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Text originally published in 1999 under the same title.
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THE BRITISH INFANTRY IN THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT: LESSONS OF THE LIGHT INFANTRY IN 1982 AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO THE BRITISH ARMY AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
BY
MAJ ANDREW M. PULLAN, UK.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
THE BRITISH INFANTRY IN THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT: LESSONS OF THE LIGHT INFANTRY IN 1982 AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO THE BRITISH ARMY AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY by MAJ Andrew M. Pullan, UK.
This study investigates the Falklands Conflict from the perspective of the light infantry to determine the key lessons that they learned during the ground campaign. These lessons are then applied to the British Army, specifically the infantry, at the turn of the century to determine if they are still relevant.
The Falklands Conflict represents the last experience that the British infantry has of fighting in the light role in conventional warfighting. This thesis postulates that there were some critical failings in the infantry performance in the Falklands, mainly due to a lack of training because of a lack of time spent in the light infantry role.
This study analyzes the ground campaign from the landings at San Carlos to the final battles around Port Stanley. From this study six broad lessons were identified, three of which are unique to this thesis and concern the use of ad hoc formations, the light infantry load, and the impact of the Regimental System on infantry performance in the Falklands Conflict. The study then concludes by discussing the relevance of all the identified lessons to the infantry at the turn of the century. The conclusion of this study finds that many of the factors that led to the problems experienced by the infantry in 1982 and hence to their lessons from the ground campaign are as relevant today as they were in the Falklands Conflict.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my wife Melanie and to my two children Hannah and Ben who have lived through the trials and tribulations of this endeavor with great fortitude and good humor. Without their support this product that you now hold, for what it is worth, would have not have been completed.
I am also eternally grateful to my Father. A true academic, he gave hope and guidance in my moment of deepest despair. Without his guiding hand this thesis was doomed to founder upon the rocks of academic ignorance. I still dwell in his shadow but slowly I am beginning to cast my own.
However, it is to Dr. James Willbanks, Dr. Christopher Gabel and Major Elizabeth Agather that the greatest debt of gratitude is owed. It is they that with great forbearance, endless charm, and constant enthusiasm waded through numerous ill-conceived drafts and provided deft control of the evolution of this thesis. That said, any errors or faults of logic in this thesis are mine and mine alone.
Above all, my deepest respect and final thoughts go to the fallen of the Falklands Conflict, My Studies have reinforced my understanding of how awful war is and how necessary it is that we, who call ourselves professionals, prepare for its greatest trials. Only in this way can we hope to win at least cost, saving as many hearts as possible the dark burden of grief and eternal loss. Only in this way can we face the bereaved and honestly say that the lives of their loved ones were not squandered at the hands of the unprepared. I can only hope that my endeavors are worthy of their sacrifice.
Nec Aspera Terrent .
CHAPTER 1 THESIS OVERVIEW
On 2 April 1982 Argentinean forces invaded the Falkland Islands. Three days after the invasion, HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible left the United Kingdom to head what was to be the largest task force in recent history. On 25 April the task force repossessed South Georgia. On the night of 20/21 May the first major landing on the Falkland Islands was made at San Carlos Water. In the actions that followed there were inevitable setbacks and casualties. Nevertheless, just over three weeks after the landing the Argentinean forces surrendered. It was by any standards a brilliant campaign, marked by exceptional logistics planning and improvisation, and carried through with outstanding skill and fortitude. {1} Ministry of Defense, The Falklands War: The Lessons
Keep your hands off the Regiments, you iconoclastic civilians who meddle and muddle in Army matters; you are not soldiers and you do not understand them. {2} Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley, The Story of a Soldiers Life
Problem
The 1982 Falklands Conflict descended upon Britain out of a seemingly clear blue diplomatic sky, catching the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom off guard. Despite this, within three days a Royal Navy task force was steaming south prepared to dispute the Argentinean invasion, by force if necessary. Mobilized in direct support of this operation were thirty thousand servicemen and women and 108 ships. Included in this package were two light infantry brigades: 5 Infantry Brigade (5 Inf Bde) and 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde). In total, these two brigades comprised of five Army infantry battalions and three Royal Marine commandos (defined later). Of concern to this thesis are the lessons learned by the Armys five infantry battalions, and the continued relevance of these lessons to the British Army at the turn of the century.
A brief survey of history tells us that, for the British Army, being caught unprepared is nothing new, nor has such a pattern of events changed in the intervening years since the Falklands Conflict. The most recent example of this being Kosovo in 1999, with the imminent deployment of eight thousand soldiers to the borders of Serbia increasing the proportion of soldiers on operations to 27 percent of the recruited strength of the Army. {3} This figure takes no account of those preparing to deploy or those who have just returned from operations. It is fair to conclude from this that the British Army is over committed. Furthermore, all the operations are, currently, peace support tasks, all of which are a distraction to the preparation of the Army for its perceived primary rolehigh intensity warfighting.
However, the root cause of the Armys plight is not the commitment level to operations, which is the Armys raison detre, but the heavy-handed cut backs in the size of the Army following the end of the Cold War. The rush to cash in on an apparent peace dividend has left the Army under resourced and under strength. This, despite all the warning signs that the demise of the Soviet Union would leave a power vacuum into which chaos would, and did, step.
