Godfrey Bloom

For those interested I post a chapter from my late father’s book, ‘Once there was an Empire’. I am fed up with the usual nonsense about the Falklands. It is not Argentina's, nor was it ever!

THE FALKLAND ISLANDS AND SOUTH GEORGIA

These islands lie in the South Atlantic, three hundred miles east of the southern part of South America now called Argentina. The colony is administered by a Governor, with executive and legislative councils. There are two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, plus some small off shore islands.

Captain John Davis (Davys) who was an English navigator discovered the islands in 1593. Davis was born at Dartmouth in 1550 and four years before finding the Falkland Islands he had fought for England against the Spanish Armada. Later he was killed by Japanese pirates in the Straits of Malacca.

The Falkland Islands were of no value to any country and in 1764 the French took them but three years later ceded them to Spain. In 1771 Spain yielded them to Britain and they were made a crown colony in 1883. These dates are important because of subsequent events involved claims by Argentina, and invasion of the islands in 1982. It is useful to know the history such as it is of Argentina.

South America was inhabited by American natives until invasion and occupancy in 1516 by Spain. During the course of the following two hundred years, Buenos Aires was set up by the Spaniards as capital of a vast region which was divided into several states. By the nineteenth century Spanish colonists had exterminated most of the native Indians then rebelled against Spain, not unlike the North American English colonists who rebelled against Britain. In 1816 the 'United Provinces of the River Plate', consisting of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, under the leadership of General Jose de San Martin, threw out their Spanish masters and declared themselves independent. A long struggle with Spain followed, leading to independence of other South American states such as Chile and Peru. Late in the nineteenth century there was large scale immigration from European Roman Catholic countries, particularly Italy. The population of Argentina is now twenty five million mainly of Spanish and Italian descent, but only twenty thousand descendants of the original Amerindians still survive. A constitution for the country of Argentina was drawn up in 1853, twenty years after Britain had colonized the Falkland Islands, and nearly three hundred years after their discovery by English navigator John Davis.

There have been many attempts by the Argentines to claim what they call Islas Malvinas, but the islanders wish to remain British. In particular they loathe the idea of belonging to Argentina, with its record not only of slaughtering thousands of Amerindians, but with a present government which has mysteriously 'lost' fifteen thousand Argentine political opponents. In 1982 Argentina had the temerity to invade and occupy this British owned territory. For the first time for half a century, the 'British Lion' not only showed its teeth but used them. Under a brave and determined Prime Minister, from slender resources, a combined British force was mustered and in a brilliant example of logistical skill, travelled thousands of miles across the world, and although heavily outnumbered, defeated and threw out the invaders by courage and professional skill. The world watched astounded, and perhaps remembered some history. Britains at last could hold up their heads with pride.

Argentina is now almost bankrupt and on the verge of revolution, but in order to preserve the safety of the two thousand British colonists on the Falklands, Britain is obliged to maintain a large military garrison on the Islands. At the moment the only industry keeping the islanders is the raising of sheep so this crown colony is an expensive embarrassment to Britain.