Nick van der Bijl - 5th Infantry Brigade in The Falklands War

Our wide variety of sources includes published books as well as and unpublished sources, interviews and personal experience.

Considerable reference is made to Michael Clapps Amphibious Assault Falklands, Ewen Southby-Tailyours Reasons in Writing and Nick Vauxs March to the South Atlantic . It gives us much pleasure to thank the following, in their current ranks and their contribution in 1982.

From the Royal Navy, Commodore Michael Clapp, Commodore Amphibious Warfare, for his honest evaluation of his role in the campaign, and Rear-Admiral Peter Dingemans of HMS Intrepid .

From the Army, Brigadier Christopher Dunphie at Northwood; Major-General Jeremy Moore, General John Waters and Major-General David Pennefather, both HQ Land Forces Falkland Islands; Brigadier Brendan Lambe and Lieutenant-Colonel Will Townend of Headquarters 5th Infantry Brigade; Major-General Michael Scott and Danny McDermid of the Scots Guards; Brigadier Johnny Rickett of the Welsh Guards; Brigadier David Chaundler and Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Keeble of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment; Brigadier David Morgan, Colonel Bill Dawson and Colonel Mike Kefford of 1/7th Gurkhas; Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Davies of 9 Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers, and Edward Denmark, Tony McNally and Tim Ward of T Air Defence Battery.

From 3rd Commando Brigade, Major-General Julian Thompson, Chris Pretty of 40 Commando; Major-General Nick Vaux of 42 Commando; Captain Steve Nicholls of the Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre, Royal Marines; Lieutenant-Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour, Royal Marines, and finally Bob Hendicott of 59 Independent Commando Squadron, Royal Engineers.

Others we must thank are those who wish to remain anonymous and those with whom Nick chatted at such functions as the South Atlantic Medal Association (82) Annual General Meeting before the annual Army versus Navy rugby match at Twickenham and the annual San Carlos Dinner nights at Commando Forces Officers Mess in Plymouth, usually over a pint.

So far as our Argentine acknowledgements are concerned, we are grateful for the assistance given by the former Argentine Ambassador in Australia, Enrique Candiotti, and his secretary, Gerardo Buompadre; Colonel Alberto Gonzalez of the Argentine Army Historical Services Branch, who unearthed documents and first-hand accounts; the prominent historian Isidoro Jorge Ruiz-Moreno of the Argentine Army General Staff College, for putting up with endless questions and pestering by telephone and letter, and finally Colonel Felix Roberto Aguiar, the former Chief-of-Staff of the Argentine 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the Falklands, for allowing the authors to quote from his personal account , La Brigada de Infanteria Mecanizada 10 Teniente General Nicolas Levalle en accion en Malvinas. Their contribution in balancing this history has been invaluable.

The one notable absence is Brigadier Tony Wilson, who commanded 5th Infantry Brigade. For reasons which we respect, he declined to contribute. However, we both hope that there will be a time when, in Far East terms, he will daub the dragons eyes and tell his contribution to the defeat of the Argentines.

Our thanks to Neil Hyslop, who produced the maps, to Chris Davies, Steve Dock of Soldier magazine, Will Fowler, Barrie Lovell, who served with 81 Intelligence Section, Alex Manning, who served with Commander Amphibious Warfare, Steve Nicolls and Will Townend for supplying photos. Finally and most important, two more people, my editor Tom Hartman and the managing editor at Pen & Sword, Brigadier Henry Wilson. We must also thank whoever invented E-mail!

Not to be forgotten are Nicks wife Penny and their daughter Imogen van der Bijl for their patience and understanding.