The Canberra In The Falklands War

Vast and brilliant white, P&O's flagship the SS Canberra was a final salute to a bygone era of opulence even as she embarked on her maiden voyage, For a decade she carried passengers between Britain and Australia, a 90-day voyage of pampering and decadence. But in March 1982, Britain went to war to defend the Falkland Islands and the SS Canberra found herself, surreally, requisitioned as a troop ship to carry the Marines and Paratroops into battle. Against all odds she surived, playing a vital role as a hospital ship, At the end of the war she arrived back in Southampton to a heroes welcome, where she became fondly known as the Great White Whale. This is the extraordinary and, as yet, untold story of how the crew of a luxury ocean liner: waiters, cooks, nurses and cleaners, found themselves suddenly thrust onto the front line. A Very Strange Way to Go to War is a candid and captivating story, drawing from first hand accounts and previously unpublished archives, of the heroic courage of ordinary British men and women in the face of great adversity, at the outpost of empire.

Vast and brilliant white, P&O's flagship the SS Canberra was a final salute to a bygone era of opulence even as she embarked on her maiden voyage, For a decade she carried passengers between Britain and Australia, a 90-day voyage of pampering and decadence. But in March 1982, Britain went to war to defend the Falkland Islands and the SS Canberra found herself, surreally, requisitioned as a troop ship to carry the Marines and Paratroops into battle. Against all odds she surived, playing a vital role as a hospital ship, At the end of the war she arrived back in Southampton to a heroes welcome, where she became fondly known as the Great White Whale. This is the extraordinary and, as yet, untold story of how the crew of a luxury ocean liner: waiters, cooks, nurses and cleaners, found themselves suddenly thrust onto the front line. A Very Strange Way to Go to War is a candid and captivating story, drawing from first hand accounts and previously unpublished archives, of the heroic courage of ordinary British men and women in the face of great adversity, at the outpost of empire.

This is the extraordinary story untold until now, of how unlikely combatants like waiters, cooks, nurses and cleaners who never in their dreams imagined they could be caught up in a war, found themselves on the front line at the very end of the world.

In 1982, Argentina rashly gambled that a full-scale invasion of the Falkland Islands — ownership of which had been disputed with Great Britain for over a century — would put an end to years of political wrangling. However Britain’s response was to immediately dispatch a task force to recover the islands, by force if necessary. The ‘conflict’ which followed (a formal declaration of war was never given) lasted ten weeks from Argentine invasion to British liberation, the white heat of battle using 20th century technology contrasting with bitter hand-to-hand bayonet fighting in inhospitable conditions. Eyewitness accounts by the participants of both sides, and islanders, leave us in no doubt as to the ferocity of the combat on land, sea, and in the air. Comparison photography in color of all the battlefields, the crash sites of the aircraft shot down, the relics and the remains, together with portraits of those who lost their lives and the battlefield memorials, serve as a graphic testimony to their endeavors, 25 years after the battle. A Roll of Honour lists the casualties of both sides and, for the first time, the graves of all the British fallen — both on the islands and in the United Kingdom — have been visited and photographed as a lasting record of all those who made the supreme sacrifice.

A detailed history of the brief 1980s conflict between the UK and Argentina, from the author of The First Day on the Somme. With the surprise Argentine invasion of the remote Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982, the United Kingdom found itself at war. Due to the resolve of a determined Prime Minister and the resourcefulness of the Armed Forces, a task force, codenamed Operation Corporate, was quickly dispatched. Remarkably, just over two months later, the islands were liberated, and the invaders defeated. By any standards this was an outstanding feat of arms, cooperation made possible by political resolve, sound planning, strong leadership and the courage and determination of the British forces. Martin Middlebrook, the renowned military historian, has skillfully weaved the many strands of this extraordinary achievement into a fascinating, thorough and highly readable account. Thanks to his meticulous research he covers action at sea, on the land and in the air as well as providing the strategic overview. The author’s use of many first-hand accounts reveals what it was like to be part of this audacious military endeavor. The experiences of the Falkland Islanders during the Argentine occupation are also included. Thirty years on, Middlebrook’s The Falklands War is still an authoritative and thoroughly readable account of this historic enterprise. Originally published as Operation Corporate: The Story of the Falklands War, 1982. Praise for The Falklands War “The author’s descriptions of confrontations in the air, on the sea and on the various battlegrounds are superb, as are his explanations of the use of new weapons, such as the Sea Harrier and the Exocet missile.” —Publishers Weekly

Thirty years after the Falklands War, those deeply affected by its horrors and its glories - islanders, soldiers, politicians - pool their most vivid memories to produce a poignant and graphic reminder of the Argentinian occupation of the islands and their liberation by the British Task Force. Contributors include Sir Rex Hunt, Governor of the Falklands at the time of the invasion; political and diplomatic figures such as Margaret Thatcher, Major-General Julian Thompson, Sir John Nott, Cecil Parkinson and David Owen; men on the front line such as Simon Weston and Denzil Connick; journalists like Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins; and many of the islanders themselves, for whom life would never again be the same. With stunning photographs of the campaign and its aftermath, Memories of the Falklands provides a unique reminder of an extraordinary episode in British history.

Soldiers and journalists alike wasted no time in telling the story of the campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands after the Argentinian invasion in April, 1982. Almost without exception, however, they are concerned largely on the role of the Army, for it was the part they played which particularly fired the public imagination, and it may be said that the role of the Royal and Merchant Navies, the abiding images of which are for many the pictures of the exploding frigate Antelope, and the burning Atlantic Conveyor, has hitherto been overshadowed by the yomping of the Marines and the exploits of certain gentleman of the press. Yet none of them would have been there at all had the Royal Navy not provided the necessary transport, not to mention air cover and bombardment support. In the book David Brown, head of what was formally the Naval Historical Branch at the Ministry of Defence, tells in full for the first time the extraordinary story of how the fleet was assembeled; of how merchant-ships from luxury liners such as the Canberra to cargo-carriers of every description were 'Taken Up Form Trade' and, in a staggeringly short time, converted to their new role. He describes the stupendous problems presented by the assembling, and stowing, of the thousands of tons of stores and equipment needed by the Expeditionary Forces and the way in which these problems were dealt with.

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