Falklands war question. Factors that helped the British win.
Question 3 Britain although had difficulties and problems, they also came up with solutions, sometimes natural, sometimes contemplated. The Ascension Island was beneficial for the British because it was an island with an airstrip which is half way between Britain and the Falklands. This meant that British did not have to go straight from Britain to the Falklands, and that they could unload and reload equipment on the ascension island, since they had to cram things into the ship, and they rushed getting the ships ready to sail to Falklands, therefore, they loaded the wrong equipment on the wrong ships. The ascension island gave them a secure and safe place to get organized instead of getting organized in Falklands where battles were to be fought. This was added on by the fact that although Britain did not have enough ships, they thought of a clever method to borrow civilian ships to carry equipment which meant that their supplies could last longer in the Falklands. This gave them time to organize replacement and supplies. This efficiency is further increased by the fact that Britain acted very quickly to get the ships across to the Falklands, as the admiral said to Thatcher that ships could arrive within 48 hours. This meant that the ships, as well as the supplies and replacement could arrive promptly at Falklands before the Winter arrived which would turn the sea bumpy, possibly with icebergs, increasing the possibility of ships sinking, losing masses of equipment. This was added on by the fact that the diplomacy put pressure on the Argentinians. The UN passed on resolution 502 to Argentina, encouraging their withdrawal because the UN wanted Britain and Argentina to have a diplomatic solution. This made Argentina thought that they were encircled by the world
and was not supported by anybody which made them feel isolated and therefroe that boosted the British morale but lowered the Argentine morale which was very influential when it came to fighting because the Argentinians would fight with less confidence. The attack on South Georgia was certainly a subtle tactic which turned out to benefit the British. It wasn’t part of the original plan but it was a solution because it demonstrated the British military skills and bravery. This both made the Argentines realize that British were taking this seriously and that they were intimidating and fearsome; and it also ...
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and was not supported by anybody which made them feel isolated and therefroe that boosted the British morale but lowered the Argentine morale which was very influential when it came to fighting because the Argentinians would fight with less confidence. The attack on South Georgia was certainly a subtle tactic which turned out to benefit the British. It wasn’t part of the original plan but it was a solution because it demonstrated the British military skills and bravery. This both made the Argentines realize that British were taking this seriously and that they were intimidating and fearsome; and it also convinced the Junta that Britain was in a position to take the action that they felt like taking. This benefit was added on by the fact that after the attack on South Georgia, they discovered an exclusion zone, which limited the Argentine’s reinforcement which therefore meant that if Argentine troops were lost, they could not resupply easily which meant that Britain could push Argentines to retreat when they were severely fought. This point of subtle tactic was added further when the Vulcans bombed the Stanley airport. Although this wasn’t enough to completely put the airport out of action, it made Argentines understand the British prowess of attacking Argentine airbases and therefore showed them that the British were intimidating. This was useful because the Argentines were scared and so the Mirage fighters which were bound to attack were held back to prevent another British bombing. This illustrated that Britain delayed the Argentine plans which gave them time to prepare even better for the next battle. Further more, the naval tactics just scared off the Argentines more. As the British ships were moving in, the Argentine ship General Belgrano and the other ship were in an ambiguous position such that they could launch a pincer attack on the British troops even before they reached Falklands. Britain saw that as a threat, and decided to sink Belgrano in order to take off 1 side of the pincer movement. This tactic enabled them to be sure that they weren’t receiving pincer attacks which had the potential to wipe out the British fleet. The sinking of the Belgrano also forced all other Argentine ships back to port, as they were scared of another British attack. This meant that Britain was benefitted, as they did not have to encounter any Argentine ships and risk losing ships and equipment. They had a larger possibility to reach port safely. British troops were well trained and had decent equipment. These well-trained troops were benefitted from their training when the helicopters were destroyed as they had to yomp across the island which was about 50 miles long. Because of their supreme fitness, Britain did not have to waste more equipment to help out the soldiers which meant that they could be reserved for later and more desperate circumstances. This was added on further by the point that British had good tactics on night-fighting and they were excellently equipped with night-fighting equipment which helped the face that the British could relied on the darkness as an advantage, and they also had excellent tactics on outflanking the Argentineans, this therefore meant that some of their troops could take the Argentineans by surprise when they were unaware at the rear or on the wings so they could win easier. Poor leadership was also another influential factor. Mernendez was so focused on the fighting that was going on in Stanley that he positioned all his troops there and not any in San Carlos. This therefore allowed the British to land there safely without having to counter any Argentinean resistance which meant that no casualties took place for the British which meant that they wouldn't lose any more men during landing, so gave them a better chance to fight the Argentineans in Stanley with a larger number of men. This arrangement also gave more time for the British to organize their troops after landing, and therefore they could go in and fight a battle more efficiently, which meant that they had a larger chance of winning. Conscription was also an example of Argentinean poor leadership. British had well-trained soldiers who joined the army on their own accord, so they stood a better chance of defeating the Argentines, and also, because they joined the army willingly, it meant that they were fighting with higher morales than conscripts because conscripts would just be thinking that it was unfair to force them join the army, and therefore they wouldn't fight as well because they were unhappy. The point on the lack of leadership is added on by the fact that Argentinean conscripts came from tropical areas which meant that they weren't used to fighting in the cold, and therefore meant that it would affect their fighting because their efficacy would be lowered; whereas the British had been used to fighting in the cold, and they had been in Denmark before the Falklands War, so coldness wouldn't affect them as much, and therefore they stood a better chance of winning. The equipment was another major reason and that's slightly linked to Argentine's poor leadership. The British had their newly developed Harriers, which could remain in air for longer than Argentinean aircrafts. The Argentineans didn't have aircraft carriers, so they had to fly their aircrafts from their island to the Falklands Island, which was a long way off. This meant that they had to use up more fuel and at the same time, their planes couldn't remain in air for as long as the British ones and therefore although they had a larger number of aircrafts, the amount that were put into air at 1 time is virtually the same with British, so Britain was not disadvantaged or outnumbered by Argentineans, which meant that they were fighting a fair war and therefore Britain wouldn't have a larger chance of losing. Britain also had aircraft carriers which could go near the Falklands island, so the distance that the Harriers had to fly towards Falklands Island was further reduced, which further increased their equality in air time. This point could be put further by the fact that British had Sidewinder missiles which were very effective at combating Argentine air threats, and they destroyed Mirages and Skyhawks and others. This proved that they could get down the Argentinean aircrafts at a much quicker and easier rate, which meant that the Argentine air force number would drop quicker, and their aircrafts would get less chance of taking down British ones, because they got a larger chance of being taken down. This therefore shows that British had a bigger potential of winning the air combat which was an important part of the war. The British also relied upon bluff and luck. After the heavy bombing on Groosegreen, they sent a letter to the Argentineans, threatening to bomb them even more severely if they didn't surrender. This successfully scared the Argentineans and they surrendered. This was important because if the Argentineans chose to hang on, the British might have lost, because they were......At Stanley, the Argentine surrender came at a real good time. The British were running low on supplies, and they only had 1 week more of supplies left at that time, which meant that if the Argentineans were to hold on for another week, the British would be fleeing for their lives, which meant that Argentineans would win and keep Falklands. This meant that the British were in luck and therefore they won back the Falklands.