1 MAY
DISBELIEF AMONG TROOPS THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE TO DIE FOR FALKLAND ISLANDS
[ 1 May 1982 ]
Labour MP Tony Benn published a letter, although withholding the name, from the fiancee of a marine on the British task force which had been sent to seize the remote Falkland Islands, with a tiny population of some 1.800, back from Argentina.
“Dear Mr Benn… My fiance is a Royal Marine with the task force and this morning I received a letter and poem from him. It was a very harrowing letter. He says that the majority of his company do not want to fight over islands so far from home and expresses disbelief that the British government can think of letting so many young men die for this issue. The press and TV insist on showing the few who are itching for a fight but most of the ‘men’ under him are 18 years old on average… Please do anything in your power to stop this tragic thing happening.”
Over one thousand were killed during the battle for the islands, including 258 British forces personnel and islanders as well as 746 Argentinians.[1]
FOOTNOTES
- Ruth Winstone (Editor), (1992) “Tony Benn: The End of an Era: Diaries 1980-90,” Hutchinson, London, p201 and p219.