12
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 54:
Line 54: + + + + + + + + + +
Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War) (view source)
Revision as of 22:33, July 3, 2021
, 22:33, July 3, 2021→Liberation
There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>
There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>
British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>
Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:
''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>
Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:
''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>
Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based 'Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' (Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre or CECIM) tell of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for stealing from the food depots or shooting and killing sheep for food. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were absolutely necessary to keep the conscript soldiers in line.
==References==
==References==