Want a patch or t-shirt with our adorably heavily armed rockhopper penguin? Both are available from Varusteleka:
https://www.varusteleka.com/en/search?q=penguin
Since I spent a couple weeks hiking across the Falklands and then visiting battlefields (and penguins), it seems reasonable to do a Q&A video about the place and the 1982 war there between Argentina and the UK. All the questions were provided by Forgotten Weapons Patrons:
http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
01:38 – How did the FAL perform, seeing as both sides used it?
03:43 – Effectiveness of light and heavy weapons in the war
[Les video link to be added when it posts]
08:49 – Would the British have been better off Yomping with AR15s, like the SAS used?
10:09 – Is there much local animosity to Argentina today?
12:21 – Local food and adult beverages
15:31 – What do people do for fun on the Falklands?
17:52 – Oldest small arm in service during the war?
20:18 – Military equipment wreckage on the islands
22:06 – Value of full powered rifle round in the FI terrain?
24:31 – Minefields
25:44 – Interaction of weapons with different effective ranges
28:46 – Did Exocet spur development of CIWS?
31:00 – What has been done to defend the islands against another invasion?
33:51 – Issues with an army designed to fight the USSR in Europe deploying to the South Atlantic?
35:30 – Weirdest weapon used in the conflict?
36:29 – Field modifications of small arms and unique kit
38:20 – Were British vehicle at risk of damage there?
39:40 – Engagement ranges
40:23 – Relevancy of bayonet fighting
41:28 – Unique equipment used by the Falkland Islands Defense Force
43:27 – American view of the Falklands War today
44:41 – Which Yomp route did we take?
45:01 – Did we visit Ajax Bay or the cemetery?
46:00 – Reality vs my expectations of the islands
46:57 – How would the war go if it happened today instead of in 1982?
48:25 – Did British soldiers use Argentine FALs?
“(…)Weirdest weapon used in the conflict?”
I would bet at Mark VIII as being-out-of-time, according https://weaponsystems.net/system/1220-Mark+VIII
(…)heavyweight torpedo of British origin(…)developed in the 1920’s(…)notable for sinking the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in 1982 during the Falklands War.
whilst ARA General Belgrano being Brooklyn-class cruiser was of similar vintage, it was not used by forces which intended to be top-most one of world.
First foreign conflict of the Argentinean air force, and the only armed service of that nation not indelibly stamped with utter failure and ignominy–righty or wrongly:
https://www.argentina.gob.ar/fuerzaaerea/gesta-malvinas#:~:text=Durante%20la%20campa%C3%B1a%20b%C3%A9lica%2C%20tuvieron,%2C%20DHC%2D6%20Twin%20Otter%2C
As far as small-arms go, I’d wager among the most obscure would be the L4 Bren guns used by some Royal Marines, the no-forward-assist M16s used by some SAS and possibly SBS, and the Argentine submachine guns Halcon ML-63, PAM-2, FMK-3, and even some L34A1 suppressed British Sterlings…
Select-fire FAL versus L1A1 SLR… FN MAG vs. L7A2 FN MAG…M72 LAW vs. Carl Gustaf 84mm …Exocet vs. Exocet… Skyhawk & Mirage III vs. Harrier … and infamously, loads and loads of Argentine land mines without mine field maps..
“(…)suppressed(…)”
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C238744 suggest that WELROD was used there
After the [2nd World] war, the Welrod was used in places like Korea, Vietnam and the Falklands.
though this seems odd considering considering they have access to suppressed sub-machine guns. Are there any pictorial evidence of WELROD in said conflict?
I remember the British press had a few articles about the the poor quality of British equipment, especially boots. One Sunday newspaper had a colour article comparing the Argentinian boot, cut into cross section, and the British issue direct moulded sole footwear. The Argentinian boot had a three layers to its sole, two leather and a rubber outer.
They claimed that British forces were picking these up from battlefields to avoid trench foot, caused by wearing the issue boots. I have no idea if this was true.
In Berkeley at the time, I remarked that Argentina would be a ‘3rd World Country™’ within a week. And yes, some of the red-diaper crowd did try to whip up support for the Argentine junta—which had ‘disappeared’ 30,000 citizens, and had a secret police force organized and trained by escaped Nazis. By attacking English-speaking people, living under a democracy, they were magically transformed into Anti Colonialist Resistance.
You’ve got it all wrong. A classic distorted picture drawn by media. Falkland (Malvinas)
war was not the consequence of an inflated 30000 disappeared ones figure but, a 44 billion foreign debt contracted by the military on behalf and benefit of finance tycoons and charged on taxpayers. By the time the debt was to be honored there were no more Central Bank dollar reserves and panic resorted the military into the conflict as an excuse, not a historical legitimate cause. Argentine military are freemasonry controlled and not by “escaped Nazis”, most brass and top officers were and are more anglophile dudes than bread and butter Americans.
Stop confusing the discussion with facts. This thread gives grouchy old Yanks a chance to air their cliche collections. So far the talk faintly echoes the 1982 tabloid headline ‘Hitler Masterminded Falklands Fiasco!’
Yomping. Kit. Hanging around with Johnny a bit too much? I guess that and the high school French impresses the locals at the range.
Negative waves man,always with the negative waves.