Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Aircrew Forums > Military Aviation
Reload this Page >

US wanted to warn Argentina about South Georgia

Wikiposts
Search
Military Aviation A forum for the professionals who fly military hardware. Also for the backroom boys and girls who support the flying and maintain the equipment, and without whom nothing would ever leave the ground. All armies, navies and air forces of the world equally welcome here.

US wanted to warn Argentina about South Georgia

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 28th Dec 2012, 06:31
  #1 (permalink)  
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Peripatetic
Posts: 17,393
Received 1,586 Likes on 723 Posts
US wanted to warn Argentina about South Georgia

Toygraph: US wanted to warn Argentina about South Georgia

Grauniad: Thatcher urged to steal French-made Exocet missiles during Falklands war

Last edited by ORAC; 28th Dec 2012 at 06:41.
ORAC is online now  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 09:08
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 1998
Location: England
Posts: 1,930
Received 7 Likes on 4 Posts
An interesting line in the article (and WITHOUT wishing to start another LRMPA topic ) this caught my eye

For a short but important time after the invasion of the Falklands, Chile secretly allowed Britain to base a Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft at an airfield on San Felix, a small island off the Chilean coast.
Despite being ex-Nimrod aircrew, this isn't a detachment I remember hearing about. Any other Nimrod mates know anything? Or is this just another example of a secret world, kept so secret that no-one really knew what the force did?

26° 17' 36" S 80° 6' 3" W
(sorry not sure how to insert a Google Earth link)

Certainly doesn't look like a good night out!!
Roland Pulfrew is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 09:13
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: The Roman Empire
Posts: 2,449
Received 72 Likes on 33 Posts
Who said the "Nimrod" in question was an MPA...?


Just a thought!
Biggus is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 09:19
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: on the beach
Posts: 359
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Nimrod on San Felix?

Chile
mike-wsm is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 09:20
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 1998
Location: England
Posts: 1,930
Received 7 Likes on 4 Posts
Biggus

Fair point, well made. That would explain more of it.
Roland Pulfrew is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 10:48
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Downeast
Age: 75
Posts: 18,287
Received 508 Likes on 211 Posts
Alexander Haig was an Idiot....how he got to...and maintained a position of importance defies the imagination. But then....it seems that kind of buffoonery exists at those levels in government most everywhere these days.

I fail to understand his logic....by leaking British Military plans he was to prove how impartial he was to the Argies?

How would that have played with the Brits as a way to impress them of his Bona Fides? If I had been Miss Maggie....I would have been on the Talking Bone to my Cowboy buddy and said Haig would have been looking for a new job.

Last edited by SASless; 28th Dec 2012 at 10:51.
SASless is online now  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 12:30
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wiltshire
Age: 59
Posts: 903
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Interesting programme on Radio 4 - UK Confidential (IPlayer)

At 19:10 in the programme, when discussing with Haig about a statement over the US stance

Let's get Ascension out of this as it's our island. Do I make myself clear?
November4 is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 15:40
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: liverpool uk
Age: 67
Posts: 1,338
Received 16 Likes on 5 Posts
SASless, yes Haig was an idiot, played like a fish on a line by Costa Mendes, behind him he also had the other idiot but much more dangerous Jean Kirkpatrick at the UN talking shop, who I believe hated the British intensely due to Irish republican leanings.

Last edited by air pig; 28th Dec 2012 at 15:40.
air pig is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 16:50
  #9 (permalink)  
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Lincolnshire
Age: 81
Posts: 16,777
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
Canberra PR9

It was recommended that the two Canberra’s and two C-130’s depart for Belize as a matter of urgency, to pre-position for the journey to Chile. The four aircraft soon arrived in Belize and on 26 Apr 82 the two C-130s, disguised in Chilean markings applied in Belize, arrived in Santiago – the Canberra’s were expected to arrive just after dawn on 30 Apr 82.

In 1987 the then Colonel of the Intelligence School at Ashford said he had seen RAF aircrew in green flying suits, no badges, in Belize. He knew their unit because of the stitch patterns on the flying suits. They would have been these PR9 crews.
Pontius Navigator is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 17:51
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Lincs
Posts: 2,307
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Nimrod R.1 - Chile

Roland,

The Chilean Air Force Commander-in-Chief at the time of the conflict, General Fernando Matthei, and other Chilean Air Force personnel have provided details of RAF C-130s and Nimrod R.1 operating from Chile.

http://www.pprune.org/7095219-post368.html

See following for link to videos of the Chilean documentary.

http://www.pprune.org/7097031-post396.html
TEEEJ is offline  
Old 28th Dec 2012, 17:56
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Tennessee - Smoky Mountains
Age: 55
Posts: 1,602
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Certainly doesn't look like a good night out!!
Well it does have a tennis court...
Roadster280 is offline  
Old 30th Dec 2012, 04:35
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 55
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
While US defense secretary Caspar Weinberger proved a staunch ally of Britain from the outbreak of war on 2 April 1982, authorising secret shipments of weapons vital to the task force, the US state department was anything but sympathetic to British interests.
(emphasis added)

If it makes our British friends feel any better, the U.S. State Department has never been particularly sympathetic to American interests either.
JimNtexas is offline  
Old 30th Dec 2012, 06:18
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Dead Dog Land
Age: 77
Posts: 531
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
I had several R1 groundcrew mates who, post war, had rosettes on their SAM ribbons.
The Oberon is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.