In recent years I have operated the Airbridge to the Falklands & a couple of months ago had the pleasure of joining some of the EGYP resident civvies on their weekly Stanley 'walkabout', one afternoon. After some refreshments, they set up camp in The Globe. I went for a wander.
On this particular day, a large cruise liner was moored near Stanley with the endless shuttles by the smaller craft depositing literally hundreds of tourists at the wharf in the centre of Stanley, all toting Canon', kagoul & curiosity.
I discretely showed my ID to one of the minibus drivers who had come to taxi the tourists and asked for directions to the Museum, the driver winked & nodded to the vacant front passenger seat. Once aboard & underway, I was aware that the vast majority of trade was from the US' & Canada. This is where I got an insight into what your average US' citizen knows about the Falkland Islands. One of the more vocal had a 'New England' accent, & was sharing his 'knowledge' gleaned from an his friends who staff an Argentine steak restaurant he frequents back home, with tacit agreeing nods from his entourage of about a dozen or so. This is what I 'learned'.
1) He said he was comfortable speaking English because the primary language of the Islands is Spanish.
2) The Brits invaded the islands just before WW1 in order to have a South Atlantic base to harass German interests in South West Africa & South America, herding the Argentine settlers into concentration camps before forced deportation.
3) When asked why all the streets were devoid of Brit Military personnel, his reply was it was probably due to strained relations between Argentina & the Brits, the Argentinian Government demanding that no British personnel can be allowed on the streets whilst the Islands were under occupation & dispute resolved.
By now we had reached the museum & were vacating the bus when the Colonial asked the driver in Spanish what time the bus would be leaving the museum. The driver looked blankly at the offender who continued to dig his hole until one of Canadians shouted to the Septic, advising him to ask again in English, which he did & the old boy behind the wheel smiled & said very, very slowly "In ... One... Hour", the Septic stepped back, his followers confused & aghast, and asked, "You speak English???" to which the driver replied "Yes, a little". One of the Septic's disciples meekly asked, "How come?" The driver's reply squeezed the last of any dignity from the scarlet faced, squirming "Cwoffee" drinker by simply saying,"For it be my Mother tongue.... and that of all natives of these Islands. See you all in an hour".
My, how the 2 Canadian couples & I laughed.
Reluctantly spurning the invitation of the Cannucks to join their party, I decided to tag along the American group to see what they made of the tour of the museum. Again surprise at the tour guide's 'American' names, their 'flarless' English accents, the way the tour guide (who was 12 in April 1982) differentiated between the Argentine Invasion & the British Liberation & smiled when she had to correct the dissenters that the Brits didn't 'Invade' the Islands in 1982.
The short bus journey back to the wharf was a fairly silent affair. The only sound being that of our vociferous Colonial licking his wounds. Upon arrival at the wharf, it was readily apparent that for quite a few Septics, the run ashore had been an enlightening experience. A few of the startling 'revelations' shared were:
The place hadn't changed much since the old photographs in the Museum
The street names were in English, not Spanish
The vehicles & roadsigns were on the 'British' side of the road, as were the steering wheels.
Very few people appeared to speak Spanish, in fact everybody spoke English just like Brits
None of the natives looked Latino.
All the flags featured the British Flag (as does Hawaii pointed out by one of them)
A couple of the entourage who had served in the US military, stationed in the UK, stated that if you didn't know you were 8000 miles away from Europe, you'd think you were in Great Britain.
The pubs were just like British Pubs.
At this point, I wandered up the hill to rejoin my party at The Globe were I was met with an urgent beckoning & had the enviable honour to be introduced to a man called Don. Don was Rex Hunt's driver, a true legend & the only man to kill an Argentine Special Forces invader on that night in early April 1982, albeit being a civvie armed with a 12 Bore shotgun guarding the flagpole of his Governor's Residence from the kitchen back door. I sat & listened to him for hours, plying him with Diet Coke (at his request). What a treasure trove of information, opinion & observation he is.
He said that he can tell the difference in regional Argentine accents & takes great delight in making some of the 'Tourists' squirm when they come ashore from the visiting Liners, pretending to be Brazilian or Chilean.
Some of you may be thinking, what has my post to do with any 'Impending Falklands Crisis'. Well, my theory is that people need educating about it all.
EVERYBODY who neither knows the truth about these Islands nor the history, pride & passion of those who were born & bred there, fought for & served there needs educating about the Falklands. More could be done to achieve this. From encouraging trade & tourism to the Islands to bringing the history of the Islands into peoples homes. TV should show more programmes about these Islands every year on the anniversary of the Argentine Invasion in April through to June when the Liberators forced the unconditional surrender of the Argentines. Films made for TV such as the brilliant 'Tumbledown' & 'An Ungentlemanly Act', should be given to the US TV Networks who have a growing appetite for bespoke British TV productions.
I don't think the Argentines have the mokie or cohonez to make a serious attempt to grab the Falkands as they did in 1982. These days those Islands are defended a hell of a lot better than a 'Dads Army' of local volunteers & Royal Navy Ice Patrol Ship with a boarding party of Royal Marines. Have they replaced the vast (proportionally) number of aircraft they lost, has the 'new' General Belgrano been sourced? Is the Vienticento De Mayo seaworthy?
Could the Argentines afford to have South American nations such as Chile, Uruguay, Brazil & Venezuela taking up the cause of Continental Solidarity? Chile already recognises the Falkland Islands Government & the MoD employ quite a few Chileans on the base, from one of the poorest areas of Chile. I can't see them wanting to pay anymore than lip service to their old foe, the Argies.
Uruguay can't afford to take sides because if oil is found in viable quantities in the basins around the Falklands and Argentina has isolated itself from any lucrative support work, then Uruguay & the port of Montevideo being strategically the closest major friendly port would gain immensely.
Brazil is an unpredictable one. It doesn't need to court UK trade as much anymore & could seize this chance to show it is the regional Superpower.
Venezuela, well, wouldn't any alliance between Argentina & Venezuela risk polarising the argument to Argentina's detriment? Forcing the US' to remain 'Neutral' (again) at the least or joining our side, wholeheartedly, just for the chance to give Chavez the Chav a bit of a kicking?
My solution: Let the world see how British (and how Un-Argentine) these Islands are & their inhabitants want to be. And if ANY diplomatic solution needs instigating, all the UN could do under International Law is offer the Islanders a vote on self determination. The sooner this happens, the sooner the matter can be put to bed & the sooner the Argentine Political Apparatchiks can cease using the Islands as a topic for whipping up jingoistic sentiment.
Discuss.
P.S. Don also said that Major Patricio Dowling who was the Argentine Military Intelligence Officer who made Don drive him back from Stanley Airport when Governor Rex Hunt & his wife were deported from the Islands post Argentine Invasion with his (Dowling's) pistol pointing in the back of Don's head, in a 'Bomber' Cab' over largely unpaved roads. Apparently Dowling was of Irish decent, fervently anti-British & wanted to summarily execute some of the Islanders & 'remove' some to Argentina. Don also said that 'Dowling' is alive & well & living in a country close to the UK, that recently received a substantial financial bailout from the UK. Would Dowling's actions & intentions be deemed a War Crime?
Last edited by DADDY-OH!; 21st Jun 2011 at 14:07.