astiz signing the surrender document in an article entitled "Passport to Safety." Some of the article text is: On the eve of battle in Port Stanley yesterday the British gave 7,000 Argentinian soldiers a chance to get out and go home. Leaflets showered over the beleaguered garrison by plane told them, "Think of the danger you are in..." The leaflets that floated down from a high-flying Harrier followed a long, two-way bombardment by Royal Navy ships and by artillery supporting the British forces now poised to attack the island capital... A second leaflet, under the crests of the British ships Endurance and Plymouth, advises the Argentines to think of their "valiant companions in arms" recently on South Georgia who have now returned to their "fatherland." In The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins, Norton, London, 1983, explains why the crew of the Santa Fe was captured. The sub was spotted on 25 April. Three British helicopters attacked it with depth charges, torpedoes and rockets. One missile went through the submarine's conning tower, forcing it to return to land and beach itself near Grytviken. The capture of Captain Astiz caused some problems for the British. Hastings and Jenkins explain: Captain Alfedo Astiz formally surrendered. He was an embarrassing prisoner of war, as he was wanted for questioning by several nations in connection with the disappearance of their citizens while in government custody on the Argentine mainland years earlier. Britain was eventually to return him to Buenos Aires, uninterrogated. A leaflet not mentioned in the newspaper article is entitled "Island of the Condemned". The front depicts the Falkland Islands surrounded by barbed wire and warships, Harrier jets and helicopters. The image clearly shows that the Argentinean soldiers are trapped and there will be no relief. The leaflet is coded "2." The back all text and reads: SOLDIERS OF THE ARGENTINE FORCES: You are completely alone. There is no hope of relief or help from your motherland. You are condemned to the sad fate of defending a remote island. Soon there will fall upon you all the rigors of a cruel and merciless winter and the Argentine Navy is in no any condition to supply you with the reinforcements or provisions that you so desperately need. Your families live with the terrible fear of never seeing you again. You well know that all of this is the honest truth. WHAT ARE THE REASONS THAT YOU FIND YOURSELVES IN SUCH A CALAMITOUS SITUATION? Those responsible are the egotists who have named themselves the leaders of Argentina without taking into consideration the wishes of the Argentine people, and who have sent you on a ridiculous adventure, knowing there is no hope of any kind for an end to it. Now, these same leaders look for a way to disguise their stupid incompetence. SOLDIERS! YOU HAVE DONE ALL YOUR COUNTRY CAN ASK OF YOU! ONLY THE GENERALS STILL ASK FOR MORE. IT IS NOT FAIR THAT YOU SHOULD FORFEIT YOUR LIVES TO FULFILL THE AMBITIONS OF THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CRAZY ADVENTURE THAT THE WHOLE WORLD SEES AS WRONG. The leaflet coded 3 depicts a portrait of the Governor of the Falklands Islands, Mr. Rex Masterman Hunt (Order of St. Michael and St. George). It obviously is meant to raise the morale of the Falklands population and reminds them that the British are on the way and that the ordeal of the occupation will soon be over. This idea of an exiled leader writing a letter to the occupied subjects is a tried and true method first used by the British in WWII. For instance, after the Germans occupied Norway and Holland, King Haakon VII and Queen Wilhelmenia fled to Britain from whence leaflet letters were prepared in their name and dropped over their nations by the Royal Air Force to lift the morale of their people. This letter by the island's governor is an example of the exact same technique. The text on the back is in English: A Message from His Excellency the Governor Mr. Rex Hunt CMG The British Task Force is now at hand and has cut the Argentine access to the islands. I am sorry that I cannot be with it in person but am confident that I shall rejoin you shortly. Your terrible experience under the occupying force will soon be ended. I know that you will continue to be patient and resolute. Do nothing to antagonize the Argentines and stay under cover until the Task Force has liberated you. My thoughts and feelings are with you all in this final hour of trial before the aggressors are defeated and your freedom is restored. Best wishes and God bless you. R. M. Hunt

Governor and Commander-in-Chief

The Falkland Islands and their Dependencies The Front of this leaflet is all text: SOUTH ATLANTIC RADIO Notice to the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands I have the great pleasure of announcing to you

a new radio station. South Atlantic Radio will transmit news daily

from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on a frequency of 9.71 MHz. This broadcast will operate like an additional station

to the LRA National Radio of the Falklands. The back of the leaflet bears the code "5" and the text: From 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. R. A. S. (inside a lightning bolt) 9.71 MHz frequency. Perrett says in Weapons of the Falklands Conflict: During World War II one of the most successful British psywar devices had been a radio station beamed at German troops based in north-western France. Know as Soldatensender Calais, it was listened to because its news broadcasts were truthful, while those of Dr Goebbels' radio stations were not. Having acquired its audience, Soldatensender Calais insidiously set about undermining the confidence of the troops in their leaders and even in their own weapons. Argentina having promptly jammed the BBC's World Service transmissions on the outbreak of hostilities, it was decided to set up a duplicate of Soldatensender Calais, on Ascension Island, beamed specifically at General Menendez' garrison on the Falklands and known as Radio South Atlantic. The anti-Argentine Atlantico del Sur propaganda radio operation was not a great success. It first broadcast on 19 May 1982 at 2300 using the Ascension Islands relay Transmitter. The British Broadcasting Corporation issued this press release the same day: The Ministry of Defense this morning contacted the BBC to make available one of the transmitters at the Atlantic relay station at Ascension Island... The BBC will accordingly make a transmitter available to the Ministry of Defense for its own broadcasting purpose. This public statement effectively destroyed any chance the British had to claim that the station was a "black" radio operation broadcasting from Argentina or the Falkland Islands. Glenn Hauser recalls the station in the "DX Listening Digest," 30 September 2002. Some of his comments are: The station was operated by Defense Ministry personnel. The station had a magazine format and fake record dedications. Music with a PSYOP theme such as "Chariots of Fire" was regularly heard. The station was subject to front page ridicule in the quality British press; they commented that the announcers were not native Spanish speakers, spoke in a Cambridge educated Chilean accent, the music chosen would not appeal to Argentinean forces and that the station was so obviously phony that it would have no effect. The estimated cost of the operation was 10 to 20 thousand pounds a week. Argentina did jam the station but the jamming was ineffective. This is a bit different from comments made about radio Atlantico del Sur in the 4 August 2001 DX Listening Digest: The two speakers, a male and female, were Foreign Office employees who had learned Spanish from a Colombian and thus spoke with pronounced Colombian accents, causing much mirth in downtown Buenos Aires, as they were claiming to be Argentinean! The program apparently had quite a big audience amongst Argentineans with a penchant for unintentional comedy. People at BBC World Service were incandescent with rage at this amateurish operation by civil servants, broadcast on a well-known BBC frequency. Tim Tyler monitored and taped the radio broadcasts during the war and told me: I monitored Radio Atlantico del Sur as a short wave radio listener and although there were complaints that the radio did not broadcast effective PSYOP, someone was actively jamming the broadcasts, or at least the broadcasts that I heard and recorded. Due to the way shortwave radio works, it is possible that the jammer did not block the broadcasts being heard on the Falkland Islands or Argentina, though if they had shortwave jamming equipment, I would assume they were smart enough to know the proper placement of the jammer to make it effective. I also remember the British Forces Broadcasting Service eventually set up service (also using BBC transmitters on Ascension Island, I believe) to provide news and entertainment to their troops deployed to the Southern Atlantic during the crisis, and I monitored them too. I also monitored the United States Air Force aircraft shuttling Secretary of State George Shultz between Buenos Aires, Washington DC and London as he tried to negotiate a truce.