The Winter War: The Falklands

by Patrick Bishop

Depicts the British attack on the Falkland Islands and portrays the experiences of the English soldiers during the war

Genres: Military History

152 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2012

About the author

Patrick Bishop was born in London in 1952 and went to Wimbledon College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Before joining the Telegraph he worked on the Evening Standard, the Observer and the Sunday Times and in television as a reporter on Channel Four News. He is the author with John Witherow of a history of the Falkands War based on their own experiences and with Eamon Mallie of The Provisional IRA which was praised as the first authoritative account of the modern IRA. He also wrote a memoir the first Gulf War, Famous Victory and a history of the Irish diaspora The Irish Empire, based on the TV series which he devised.

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Two bald men fighting over a comb.”

That pithy quote from Borges, still remains my favourite summary of the Falklands War. The accounts within this book come courtesy of two embedded broadsheet reporters. Although occurring now more than 40 years ago it’s hard for many to realise just how shocking the levels of war fever which eventually swept through the country, thanks to a desperate, unpopular government and a crass and belligerent tabloid media, the most notorious example being Kelvin MacKenzie’s “Gotcha” headline after the sinking of the Belgrano.

This book also reminds us how quickly and how often so much calamity and bungling incompetence is all hidden under laughably insulting euphemisms, “the fog of war”. We are told repeatedly in here that Argentine weaponry was probably better, but not as well maintained, which led to problems with them.

“It later emerged that for most of the conflict the three Argentine submarines were in port undergoing repair, or close to the mainland. The task force spent thousands of man hours and huge quantities of fuel pursuing phantoms beneath the waves.”

Other accounts tell of a requested delivery of hand grenades to the SAS which turns out to be a box of tea cups, elsewhere whales and rock formations are just some of the objects which were torpedoed by the British Navy in the mistaken belief of being enemy submarines, and of course there’s the kit and weapons which too often turn out to be sub-par or just faulty and not working at all, then when missiles “accidentally went off”. Aside from the obvious danger to lives this clearly impacts on trust and morale.

Although this suffers from some short-sightedness and the occasional dumb clichés of soldiers dying a “heroes death” etc the authors have done a fairly solid job of this, maintaining momentum and keeping alive a sense of drama and immediacy which makes for enjoyable and at times pretty thrilling reading.

The Falklands remains one of the most shameful episodes of Thatcher’s reign and modern British foreign policy, but it served its true purpose - to boost her waning popularity, ensuring that she would sweep back into power stronger than ever twelve months later.

Although 255 British servicemen were killed during the 2 month war, the rates of PTSD among combatants were sky high with most never given the proper care and attention required, and since then there have been reports which claim that suicides from veterans have eclipsed those killed in action, though this is disputed by the MoD.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book, written from the perspective of a journalist rather than solider.

It details how the Falklands War played out and perhaps offers a different view of the war - one that suggests it wasn't as easy for the UK forces as some accounts make out.

There were some real moments of calamity which is the ultimate responsibility of the army head sheds.