What was the Hope Bay Incident (1952)?

Introduction The Hope Bay incident occurred in February 1952 at Hope Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula. It involved an Argentine naval party from their on shore base and a British landing party from their survey ship. Background During the 19th century there had been increasing interest by various countries in the uninhabited, largely unexplored, and… Read More

Advertisements

Comb Fighters…

“TWO BALD men fighting over a comb” is how the Argentinian writer Jose Luis Borges described the Falklands War, and I never heard a better description. The only hopeful thing about the Falklands War, in my opinion, was that it set a precedent for future wars – if two countries wanted to go to war,… Read More

Falkland Islands Annual Battle Day Commemoration

Sailors from HMS Forth took part in the Falkland Islands’ annual Battle Day for the first time. Ever since the Royal Navy defeated a German force off the islands in 1914, December 8 has been marked as a national holiday – and a day of commemoration remembering the 29 Commonwealth casualties and 1,871 German sailors… Read More

The Falklands is Mine … Free

Generations of British soldiers involved in clearing landmines from the far-flung South Atlantic territory have finally seen their work come to fruition. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed that the ordnance removal job was now finished – nearly four decades after the explosives were planted during the 1982 conflict. The work means that 20 million square… Read More

Reassertion of British Sovereignty over the Falkland Island (1833)

Introduction In December 1832, two naval vessels were sent by the United Kingdom to re-assert British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas), after the United Provinces of the River Plate (part of which later became Argentina) ignored British diplomatic protests over the appointment of Luis Vernet as governor of the Falkland Islands and… Read More