glasfryn
cleaning up cat sick
I think people forget that the reason we went to war over the Falklands was because the PM's husband had shares in mineral deposits in that area although they are worth going to war over because they are British.
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Falkland Islands if history was to repeat itself ?
- Thread starter Leekbrookgull
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and you really believe that? there are people on here who hate thatcher and i can understand to a certain extent their reasons for doing so , but your statement is just childish.
steward 433
Back and better
What an utter load of absolute bollocks.
Thatcher had a spine (sometimes too much for her own good and was her downfall also) but better than the bunch of clowns ruining the place now
HampshireSeagulls
Moulding Generation Z
See, I heard that we went to war because Dennis Thatcher had just bought a stamp collection on Ebay from a Falkland Islander, and he was worried that the postal system would fail if the Argies took the Islands over. So Maggie sent in the Stamp Advisory Service to make sure that he got it, as he had paid for it using her PayPal account.
as someone mentioned earlier the reason we went to war was because the old whaling station in south georgia (about 400m) from the falklands had loads of scrap metal there.
the argies asked thatcher if they could collect the scrap which she agreed to. there were a few marines watching them as they turned up in a military ship and proceeded to plant their flag on the island. obviously this wasnt in thatchers plans. as it became clear they were invading south georgia and the falklands we sent a task force to deal with them. other than that when people say why bother. well why shouldnt we? the falklanders are very proud to be british more so than most brits. and they didnt want to be run by argies. i have talked to many falklanders that helped the british fight the war. simple things such as inviting perished, starving argies into their homes for tea and cake etc, with the intention of getting info from them to pass on to the british forces. them people want to be british so we have the honour of defending them, simple.
i have spent most of the last 3 years in the falklands and talked to many of the locals. very friendly people.
the military presence there now is around the same as the civilian presence, 2500 forces, 2800 civilians. they have been test drilling for oil down there and have proved there is loads of the stuff there. problem is its not very cost effective or viable to get out. as it would be very expensive to obtain the rig and position it. then the oil needs taking to a land mass. and the falklands aint that big. and not many people live there. also the whole inferstructre of the island is very dated and over run. i know i have spent most of the last 3 years electrically testing it. sewage, water, electricity etc everything is struggling to cope with its already rapidly expired, expanding life.
but as oil prices keep rising everywhere then extracting it from the falklands will become more and more attractive, hence the share prices shooting up so much.
the argies asked thatcher if they could collect the scrap which she agreed to. there were a few marines watching them as they turned up in a military ship and proceeded to plant their flag on the island. obviously this wasnt in thatchers plans. as it became clear they were invading south georgia and the falklands we sent a task force to deal with them. other than that when people say why bother. well why shouldnt we? the falklanders are very proud to be british more so than most brits. and they didnt want to be run by argies. i have talked to many falklanders that helped the british fight the war. simple things such as inviting perished, starving argies into their homes for tea and cake etc, with the intention of getting info from them to pass on to the british forces. them people want to be british so we have the honour of defending them, simple.
i have spent most of the last 3 years in the falklands and talked to many of the locals. very friendly people.
the military presence there now is around the same as the civilian presence, 2500 forces, 2800 civilians. they have been test drilling for oil down there and have proved there is loads of the stuff there. problem is its not very cost effective or viable to get out. as it would be very expensive to obtain the rig and position it. then the oil needs taking to a land mass. and the falklands aint that big. and not many people live there. also the whole inferstructre of the island is very dated and over run. i know i have spent most of the last 3 years electrically testing it. sewage, water, electricity etc everything is struggling to cope with its already rapidly expired, expanding life.
but as oil prices keep rising everywhere then extracting it from the falklands will become more and more attractive, hence the share prices shooting up so much.
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Leekbrookgull
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #46
graz. Falkland oil & gas ? A good buy. ? 
British Bulldog
The great escape
- Feb 6, 2006
- 10,966
I remember at the time of the invasion a lot of people were wondering why the Argies had invaded one of the scottish islands.
probs yeah. but the prices have already rocketed over the last couple of years.
i would put my money on desire if i had any. 2 years ago their shares were around 26p, in may when i came home they had gone to around a pound. still well worth getting in my opinion.
i would put my money on desire if i had any. 2 years ago their shares were around 26p, in may when i came home they had gone to around a pound. still well worth getting in my opinion.
as a young lad i thought that.. truth is there is load of scots down there aswell. maybe it is a scottish isle, lol.
seagullsovergrimsby
#cpfctinpotclub
graz126 , is that your Falklands "fiancee" pictured in front of you on your avatar ?
seagullsovergrimsby
#cpfctinpotclub
1982 - internet ? , e-bay ? , paypal ?
Back in 1982 to make a telephone call to the Falkland Islands it had to be prebooked through the operator. There was only one manual circuit between London and Stanley and there was limited hours of service (daytime hours in Stanley and they were either 3 or 5 hours behind in time according to BST/GMT.) Telephone numbers were only 2 or 3 digits and these were also on party lines , the operator in Stanley would ask who we were calling, if there was no reply from a number as she often knew that they might be visiting somebody. Officially there was only a telephone service to Stanley but a message could be sent via radio to residents living in the settlements in the case of an emergency.
Southover Street Seagull
Well-known member
I thought the reason why we went to war over the Falklands was through the direct result of Thatcher and her Tory Government making big cutbacks in the Royal Navy, thereby ending the patrols down in the South Atlantic, thereby giving the fascist junta in Argentina the green light to invade.
Dandyman
In London village.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jun/28/falklands.past
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UK held secret talks to cede sovereignty Minister met junta envoy in Switzerland, official war history reveals
Richard Norton-Taylor and Rob Evans
The Guardian, Tuesday June 28 2005
Margaret Thatcher's government offered to hand over sovereignty of the Falkland islands at a clandestine meeting with a senior Argentinian official less than two years before the invasion of the British territory, it is revealed today.
Colleagues of the British minister involved set up a diversionary cover story to explain his absence, saying he was off to Switzerland to do a little painting with his wife.
The secret meeting is disclosed in the official history of the Falklands by Sir Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at King's College, University of London.
He reveals that in June 1980, the Foreign Office drew up a proposal, approved by the cabinet's defence committee, whereby Britain would hand Argentina titular sovereignty over the islands, which would then be leased back by Britain for 99 years.
The British and Argentinian flags would be flown side by side on public buildings on the islands. British administration would continue with a view to guaranteeing the islanders and their descendants "uninterrupted enjoyment of their way of life".
The driving force behind the plan was the Foreign Office minister Nicholas Ridley.
He proposed a secret meeting with his Argentinian opposite number, Comodoro Cavandoli, in Venice in September 1980. He would be accompanied by his wife, ostensibly on a private holiday.
However, Lord Carrington, the foreign secretary, was worried about the choice of venue. "Why Venice?" he asked. "It all looks very hole in the corner."
Eventually, a Swiss location was chosen - the Hotel du Lac, situated in the picturesque lakeside village of Coppet, about 10 miles from Geneva.
The government invented a cover story - that "Mr Ridley's visit to Geneva with his wife is private, for a short holiday break, and that he hopes to do a little watercolour painting".
Mr Ridley had already agreed the sale of Lynx helicopters and naval missiles to Argentina and he and Mr Cavandoli seemed to enjoy a mutually warm relationship. Their meetings in Switzerland appeared to go well - certainly, Mr Ridley thought so - and they met again in New York soon afterwards.
However, the plan was wrecked after Mr Ridley, whose mission was not helped by a rather offhand and patronising manner, made an ill-fated trip to the Falklands in November, where he tried to sell a deal to the islanders. Suspicion about the government's long-term intentions grew, fuelling opposition among both Conservative and Labour MPs to any such deal.
Sir Lawrence also reveals how the Thatcher government came under unrelenting pressure from Washington to agree a ceasefire after the Argentinian invasion and before the islands had been recaptured.
Lady Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan were engaged in heated exchanges as Washington's concern about its relations with South American countries led to strong pressure on Britain to come to a deal with the Argentinian junta.
Alexander Haig, the US secretary of state, proposed a ceasefire with an international peacekeeping force, including US troops. Lady Thatcher told Reagan in a telephone call at the end of May 1982 that Britain could not contemplate a ceasefire before Argentina withdrew from the Falklands.
According to Sir Lawrence, she asked Reagan: "How would the Americans react if Alaska were invaded and, as the invaders were being thrown out, there were calls for the Americans to withdraw?" She is said to have been "dismayed" by Reagan's attitude and wanted him to know just how "upset" she was.
Washington pointed out that the US had secretly supplied Britain's special forces with communications satellites and ammunition. But Lady Thatcher was adamant. "We have lost a lot of blood, and it's the best blood," she told Sir Nicholas Henderson, Britain's ambassador to the US, on an open line. "Do they not realise," she added, "that it is an issue of principle? We cannot surrender principles for expediency."
Meanwhile, France from the start proved to be Britain's staunchest ally.
steward 433
Back and better
Fuckin hell
That puts a hell of a twist on things.
Gonna try and get a copy of that book Cheers
That puts a hell of a twist on things.
Gonna try and get a copy of that book Cheers
Dandyman
In London village.
Fuckin hell
That puts a hell of a twist on things.
Gonna try and get a copy of that book Cheers
No worries.
seagullsovergrimsby
#cpfctinpotclub
The Royal Navy helped immensely before the war by training Argentinian naval officers how to command their own warships at a dockyard somewhere on the south coast (clue = sounds like a Frankie Howerd TV series).
NMH
Banned
There was a strong rumour after the war, that we were prepared to simply hand over The Malvinas to Argentina - although that does smack of post-political propaganda designed to further ridicule and disgrace the Argie leader that started the aggressive invasion.
France, as our "staunchest ally" had supplied the Argies with the Exocet missile, hadn't they? As I hear in another strong rumour, the Argentinians didn't quite know how to fully deploy and launch the missile, so French technicians went down to show them!
Now, that last snippet I heard just after the war had ended - but it could intimate that it was the decision of the company who built the missiles, or engineers, or other French military personnel who could have made the trip as mercenaries.
Being an Englishman, it's easy to believe such nasty rumours about les frogs, naturellement.
NMH
Banned
One more 'product' from that war was that Pinochet got in good with Thatcher by Chile giving full support to Britain against their neighbours.
Much to Spain's eventual chagrin, when he was treated for his illness in Britain later, yet we refused to extradite him to fellow Europeans Spain, for his murdering several Spanish citizens.
He called in an old favour from Thatcher and she gracefully acceded.
Much to Spain's eventual chagrin, when he was treated for his illness in Britain later, yet we refused to extradite him to fellow Europeans Spain, for his murdering several Spanish citizens.
He called in an old favour from Thatcher and she gracefully acceded.
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m20gull
Well-known member
clapham_gull
Legacy Fan
- Aug 20, 2003
- 25,721
As well be, but if she had listened to all the people in the military telling her government that the cut backs in defence around the Falklands were a false economy.. (the Argies would invade)
.. she wouldn't have had to send a task force down there.
Read a great obitrary the other day about the first member of the forces to be sent down. Can't remember his name but he's known as the "last one in, last one out.."
On his way down he wrote in his diary about his disbelief that he was trying to stop something that should never have been allowed to happen in the first place.
From what I understand there was a lot of anger in the higher ranks of the military towards Thatcher and the Falklands crises, the lead up to and the aftermath.
Her government was complacent in allowing it to happen, the military saved her neck, and she took the credit.