British troops raise the flag on the Falklands during the conflict
Posted on 06/26/2005 2:02:06 AM PDT by RWR8189
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British troops raise the flag on the Falklands during the conflict
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The book has threatened a possible diplomatic row between Chile and Argentina over the revelations of a secret alliance with the UK.
Chilean president Ricardo Lagos has forwarded parts of the book to the Argentine foreign ministry.
The book alleges Chile provided intelligence in return for half-price military aircraft.
'Cut-price deal'
The book, The Official History of the Falklands War, details the deal between the governments of Margaret Thatcher and General Augusto Pinochet, said the BBC's Chilean correspondent Clinton Porteous.
Extracts from it claim "the Chilean military provided key information on the movement of Argentine forces and other assistance, and in return were offered a cut-price deal on the purchase of military aircraft".
Mr Lagos said he received a letter and extracts of the book from British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He replied to Mr Blair and forwarded the extracts to the Argentines.
 The Falklands were invaded by Argentina in 1982
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Chile was officially neutral during the conflict, but the book claims it considered a border offensive against Argentina to draw military forces away from The Falklands.
Argentina and Chile both had military governments at the time and were "close to war", the BBC correspondent said.
The alliance between the UK and Chile remained secret, he said, because the Thatcher government did not want to be publicly associated with a military government known for human rights abuses.
After leaving office, however, Mrs Thatcher admitted General Pinochet had helped save many British lives during the conflict.
The operation to re-take the Falklands, which came after Argentina invaded in April 1982, cost 255 British and 655 Argentine lives.
I wonder if they got the aircraft?
I was in the UK during the Falklands War .
I do not see what critical help Chile could have rendered .
The UK Forces just did a damn good and swift job of it , they didn't need General Pinhead's help
Ping.
Because of the vulnerability of ships & troops when disembarking, the Brit military needed assistance with early warning of the launch of Argentinian aircraft from the mainland as well as when Argie ships sortied. The Chileans by virtue of geographic position, ease of movement into Argentina, and a relatively advanced electronic capability were situated to provide such assistance. They also may have been able to provide info gleaned from voice intercepts.
"I do not see what critical help Chile could have rendered .
The UK Forces just did a damn good and swift job of it , they didn't need General Pinhead's help"
The help rendered was mainly in terms of maintaining a threat and ensuring that the troops on the Islands were poorly led, poorly equiped conscripts rather than any decent units of the Argentine army which had to remain on the mainland and protect the border.
That shouldn't be underestimated. I remember reading Max Hastings book on the war (he was with 2 Parachute Regiment, I think, as they attacked Port Stanley). The capital is surrounded by large hills which should make for easily defendable territory. The Paras, in a single night, took the hill they were attacking from several thousand Argentinian defenders who had had the benefit of weeks to prepare their positions. On reaching the top, Hastings says that the CO of the regiment looked down at the terrain and positions that they had breeched and said something along the lines of 'give me 500 Paras and I could die of old age holding this hill'.
Chile had built up a SIGINT database on Argentine forces. They kept a watch on the Argentinine forces as they had territorial disputes with them. For example the Beagle channel. Imagine the use that database would have been to UK forces, and with the special relationship (UK/Chile) admitted to by Mrs Thatcher, it would have been one of the main exchanges of information.
There would have also been the potential for using Chile as a stepping off point for Special Forces. A Royal Navy Sea King helo ended up in Chile after it had dropped off Special Forces inside Argentina. The mission inside Argentina was abandoned with the team evading back into Chilean territory.
There was also the Canberra photo recce aircraft used by Chile that would have been put to good use. After the war Chile received aircraft and spare parts for their Canberra and Hunter fleets. Their Navy also received ex-Royal Navy warships.
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