le avventure di zesprigreen

2008-04-08T06:20:00.002Z

Incredibile articolo letto stamattina. Dopo le accuse di "lavoro socialmente inutile " anche le accuse di terrorismo. Forse dovevamo fare gli avvocati? Eh, eh, eh... loro si che producono...

I terroristi ideali? Gli ingegneri
Attenti, metodici e riservati, sono ricercatissimi da Al-Qaeda

Gli esperti di sicurezza internazionale non hanno dubbi: i tratti della personalità che meglio si adattano all’attività terroristica sono riscontrabili negli ingegneri. Questo legame è ben conosciuto non solo dai gruppi estremisti, ma anche da coloro che li combattono. A spiegarlo è infatti Raphael Perl, capo della sezione anti-terrorismo dell'Osce(Organizzation for Security and Cooperation in Europe).

“Gli ingegneri fanno eccellenti piani strategici – ha spiegato Perl – Pensano in modo diverso rispetto alle altre persone”. Gli ingegneri hanno eccellenti capacità strategiche, sono attenti e meticolosi e sono abituati a ragionare per reti di relazioni. Molti di loro condividono l’abilità di mantenersi calmi. “È chiaro che non sono percepiti come animali iper-sociali o l’anima della festa – ha spiegato Perl -. Loro non parlano con molte persone e non si vantano quindi delle attività terroristiche in cui possono essere coinvolti”. Proprio per questi tratti caratteriali, i gruppi estremisti tendono a reclutare ingegneri. Recentemente l’EE Times , in un articolo intitolato "Engineers of Jihad", ha riportato uno studio dell'Università di Oxford secondo il quale la percentuale di ingegneri tra le reclute di Al-Qaeda sarebbe sempre più elevata: al punto che l’organizzazione è pronta a ricercarne anche tra i non musulmani.

L’analisi accademica è arrivata a ipotizzare che una “mentalità ingegneristica” unita alle difficili condizioni socioeconomiche di certi Paesi islamici porti a partecipazioni nel terrorismo. Inutile dire che la categoria è insorta verso quella che considera “scienza spazzatura”.

Perl però non si è sentito di stigmatizzare la ricerca. A suo dire gli ingegneri sono davvero iper-presenti nel terrorismo e Al-Qaeda ne è un chiaro esempio. Ragione in più per arruolarli nelle organizzazioni che combattono i movimenti armati e integralisti. “Proprio come si prende un ladro per dare la caccia a un ladro, si deve prendere un ingegnere per braccare un ingegnere” ha concluso Perl.

2008-03-17T10:48:00.003Z

About putting the things in the right perspective, here one very funny tale (it seems true unfortunatley!) about legal effects of global warming issue.

Finally it looks is not a case we have a ratio engineers vs lawyers about 1:50. Look at what they're producing. Will they ever go to work? And will we ever wake up a bit?

Have fun.

The Plaintiff's Bogus `Victims'

The plaintiffs cited six individuals as having already been `harmed' by climate change and were facing further harm in the future.

Presumably these people will appear as witnesses if the case is ever heard in court. Five of these `victims' are, surprise, surprise, members of Greenpeace and/or Friends of the Earth. One of them was even a Greenpeace employee. It is worth summarising the `harm' that the lawsuit claims they have suffered.

Get the tissues ready because these stories are really heart-rending in their tales of human tragedy.

Dr Phillip Dunstan is a professor of biology at Charleston, and a member of Friends of the Earth. He mostly researches coral and blames alleged degradation of corals on `climate change' (presumably over-fishing and water pollution were not even considered by him). He claims that the loss of coral diminishes his `opportunities for biological research'. How sad.

His principal recreation is scuba diving off the Florida Keys, and he claims climate change is hurting his recreation. Many people in the world are lucky just to eat, but we are expected to feel sorry for Dunstan because his `recreation' is spoiled. And how exactly does Dunstan get to the Florida Keys from Charleston? Perhaps a gas-guzzling SUV? Whatever means he uses to get there, both by road to get to Florida and by boat to get to the reefs, we can be absolutely sure his `recreation' emits more greenhouse gases than most of us do in several months.

Dunstan is also building a home on low-lying land near Charleston and he is worried about sea level rise, so much so, that instead of just selling the property and building on higher ground, he is elevating his house at additional expense, and even bemoans the likely increase in insurance premiums he imagines he will pay due to fear of sea level rise. Tip for Dunstan - U.S. real estate prices are high. Just sell up and build somewhere else. There might even be a handsome profit in doing so.

Pam and Jessie Williford are members of both Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth and are retired, living near Raleigh, North Carolina. They own a block of land on low lying ground and intend to build a house there in a few years. But now they fear sea level rise and claim they would never have bought the land 25 years ago had they known there might be flooding. So now they are faced with spending extra money to make the house flood proof.

Must the government pay `damages' to them? There is a better solution - they could just do the intelligent thing and sell the block for a handsome profit (after 25 years ownership too!) and go build somewhere else.

Arthur and Anne Berndt are farmers in Vermont, producing Maple Syrup. They are both members of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. They fear that maple trees might migrate north and leave them with no more maples from which to produce their syrup.

If the maples really did migrate north, the Berndts could always do what other farmers have done since time immemorial when climate shifts and changes in market forces occur - grow something else.

Melanie Duchin is an employee and member of Greenpeace, working in Anchorage, Alaska. She blames local outbreaks of spruce bark beetle on `climate change', something which `harms' her recreational hiking activities in the area. Time for the violins.

But Ms Duchin has the ultimate ace to set her apart as a `victim' of climate change. She does regular trips to the Arctic coast of Alaska for `personal recreation', and intends to do so on an annual basis. Climate change in the Arctic will, she claims, diminish her `recreational and aesthetic enjoyment' of the Arctic.

But think about Ms Duchin's predicament for a moment. She herself is contributing directly to the very climate change she claims hurts her self-indulgent `recreation'. To get from Anchorage to the Arctic and back every year requires transportation - and that runs on fossil fuels, such as aviation fuel.

So the very act of her going a thousand miles to the Arctic and then back again every year amounts to a significant emission of greenhouse gases on her part. While she demands the right to consume fossil fuels in an annual recreational trip to the Arctic, she would deny access to such fuels for people in developing countries whose needs would be much more pressing than mere `recreation'.

Perhaps she should sue herself on the very same legal grounds that she is suing the U.S. government.

Conclusion

Will American courts even agree to hear this lawsuit? If they do, the case will be heard in Washington DC, at the very epicentre of the U.S. legal and political system. That's fully in keeping with the Greenpeace strategy of extracting maximum media publicity. For the U.S. courts to allow themselves to become bit players in this political pantomime would only diminish their credibility.

In terms of the case itself, the science underpinning `climate change' is by no means as settled as the plaintiffs seem to imagine. Quite apart from the claims about global warming (the magnitude of which is hotly disputed), the lawsuit bases itself primarily on the alleged impacts this climate change would have. There is no consensus in the scientific community as to what these impacts might be, some even viewing the prospect as beneficial (such as the fertiliser effect of carbon dioxide). Yet the case is based entirely on a claim that the impacts would be both real and universally harmful.

It is to be hoped that this case may provide an opportunity for the claims about global warming and its possible impacts to be tested and cross-examined in a public forum, free from the restraints of in-house peer review and the censorship of dissenting views which goes with it.

by John L. Daly
31 August 2002

2007-12-18T14:28:00.000Z

Merry Christmas!

Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night

Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

2007-11-16T05:44:00.000Z

Hello!

So long time. This time of the year is really busy, definetly too much traveling. But among the usual stuff, something unusual and surprising.

In Angelholm (SE), this time I didn't manage to find my usual accomodation and our travel service addressed me to Klitterhus.

http://www.klitterhus.com/

It turned out to be a cosy tiny place, so warm and quiet that propably next time I'd put it as first choice. Just don't expect luxury international hotel standard. This is like a huge summer house, a family run hotel, very simple and down-to-earth.

But the view is breathtaking and the jogging tracks which follow the sandy beach are fantastic. The hotel was rather empty and having a beer (Pripps Bla this time!) reading the last Cussler novel while waiting for a great supper at the end of a tough working day, was simply fantastic.

I recommend the place (and the beer also!) to all the lonely business travelers passing by in Angelholm.

Keep you posted.

Take care.

BR/zespri

2007-08-02T06:05:00.000Z

During the summer I indulged in war tales reading. Most of the people find those rather boring but not for me. I came across some recalling the battles which took place during the Falklands War, in 1982.

The whole story caught my interest. Thanks to History Channel and the always good Wiki here you get a summary. Enjoy!

Falklands War
The Falklands War also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The Falkland Islands consist of two large and many small islands in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina, and their name and ownership have long been disputed. (See Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands for the background to the latter dispute.)
The war was triggered by the occupation of South Georgia by Argentina on 19 March 1982 followed by the occupation of the Falklands, and ended with Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982. War was not actually declared by either side. The initial invasion was considered by Argentina as the re-occupation of its own territory, and by Britain as an invasion of a British overseas territory, and the most recent invasion of British territory by a foreign power.
In the period leading up to the war, Argentina was in the midst of a devastating economic crisis and large-scale civil unrest against the repressive military junta that had been governing the country since 1976. The Argentine military government, headed by General Leopoldo Galtieri, sought to maintain power by diverting public attention playing off long-standing feelings of the Argentines towards the islands,although they never thought that the United Kingdom would respond militarily.The ongoing tension between the two countries over the islands increased on 19 March when a group of hired Argentinian scrap metal merchants raised their flag at South Georgia, an act that would later be seen as the first offensive action in the war. The Argentine Military Junta, suspecting that the UK would reinforce its South Atlantic Forces,ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands on 2 April, triggering the Falklands War.
Word of the invasion first reached Britain via ham radio.Britain was initially taken by surprise by the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands, but launched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force, and retake the islands by amphibious assault. After combat resulting in 258 British and 649 Argentine deaths, the British eventually prevailed and the islands remained under British control. However, as of 2007 and as it has since 19th century, Argentina shows no sign of relinquishing its claim (the claim is included in the National Constitution).
The political effects of the war were strong in both countries. A wave of patriotic sentiment swept through both: the Argentine loss prompted even larger protests against the military government, which hastened its downfall; in the United Kingdom, the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was bolstered. It helped Thatcher's government to victory in the 1983 general election, which prior to the war was seen as by no means certain. The war has played an important role in the culture of both countries, and has been the subject of several books, films, and songs. However, it is not seen as a truly major event of either military or 20th century history because of the low number of casualties on both sides and the small size and limited economic importance of the disputed areas. The cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect on the British public than on that of Argentina, where the war is still a topic of discussion.

Background to the Falklands War
The Falklands/Malvinas consist of two main and many smaller islands in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina. Ownership of the group had long been disputed. The Falklands were probably first discovered in the 1520s by the Spanish. The first British claim dates from 1592. In 1690, the British named them after the Treasurer of the Navy, Viscount Falkland. On 5 April 1764, France established a settlement on East Falkland and claimed the islands, which the Spanish offered to buy as they were concerned about disrupting the balance of power in the region. In 1765, the British established a settlement on Saunders Island, and in 1767 France transferred its settlement to Spain. In 1770, the Spanish captured the British settlement, but in 1771 it was handed back. In 1774 and 1806-11, respectively, the British and Spanish left the islands, each maintaining a claim over them. It is in this general period that the confusion lies.
Argentina gained independence from Spain in 1816 and thus control over the Falklands (Islas Malvinas). In 1829, Argentina established Luis Maria Vernet as the first governor of the islands. Finally, in 1833 the British occupied the islands by force and ejected its inhabitants to the Argentine mainland. (For more details on the origin of the dispute see History of the Falkland Islands.)
With the late 20th century absorption of the British Colonial Office into the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, successive British governments had come to see the dispute with Argentina as a minor problem from which they would have been happy to relieve themselves. Despite their government's neglect, the 1,800 or so inhabitants of British origin steadfastly refused to become part of Argentina, citing Article 73 of the United Nations charter to support their position. In 1965, under UN Resolution 2065, Britain and Argentina started negotiations on the islands' future, but seventeen years later little had changed. While the idea of a 'leaseback' of the islands was proposed, under which Britain would cede sovereignty to Argentina after fifty years, nothing materialised.
Argentina was going through a devastating economic crisis. There was also massive social unrest against the Military Junta which had murdered thousands of Argentines for political opposition to the unelected Junta. Between 1976 and 1983—under military rule—in the middle of the "Dirty War", supposedly waged against communism, thousands of people, most of them dissidents and innocent civilians unconnected with terrorism, were arrested and then vanished without trace. Many of these people simply 'disappeared'. Death squads struck with impunity, terrorizing working class union members and anyone opposed to the corruption which infested the country's higher ranks.
The oppression of the Argentine people continued under a succession of dictators from General Jorge Videla to General Roberto Viola and then General Leopoldo Galtieri for a short while. Before he started the Falklands War, Galtieri was subject to growing opposition from the people. The actual dictatorship of General Galtieri lasted only eighteen months but he was a key player in the slaughter and oppression of his own people for years previous. Throughout 1981, Argentina saw inflation climb to over 600%, GDP went down 11.4%, manufacturing output down 22.9% and real wages by 19.2%. The Unions were gaining more support for a general strike every day and the popular opposition to the Junta was growing rapidly.
Critics of the invasion by Argentina claim that the Junta sought to use the patriotism of war to quell unrest in the working classes, hoping that whilst engulfed in a patriotic fervour, the Argentines would forget about the crisis, and the crimes of their military. Likewise, critics of the British government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher claim that she sought to use the war to bolster her flagging popularity—another "splendid little war." The Royal Navy maintained a military presence in the area in the form of a small group of forty Royal Marines known as Naval Party 8901, and HMS Endurance, an aging patrol vessel which was on the verge of decommissioning.

Lead-up to the conflict
President Galtieri, head of the National Reorganization Process (the military government of Argentina at the time) aimed to counterbalance public concern over economic and human rights issues with a speedy victory over the Falklands which would appeal to popular nationalistic sentiment. Argentine intelligence officers had been working with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to help fund the Contras in Nicaragua, and the Argentine government believed it might be rewarded for this activity by non-interference on the part of the United States if it invaded the Falklands.
Argentina exerted pressure in the United Nations by raising subtle hints of a possible invasion, but the British either missed or ignored this threat and did not react. The Argentines assumed that the British would not use force if the islands were invaded.
According British sources, the Argentines interpreted the lack of British reaction as disinterest in the Falklands due the planned withdrawal as part of a general reduction in size of the Royal Navy in 1981 of the last of the Antarctic Supply vessels, HMS Endurance, and by the British Nationality Act of 1981, which replaced the full British citizenship of Falkland Islanders with a more limited version.
In Operation Sol in 1976, a landing of 50 Argentines on the unoccupied Southern Thule, belonging to the British South Sandwich Islands, was commanded by Captain César Trombetta. The established scientific station Corbeta Uruguay, only led to a formal protest from United Kingdom. Operation Journeyman, the despatching of a small military force to the South Atlantic by Callaghan's Labour government, may have helped avert further action and subsequent reports from the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) in 1977, 1979 and 1981 suggested that "as long as [Argentina] calculated that the British Government were prepared to negotiate seriously on sovereignty, it was unlikely to resort to force." However, if "...negotiations broke down, or if Argentina concluded from them that there was no prospect of real progress towards a negotiated transfer of sovereignty, there would be a high risk of its then resorting to more forceful measures, including direct military action.

They drew their plans
At a lunch between Admiral Jorge Isaac Anaya and General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri on 9 December 1981, in the main army barracks of Campo de Mayo, it was discussed how and when to overthrow President Viola. Anaya offered the navy's support on the understanding that the navy would be allowed to occupy the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. Galtieri appears to have hoped for the public opinion to reward a successful occupation with him in power for at least ten years. They believed that Argentina's flag flying in Port Stanley on the 150th anniversary of Britain's illegal usurpation of Las Malvinas, would led to an neo-Perónist era of national pride. The Air Force's Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo wasn't informed of the decision before 29 December.
The detailed planning began in early January 1982. It was headed by Rear-Admiral Juan José Lombardo (Commander-in-Chief Fleet) and included General Osvald Garcia (commander of the Fifth Army Corps) and Brigadier Sigfrido Plessel (member of the Air Force Staff). The operation would be an amphibious landing en masse of 3,000 troops, to minimise the bloodshed. The contingent of Royal Marines, the British civil servicemen and the more anti-Argentine among the Kelpers should be deported and the bulk of the invasion force should return to their bases within 48 hours. A military governor and about 500 military police soldiers should be left to keep the Kelpers in line. Anaya's draft planned to replace the entire island population with Argentine settlers (similar to 1833), but Lombardo believed that such a step would outrage the international community. Instead Kelpers should be offered a financial compensation, if they wished to emigrate.
Argentina had build the runway in Port Stanley and the military Líneas Aéreas del Estado airline flew regular to the Falkland Islands. LADE was represented by Vice-Commodore Hector Gilobert in Port Stanley and he had been gathering intelligence for four years. The cargo ship ARA Isla de los Estados was hired for commercial purposes by the island administration and her captain Capaglio had detailed information regarding the Falkland coast, beaches and inner waters. In an atmosphere of arms selling, United Kingdom was very transparent to the Argentine naval attaché in London, Rear-Admiral Walter Allara. He was invited on board HMS Invincible and had conversations with British naval personnel, regarding the shortcomings of Royal Navy.
In January 1982, these diplomatic talks over sovereignty ceased. Although it is often thought that the Falklands invasion was a long-planned action, it became clear after the war that the following defence had been largely improvised; for example, sea mines were not deployed at strategic landing locations and a large part of the infantry forces sent to the Falklands consisted of the current intake of conscripts, who had only begun their training in the Jan/Feb of that year. Arguments that the War was a last minute decision are bolstered by the fact that the Argentine Navy would have received, at the end of the year, additional French Exocet anti-ship missiles, Super Étendards (French fighter aircraft capable of firing the Exocet) and new ships being built in West Germany.
The Argentine Navy possessed modern British-built Type 42 air-defence destroyers of the type forming the bulk of the British Task Force's anti-air umbrella. The air force had realised, in training attacks made after the landings that they could lose over half of their units in the process of destroying only a few British warships if they attacked at the medium to high altitudes. Sea Dart was designed to engage. Hence, during the war, they surprised many observers, with losses far below that expected given their level of preparedness. Much of this was due to the low-level stand-off employment of Exocet over blue-water, and over-land approaches when in the littoral.
This lack of readiness is probably due to the invasion being a last-minute decision taken as a consequence of the South Georgia crisis. Furthermore, for several years, Argentina had been on the brink of war with Chile. Consequently, a significant part of Argentina's limited forces and equipment were kept on the mainland, as Argentina's military strategists feared that Chile would take advantage of the Falklands Crisis and attempt to seize a portion of the Patagonia region. As a consequence, Chile deployed forces along border regions in what looked like a possible invasion; it is unclear whether this was their true intention or merely a diversion prompted by their British allies.
Argentina's original intention was to mount a quick symbolic occupation, quickly followed by a withdrawal, leaving only a small garrison to support the new military governor. This was based on the Argentinian assumption that the British would never respond militarily. All Argentine assault units were withdrawn to the mainland in the following days, but strong popular support and the rapid British reaction forced the Junta to change their objectives and reinforce the islands, since they could not politically afford to lose the islands and the British looked like they were going to fight. They misjudged the political climate in Britain, believing that democracies were weak, indecisive and averse to risk and did not anticipate that the British would move their fleet halfway across the globe.

Landings on South Georgia
In 1980 Admiral Edgardo Otero (former notorious commander of the Naval Mechanical School, where hundreds of disappeared were tortured and executed) was head of the navy's Antarctic operations and he wanted to repeat Operation Sol in South Georgia called Operation Alpha. Admiral Lombardo feared that an early Operation Alpha would jeopardise the secret preparations for the Falkland landings, but Admiral Otero had close links to Admiral Anaya. The Argentine entrepreneur Constantino Davidoff had a two-year old contract regarding scrapping an old whaling station on South Georgia. He was transported with the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar, headed by Captain Trombetta, to South Georgia for an initial survey of the work. This led to a diplomatic protest. Later, on March 19, a group of Argentinian scrap metal workers established a camp at Leith Harbour, South Georgia, where they raised the Argentinian flag. They arrived with the naval transport ARA Bahía Buen Suceso and the workers were infiltrated with Buzo Tacticos (special forces) led by Lieutenant Alfredo Astiz (the blond angel of death). The British administrator at Grytviken asked them to have their passports stamped, which they refused to do since it would acknowledge British sovereignty over the isles.
The Royal Navy Antarctic patrol vessel HMS Endurance was dispatched to remove the camp on 25 March, but was prevented from doing so and forced to retreat by the Argentine Navy Corvette ARA Guerrico. Later, despite evidence that the Argentine Navy had begun to assemble troops in Puerto Belgrano, UK Joint Intelligence Committee's Latin American group stated on March 30 that "invasion was not imminent."

Failed diplomacy
During the conflict, there were no formal diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina, so negotiations were carried out in a rather indirect way, and via third parties who spoke with one then with the other belligerent ("shuttle diplomacy"). The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru, announced that his efforts in favour of peace were futile. Although Peru (which represented Argentina's diplomatic interests in Britain) and Switzerland (which represented Britain's diplomatic interests in Argentina) exerted great diplomatic pressure to avoid war, they were unable to resolve the conflict, and a peace plan proposed by Peruvian president Fernando Belaúnde Terry was rejected by both sides.

Invasion
The British Government warned Rex Masterman Hunt, the Governor of the Falkland Islands, of a possible Argentine invasion on 31 March. Hunt then organized a defence, and gave military command to Major Mike Norman RM, who managed to muster a small force of Royal Marines. The Argentine Lieutenant-Commander in charge of the invasion, Guillermo Sanchez-Sabarots, landed his special forces at Mullet Creek. He proceeded to attack the buildings in and around Stanley, including Government House and the Moody Brook Barracks until the Falkland Islands government at Government House surrendered on April 4. One British Royal Marine was wounded, and one Argentine killed in the main invasion; a further three Argentines were killed in fighting to take control of South Georgia.

Life under the occupation
Argentina made Spanish the official language of the Islands and changed Port Stanley's name to Puerto Argentino. Traffic was commanded to drive on the right by painting arrows on the road indicating the direction of traffic and changing the location of street and traffic signs. However, outside Stanley, most roads were single track anyway.
Argentinian Captain Barry Melbourne Hussey, who was chosen for a position in the administration due to his knowledge and experience of English, asserted safety as a major concern, during discussions with the Islanders; "Which would you prefer, that our eighteen-year-old conscripts, with their big lorries, should try to drive on the left, or that you, with your little vehicles, change to the right?"
No confiscation of private property occurred during the occupation (all goods obtained from the islanders were paid for), but had the islanders refused to sell, the goods in question would have been taken anyway, as is normal in military situations.
There was no widespread abuse of the population; indeed after the war it was found that even the Islanders' personal food supplies and stocks of alcohol were untouched, and Brigadier-General Menéndez, the Argentine governor of the Islands, had made it clear from the start that he would not engage in any combat in Stanley itself.

Task force
The British were quick to organise diplomatic pressure against Argentina. Because of the long distance to the Falklands, Britain had to rely on a naval task force for military action. The overall naval force was commanded by the Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse, who was designated Commander Task Force 317, and had three to four subordinate task groups, depending on the stage of the war. Rear Admiral John “Sandy” Woodward’s Task Group 317.8 was centered around the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and the newly-commissioned HMS Invincible carrying only 20 Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Sea Harriers between them for defence against the combined Argentinian air force and naval air arm. The task force would have to be self-reliant and able to project its force across the littoral area of the Islands.
A second component was the Amphibious Group, Task Group 317.0, commanded by Commodore Michael Clapp RN. The embarked force, the Landing Group or Task Group 317.1, comprised 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines, (including units attached from the British Army’s Parachute Regiment and a number of units under the Royal Armoured Corps cap badge (The Blues & Royals)) under the command of Brigadier Julian Thompson, RM, to bring it up to its wartime strength. Most of this force was aboard the hastily-commandeered cruise liner Canberra.
A third was Submarine Group (TG 324.3?) of three to four submarines under Flag Officer Submarines. The UK declared a 'total exclusion zone' of 200 nautical miles (370km) around the Falklands before commencing operation, excluding all nations' vessels.
Throughout the operation, 43 British merchant ships (ships taken up from trade, or STUFT) served with or supplied the task force. Cargo vessels and tankers for fuel and water formed an 8000-mile logistics chain between Britain and the South Atlantic.
During the journey and up to the War beginning on May 1, the Task Force was shadowed by Boeing 707 aircraft of the Argentine Air Force. One of these flights was intercepted outside the exclusion zone by a Sea Harrier; the unarmed 707 was not attacked because diplomatic moves were still in progress and the British had not yet decided to commit themselves to war.
Prince Andrew, then second in line to the British throne, served as a Sea King helicopter pilot for No.820 Naval Air Squadron on HMS Invincible during the war, flying antisubmarine and anti-surface patrols. His helicopter also acted as an improvised airborne early warning platform, helped in casualty evacuation, transport and search and rescue.
The British called their counter-invasion Operation Corporate. When the task force sailed from Britain, the American news magazine Newsweek cover headline proclaimed “The Empire Strikes Back,” the name of a recent Star Wars film, in humorous reference to the old British Empire.

Public Opinion
The public mood in the UK was in support of an attempt to reclaim the islands. International opinion was divided. To some, Britain was a former colonial power, seeking to reclaim a colony from a local power, and this was a message that the Argentines initially used to garner support. Others supported Britain as a stable democracy invaded by a military dictatorship. Whilst remaining diplomatically neutral, most European countries and the United States supported Britain; many Latin American countries supported Argentina (with the notable exception of Chile, due to the territorial conflicts with Argentina which had led to a difficult diplomatic relationship, combined with some speeches from Junta members hinting that Argentina would take military action to resolve those territorial issues once the Falkland Islands were properly controlled).
British diplomacy centred on arguing that the Falkland Islanders were entitled to use the UN principle of self-determination and showing willingness to compromise. The UN Secretary-General said that he was amazed at the compromise that the UK had offered. Nevertheless, Argentina rejected it, the Junta being constrained by massive popular support for the invasion and unable to backtrack; they based their arguments on rights to territory based on actions before both 1945 and the creation of the UN. Many UN members realised that if territorial claims this old could be resurrected, and invasions of territory allowed unchallenged, then their own borders were not safe. On April 3, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 502, calling for the withdrawal of Argentine troops from the islands and the cessation of hostilities. On April 10, the European Community approved trade sanctions against Argentina. President Ronald Reagan and the United States’ administration did not issue direct diplomatic condemnations, instead providing intelligence support to the British military.

Shuttle diplomacy and U.S. involvement
At first glance, it appeared that the U.S. had military treaty obligations to both parties in the war, bound to the UK as a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to Argentina by the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (the "Rio Pact"). However, the North Atlantic Treaty only obliges the signatories to support if the attack occurs in Europe or North America north of Tropic of Cancer, and the Rio Pact only obliges the U.S. to intervene if one of the adherents to the treaty is attacked—the UK never attacked Argentina, only Argentine forces on British territory. In March, Secretary of State Alexander Haig directed the United States Ambassador to Argentina to warn the Argentine government away from any invasion. President Reagan requested assurances from Galtieri against an invasion and offered the services of his Vice President, George H.W. Bush, as mediator, but was refused.
In fact, the Reagan Administration was sharply divided on the issue. Meeting on April 5, Haig and Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Lawrence Eagleburger favoured backing Britain, concerned that equivocation would undermine the NATO alliance. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Thomas Enders, however, feared that supporting Britain would undermine U.S. anti-communist efforts in Latin America. He received the firm backing of U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, Haig's nominal subordinate and political rival. Kirkpatrick was guest of honour at a dinner held by the Argentine ambassador to the United States, on the day that the Argentine armed forces landed on the islands.
The White House continued its neutrality; Reagan famously declared at the time that he could not understand why two allies were arguing over "that little ice-cold bunch of land down there". But he assented to Haig and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger's position. Haig briefly (April 8–April 30) headed a "shuttle diplomacy" mission between London and Buenos Aires. According to a recent BBC documentary titled: "The Falklands War and the White House" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/6591267.stm),
Caspar Weinberger's Department of Defense began a number of non-public actions to support and supply the British military while Haig's shuttle diplomacy was still ongoing. Haig's message to the Argentines was that the British would indeed fight, and that the U.S. would support Britain, but at the time he was not aware that the U.S. was providing substantial support already.
At the end of the month Reagan blamed Argentina for the failure of the mediation, declared U.S. support for Britain, and announced the imposition of economic sanctions against Argentina.
In a notorious episode in June, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick cast a second veto of a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, then announced minutes later that she had received instructions to abstain. The situation was blamed on a delay in communications, but perceived by many as part of an ongoing power struggle between Haig and Kirkpatrick.
Galtieri, and a fair proportion of his government did not think that the UK would react. Margaret Thatcher declared that the democratic rights of the Falkland Islanders had been assaulted, and would not surrender the islands to the Argentinian "jackboot." This stance was aided, at least domestically, by the mostly supportive British press.
The Argentine dictatorship felt that the United States would, even in a worst-case scenario, remain completely neutral in the conflict (based upon the support that Argentina had given to the Reagan administration in Central America, training Contras). This assumption demonstrated a clear blindness to the reality of the US-UK special relationship.
To some extent, the Argentine military dictatorship was misled by its own opinion of democracies as being weak, inefficient talking-shops, afraid of taking risks. Indeed, in Britain there was much debate about the rights and wrongs of war. However, regardless of their own policies and opinions, opposition parties firmly backed the government during the crisis to present a single united front.
A U.S. fear of the perceived threat of the Soviet Union and the spread of communism, along with the certainty that Britain could handle the matter on its own, may have influenced the U.S. to take a position of non-interference. During the Cold War, with the performance of forces being watched closely by the Soviet Union, it was considered preferable for the UK to handle without assistance a conflict within its capabilities.
American non-interference was vital to the American-British relationship. Ascension Island, a British possession, was vital in the long term supply of the Task Force South; however, the airbase stationed on it was run and operated by the U.S. The American commander of the base was ordered to assist the British in any way, and for a brief period Ascension Air Field was one of the busiest airports in the world. The most expedient NATO contributions were satellite photographs, intelligence information, and the rescheduled supply of the latest model of Sidewinder Lima all-aspect infra-red seeking missiles, which allowed existing British inventory to be employed. Margaret Thatcher stated that "without the Harrier jets and their immense manoeuvrability, equipped as they were with the latest version of the Sidewinder missile, supplied to us by U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, we could never have got back the Falklands". This is not only politically, but militarily questionable, however, as all the Fleet Air Arm Sidewinder engagements, proved to be from the rear.
In early May, Casper Weinberger offered the use of an American aircraft carrier. This seemingly extremely generous offer was seen by some as vital: it was noted by Woodward that the loss of Invincible would have been a severe setback, but the loss of Hermes would have meant an end to the whole operation. Weinberger admits that there would have been many problems if a request had ever been made; not least, it would have meant U.S. personnel becoming directly involved in the conflict, as training British forces to crew the vessel would have taken years.
Both Weinberger and Reagan were later awarded the British honour of Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE). American critics of the U.S. role claimed that, by failing to side with Argentina, the U.S. violated its own Monroe Doctrine.
In September 2001, President of Mexico Vicente Fox cited the conflict as proof of the failure of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, since the treaty provides for mutual defence. However, in this conflict, Argentina was the aggressor.

French involvement
President of France François Mitterrand gave full support to the UK in the Falklands war. Sir John Nott, who was Secretary of State for Defence during the conflict, has acknowledged in his memoirs that "In so many ways Mitterrand and the French were our greatest allies". A large part of Argentina's military equipment was French-made, so French support was crucial. Sir John has revealed that France provided Mirage and Etendard aircraft, identical to the ones that it supplied to Argentina, for British pilots to train against. It is also disclosed in Sir John's memoirs that France provided intelligence to help fight the Exocet missiles that it had sold to Argentina, including details of special electronic countermeasures that at the time were only known to the French armed forces. In her memoirs, Margaret Thatcher says of Mitterrand that "I never forgot the debt we owed him for his personal support...throughout the Falklands Crisis". As France had recently sold Super Etendard aircraft and Exocet missiles to the Argentine Navy, there was still a French team in Argentina helping to fit out the Exocets and aircraft for Argentine use at the beginning of the war. Argentina claims that the team left for France soon after the April 2 invasion, but according to Dr. James Corum the French team apparently continued to assist the Argentines throughout the war, in spite of the NATO embargo and official French government policy.

Latin American support
Argentina received military assistance only from Peru — despite receiving cursory support from the Organisation of American States in a resolution supporting Argentina's sovereignty and deploring European Community sanctions (with Chile, and Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States attending but abstaining), and Venezuela. Peruvian president Belaunde announced that his country was "ready to support Argentina with all the resources it needed." This came in the form of aircraft supplies such as long range air fuel (drop) tanks and spare parts. With the War over, Argentina received Mirage 5P fighter planes from the Peruvian Air Force whilst the Argentine Navy received Aermacchi MB-326 and Embraer Bandeirantes from the Brazilian Air Force.
Cuba and Bolivia offered ground troops, but their offers were seen as political posturing and not accepted.
Neighbouring Chile, under General Pinochet's regime, became the only major Latin American country to support Britain (and then only indirectly) by providing a military and naval diversion. Chile and Argentina had almost gone to war over the possession of islands south of Tierra del Fuego during the Beagle conflict in 1978. The dispute ended peacefully with the 1984 Argentina and Chile Peace and Friendship Treaty mediated by Pope John Paul II). The relationship between these two countries was still very tense. The Chilean government was possibly concerned that if Argentina succeeded in taking the Falklands, General Galtieri's government would invade or attack Chile. The Chilean Connection is described in detail by Sir Lawrence Freedman in his book The Official History of the Falklands Campaign.
In her book "Statecraft", Lady Thatcher claims that General Pinochet gave Britain "vital" support during the war, most notably in intelligence, which saved British lives. Thatcher claims that the Chilean Air Force often provided Britain with early warning of impending Argentine Air Force attacks. When, at one point, the Chilean long-range radar was switched off for 24 hours for maintenance work, the Argentinian Air Force was able to bomb the Royal Navy ships Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram with many casualties.

Commonwealth support
Of the Commonwealth nations New Zealand made available the frigates HMNZS Canterbury and HMNZS Waikato as replacements for British ships in the Indian Ocean, freeing British vessels for deployment to the Falklands.

Events which led to war
On April 2, 1982 Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas), following on from the civilian occupation of South Georgia on March 19, before the Falklands War began. This article describes the initial defence organised by the Falkland Islands' Governor Sir Rex Hunt giving command to Major Mike Norman RM, the landing of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sanchez-Sabarots' Special Forces, the attack on Moody Brook Barracks, the engagement between the troops of Hugo Santillan and Bill Trollope at Stanley, and the battle and final surrender of Government House.
Defence
Governor Sir Rex Hunt was informed by the British Government of a possible Argentine invasion on Wednesday March 31. The Governor summoned the two senior Royal Marines officers of Naval Party 8901 to Government House in Stanley to discuss the options for defending the Falklands. He said during the meeting, "Sounds like the buggers mean it", remaining composed despite the seriousness of the situation that the islands faced.
Major Mike Norman RM was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major Gary Noott RM became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors, which was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over. Both the replacements and the troops preparing to leave were in the Falklands at the time of the invasion. This was decreased to 57 when twenty-two Royal Marines embarked aboard the Antarctic patrol ship Endurance to observe Argentine soldiers based at South Georgia. But their numbers were reinforced by 25 Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) members. Graham Bound who lived through the Argentine occupation reports instead in his book Falkland Islanders At War that approximately 40 (both serving and past) members of the (FIDF) reported for duty at their Drill Hall. Their commanding officer, Major Phil Summers, tasked the volunteer militiamen with guarding such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station. Skipper Jack Sollis, onboard the civilian coastal ship Forrest operated his boat as an improvised radar screen station off Stanley. Two other civilians, former Marine Jim Alister and a Canadian subject, Bill Curtiss, also offered their services to the Governor.

Operation Azul
The Argentine operation codenamed Azul (blue) began in the late evening of Thursday April 1 when the Argentine destroyer ARA Santisima Trinidad halted 500 metres off Mullet Creek and lowered 21 Gemini assault craft into the water. They contained 84 special forces troopers of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sanchez-Sabarots' 1st Amphibious Commandos Group and a small party under Lieutenant-Commander Pedro Giachino,who was normally 2IC of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion, that was to capture Government House. The Argentine Rear Admiral Jorge Allara had requested that Rex Hunt surrender peacefully, but the proposal was rejected.
The operation had been called Rosario (Rosary) during the planning stage, but it was renamed Azul (blue) after the colour of the Virgin Mary's robe.

Attack on Moody Brook barracks
Giachino's party had the shortest distance to go: two and a half miles due north. Moody Brook Barracks, the destination of the main party, was six miles away, over rough Falklands terrain. Lieutenant-Commander Sanchez-Sabarots, in the book The Argentine Fight for The Falklands, describes the main party's progress in the dark:
It was a nice night, with a moon, but the cloud covered the moon for most of the time.... It was very hard going with our heavy loads; it was hot work. We eventually became split up into three groups. We only had one night sight; the lead man, Lieutenant Arias had it. One of the groups became separated when a vehicle came along the track we had to cross. We thought it was a military patrol. Another group lost contact, and the third separation was caused by someone going too fast. This caused my second in command, Lieutenant Bardi, to fall. He suffered a hairline fracture of the ankle and had to be left behind with a man to help him. … We were at Moody Brook by 5.30 a.m., just on the limits of the time planned, but with no time for the one hour's reconnaissance for which we had hoped.
The main party of Argentine Marines assumed that the Moody Brook Barracks contained sleeping Royal Marines. The barracks were quiet, although a light was on in the office of the Royal Marine commander. No sentries were observed, and it was a quiet night, apart from the occasional animal call. Lieutenant-Commander Sanchez-Sabarots could hear nothing of any action at Government House, nor from the distant landing beaches; nevertheless, he ordered the assault to begin. Lieutenant-Commander Sanchez-Sabarots continues his account:
It was still completely dark. We were going to use tear-gas to force the British out of the buildings and capture them. Our orders were not to cause casualties if possible. That was the most difficult mission of my career. All our training as commandos was to fight aggressively and inflict maximum casualties on the enemy. We surrounded the barracks with machine-gun teams, leaving only one escape route along the peninsula north of Stanley Harbour. Anyone who did get away would not able to reach the town and reinforce the British there. Then we threw the gas grenades into each building. There was no reaction; the barracks were empty.
The noise of the grenades alerted Major Norman to the presence of Argentines on the island, and he thus drove back to Government House. Realising that the attack was coming from Moody Brook, he ordered all troop sections to converge on the house to enable the defence to be centralised.

Amphibious landing at Yorke Bay
There was a more pressing action on the eastern edge of Stanley. Twenty US-built LVTP-7A1 tracked amphibious armoured personnel carriers from the 1st Amphibious Vehicles Battalion, carrying D and E Companies of the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion, had been landed from the tank landing ship Cabo San Antonio at Yorke Bay, and were being watched by a section of Royal Marines under the command of Lieutenant Bill Trollope. The armoured column trundled along the Airport Road into Stanley, with three Amtracs (Numbers 05, 07 and 19) in the vanguard, and, near the Ionospheric Research Station, at exactly 7:15 am, was engaged by a section of Royal Marines with anti-tank rockets and machine-guns. This from Lieutenant-Commander Hugo Santillan's official post-battle report:
We were on the last stretch of the road into Stanley... A machine-gun fired from one of the three white houses about 500 metres away and hit the right-hand Amtrac. The fire was very accurate. Then there were some explosions from a rocket launcher, but they were inaccurate, falling a long way from us. We followed our standard operating procedure and took evasive action. The Amtrac on the right returned fire and took cover in a little depression. Once he was out of danger, I told all three vehicles to disembark their men... I ordered the crew with the recoilless rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at the ridge of the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof. The British troops then threw a purple smoke grenade; I thought it was their signal to withdraw. They had stopped firing, so Commander Weinstabl started the movement of the two companies around the position. Some riflemen in one of the houses started firing then; that was quite uncomfortable. I couldn't pinpoint their location, but one of my other Amtracs could and asked permission to open up with a mortar which he had. I authorized this, but only with three rounds and only at the roofs of the houses. Two rounds fell short, but the third hit right in the centre of the roof; that was incredible. The British ceased firing then. The Amtrac on the right manoeuvred itself off the road into a little depression and as it did so, disembarked the Marines inside out of view. This encouraged the Royal Marines to think that Marine Mark Gibbs had scored a direct hit on the passenger compartment of the APC.
Lieutenant Bill Trollope, with No. 2 Section, describes the action:
Six Armoured Personnel Carriers began advancing at speed down the Airport Road. The first APC was engaged at a range of about 200 to 250 metres. The first three missiles, two 84 mm and one 66 mm, missed. Subsequently one 66 mm fired by Marine Gibbs, hit the passenger compartment and one 84 mm Marines Brown and Betts hit the front. Both rounds exploded and no fire was received from that vehicle. The remaining five APCs which were about 600 to 700 metres away deployed their troops and opened fire. We engaged them with GPMG, SLR and sniper rifle [Sergeant Shepherd] for about a minute before we threw white phosphorus a smoke grenade and leap-frogged back to the cover of gardens. Incoming fire at that stage was fairly heavy, but mostly inaccurate.Lieutenant Trollope and his men withdrew along Davis Street, running behind the houses with Argentine Marines in hot pursuit, and went to ground firing up the road when it became obvious they could not reach Government House.

Battle of Government House and surrender
Lying on a small hillock south of Government House, Lieutenant-Commander Giachino faced the difficulty of capturing this important objective with no radio and with a force of only sixteen men. He split his force into small groups, placing one on either side of the house and one at the rear. Unknown to them, the Governors' residence was the main concentration point of the Royal Marines, who outnumbered the Commandos by two to one. The first attack against this building came at 6.30 a.m., barely an hour before the York Bay amphibious landing, when one of Giachino's platoons, led by Lieutenant Gustavo Lugo, started to exchange fire with the British troops inside the house. At the same time, Giachino himself, with four of his subordinates, entered the servants' annexe, believing it to be the rear entrance to the residence. Three Royal Marines, Corporals Sellen and Fleet and Marine Dorey, who were placed to cover the annexe, beat off the first attack. Giachino was hit instantly as he burst through the door, while Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga was shot in the arm. The remaining three retreated to the maid's quarters. Giachino was not dead, but very badly wounded. An Argentine paramedic, Corporal Ernesto Urbina, attempted to get to Giachino but was wounded by a grenade. Giachino seeing what had happened pulled the pin from a live hand grenade and threatened to use it. The Royal Marines then attempted to persuade the officer to get rid of the grenade so that they could give him medical treatment, but he refused, preventing them from reaching his position. After the surrender of the British forces at Government House, some three hours later, Giachino was taken to Stanley Hospital but died from heavy loss of blood.
At the Governor office, Major Norman received a radio report from Corporal York's section, which was positioned at Camber peninsula, observing any possible Argentine ship entering Stanley Harbour.
The Corporal proceeded to report on three potential targets in sight and which should he engage first. What are the targets? the Major enquired. Target number one is an aircraft carrier, target number two is a cruiser..., at which point the line went dead.
Corporal York decided to withdraw his section and proceeded to booby trap their Carl Gustav recoilless rifle, before paddling their Gemini assault boat north across Port William. As he did so, York claimed an Argentine destroyer began pursuing them (the corvette ARA Granville according to Argentine sources). His initiative led to the Gemini reaching an anchored Polish fishing vessel, hiding the small assault boat in its shadow. They patiently waited for a chance, before moving to the shore and landing on a small beach.
Back at Government House, the Argentine Commando's pressure kept unabated. There is some evidence that the use of stun grenades and the continuous shift of firing positions during the battle led the Royal Marines inside to believe they were facing a company of Marines and were hopelessly besieged and outnumbered. Actually, after the failure of Giachino's platoon to break into the residence, the British were surrounded by only a dozen elite troops. These men were under Lieutenant Lugo, Giachino's 2IC. The Land-Rovers vehicles used by the Marines were disabled by automatic gunfire from the Commandos. Certainly Governor Hunt called Patrick Watts (at the radio station, Radio Stanley), by telephone and said he believed the assaulting force to be the equivalent of a reinforced company:
They must have 200 around us now. They've been throwing grenades at us. They came along very quickly and very close, and then they retreated. Maybe they are waiting until the APCs [Amtracs] come along and they think they'll lose less casualties that way. (Graham Bound, Falkland Islanders At War, 2002).
In consequence, Hunt decided to enter talks with Argentine commanders around 8 o'clock. The liaison was Vice-Commodore Hector Gilobert, the head in the islands of LADE, the Argentine government's airline company. Gilobert and a Governor deputy went to the Argentine HQs displaying a white flag. A de facto ceasefire was put in place at that time which was occasionally breached by sniper and small arms fire.
While the negotiations were still going on, another incident occurred inside the residence. Three Argentine survivors of the first skirmish along the compound inadvertently alerted Major Noott to their presence, while they had been preparing to leave their hiding place. The Major fired his machine gun into the maid's room ceiling. According to British reports, the stunned Commandos tumbled down the stairs, laying their weapons on the ground. They became the first Argentine POWs of the Falklands War, albeit by then, as mentioned above, Governor Hunt had already been in contact with Argentine officials negotiating the terms of surrender. The Argentine version is that the three men kept their fighting position right to the end of the hostilities.
Meanwhile, the Governor envoys reached the Argentine commanding post in Stanley. The Argentine chief accepted the British offer of a face to face meeting with Rex Hunt in his battered office.
Shortly after, the Royal Marines in the House saw the approaching Amtracs that had earlier on been engaged by Lieutenant Trollope and his section. They pushed on toward Moody Brook to link up with Sanchez-Sabarots, whose Commandos were plodding slowly along the road to reinforce their colleagues besieging Government House, taking some prisoners in the process. Major Norman had earlier advised Rex Hunt that the Royal Marines and the Governor could break out to the countryside and set up a 'seat of government' elsewhere, but when he finally met the commander-in-chief of the Argentine operations, Admiral Busser, he agreed to surrender his troops to the now overwhelming Argentine forces at 9:30 AM.
Corporal York's section remained at large. On the 4th of April, his platoon reached a secluded shepherd's hut owned by a Mrs Watson. He had no radio, and due to worries about possible civilian deaths chose to surrender to Argentine forces. They gave their position to the Argentines using a local islander's radio, and York subsequently ordered his men to destroy and then bury their weapons.
After the surrender, the Royal Marines and the members of the FIDF were then herded onto the playing fields. Pictures and film were taken of the British prisoners arranged face-down on the ground, which galvanised the British public when they were broadcast on television. The Argentine intention appeared to have been to show the lack of British casualties, but the images became a painful reminder of a national humiliation. Soon afterwards, the Royal Marines were moved to a C-130 transport aircraft, which would take them to Uruguay and on to the United Kingdom. Members of FIDF were not taken to Argentina along with members of NP 8901; instead they were disarmed and returned to their homes.
In Buenos Aires, huge flag-waving crowds flooded the Plaza de Mayo upon hearing the news. Argentina's losses in the operation were one dead and three wounded. In London, where the bad news were fully known from Argentine sources, the government was in a state of shock on what was dubbed as "Black Friday".
The next day, Argentine forces captured the island chain of South Georgia, 1500 km to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentines suffered one sailor from the corvette ARA Guerrico and two Marines killed (Navy Corporal Patricio Guanca and Marines conscripts Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila). One British Marine was wounded when his position was fired on by the Guerrico's 40 mm cannons.

Operation Timeline
- A. 21:30 1 April - The Type 42 destroyer ARA Santisima Trinidad begins loading marines of the Amphibious Commandos Group into 21 small inflatable motor boats. These set out for Mullet Creek but sail too far north and are caught up in beds of Kelp, which cause problems for the boats. They decide to head for the nearest beach, which is near Lake Point.
- B. 23:00 1 April - The first group of 84 men lands on an unnamed beach at Lake Point. The group splits into a smaller force commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Giachino which heads towards Government House, and a larger force commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots which heads towards Moody Brook Barracks.
- C. 04:30 2 April - A small advanced team of the Tactical Divers Group is landed undetected from the Submarine ARA Santa Fe at Yorke Bay.
- D. 05:30 2 April - Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots force reaches and surrounds the Barracks. They throw tear gas grenades into the buildings and fire machine gun tracer over the buildings. They find the buildings are deserted.
- E. 06:00 2 April - 20 FMC Amtracs and several LARC-V stores-carrying vehicles land on Yorke Bay from the assault ship ARA Cabo San Antonio. The force splits into 3 groups:
o A four Amtrac vanguard. Including one carrying the Army Platoon.
o The main force of 14 Amtracs.
o The second in command, a recovery Amtrac and LARC vehicles.
- F. 06:30 2 April - The first Amtracs meet no resistance. The Army platoon captures the deserted airport.
- G. 06:30 2 April - A 16-man Argentine force reaches Government House, where they are stopped by 31 Royal Marines, 11 armed Royal Navy personnel and 1 local. Three Argentines are wounded (one would later die), and other three are later captured inside the House, although by then (around 8:00) talks with Argentine officials about the surrender had already begun.
- H. 07:15 2 April - Having met no resistance, the Argentine Amtracs advance on Stanley, when they are ambushed from a house about 500 metres from the road. Royal Marines use rockets and machine gun fire. The Royal Marines fall back to government house. One of the Amtracs is scarred by machine gun fire, and there is one minor injury.
- I. 08:30 2 April - The Argentine Amtrac force secures Stanley.
- J. Argentine Navy divers begin clearing the runway and seize the lighthouse.

War
By mid-April, the Royal Air Force had set up an airbase at Wideawake on the mid-Atlantic island of Ascension, including a sizable force of Avro Vulcan B Mk 2 bombers, Handley Page Victor K Mk 2 refuelling aircraft, and McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR Mk 2 fighters to protect them. Meanwhile the main British naval task force arrived at Ascension to prepare for war. A small force had already been sent south to re-capture South Georgia.
Encounters began in April; the British Task Force was shadowed by Boeing 707 aircraft of the Argentine Air Force during their travel to the south. One of these flights was intercepted outside the British self-imposed exclusion zone, by a Sea Harrier; the unarmed 707 was not attacked because diplomatic moves were still in progress and the UK had not yet decided to commit itself to war.

Recapture of South Georgia and the attack on the Santa Fe
The South Georgia force, Operation Paraquet, under the command of Major Guy Sheridan RM, consisted of Marines from 42 Commando, a troop of the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) troops who were intended to land as reconnaissance forces for an invasion by the Royal Marines. All were embarked on RFA Tidespring. First to arrive was the Churchill-class submarine HMS Conqueror on 19 April, and the island was over-flown by a radar-mapping Handley Page Victor on 20 April. The first landings of SAS troops took place on 21 April, but — with the southern hemisphere autumn setting in — the weather was so bad that their landings and others made the next day were all withdrawn after two helicopters crashed in fog on Fortuna Glacier. The first Royal Naval Ship to arrive was 42 type destroyers HMS Glasgow.
On 23 April, a submarine alert was sounded and operations were halted, with the Tidespring being withdrawn to deeper water to avoid interception. On 24 April, the British forces regrouped and headed in to attack the submarine. On 25 April the ARA Santa Fe was spotted by a Westland Wessex HAS Mk 3 helicopter from HMS Antrim, which attacked the Argentine submarine with depth charges. HMS Plymouth launched a Westland Wasp HAS.Mk.1 helicopter, and HMS Brilliant launched a Westland Lynx HAS Mk 2. The Lynx launched a torpedo, and strafed it with its pintle-mounted General Purpose Machine Gun; the Wessex also fired on the Santa Fe with its GPMG. The Wasp from HMS Plymouth as well as two other Wasps launched from HMS Endurance fired AS-12 ASM anti-ship missiles at the submarine, scoring hits. Santa Fe was damaged badly enough to prevent her from submerging. The crew abandoned the submarine at the jetty at King Edward Point on South Georgia.
With the Tidespring now far out to sea and the Argentine forces augmented by the submarine's crew, Major Sheridan decided to gather the 76 men he had and make a direct assault that day. After a short forced march by the British force, the Argentine forces surrendered without resistance. The message sent from the naval force at South Georgia to London was "Please inform Her Majesty, that the white ensign flies alongside the union flag on the isle of South Georgia. God save the Queen". Prime Minister Thatcher broke the news to the media, telling them to "Just rejoice at that news!"

Black Buck raids
The Operation Black Buck raids were a series of five attacks on the Islands by RAF Avro Vulcan bombers of 44 Squadron, staged from Wideawake airbase on Ascension Island, close to the equator. The overall effect of the raids on the war is difficult to determine, as the raids consumed precious tanker resources and did minimal damage to the runway but post-war propaganda states, that the Vulcan raids influenced Argentina to withdraw Mirage IIIs from the Southern Argentina to the Buenos Aires Defence Zone. It has been suggested that the Black Buck raids were pressed home by the Royal Air Force. The British armed forces had been cut in the late seventies, and the RAF may have desired a greater role in the conflict to prevent further cuts. A single crater was produced on the runway, rendering it impossible for the airfield to be used by fast jets. Argentine ground crew repaired the runway within twenty-four hours and produced fake craters to confound British damage assessment.
On 1 May operations against the Falklands opened with the "Black Buck 1" attack on the airfield at Stanley. The Vulcan had originally been designed for medium-range stand-off nuclear missions in Europe and did not have the range to fly to the Falklands, requiring several in-flight re-fuellings. The RAF's tanker planes were mostly converted Handley Page Victor bombers with similar range, so they too had to be refuelled in the air. Thus, a total of 11 tankers were required for only two Vulcans, a huge logistical effort, given that both the tankers and bombers had to use the same strip. The attack yielded only a single hit on the runway.
The raids, at almost 8,000 nautical miles (13 000 km) and 16 hours for the return journey, were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at that time (surpassed in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 by USAF Boeing B-52G Stratofortresses flying from the continental United States but using forward-positioned tankers) They are often credited with the strategic success of causing the Argentine Air Force ("Fuerza Aerea Argentina") to withdraw all their Mirage IIIEA aircraft to protect against the possibility of similar bombing raids on the Argentine mainland. However, according to the FAA version, Group 8 Mirages were deployed to Comodoro Rivadavia and Rio Gallegos in April (before the raids) where they remained until June to protect against any Chilean threat and as reserve for the strike units. Their lack of aerial refuel capability and a smaller internal fuel capacity, as compared to the IAI Daggers, prevented them from being used effectively over the islands, as was shown by their only engagement of the war on May 1, so they were relegated to mainland duties. Concerned about the possibility of Chilean strikes or SAS raids, the FAA was forced to disperse its aircraft in the areas surrounding their southern airfields. For example, several parts of the national route #3 were used for this purpose.
Only minutes after the RAF's Black Buck 1, nine Fleet Air Arm BAE Sea Harrier FRS Mk 1s from HMS Hermes followed up the raid by dropping BL755 cluster bombs on Stanley and the smaller grass airstrip at Goose Green. The Harriers destroyed one FMA IA 58 Pucará at Goose Green and caused minor damage to Stanley airfield infrastructure. The remaining runways were fully operational through the rest of the conflict. Other Sea Harriers had taken off from the deck of HMS Invincible for combat air patrols, and although attached BBC reporter Brian Hanrahan was forbidden to divulge the number of planes involved, he came up with the memorable phrase "I counted them all out and I counted them all back."
The Argentines nevertheless claimed that two Sea Harriers were downed that morning in the general area of Stanley. The Commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre, gave the serial numbers of the two Sea Harriers as XZ 458 and XZ 491. Claiming the first to a 35 mm gun and the second to a Roland missile. This claim has been dismissed by a number of English language sources
Of the five Black Buck raids, three were against Stanley Airfield, with the other two anti-radar missions using Shrike air-to-surface antiradiation missiles.

Escalation of the air war
The Falklands had only three airfields. The longest and only paved runway at the capital, Stanley, and even it was too short to support fast jets. Therefore, the Argentine Air Force (FAA) was forced to launch its major strikes from the mainland, severely hampering its efforts at forward staging, combat air patrols and close air support over the islands. The effective loiter time of incoming Argentine aircraft was low, and they were later compelled to overfly British forces in any attempt to attack the islands.
The first major Argentine strike force comprised 36 aircraft (McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, Israel Aircraft Industries Daggers, English Electric B Mk 62 Canberras and Dassault Mirage III escorts), and was sent on 1 May, in the belief that the British invasion was imminent or landings had already taken place. Only a section of Grupo 6 (flying IAI Dagger aircraft) found ships, which were firing at Argentine defences near the islands. The Daggers managed to attack the ships and return safely. This greatly boosted morale of the Argentine pilots, who now knew they could survive an attack against modern warships, protected by radar ground clutter from the Islands and by using a late pop-up profile.
Meanwhile, other Argentine aircraft were intercepted by Sea Harriers operating from HMS Invincible. A Dagger and a Canberra were shot down.
Combat broke out between Sea Harrier FRS Mk 1 fighters of No. 801 Naval Air Squadron and Mirage III fighters of Grupo 8. Both sides refused to fight at the other's best altitude, until two Mirages finally descended to engage. One was shot down by an AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missile (AAM), while the other escaped but without enough fuel to return to its mainland airfield. The plane made for Stanley, where it fell victim to friendly fire from the Argentine defenders.
As a result of this experience, Argentine Air Force staff decided to employ A-4 Skyhawks and Daggers only as strike units, the Canberras only during the night, and Mirage IIIs (without air refuelling capability or any capable AAM) as decoys to lure away the British Sea Harriers. The decoying would be later extended with the formation of the Escuadron Fenix, a squadron of civilian jets flying 24 hours-a-day simulating strike aircraft preparing to attack the fleet. On one of these flights, an Air Force Learjet was shot down, killing the squadron commander, Vice Commodore Rodolfo De La Colina, who was the highest-ranking Argentine officer to die in the War.
Stanley was used as an Argentine strongpoint throughout the conflict. Despite the Black Buck and Harrier raids on Stanley airfield (no fast jets were stationed there for air defense) and overnight shelling by detached ships, it was never out of action entirely. Stanley was defended by a mixture of Surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems such as the Franco-German Roland) and Swiss-built 35 mm twin anti-aircraft cannons. Lockheed Hercules transport night flights brought supplies, weapons, vehicles, and fuel, and airlifted out the wounded up until the end of the conflict. The few RN Sea Harriers were considered too valuable by day to risk in night-time blockade operations, and their Blue Fox radar was not an effective look-down over land radar. The only Argentine Air Force Hercules shot down by the British was lost on 1 June when TC-63 was intercepted by a Sea Harrier in daylight when it was searching for the British fleet north-east of the islands after the Argentine Navy retired its last of SP-2H Neptune due to airframe attrition.

Sinking of Belgrano
Two separate British naval task forces (surface vessels and submarines) and the Argentine fleet were operating in the neighborhood of the Falklands, and soon came into conflict. The first naval loss was the World War II vintage Argentine light cruiser ARA General Belgrano — formerly the USS Phoenix, a survivor of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror, captained by Commander Christopher Wreford-Brown, sank Belgrano on May 2 using Mk 8 Mod 4 torpedoes of WWII-vintage design; these were chosen as they carried a larger warhead and contact fuses and there were worries surrounding the reliability of the newer Mk 24 torpedo stock. Three hundred and twenty-three members of Belgrano's crew died in the incident. Over 700 men were rescued from the open ocean despite cold seas and stormy weather. Losses from Belgrano totalled just over half of Argentine deaths in the Falklands conflict, and the Belgrano remains the only ship ever sunk by a nuclear submarine in combat.
In a separate incident later that night, British forces engaged an Argentine patrol gunboat, the ARA Alferez Sobral. At the time, the Alferez Sobral was searching for the crew of the Argentine Air Force English Electric Canberra light bomber shot down on May 1. Two Sea Lynxes fired four Sea Skua missiles against her. Badly damaged and with eight crew dead, the Sobral managed to return to Puerto Deseado two days later, but the Canberra's crew were never found.
Initial reports conflated the two incidents, contributing to confusion about the number of casualties and the identity of the vessel that sank. The Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid newspaper The Sun greeted the initial reports of the attack with the headline "GOTCHA". This first edition was published before news was known that the Belgrano had actually sunk (reporting instead, erroneously, that the gunboat had sunk) and carried no reports of actual Argentine deaths. The headline was replaced in later editions by the more tempered "Did 1,200 Argies drown?".
The loss of ARA General Belgrano hardened the stance of the Argentine government and also became a cause célèbre for anti-war campaigners (such as Labour MP Tam Dalyell), who declared that the ship had been sailing away from the Falklands at the time. The vessel was outside the exclusion zone, and sailing away from the area of conflict. However, during war, under international law, the heading of a belligerent naval vessel has no bearing on its status. In addition, the captain of the Belgrano, Hector Bonzo, has testified that the attack was legitimate. In later years it has been claimed that the information on the position of the ARA General Belgrano came from a Soviet spy satellite which was tapped by the Norwegian intelligence service station at Fauske, Norway, and then handed over to the British. However, Conqueror had been shadowing the Belgrano for some days, so this extra information would have been unnecessary.
The sinking occurred 14 hours after Constitutional President of the Republic of Peru Fernando Belaúnde Terry had proposed a comprehensive peace plan and called for regional unity. With the comprehensive failure of diplomatic efforts to that point and so without any hope that additional diplomatic efforts would lead anywhere, and with the knowledge that the delay that would be incurred by such efforts would eliminate the military option due to the closing winter weather, this plan was not entertained by the UK.
Regardless of controversies over the sinking, it had a crucial strategic effect; the elimination of the Argentine naval threat. After her loss, the entire Argentine fleet returned to port and did not leave again for the duration of hostilities. The two escorting destroyers and the battle group centered on the aircraft carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo both withdrew from the area, ending the direct threat to the British fleet that their pincer movement had represented. The attack on Belgrano was the first kill made by a nuclear submarine and only the second submarine kill since the end of the Second World War, the other being made by PNS Hangor, a diesel electric submarine during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.
British historian Sir Lawrence Freedman stated in the second volume of his Official History of the Falklands that intelligence about the Belgrano did not reach senior British commanders and politicians until the order to sink her was passed. Commander Christopher Wreford-Brown, commanding officer of HMS Conqueror, informed the Admiralty four hours before his attack that the Argentine cruiser had changed course, but this information was not passed to the Ministry of Defence or Rear-Admiral John “Sandy” Woodward (commander of the RN task force).
Sinking of HMS Sheffield
Two days after the sinking of Belgrano, on May 2, the British lost the Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield to fire following an Exocet missile strike. Sheffield had been ordered forward with two other Type 42s in order to provide a long-range radar and medium-high altitude missile "picket" far from the British carriers. After the ships were detected by an Argentine Navy P-2 Neptune patrol aircraft, two Dassault Super Étendards (serial no. 202 and 203) were launched from their base at Río Grande, each armed with a single Exocet AM39 missile. Refuelled by an Argentine Air Force KC-130H Hercules after launch, they went in at low altitude, popped up for a radar check at 50 miles (80 km) and released the missiles from 20 to 30 miles (30 to 50 km) away.
Glasgow, Sheffield’s sister ship and the northernmost of the three-destroyer picket, had detected the two Étendards on their first pop-up, and warned the fleet-wide anti-air warfare coordinator in Hermes. Hermes dismissed the report as one of the many false alarms already that morning. Glasgow continued to monitor that bearing and detected the second pop-up, and this time the tell-tale Exocet seeker radar via the ship's ESM equipment. Again Hermes ruled the detection as spurious, but Glasgow continued to broadcast handbrake, the codeword for Exocet radar detected.
The first missile missed HMS Yarmouth, due to her deployment of chaff in response to the warning, whilst Glasgow repeatedly tried, without success, to engage the other with Sea Dart missiles. Still Hermes ruled that this was a false alarm.
Sheffield was unable to detect directly the seeker radar as, in a case of bad timing, the SCOT satellite communications terminal was in use which deafened the onboard electronic warfare support measures (ESM) equipment. She did not detect the missile on radar due to her radar being of a similar frequency to that of the Exocet. It is not known why she did not respond to Glasgow's warnings, but no chaff were fired and a ship-wide warning of attack went out only seconds before impact when a watch-keeper (Lieutenant Commander Peter Walpole) identified rocket trails visually.
Sheffield was struck amidships, with devastating effect. Whether the warhead actually exploded is debated, but raging fires started to spread, ultimately killing 20 crew members and severely injuring 24 others. Whilst alongside rendering assistance, Yarmouth repeatedly broke off to fire anti-submarine weaponry in response to Sonar reports of torpedoes in the water (later believed to have been a misdiagnosis of the outboard motor of the small inflatables helping with firefighting), as well as visual reports of torpedoes (in actual fact the Sheffield was ridding herself of torpedoes to prevent explosion).
Sheffield was abandoned several hours later, gutted and deformed by the fires that continued to burn for six more days. She finally sank outside the Maritime Exclusion Zone on May 10, whilst under tow from Yarmouth, becoming an official war grave. In one sense Sheffield served her purpose as a part of the missile picket line — she took the missile instead of the aircraft carriers.
The tempo of operations increased throughout the second half of May as United Nations attempts to mediate a peace were rejected by the British, who felt that any delay would make a campaign impractical in the South Atlantic storms. The destruction of Sheffield had a profound impact on the British public, bringing home the fact that the "Falklands Crisis", as the BBC News put it, was now an actual 'shooting war'.

SAS operations
Given the threat to the British fleet posed by the Etendard / Exocet combination, plans were made to use Special Air Service troops to attack the home base of the five Etendards at Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego. The aim was to destroy the missiles and the aircraft that carried them, and to kill the pilots in their quarters. Two plans were drafted and underwent preliminary rehearsal:
- A landing by approximately fifty-five SAS in two C-130 Hercules aircraft directly on the runway at Rio Grande;
- An infiltration of twenty-four SAS by inflatable boats brought within a few miles of the coast by submarine.
Neither plan was implemented; the earlier airborne assault plan attracted considerable hostility from some members of the SAS, who considered the proposed raid a suicide mission. Ironically, the Rio Grande area would be defended by four full-strength battalions of Marine Infantry of the Argentine Marine Corps of the Argentine Navy, some of whose officers were trained in the UK by the SBS years earlier. After the war, Argentine marine commanders admitted that they were waiting for some kind of landing by SAS forces but never expected a Hercules to land directly on their runways, although they would have pursued British forces even into Chilean territory if they were attacked.
A SAS reconnaissance team was dispatched to carry out preparations for a seaborne infiltration. A Westland Sea King helicopter carrying the assigned team took off from HMS Invincible on the night of May 17, but bad weather forced it to land 50 miles (80 km) from its target, and the mission was aborted. The pilot flew to Chile and dropped off the SAS team, before setting fire to his helicopter and surrendering to the Chilean authorities. The discovery of the burnt-out helicopter attracted considerable international attention at the time.
On May 14, the SAS carried out the raid on Pebble Island at the Falklands, where the Argentine Navy had taken over a grass airfield for FMA IA 58 Pucará light ground attack aircraft and T-34 Mentors. The raid destroyed the aircraft there.

Landing at San Carlos — Bomb Alley
During the night on May 21, the British made an amphibious landing on beaches around San Carlos Water, on the north western coast of East Falkland facing onto Falkland Sound. The bay, known as Bomb Alley by British forces, was the scene of repeated air attacks by low-flying Argentine jets.
The 4,000 men of 3 Commando Brigade, including the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the Parachute Regiment (2 and 3 Para), were put ashore from the amphibious ships and the liner Canberra as follows: 2 Para and 40 Commando were landed at San Carlos Beach, 45 Commando at Ajax Bay, and 3 Para at Port San Carlos. By dawn the next day, they had established a secure beachhead from which to conduct offensive operations. From there Brigadier Thompson's plan was to capture Darwin and Goose Green before turning towards Stanley.
Now, with the British troops on the ground, the Argentine Air Force began the night bombing campaign against them using Canberras until the last day of the war (June 14).
At sea, the paucity of the British ships' anti-aircraft defences was demonstrated in the sinking of HMS Ardent on May 21, HMS Antelope on May 21, and MV Atlantic Conveyor, with a vital cargo of helicopters, runway-building equipment and tents on May 25. The loss of all but one of the Chinook helicopters being carried by the Atlantic Conveyor was a severe blow from a logistics perspective. Also lost on this day was HMS Coventry, a sister to HMS Sheffield, whilst in company with HMS Broadsword after being ordered to act as decoy to draw away Argentinian aircraft from other ships at San Carlos Bay.[40] HMS Argonaut and HMS Brilliant were badly damaged. However, many British ships escaped terminal damage because of the Argentine pilots' bombing tactics. In order to avoid the highest concentration of British air defenses, Argentine pilots were forced to release ordnance from very low altitude.
While the attacks were undoubtedly brave, the low release of the un-retarded bombs (some of which were sold to the Argentine FAA by the British years earlier) meant that many never exploded as there was insufficient time in the air for them to arm themselves. Simple free-fall bombs will, at low altitude, impact almost directly below the dropping aircraft, therefore there is a minimum safe altitude for release. The pilots would doubtless have been aware of this, but in the heat of bomb alley (the pilots need to avoid a high concentration of anti-aircraft defenses of SAMs and cannons plus the Sea Harriers CAPs) many failed to climb to the necessary release point. The problem was solved by the improvised fitting of retarding devices, allowing low-level bombing attacks as employed on June 8.
In his autobiographical account of the Falklands War, Admiral Woodward blames the BBC World Service for these changes to the bombs. The World Service reported the lack of detonations after receiving a briefing on the matter from an MOD official. He describes the BBC as being more concerned with being "fearless seekers after truth" than with the lives of British servicemen. Colonel H. Jones leveled similar accusations against the BBC after they disclosed the impending British attack on Goose Green by 2 Para. Jones had threatened to lead the prosecution of senior BBC officials for treason but was unable to do so since he was himself killed in action around Goose Green.
Thirteen unexploded bombs hit British ships without detonating. Lord Craig, the former Marshal of the Royal Air Force, is said to have remarked: “Six better fuses and we would have lost” although Ardent and Antelope were both lost despite the failure of bombs to explode. The fuses were functioning correctly, and the bombs were simply released from too low an altitude.
The Argentines lost nearly twenty aircraft in these attacks.

Battle of Goose Green
The Battle of Goose Green (28–29 May 1982) was an engagement of the Falklands War between British and Argentinian forces. Goose Green had little strategic value to the overall aim of recapturing the capital Stanley but, as it was a significant Argentinian position and close to the beachhead at San Carlos, it could not be ignored.
The British force consisted of three companies of Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert 'H' Jones' 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment (2 Para) which had the following support: three 105mm artillery pieces with 960 shells from 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery; one MILAN anti-tank missile platoon; Scout helicopters, and at dusk, air support provided by three Royal Air Force Harriers.
Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Jones, who allegedly preferred to simply be called 'H', due to his dislike of his given name (although few NCO or other ranks agree that he was ever known to them as 'H', but more likely 'Colonel Jones') commanded 2 PARA. Jones' style of command was no doubt an inspiration to his troops, but more recent appraisals of his plan, action and execution of the battle for the isthmus, have indicated that there were various shortcomings in the preparation and conduct of the battle.
The defending Argentinian forces known as Task Force Mercedes consisted of the Lieutenant-Colonel Italo Piaggi's 12th Infantry Regiment (RI 12) and a company of the Ranger-type 25th Infantry Regiment (RI 25). Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Ali Seineldin, considered by many Argentinians to be the 'father' of the Argentinian Commandos, who chafing at his role as Commanding Officer of an ordinary infantry unit, put all his conscripts through a compressed version of the commando course in March 1982, dressing them in the green berets of the Army Commandos and changing the title of RI 25 unofficially to 25th 'Special' Infantry Regiment. The name 'Special' was picked rather than adopt the US Army 'Ranger' title. The RI 12 conscripts were not properly trained for infantry fighting but were mainly recruited from Guaraní Indian stock of Corrientes Province who generally pride themselves on being a warrior race.
Air defence was provided by a battery of 20mm Rheinmetall and two Oerlikon 35mm anti-aircraft guns from the 601st Anti-Aircraft Battalion that would be employed in a ground support role. There was also one battery of four 105mm Oto Melara pack howitzers from the 4th Airborne Artillery Regiment. Pucaras based at Stanley, armed with rockets and napalm, provided ground support.
Just after 2.30 am on 28 May, 2 Para launched its attack on the Argentinians to capture Goose Green 'before breakfast'. RI 12's A Company defended the Darwin Parks sector with two rifle platoons, and a mortar platoon. For ninety minutes the forward Argentinian platoons were pounded with naval artillery. In the ensuing night battle about twelve Argentinians were killed. Major Philip Neame's D Company was temporarily halted by the Coronation Ridge position. One of his men, Lance-Corporal Mike Perkins darted out from under cover to charge the enemy machine gun nest that was holding up the advance. He was ten metres from the machine gun when he shot up the whole crew before realising how he exposed he was. He later said that he thought it had started to rain agin, then realised that the splashes were in fact bullets falling around him. He was awarded the Military Medal. With the enemy machine gun out of action, the Paras were able to clear the Argentinian position with minimal losses.
2 Para moved on to the south via Darwin Parks. The Argentinians made a determined stand along Darwin Ridge. As A and B Companies moved south from Coronation Ridge they were raked by fire from a couple of concealed Argentinian FN MAG machine guns. An Argentinian senior NCO, Company Sergeant-Major Juan Cohelo, is credited with rallying the RI 12's A Company remnants falling back from Darwin Parks. He was seriously wounded later in the day. The first British assault was broken up by fire from Sub-Lieutenant Ernesto Peluffo's RI 12 platoon. Corporal Osvaldo Olmos, of RI 25 refused to leave his foxhole and continued firing at the British company as it moved forward. The Paras called on the Argentinians to surrender.
At this juncture of the battle, 2 Para's advance had become stuck. They were being held up at many points by Argentine resistance that contradicted both the SAS and intelligence remarks of "hit them hard and they will fold", the very words that Jones spoke to his men during his orders group. Jones had pushed his tactical HQ, known as TAC 1, well forward of where an officer conducting a battle should be in order to be able to effectively impose his plan and gain a proper perspective on events. It was at this point, for reasons unknown, Jones decided to personally lead an assault on an entrenched machine gun nest at the crest of a low spur. Followed by his bodyguard, Sergeant Norman, his signaller, Sergeant Blackburn and several officers in his TAC 1 party, including Captains Dent and Wood, he charged the Argentine position. Sgt. Norman recalls calling out to Jones to "watch your fucking back", but Norman believes the OC either didn't hear him, or chose to ignore him. In a documentary filmed after the war, Norman believes that Jones chose to ignore him, as that was his style of leadership. It must be noted that on many training exercises in the UK, Jones had been declared 'KIA' by the umpires during several mock battles, for precisely the same reasons. Jones ran into a small re-entrant (a dip between two hills) and carried on running up to the crest towards the machine gun position. After stopping to reload his submachine gun halfway up the hill, he pushed on, only to be shot in the back by an Argentine gunner, Jose Louis Rios, manning a MAG at the right of the Argentine line, on the opposite spur to the trench Jones was charging. Corporal Rios was later fatally wounded in his trench by Corporal Abols firing a 66mm rocket. Jones had been hit in the back and the groin, and despite the efforts of those around him, was dead within the hour. Also killed during this action was the adjutant, Captain Wood, A company's second-in-command Captain Dent and Corporal Hardman. Jones was later to receive the Victoria Cross for his efforts.
By then it was 10.30 am and Major Dair Farrar-Hockley's A Company made a third attempt, but this petered out. Eventually the British company, hampered by the morning fog as they advanced up the slope of Darwin Ridge, were driven back to the gulley by the fire from 2nd Lieutenant Roberto Estevez and his men, who were 1st Platoon, of RI 25's C Company. During this action Lieutenant Estevez directed Argentinian 105mm artillery and 120mm mortar fire that posthumously earned him the Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross (CHVC). 2 Para's mortar crews alone fired 1,000 rounds to keep the enemy at bay, and helped stop the Argentinians to get a proper aim at the Paras (source: Peter Harclerode, PARA!: Fifty Years of the Parachute Regiment, p. 329, Arms & Armour Press, 1993).
It was almost noon before the British advance resumed. Inspired by their commanding officer's sacrifice, A Company soon cleared the eastern end of the Argentinian position and opened the way forward. There had been two battles going on in the Darwin hillocks - one around Darwin Hill looking down on Darwin Bay, and an equally fierce one in front of Boca Hill (also known as Boca House Ruins). Sub-Lieutenant Guillermo Aliaga's 3rd Platoon of RI 8's C Company held Boca Hill. The position of Boca Hill was taken after heavy fighting by Major John Crosland's B Company with support from the Milan anti-tank platoon. About the time of the victory at the Boca Hill position, A Company overcame the Argentinian defenders on Darwin Hill, finally taking the position that had caused many casualties on both sides. Majors Farrar-Hockley and Crosland each won the Military Cross for their efforts. Corporal David Abols received a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his daring charges which turned the Darwin Hill battle.
After the victory on Darwin Ridge, C and D Companies began to make their way to the small airfield as well as Darwin School, which was east of the airfield, while B Company made their way south of Goose Green Settlement. A Company remained on Darwin Hill. Lieutenant James Barry's No. 12 Platoon saw some fierce action at the airfield. They were ambushed, but one of his men shot dead two of the attackers, and then reported the events to Major Neame. The platoon sergeant charged the attacking enemy with his machine gun, killing four of them. For his bravery Sergeant John Meredith was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Private Graham Carter won the Military Medal by rallying No. 12 Platoon and leading it forward at bayonet point to take the airfield. The RI 25 platoon fled into the Darwin-Goose Green track and was able to make good its escape. Sergeant Sergio Garcia, of RI 25, single-handedly covered the withdrawal of his platoon during the British counterattack. He was posthumously awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal. C Company had not lost a single man in the Darwin School fighting, but a D Company private was later killed from a burst of Argentinian 35mm anti-aircraft fire, which reduced the building to rubble. Four of D Company and a dozen Argentinians were killed in the attack.
As day became night, two Argentinian Air Force warrant officers who were POWs were sent to the Argentinian commanders at Goose Green by the acting CO of 2 Para, Major Chris Keeble, with the terms of surrender.

"MILITARY OPTIONS
We have sent a PW to you under a white flag of truce to convey the following military options:
1. That you unconditionally surrender your force to us by leaving the township, forming up in a military manner, removing your helmets and laying down your weapons. You will give prior notice of this intention by returning the PW under a white flag with him briefed as to the formalities by no later than 0830 hrs local time.
2. You refuse in the first case to surrender and take the inevitable consequences. You will give prior notice of this intention by returning the PW without his flag (although his neutrality will be respected) no later than 0830 hrs local time.
3. In the event and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Geneva Convention and Laws of War you will be held responsible for the fate of any civilians in Darwin and Goose Green and we in accordance with these terms do give notice of our intention to bombard Darwin and Goose Green.

C. KEEBLE Commander of British Forces"

'Juliet' Company, 42 Commando (composed mainly of members of Naval Party 8901) was flown to Darwin to reinforce 2 Para and at the same time plans were made that night for 'Bravo' Company, 6th Regiment to be taken by helicopter to Goose Green in a spoiler move.
The following day Lieutenant-Colonel Piaggi surrendered all Argentinian forces, approximately 1,000 men, including 202 men of the Argentinian Air Force. He would be later drummed out of the army in disgrace. Major Keeble was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The fourteen-hour battle had cost the British seventeen killed and sixty-four wounded, the majority from 2 Para. Around fifty Argentinians were killed and 120 wounded. After the battle vast quantities of Argentine weapons and unused ammunition were deployed among ships of the Royal Navy still stationed at San Carlos Water.
From early on 27 May until 28 May, 2 Para (approximately 500 men) with Artillery support from 8 Alma Cdo Bty, approached and attacked Darwin and Goose Green, which was held by the Argentine 12th Inf Regt. After a tough struggle, which lasted all night and into the next day, 17 British and 55 Argentine soldiers had been killed, and 1,050 Argentine troops (including around 350 FAA non-combatant personnel of the Condor airfield [46]) taken prisoner. The BBC announced the taking of Goose Green on the BBC World Service before it had actually happened. It was during this attack that Lieutenant Colonel H. Jones, the commanding officer of 2 Para was killed. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
With the sizeable Argentine force at Goose Green out of the way, British forces were now able to break out of the San Carlos bridgehead. On 27 May, men of 45 Cdo and 3 Para started walking across East Falkland towards the coastal settlement of Teal Inlet.

Special Forces on Mount Kent
Meanwhile, 42 Commando prepared to move by helicopter to Mount Kent. Unknown to senior British officers, the Argentine generals were determined to tie down the British troops in the Mount Kent area, and on 27 May and 28 May they sent transport aircraft loaded with Blowpipe missiles and commandos (602nd Commando Company and 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron) to Stanley. This operation was known as Operation AUTOIMPUESTA (Self-Determination-Initiative). For the next week, the Special Air Service (SAS) and Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre of 3 Commando Brigade waged intense patrol battles with patrols of the volunteers' 602nd Commando Company under Major Aldo Rico, normally 2IC of the 22nd Mountain Infantry Regiment. Throughout 30 May, Royal Air Force Harriers were active over Mount Kent. One of them — Harrier XZ 963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook — in responding to a call for help from D Squadron, attacked Mount Kent's eastern lower slopes, and that led to its loss through small-arms fire.
On the 31 May, the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) defeated Argentine Special Forces at the Battle of Top Malo House. A 13-strong Argentine Army Commando detachment (Captain Jose Vercesi's 1st Assault Section, 602nd Commando Company) found itself trapped in a small shepherd's house at Top Malo. The Argentine Commandos fired from windows and doorways and then took refuge in a stream bed 200 metres from the burning house. Completely surrounded, they fought 19 M&AWC marines under Captain Rod Boswell for forty-five minutes until, with their ammunition almost exhausted, they elected to surrender. Three Cadre members were badly wounded. On the Argentine side there were two dead including Lieutenant Ernesto Espinoza and Sergeant Mateo Sbert (who were decorated for their bravery). Only five Argentines were left unscathed. As the British mopped up Top Malo House, down from Malo Hill came Lieutenant Fraser Haddow's M&AWC patrol, brandishing a large Union Flag. One wounded Argentine soldier, Lieutenant Horacio Losito, commented that their escape route would have taken them through Haddow's position.
It is estimated that 40 Argentine Commandos were involved in the battle with the SAS and the Cadre at Top Malo House and Mount Kent. A body count revealed four bullet-ridden Argentine Army 602nd Commando Company killed in the firefights. Seven members of the British Special Forces were wounded during these actions. One Special Boat Service (SBS) sergeant was killed as the Mount Kent ranges were secured for the arrival of the British battalions. As a result of Major Mario Castagneto's extraordinary efforts, his 601st Commando Company was able to move forward on their Kawasaki motorbikes and commandeered Landrovers, under heavy mortar fire, and rescue the trapped 602s on the slopes of Mount Kent. Major Castagneto was awarded the CHVC for this overland rescue and was wounded in the mortar bombardment when a piece of shrapnel cut through his belt buckle. The Argentine operation also saw the extensive use of helicopter support to position and extract patrols; the Argentine Army 601st Combat Aviation Battalion also suffered casualties. At about 11.00 a.m. on 30 May, an Aerospatiale SA-330 Puma helicopter was brought down by a shoulder-launched Stinger surface-to-air missile (SAM) fired by the SAS in the vicinity of Mount Kent in which six National Gendarmerie Special Forces were killed and eight more wounded in the crash.
As Brigadier Julian Thompson commented, "It was fortunate that I had ignored the views expressed by Northwood that reconnaissance of Mount Kent before insertion of 42 Commando was superfluous. Had D Squadron not been there, the Argentine Special Forces would have caught the Commando before deplaning and, in the darkness and confusion on a strange landing zone, inflicted heavy casualties on men and helicopters."

Bluff Cove and Fitzroy
By June 1, with the arrival of a further 5,000 British troops of the 5th Infantry Brigade, the new British divisional commander, Major General Jeremy Moore RM, had sufficient force to start planning an offensive against Stanley.
During this build-up, the Argentine air assaults on the British naval forces continued, killing 56. 32 of the dead were from the Welsh Guards on RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Sir Tristram on June 8. According to Surgeon-Commander Rick Jolly of the Falklands Field Hospital, more than 150 men suffered burns and injuries of some kind in the attack, including, famously, Simon Weston.
The Guards were sent to support a dashing advance along the southern approach to Stanley. On 2 June, a small advance party of 2 Para moved to Swan Inlet house in a number of Army Westland Scout helicopters. Telephoning ahead to Fitzroy, they discovered the area clear of Argentines and (exceeding their authority) commandeered the one remaining RAF Chinook helicopter to frantically ferry another contingent of 2 Para ahead to Fitzroy (a settlement on Port Pleasant) and Bluff Cove (a settlement confusingly, and perhaps ultimately fatally, on Port Fitzroy).
This uncoordinated advance caused planning nightmares for the commanders of the combined operation, as they now found themselves with a 30-mile (48 km) string of indefensible positions on their southern flank. Support could not be sent by air as the single remaining Chinook was already heavily oversubscribed. The soldiers could march, but their equipment and heavy supplies would need to be ferried by sea. Plans were drawn up for half the Welsh Guards to march light on the night of 2 June, whilst the Scots Guards and the second half of the Welsh Guards were to be ferried from San Carlos Water in the amphibious assault ship Sir Tristram and the landing platform dock (LPD) Intrepid on the night of 5 June. Intrepid was planned to stay one day and unload itself and as much of Sir Tristram as possible, leaving the next evening for the relative safety of San Carlos. Escorts would be provided for this day, after which Sir Tristram would be left to unload using an inflatable platform known as a Mexeflote for as long as it took to finish.
Political pressure from above to not risk the LPD forced Mike Clapp (Commander, Amphibious Forces) to alter this plan. Two lower-value LSLs would be sent, but without suitable beaches on which to land, Intrepid's landing craft would need to accompany them to unload. A complicated operation across several nights with Intrepid and Fearless (her sister ship) sailing half-way to dispatch their craft was devised. The attempted overland march by half the Welsh Guards had failed, possibly as they refused to march light and attempted to carry their equipment. They returned to San Carlos and were landed directly at Bluff Cove when Fearless dispatched her landing craft. Sir Tristram sailed on the night of June 6 and was joined by Sir Galahad at dawn on June 7.
Anchored 1,200 feet (370 m) apart in Port Pleasant, the landing ships were near Fitzroy, the designated landing point. The landing craft should have been able to unload the ships to that point relatively quickly, but confusion over the ordered disembarcation point (the first half of the Guards going direct to Bluff Cove) resulted in the senior Welsh Guards infantry officer aboard insisting his troops be ferried the far longer distance directly to Port Fitzroy/Bluff Cove. The intention was for the infantrymen to march via the recently repaired Bluff Cove bridge (destroyed by retreating Argentine combat engineers) to their destination, a journey of around seven miles (11 km).
The longer journey time of the landing craft taking the troops directly to Bluff Cove and the squabbling over how the landing was to be performed caused enormous delay in unloading. This had disastrous consequences. Without escorts, having not yet established their air defence and still almost fully laden, the two LSLs in Port Pleasant were sitting targets for two waves of Argentine FAA A-4 Skyhawks.
The disaster at Port Pleasant (although often known as Bluff Cove) would provide the world with some of the most sobering images of the war as TV news video footage showed Navy helicopters hovering in thick smoke to winch survivors from the burning landing ships.

Battle to Mount Harriet
The Battle to Mount Harriet was an engagement of the Falklands War which took place on the night of 11/12 June 1982 between British and Argentine forces. It was one of three battles in a brigade-sized operation on the same night.
The British force consisted of 42 Commando (42 CDO), Royal Marines under the command of Lt. Col. Nick Vaux Royal Marines (who later became a general) with artillery support from a battery of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery. The 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards (1WG) and two companies from 40 CDO were in reserve. HMS Yarmouth provided naval-gunfire support for the British forces. The Argentinian defenders consisted of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria's 4th Infantry Regiment (RI 4).
On the night of 30 May, K Company of 42 CDO moved forward of San Carlos to secure the commanding heights of Mount Kent, at 1,504 feet the tallest of the peaks surrounding Stanley, where the D Squadron SAS Troops had already established a strong presence. However when these arrived at their landing zone some 3 kilometres (2 miles) behind the ridge of the mountain, the Marines were surprised to see the flashes and lines of tracer ammunition light up the night . After a fierce fight at close quarters the Argentine patrol (Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd Assault Section, 602 Commando Company) melted away from the boulders and snow-soaked scrub and grass. By the end of May Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron had gained Mount Kent and Tactical HQ commenced patrolling Bluff Cove Peak which they took with a loss of two wounded.
The attack was preceded by many days of observation and nights of patrolling. Some night-fighting patrols were part of a deception plan to convince the Argentinians that the attack would come from a westerly direction. Other, more covert, patrols were to find a route through a minefield around the south of Mount Harriet. Sniping and naval artillery were used to harass the defenders and deny them sleep.
On 3 June Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Reconnaissance Troop of 42 CDO patrolling forward from Mount Challenger encountered an RI 4 fighting patrol (3rd Platoon of B Company). Two of the conscripts (Privates Celso Paez and Roberto Ledesma) were instantly killed in a withering burst of rifle fire, and an NCO (Corporal Nicolas Odorcic) went down wounded to a head shot by one of the Marine snipers as he took cover among the rocks. The Royal Marines were taken completely by surprise when another Argentinean platoon joined in the movement and a general counter-attack developed. Captain Nick D' Appice remembers:
We were separated from our heavy bergans with the radios and all our gear. The patrol was spread over quite a large area, with lots of shouting, noise and firing going on. The Marines abandoned all their equipment, and although no one told us, it became clear that we were to withdraw. With no information, and the likelihood of having to fight our way out, Dave Greedus and I decided to abandon our equipment, destroying as much as we could. The two radio sets (HF and UHF) were tough enough, but the HAZE unit of the laser target marker was designed to withstand the weight of a tank! (Hugh McManners, The Scars of War, p. 238, Harper Collins Publishers, 1993)
The Laser Target Designator retrieved in the contact showed that the Royal Marines were seeking to destroy the Argentinean bunkers on Mount Harriet with 1,000-pound Pave Way Laser Guided Bombs
On the night of 8-9 June, action on the outer-defence-zone flared when Lieutenant Mark Townsend's 1 Troop (K Company, 42 CDO) probed Mount Harriet, killing two Argentines. At the same time two platoon-sized fighting patrols from 45 Commando attempted the same on Two Sisters Mountain, but the Argentinean Rasit ground surveillance radar there was able to detect the 45 Commando platoons and artillery fire dispersed the force.
Over a period of a week the 4th Regiment defended the Harriet-Two Sisters sector from five Royal Marine platoon-sized attacks. Everytime the Royal Marine Commandos got into the forward platoon positions the officers, NCOS and conscripts counterattacked with rifles and cleared them out.
On the morning of the 11 June the orders for the attack were given to 42 CDO by Vaux; K Company were ordered to attack the eastern end of the mountain while L Company would attack the southern side an hour later, where it, if the mountain was secured, would then move north of Mount Harriet to Goat Ridge. J Company would launch a diversionary attack (codenamed Vesuvius) on the western end of Mount Harriet.
In the closing hours of the 11 June, K and L Companies moved from their assembly area on Mount Challenger (which lay to the west of Mount Harriet) and made their way south, around their objective, across the minefield, to their respective start lines. As they moved around the feature in the dark, J company launched their very loud diversionary "attack" from the west.

The battle for Mount Harriet began on the evening of 11 June with a blistering naval bombardment which killed two Argentines and wounded twenty-five. John Witheroe, one of the British war correspondents, later recalled the softening up fire:
We were involved with one night attack on Mount Harriet, when the Welsh Guards were coming up as a back-up. This involved marching for several hours on a very dark night, through a minefield. Sporadic shellfire slowed our progress tremendously. Eventually we made the base of Mount Harriet, which was coming under incredible fire from a frigate ashore. The whole mountain seemed to erupt in flame. It seemed impossible that anybody could survive an attack like that. This went on for well over an hour, shell after shell whistling over our heads and hitting the mountain. Eventually this was lifted and the Marines went in. To our amazement there seemed to be an incredible amount of fighting going on. There was a lot of tracer fire. The whole night was being lit up by flares, which cast a dead, unrealistic, pall over the whole scene. (Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, p. 271, Andre Deutsch, 1989)
Captain Peter Babbington's K Company crossed their start-line first and proceeded up the mountain undetected, knifing two sentries on the way. They remained undetected until they approached Sub-Lieutenant Mario Juarez's 120-mm Mortar Platoon positions and decided to engage them. They were assisted in the advance by HMS Yarmouth, artillery and mortars. During the engagement Corporal Larry Watts was killed. About 150 metres from Soria's HQ, Corporal Steve Newland circled behind a group of Argentines who were setting up an ambush. Although half a dozen Argentines and a MAG were placed to massacre anyone who broke cover, Newland darted out from under cover to charge the enemy machine gun. He grenaded two of the crew, but reaching the rear of the machine gun position, he was shot through both legs. With the enemy machine gun out of action, Corporals Mick Eccles and Sharky Ward were able to clear the position without losses. The three corporals were awarded the Military Medal. Increasing numbers of Argentine soldiers, mainly conscripts from RI 4's Recce Platoon began to surrender, but the Commanding Officer and Intelligence Officer and several senior NCOs still fought on according to their orders. The heavy machinegun platoon to a man stood in its positions and raked the Royal Marine Commandos with bullets.
L Company crossed their start line shortly after K Company and were almost immediately engaged by effective machine gun fire from Sub-Lieutenant Pablo Oliva's platoon defending the lower southern slopes. These weapons would not be silenced until being hit by several MILAN anti-tank missiles and six 105 mm artillery guns from Mount Challenger. The L Company Marines contend they took fire from at least seven machine guns that only wounded five men, but as Hugh Bicheno detailed in Razor's Edge (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006), the 4th Regiment's passive night goggles were all with B Company.
Before first light Lieutenant Jerry Burnell's 5 Troop of L Company proceeded to an outcrop of rocks towards Goat Ridge. As they advanced the Royal Marine platoon came under heavy fire from Sub-Lieutenant Lautaro Gimenez Corvalan's 3rd Platoon and were forced to withdraw. L Company requested artillery fire onto the Argentinian platoon position, then 4 Troop moved forward and found that the Argentinians had withdrawn. Further fighting went on throughout the morning of 12 June and a fanatically brave conscript, in a position just below the summit, held up L Company with accurate shooting until killed by an 84 mm anti-tank rocket fired at short range.
The battle was a textbook example of good planning and use of deception and surprise, and a further step towards their main objective of Stanley. British casualties were two killed and twenty-six wounded. Eighteen Argentinean dead lay around the defences. Lance-Corporal Koleszar had the surprising experience of finding that two 'dead' Argentine soldiers, whose boots he was trying to remove, were very much alive and jumped up to surrender. Some British reporters were thus misled into depicting the Argentinians as hapless teenage conscripts who caved in after the first shots were fired, but Royal Marine Warrant Officer 2 John Cartledge who served with L Company during the battle corrected them, saying the Argentinians were good soldiers who had fought properly:
"They used the tactics which they had been taught along the way very well, they were quite prepared for an attack. They put up a strong fight from start to finish. They were also better equipped than we were. We had first generation night sights, which were large cumbersome pieces of equipment, while the Argentines had second generation American night sights that were compact and so much better than what we had. The one deficiency which we exposed was that they had planned for a western end of the mountain attack, and therefore had not bothered to extend their defensive positions to the eastern end, where we ultimately attacked’"
One British general put their success down to his Marines' skill and professionalism:
"What was needed was speed but not being bloody stupid. The Israelis would have done it much faster, but with many more casualties". (Robert Fox, Eyewitness Falklands, p. 296)
42 Commando captured 300 prisoners on Mount Harriet and for the bravery shown in the attack, the unit was awarded one DSO, one Military Cross, four Military Medals and eight men were Mentioned in Dispatches.

Battle of Two Sisters
The Battle of Two Sisters was an engagement of the Falklands War during the British advance towards the capital Stanley that took place on the 11/12 June 1982.
The British force consisted of 45 Commando (45 CDO), Royal Marines under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead (who later became a general) with support from six 105 mm guns of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery. 2 PARA was in reserve. Naval gunfire-support was provided by HMS Glamorgan's 2 x 4.5 inch (114 mm) guns. The Argentinian force consisted of the 4th Infantry Regiment (RI 4). Command of Two Sisters was entrusted to Major Ricardo Cordón, second in command of RI 4, with the bulk of the defenders drawn from C Company with the 1st Platoon (Sub-Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera) and 2nd Platoon (Sub-Lieutenant Jorge Pérez Grandi) on the northern peak and the 3rd Platoon (Sub-Lieutenant Marcelo Llambias) on the southern peak and the 1st Platoon A Company (Sub-Lieutenant Juan Nazer) and Support Platoon (Second Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella) on the saddle between the two peaks. Major Óscar Jaimet's B Company of the 6th Regiment occupied the saddle between Two Sisters and Mount Longdon.
On 4 June the three companies of 45 CDO advanced on Bluff Cove Peak, on the lower slopes of Mount Kent, and was able to occupy the feature without opposition and was met by patrols from the SAS. Enemy opposition was desultory but on the night of 29 May a fierce firefight developed in taking the two important hills, that were intended to form part of an Argentine Special Forces line. Captain Andrés Ferrero's patrol (3rd Assault Section, 602 Commando Company) made the base of Mount Kent but were then promptly pinned by machinegun and mortar fire. One Argentine NCO was wounded. Air Troop had two wounded from rifle fire. Probing attacks around the D Squadron positions continued throughout the night and at 11:00 AM on 30 May, about 12 Argentine Commandos tried to get up the summit of Bluff Cove Peak, but were driven off by D Squadron SAS which killed two of the party, First Lieutenant Rubén Eduardo Márquez and Sergeant Óscar Humberto Blas. First Lieutenant Márquez and Sergeant Blas showed great personal courage and leadership in the contact and were subsequently awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal . During this contact the SAS suffered two casualties from grenades. The Argentine Commandos literally stumbled on a camp occupied by 15 SAS troopers, according to special forces historian Martin Arostegui who wrote Twilight Warriors: Inside The World's Special Forces (p. 205, Bloomsbury, 1995). Throughout 30 May Royal Air Force Harriers were active over Mount Kent. One of them in responding to a call for help from D Squadron attacked Mount Kent's eastern lower slopes and that led to its loss through small-arms fire.
A heavy mist hung over the Murrell River area and this assisted the 45 Commando Recce Troop to reach and sometimes penetrate the Argentine 3rd Platoon position under Sub-Lieutenant Marcelo Llambias. Marine Andrew Tubb of Recce Troop was on these patrols:
“We were actually inside the Argentine position, so we ended up shelling ourselves. We did a lot of patrols up to Two Sisters ... that time [6 June] we pepper-potted [retreated] for about 400 metres to get out [the 3rd Platoon sergeant, Ramón Valdez, had launched a counterambush], through the Argy lines firing 66 [mm] rockets to fight through and regroup. We got artillery again to smoke us out. It took us well over an hour to get away and it seemed like a few minutes. We killed seventeen of them [two Army privates and three Sappers of a Marine mine-laying party were actually killed], and all we had was one bloke with a flesh wound”.
[Robin Neillands, By Sea & Land: The Story of the Royal Marine Commandos, p. 402, Cassell Military Paperbacks, 2000]
For his patrol action, Lieutenant Chris Fox received the Military Cross. In general terms, the Argentines were thoroughly entrenched, about 6000 metres or less across a no-man's-land. The Argentine positions were mined and patrolled heavily.
At about 2.10 am local time on 10 June a strong 45 Commando fighting patrol probed the 3rd Platoon position. In the ensuing fight Special Forces Sergeants M. Cisneros and R. Acosta were killed; two more Argentinean Special Forces laying in ambush for the Royal Marines were wounded. The British military historian Bruce Quarrie wrote later:
A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus 66 mm rocket launchers and 2-inch [described by the British as 81 mm] mortars, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their [81 mm] 2-inch mortars, firing back with their own machine- guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.
[Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985]

Major Aldo Rico, commander of the 602 Commando Company himself had a lucky escape when an enemy rocket exploded uncomfortably close. Sadly for 45, on the night of 9-10 June there was an unfortunate mistake made in the dark and friendly fire was exchanged resulting in British casualties.
Captain Ian Gardiner's X-Ray Company spearheaded the attack on Two Sisters, accompanied by the Unit's Commando trained padre, the Revd Wynne Jones. Lieutenant James Kelly's 1 Troop took the western third of the spineback on the southern peak of Two Sisters (Long Toenail) with no fighting taking place. However at 11:30 PM local time (see No Picnic, p.131), Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop ran up against a very determined defence on the spineback and were unable to get forward. Beaten from their attempt to dislodge the Argentine 3rd Platoon, Lieutenant Chris Caroe's 2 Troop threw themselves at the platoon but the attack was dispersed with the help of artillery fire. For three or four hours X Ray Company was pinned down on the slopes of the mountain. Naval gunfire ripped back and forth across the southern peak, but the Argentineans held the Royal Marines off. Colonel Andrew Whitehead realized that a single company could not hope to secure Two Sisters without massive casualties, and brought up the battalion's two other companies.
At about 12:30 AM local time (see No Picnic, p. 132) Yankee and Zulu Companies attacked the northern peak (Summer Days) and after a very hard two hour fight against two platoons and despite heavy machinegun and mortar fire, succeeded in capturing 'Summer Days'. The Z Company platoon commander, Lieutenant Clive Dytor, won the Military Cross by rallying his 8 Troop and leading it forward at bayonet point to take Summer Days. Yankee Company then advanced to attack the final objective capturing all of its objective all the way to the eastern end of Two Sisters. Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco and his RI 6 platoon successfully prevented Yankee Company from attacking the C Company as it withdrew from Two Sisters. Private Oscar Poltronieri who held up Yankee Company with accurate shooting with his rifle and a machinegun, was awarded the Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross (CHVC), the highest Argentine decoration for bravery. (Source Martin Middlebrook, The Fight For The Malvinas, Leo Cooper Paperbacks, 2003)
The Argentinean Army Official Report on the war recommended Major Oscar Jaimet and CSM Jorge Pitrella for an MVC (Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal) for their conduct of their fighting withdrawal and subsequent behaviour on Tumbledown (this was later granted to Major Jaimet, Pitrella was awarded the Argentine Army to Military Merit Medal).
The British were highly critical of the Argentinean officers who, they claimed, withdrew from front-line positions at the opening of the battle. Colonel Andrew Whitehead looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. 'With fifty Royals,' he said, "I could have died of old age holding this place.' (Max Hastings, Going To The Wars, p. 363, Macmillan 2000) For the company and platoon commanders of 45, the battle of Two Sisters had been no pushover, however.
Sergeant-Major George Meachin of Yankee Company, would later praise the fighting abilities and spirit of the Argentinean defenders:
“We came under lots of effective fire from 0.50 calibre machineguns ...At the same time, mortars were coming down all over us, but the main threat was from those machinegunners who could see us in the open because of the moonlight. There were three machineguns and we brought down constant and effective salvoes of our own artillery fire on to them directly, 15 rounds at a time. There would be a pause, and they'd come back at us again. So we had to do it a second time, all over their positions. There'd be a pause, then 'boom, boom, boom,' they'd come back at us again. Conscripts don't do this, babies don't do this, men who are badly led and of low morale don't do this. They were good steadfast troops. I rate them”.
[Bruce Quarrie, op. cit., p. 55, Octopus Books Limited, 1985]
Hugh Bicheno described the moonscape of devastation:
Although Wireless Ridge and the saddle between Tumbledown and William are still heavily scarred, even after more than twenty years the beaten zone between the Two Sisters bear the most eloquent witness to the awesome power of the British artillery, which fired 1,500 shells at the Two Sisters that night. The still-churned area occupied by Nazer's platoon in particular leaves one in no doubt why they decamped immediately, while the saddle itself is dimpled with craters, testimony to the tenacity of Martella's HMGs and mortars.
(Hugh Bicheno, Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War, p. 242, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006)
The X-Ray Company Marines were in awe of the depleted 3rd Platoon who had put up such determined resistance, and their company commander in the book Above All, Courage (Cassell Military Paperbacks, 2002) later said:
“A hard cadre of some twenty men had stayed behind and fought, and they were brave men. Those who stayed and fought had something. I for one would not wish to face my Marines in battle”.
Running low on ammunition and with the telephone lines to the command post in shreds, Llambias threw the towel in at 2.30 am and led his men to join M Company 5th Marine Battalion on Sapper Hill.
A lone rifleman on Long Toenail held out long after resistance had ended on the mountain. There was a humorous moment when the Revd Wynne Jones called to his Marines that he was 45 Commandos' padre.
Losses to the Commando had been high. Three Royal Marine Commandos and one Marine from 59 Independent Commando Squadron, Royal Engineers were killed taking Two Sisters and a further four had died in the skirmishes in no-man's-land, bringing the total to eight killed. Another 17, including platoon commanders (Lieutenants Fox, Dunning and Davies) had been wounded. Some 20 Argentineans died in the first eleven days of June and the night of battle. Another 54 Argentineans were taken prisoner. HMS Glamorgan stayed in her position offshore to support the Royal Marine Commandos who were pinned down and there is no doubt the light cruiser saved many British lives. Glamorgan stayed when she was past the time she was meant to leave and was hit by a land based Exocet missile, thirteen sailors were killed as a result of this attack.
For the bravery shown in the attack on Two Sisters, men from 45 Commando were awarded one DSO, three Military Crosses, one DCM and four Military Medals. A commando from 29 Commando received a Military Medal as did a man from the M&AW Cadre.

Battle of Mount Longdon
The Battle of Mount Longdon was an engagement of the Falklands War between British and Argentinian forces, which took place on the 11/12 June 1982, resulting in a British victory.
The British force consisted of 3 PARA under Lieutenant-Colonel Hew Pike (later a general) with artillery support from six 105 mm light guns of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery. 2 PARA were in reserve. Naval gunfire support was provided by HMS Avenger's 4.5-in gun. The Argentinian force consisted of B Company of the 7th Infantry Regiment (RI 7), as-well as other detachments from other units. The local Argentinian commander was Major Carlos Carrizo-Salvadores, the second-in-command of RI 7. The 7th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by two of the Marine Infantry platoons, held Mount Longdon, Wireless Ridge and Cortley Ridge to the east.
Mostly conscripts with a year of training, the young RI 7 soldiers were not going to rout the field easily and most were prepared to stand their ground. They possessed fully automatic FAL rifles which delivered more firepower than the British SLR, FN MAG 7.62mm general purpose machineguns identical to those of the Paras; some fifty of the 7th Regiment were to fight more resolutely than the rest, having been trained on a commando course organized by commando-trained Major Oscar Jaimet, the Operations Officer of the 6th Infantry Regiment (RI 6). Private Jorge Altieri, in an interview after the war told how he trained hard with B Company:
'I was issued with a FAL 7.62 millimetre rifle. Other guys were given FAPs – light machineguns – and others got PAMS [submachineguns]. The main emphasis in shooting was making every bullet count. I was also shown how to use a bazooka, how to make and lay booby-traps, and how to navigate at night, and we went on helicopter drills, night and day attacks and ambushes.
The 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, made a desperate march across the hills north of Mount Simon to seize the key piece of high ground above the settlement of Estancia, nicknamed Estancia Farm. The weather conditions were atrocious, with the Paras marching through steep slippery hillocks to the objective. Nick Rose was a private in 6 Platoon under Lieutenant Jonathan Shaw.
“The terrain dictated exactly how we advanced. A lot of the time if we were going along on tracks – what few tracks we did go on – we used Indian file, which is staggered file on either side of the track, like a zig zag. But there are great rivers of rock [stone runs] – big white boulders – and you have to cross them and then there's the heather and the gorse and its constantly wet. So the wind chill factor was – I think somebody said minus 40 degrees – and storm force winds and horizontal rain – a nightmare scenario. ... We are horrible, we're miserable as sin, all of us – we're missing home, want a dry fag, warm, dry boots, a cheese and onion sandwich and a bottle of blue top milk. I used to dream of these”.
3 Para set up a patrol base near Murrell Bridge, two kilometres west of Mount Longdon on 3 June. From there they sent out their specialist patrols from D Company to scout out the Argentine positions on Mount Longdon. An example of a snatch patrol that failed to obtain a prisoner was provided by 3 PARA on the night of 4-5 June 1982. A three-man patrol from D Company consisting of Corporal Jerry Phillips and Privates Richard Absolon and Bill Hayward was sent out to the northern slopes of Mount Longdon. The small party was detailed to penetrate Sub-Lieutenant Juan Baldini's 1st Platoon on the western slopes to secure a prisoner, supported to their rear by a battery of six 105 mm field guns, under cover of which the specialist snipers shot at Baldini while another fired a 66 at one of the 1st Platoon mortar pits under Corporal Óscar Carrizo. The Argentine commanders reacted vigorously, and the sniper team found themselves under prompt and accurate machinegun, artillery and mortar fire. There were no Argentinian casualties. One British participant nevertheless claimed to have shot and killed two Argentines and demolished one mortar crew with a 66 mm anti-tank rocket at close range.
On the Argentinian side, it was soon realised that the 7th Infantry Regiment Reconnaissance Platoon soldiers on the surrounding Wireless Ridge position were ill equipped to carry out their own patrolling. Thus, the Argentinian Commando units, normally used for deep-recce had to take on this role. They were able to do so with some success and in the early hours of 7 June a combined patrol of the 601st Commando Company and 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron was seen approaching Murrell Bridge. After several nights in the area Corporals Paul Haddon and Peter Brown and their patrols had just arrived at the bluff on the western bank of the Murrell River which Sergeant Ian Addle's patrol had been using as a base. Within a short space of time a sentry reported moving figures down near the bridge. The Paras opened up and a confused firefight developed in the darkness, with small arms, machinegun, LAW and Energa rifle grenades being exchanged. The Commando patrol under Captain Rubén Figueroa was very aggressive and before dawn had forced the Paras to withdraw, having to leave behind much of their equipment. Only one Argentinian NCO was slightly wounded during the counter-ambush. From then on patrols had to be mounted closer to their own line. As the official history of the Parachute Regiment acknowledged:
“They were forced to evacuate their position rapidly, leaving behind their packs and radio, but succeeded in withdrawing without suffering any casualties. The location was checked on the evening of 8 June by another patrol, but there was no sign of the packs or radio, which meant the battalion's radio net could have been compromised.”
Nevertheless Colonel Pike and his company commanders on the eve of battle still held the Argentine commanders in low regard and did not expect them to put up much resistance. For this reason the British colonel hoped to surprise them by advancing as close to their forward platoon as possible under cover of darkness, before storming into their trenches with fixed bayonets. The three major objectives – Fly Half, Full Back and Wing Forward – were named after positions in Rugby. B Company would attack through Fly Half and proceed to Full Back, while A Company, followed by C Company if necessary, would do the same on Wireless Ridge.
But morale was still good in the 7th Regiment. Private Fabián Passaro of B Company served on Longdon with the 1st Platoon and remembers life at the time:
“Most of us had adjusted to what we'd been landed in, we'd adjusted to the war. But some boys [identified in the book Two Sides Of Hell/Los Dos Lados Del Infierno] were still very depressed and, in many cases, were getting worse all the time. Of course, we were very fed up with wearing the same clothes for so many days, going without a shower, being so cold, eating badly. It was too many things together, quite apart from our natural fear of the war, the shelling and all that. But I think some of us were adapting better than others. There were kids who were very worried; and I tried to buoy them up a bit. 'Don't worry,' I told them. 'Nothing will happen, we're safe here. 'Don't you see they could never get right up here? There's one thousand of us; if they try to climb, we'll see them, we'll shoot the shit out of them.'"
When the 3 PARA's B Company (under Major Mike Argue) fixed bayonets to storm the Argentinian 1st Platoon positions on Mount Longdon, they found themselves running into a minefield. The British sappers later counted some 1,500 anti-personnel mines sown along the western and northern slopes of Mount Longdon, 'but only two exploded' recalled Corporal Peter Cuxson [7], 'because the rest were frozen by ice'. 'Otherwise the final battle for Port Stanley would have been an altogether different story,' concludes the NCO who took an Argentine machine-gun position that night.
As dusk set-in, 3 Para moved to their start-lines and, after a brief stop, began to make their four-hour long advance to their objectives. As B Company approached Mount Longdon Corporal Brian Milne stepped on a mine, which after a very silent approach, alerted Sub-Lieutenant Baldini's platoon of conscripts. More than 20 Argentinan soldiers emerged from their tents to lay down fire but most of the platoon was still struggling out of its sleeping bags when Lieutenant Ian Bickerdike's No. 4 Platoon was among them, machinegunning and grenading the helpless Argentinians. Corporal Stewart McLaughlin was in the thick of the action, clearing out an Argentinian 7.62mm machinegun from the high ground overlooking the western slopes. He mustered his section, ordered them to fix bayonets and then led them up the hill into a hail of machinegun fire.
Lieutenant Jonathan Shaw's No. 6 Platoon, on the right flank of B Company, captured the summit of Fly Half with no fighting. However, they had missed half a dozen of Argentinian conscripts of the forward platoon, having grenaded several abandoned bunkers, and they launched a fierce attack on the unsuspecting platoon, resulting in a number of casualties before the area was cleared. For three hours the hand-to-hand combat raged in the 1st Platoon sector, until the Paras drove out the defenders. All around the 1st Platoon position, small groups of soldiers were fighting for their lives. Privates Ben Gough and Dominic Gray managed to crawl undetected up to an Argentinian bunker and crouched beside it as Marine conscripts Jorge Inchauspe and Héctor Rolla inside blasted away into the night. In unison the two Paras each pulled the pin out of a grenade and posted it through the firing slit of the bunker. The instant the grenade exploded the two jumped in the bunker and started to bayonet the two Marines. Private Gray killed a Marine by sticking his bayonet through his eye socket. Privates Gough and Grey were mentioned in despatches. Baldini himself appears to have been killed as he fired a machinegun. Corporal Dario Ríos was found lying dead with his platoon commander. Baldini's weapon and boots were removed for the use of the British soldiers. A photo of the dead lieutenant appeared in the original hardback edition of the book Operation Corporate. The Story of the Falklands War, 1982 (Viking Press, 1985) Also killed on the western slopes was the Argentinian forward artillery observation officer, Lieutenant Alberto Ramos whose last message was that his position was surrounded.
Just as it seemed as if the Paras would overwhelm 2nd Lieutenant Enrique Neirotti's 3rd Platoon on the southern slopes of the mountain, reinforcements from 2nd Lieutenant Hugo Quiroga's 1st Platoon, 10th Engineer Company on Full Back arrived to help Neirotti. Throughout most of the night Staff Sergeant Raúl González's 2nd Platoon positions on the saddle of the mountain held, the newly arrived engineers using head-mounted nightsights proving particularly deadly to the Paras.
Private Nick Rose in 6 Platoon resumes the story.
“Pete Grey stood up and went to throw a '42' grenade and he was shot by a sniper in his right forearm. We thought the grenade had gone off. We punched his arm down onto the ground to staunch the bleeding, believing he'd lost half his right forearm and hand, but it was still there and his arm bent at the forearm instead of the elbow – a horrible thing to watch. ...There's 'incoming' everywhere, loads of stuff going down the range and then 'bang' my pal 'Fester' [Tony Greenwood], gets it just above his left eye, only a yard away from me. That was a terrible thing. 'Fester' was such a lovely guy. Then it was 'Baz' Barratt. 'Baz' had gone back to try and get field dressings for Pete Grey and he was coming back 'bang' he got it in the back. This was when we just stalled as a platoon.' (Jon Cooksey, op. cit., p. 66)
The battle was going badly for Major Mike Argue. Argentinian resistance was strong and well organized. At the centre of the mountain were Marine conscripts Jorge Maciel and Claudio Scaglione in a bunker with a heavy machinegun and Marine conscripts Luis Fernández and Sergio Giuseppetti with night-scope equipped rifles. Lieutenant Bickerdike and a signaller and Sergeant Ian McKay and a number of other men in No. 4 Platoon were attempting to perform reconnaissance on the Marine positions, in doing so, the platoon commander and signaller were wounded. Sergeant McKay realising something needed to be done, decided to attack the Marine heavy machinegun position that was causing so much trouble and so much misery. The assault was met by a hail of fire. The Corporal was seriously wounded, a Private killed and another wounded. Despite these losses Sergeant McKay, with complete disregard for his own safety for which he was to win posthumously the Victoria Cross, continued to charge the enemy position alone. Peter Harclerode who was granted open access to the war diary of the 3rd Battalion, and subsequently wrote PARA! (Arms & Armour Press, 1993), pointed out that McKay and his team cleared several Marine riflemen in position but failed to neutralize the heavy machinegun.
Corporal McLaughlin himself managed to crawl to within grenade-throwing range of the Marine heavy-machinegun team, but despite several efforts with fragmentation grenades and 66 mm LAW rockets, he was unable to silence it.
Major Carrizo-Salvadores on Full Back had remained in touch with the Argentine commanders in Port Stanley:
“Around midnight I asked RHQ for infantry reinforcements, and I was given a rifle platoon from Captain Hugo García's C Company. First Lieutenant Raúl Fernando Castañeda gathered the sections of his platoon, hooked around First Sergeant Raúl González's 2nd Platoon that was already fighting and delivered a counterattack [at about 2 am local time]. The Platoon fought with great courage in fierce hand to hand combat and the battle raged for two more hours but gradually the enemy broke contact and withdrew while being engaged by artillery strikes”.
It was now the turn of the Argentinians to attack. Major Carrizo-Salvadores manoeuvred Castañeda's reinforced platoon to close with 4 and 5 Platoons and meanwhile under the direction of an NCO, part of Castañeda's platoon converged on the British aid post. Colour Sergeant Brian Faulkner, seeing that more than 20 wounded Paras on the western slopes of the mountain were about to fall into the hands of one of the sections of Castañeda's platoon, deployed anyone fit enough to defend the British Regimental Aid Post. "I picked four blokes and got up on this high feature, and as I did so this troop [in fact a reinforced section of fifteen riflemen]of twenty, or thirty Argentinians were coming towards us. We just opened fire on them. We don't know how many we killed, but they got what they deserved, because none of them were left standing when we'd finished with them." said Faulkner.
Things were so bad that Major Mike Argue's company ceased firing and devoted their full efforts to withdrawing from Fly Half. Peter Harclerode, a noted British historian of the Parachute Regiment, went on record, saying that:
“Under covering fire, Nos. 4 and 5 Platoons withdrew, but another man was killed and others wounded in the process. At that point, Lieutenant Colonel Hew Pike and his 'R' Group arrived on the scene and Major Argue briefed him on the situation. Shortly afterwards, Company Sergeant Major Weekes reported that both platoons had pulled back to a safe distance and that all the wounded had been recovered. The dead, however, had to be left where they had fallen. Meanwhile, on the southern slope of the objective, the wounded from No. 6 Platoon were being evacuated while the rest remained under cover of the rocks”.
The British 3rd Commando Brigade commander, Brigadier Julian Thompson was reported as having said:
"I was on the point of withdrawing my Paras from Mount Longdon. We couldn't believe that these teenagers disguised as soldiers were causing us to suffer many casualties."
By the time the 21 survivors of Castañeda's 46-man platoon had worked their way off the mountain, they were utterly exhausted. One of them, Private Leonardo Rondi, was sporting a maroon beret – taken from a dead parachute soldier. Private Rondi, having dodged groups of Paras to deliver messages to Castañeda's section leaders, had found a dead Para behind a rock (it may have been Sergeant McKay) and took his red beret and SLR which he later gave to the Argentine commanders as trophies. Rondi was awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal.
Following the unexpectedly fierce fighting on Fly Half, Major Argue pulled back Nos. 4, and 5 Platoons, and 29 Commando Regiment began pounding the mountain from Mount Kent, after which a left flanking attack was put in. Under heavy fire, the remnants of 4 and 5 Platoons under Lieutenant Mark Cox advanced upon their objective of Full Back, taking some casualties from Casteñeda's platoon as they did so. As he was clearing the Argentinian position, Private Grey was injured from a headshot but refused to be evacuated until Major Argue had consolidated his troops properly in their positions on Fly Half. Private Kevin Connery personally dispatched three wounded Argentinians in this action. The Paras could not move any further without taking unacceptable losses and so were pulled back to the western end of Mount Longdon, with the orders for Major David Collett's A Company to move through B Company and assault, from the west, the eastern objective of Full Back, a heavily defended position, with covering fire being given from Support Company.
Second Lieutenants John Kearton and Ian Moore mustered their platoons near the western summit and had briefed them on how to deal with the enemy. They soon attacked the position in bitter close-combat, clearing the position of the Argentinian defenders with rifle, grenade and bayonet. As A Company was clearing the final positions, Corporal McLaughlin was injured by a Czekalski recoiless rifle round fired from Wireless Ridge. Unfortunately the brave NCO was killed by a mortar bomb fired from RI 7's C Company on Wireless Ridge as he made his way to the aid post. The Argentinians rigorously defended Full Back. Although already wounded, Corporal Manuel Medina of Castañeda's platoon took over a recoilless rifle detachment and personally fired along the ridge at Support Company killing three Paras, including Private Peter Heddicker, who took the full force of the 105 mm round, and wounding three others. Major Carrizo-Salvadores abandoned his command bunker on Full Back only when a MILAN missile smashed into some rocks just behind him. In the command bunker Major Collett found 2,000 cigarettes which he gave to the smokers in his company.
The battle and the aftermath that followed lasted twelve-hours and had been costly to both sides. 3 PARA lost seventeen killed during the battle, one Royal Engineer attached to 3 PARA was also killed. Two of the 3 PARA dead – Privates Ian Scrivens and Jason Burt – were only seventeen years old, and Private Neil Grose was killed on his 18th birthday. A total of forty British paratroopers were wounded during the battle. A further four Paras and one REME were killed and seven Paratroopers were wounded in the two-day shelling that followed that was directed from Sub-Lieutenant Marcelo de Marco of the 5th Marines on Tumbledown Mountain. The Argentinians suffered 31 dead and 120 wounded, with fifty also being taken prisoner.
Lance-Corporal Vincent Bramley was patrolling the western half of Mount Longdon when he was confronted with the full horror of the night combat. The 3 PARA NCO and keen writer stumbled upon the bodies of five Paratroopers killed by the forward Argentine platoon.
“A few bullets whizzed overhead and smashed into the rocks. A corporal shouted that Tumbledown was firing at us. We ran into a tight gap in the path of all came to an abrupt halt, as it was a dead end. Four or five bodies lay sprawled there, close together. This time they were our own men: the camouflaged Para smocks hit my eyes immediately. CSM [Company-Sergeant-Major] Wicks was standing over them like a guardian, screaming at some of his men to cover the further end of the path and a small crest. The CSM and Sergeant P [Pettinger] exchanged quick words. I wasn't listening; my mind was totally occupied with looking into the crags for the enemy. I turned and looked at our own lads, dead on the ground, mowed down when they tried to rush through this gap. I felt both anger and sadness. The CSM's face showed the strain of having seen most of his company either wounded or shot dead. That night's fighting was written in every line of his face.”
The battle was particularly brutal with little quarter being shown by either side.

Battle of Mount Tumbledown
The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement of the Falklands War, one of a series of battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley. The battle took place on the night of 13 June – 14 June 1982. In the battle, the British launched an assault on Tumbledown Mountain, one of the heights that dominate the town of Stanley, and succeeded in driving the Argentine forces from the mountain. This close-quarter night battle has gone down in British military history and was later immortalized in the BBC film Tumbledown.
The attacking British force consisted of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards with mortar detachments from 42 Commando, Royal Marines and the 1/7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles with support from a troop of the Blues and Royals equipped with two Scorpion and two Scimitar armoured vehicles. The attack was supported by naval gunfire from HMS Active's 4.5-inch gun. The Argentines defending the mountain were Commander Carlos Robacio's 5th Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 5). Prior to the British landings, the marine battalion had been augmented by a company of the Amphibious Engineers Company (CKIA), a battery of the 1st Marine Artillery Battalion (BIAC), three Tigercat SAM batteries of the 1st Marine Anti-Aircraft Regiment as well as a heavy machine-gun company of the Headquarter's Battalion (BICO). The Argentinean defenders held firm under the heavy 'softening up' bombardment, which began at 7.30 local time. As Major Oscar Jaimet recalled in:
“I heard the cries of the wounded calling for their comrades, twelve men wounded before nightfall. We thought we had suffered before, but what luxury and comfort compared to this”.
During the battle the 5th Marines Command Post took five direct hits butCommander Robacio emerged unscathed.

Early moves
On the morning of 13 June the Scots Guards were moved by helicopter from their position at Bluff Cove to an assembly area near Goat Ridge, to the west of Mount Tumbledown. The British plan called for a diversionary attack to be made south of Mount Tumbledown by a small number of Scots Guards assisted by the four light tanks of the Blues and Royals, whilst the main attack came as a three-phase silent advance from the west of Mount Tumbledown. In the first phase, G company would take the western end of the mountain; in the second phase Left Flank Company would pass through the area taken by G company to capture the centre of the summit; and in the third phase Right Flank Company would pass through Left Flank Company to secure the eastern end of Tumbledown. A daytime assault was initially planned, but was postponed at the British battalion commander's request. Having held a planning meeting with his company commanders, the consensus was that the long uphill assault across the harsh ground of Tumbledown would have been suicidal.

Diversion
At 8.30 p.m. on 13 June the diversionary attack began. The 2nd Scots Guards' Reconnaissance Platoon, commanded by Major Richard Bethell (a former SAS officer) and supported by four light tanks of the Blues & Royals, attacked the Argentinian Marine company entrenched on the lower slopes of Mount William. On reaching Mount William's southern slopes one of the tanks was blasted out of action by a booby-trap. The initial advance was unopposed, but a heavy fire-fight broke out when the two forces made contact and continued for two hours. Two Guardsmen were killed and four wounded before the forward Argentine platoon position fell silent.
Realizing that they could be counter-attacked at any time, the British platoon withdrew from the Marine position and inadvertently entered a minefield. Two men were wounded covering the withdrawal and a further four were wounded by mines. The explosions prompted the Marine commanders to order the 81 mm Mortar Platoon on Mount William and Argentine artillery to open fire on the minefield and the likely withdrawal route of anyone attacking Mount William. The barrage lasted for about forty minutes and more British casualties would have been suffered if the ground the mortar bombs landed on had not been soft peat, which absorbed most of the blast.

Night attack
At 9 p.m., half an hour after the start of the diversionary attack, Major Iain Dalzel-Job's G Company started its advance of nearly two miles. Reaching its objective undetected, the company found the western end of the mountain undefended and occupied it easily. Major John Kiszely's Left Flank Company passed through them and reached the central region of the peak unopposed, but then came under heavy fire. Major Kiszely, the company commander and his men threw themeselves to the ground to try to get under cover from the storm of FAL rounds that had erupted around them. The Argentines, later learned to be of company strength, directed mortar, grenade, machine-gun and small arms fire from very close range at the British company, which suffered two dead, Guardsman Ronald Tanbini and Sergeant John Simeon. First Lieutenant Héctor Mino's 5th Platoon, Amphibious Engineer Company, held the rocks to the right of First Lieutenant Carlos Vázquez's 4th Platoon, 5th Marines in the centre and to the left of the 4th Platoon were Second Lieutenant Óscar Silva's RI 4 platoon, who had recently fought well on Goat Ridge. For four or five hours three platoons of Argentine riflemen, machine-gunners and mortarmen pinned the British down. To help identify the bunkers, the Guardsmen fired flares into the summit. The Guardsmen traded 66 mm rockets and 84 mm rounds with the Argentines protected in their rock bunkers. The enemy refused to budge and the Scots Guards could hear some of the Argentines shouting obscene phrases in English and even singing as they fought. Meanwhile, two Royal Navy frigates, HMS Yarmouth and HMS Active, were pounding Tumbledown with 4.5 inch guns. At one stage Colonel Scott thought the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion might have to withdraw and attack again the next night.
“The old nails were being bitten a bit, if we had been held on Tumbledown it might have encouraged them to keep on fighting.”
The fighting was hard going for the Left Flank Company. The Argentineans had well dug in machineguns and sniper fire caused all manner of problems. At 2.30 a.m., however, a second British assault overwhelmed the Argentine defences, as British troops swarmed the defences at the mountaintop and drove the Argentines out, at times fighting with fixed bayonets at close quarters. Major Kiszely, who was to become a senior general after the war, was the first man into the enemy position, personally shooting two enemy conscripts and bayoneting a third, his bayonet breaking in two while the hapless Argentine expired. Seeing their company commander among the Argentines inspired 14 and 15 Platoons to make the final dash across open ground to get within bayoneting distance of the Marines. Kiszely and six other Guardsmen suddenly found themeselves standing on top of the mountain, looking down on Port Stanley under street lighting and with vehicles moving along the roads. The Argentines now counter-attacked and a burst of machine-gun fire from 1 Platoon of Second Lieutenant Augusto La Madrid immediately injured three of these men, including the company commander and Lieutenant Alastair Mitchell, commander of 15 Platoon. For his bayonet charge Major Kiszely was awarded the Military Cross.

Morning
By 6 a.m. Left Flank Company's attack had clearly stalled and had cost the company seven men killed and 18 wounded. On the eastern half of the mountain the 6th Regiment's B Company (under command of Major Oscar Jaimet) were still holding out, so Colonel Scott ordered Right Flank Company to push on to clear the final positions. Major Simon Price sent 2 and 3 Platoons forward, preceded by a barrage of 66 mm rockets to clear the forward RI 6 platoon. Major Price placed 1 Platoon high up in the rocks to provide fire support for the assault troops. Lieutenant Robert Lawrence led 3 Platoon round to the right of the Argentine platoon, hoping to take the Argentines by surprise. The advance was noticed, however, and the British were briefly pinned down by gunfire before a bayonet charge overwhelmed the Argentine defenders. Lance-Corporal Graham Rennie of 3 Platoon in the book 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands (Pen & Sword Books, 2003) later described the attack:
“Our assault was initiated by a Guardsman killing a sniper, which was followed by a volley of 66 mm anti-tanks rounds. We ran forward in extended line, machine-gunnners and riflemen firing from the hip to keep the enemy heads down, enabling us to cover the open ground in the shortest possible time. Halfway across the open ground 2 Platoon went to ground to give covering fire support, enabling us to gain a foothold on the enemy position. From then on we fought from crag to crag, rock to rock, taking out pockets of enemy and lone riflemen, all of who resisted fiercely”.
As La Madrid had to withdraw in the face of a superior assaulting force, the platoons under Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco and Guillermo Robredo moved in from the eastern edge of the mountain to try to extricate La Madrid and the Marine platoon (under Second Lieutenant Marcelo Oruezabala) holding the saddle between Mounts Tumbledown and William. Advancing out of the saddle of the mountain, the British again came under heavy fire from the Argentines, but advancing in pairs under covering fire, the British succeeded in clearing that RI 6 platoons as well, gaining firm control of the mountain's eastern side. Right Flank Company had achieved this at the cost of five wounded, including Lieutenant Robert Lawrence. In his moment of victory on the eastern slopes, Lt Lawrence's life nearly ended when a bullet fired by a stay-behind enemy sniper tore off the side of his head. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery, but he spent a year in a wheelchair and was almost totally paralysed. The Argentinean soldier in question with a FAL rifle had helped cover the Argentinean retreat, firing shots at a Scout helicopter evacuating wounded off Tumbledown and injured two Guardsmen before the Scots Guards mortally wounded him in a hail of gunfire.

Aftermath
By 9 a.m. the Scots Guards were in control of Tumbledown. The battalion had lost nine dead and forty-three wounded, and one of the Guardsmen was to lose his way in the dark, to hide for more than a month, not realising that the fighting was over. The Guards took thirty prisoners, several of them RI 6 soldiers. To Guardsman Tracy Evens the Sapper Hill positions looked impregnable:
'We were led to an area that the company would rest at for the night, I still took in the fact the Argies had prepared Sapper Hill well, they had depth positions that would have made the task of taking it very hard”.
The bodies of 30 Argentine Army and Marine soldiers were strewn over the 5th Marine Battalion perimeter, one of the dead being an RI 6 soldier who had been bayoneted to death by a Guardsman while he attended to a wounded comrade. Unwilling to abandon the hill, Commander Carlos Robacio on Sapper Hill decided the time was ripe to counterattack and drive back the Guardsmen. Only the personal intervention of Colonel Félix Aguiar, the 10th Brigade Chief of Staff, brought the fighting to an end. The 5th Marines worked their way back into Port Stanley, where within a few hours the Argentine garrison would surrender. The bayonet charges of the Scots Guards had broken the back of the 5th Marines defence line.
During the battle, a soldier called Philip Williams was knocked unconscious by an explosion, and left for dead. When he came to, the rest of the British soldiers had gone. Williams' parents were informed of his "death" and a memorial service held for him. It took him seven weeks to find his way back to civilization, braving atrocious weather. He was then victimised by the media and fellow soldiers, amid accusations of desertion.
For the courage displayed in the attack, men from the 2nd Scots Guards were awarded one Distinguished Service Order, two Military Crosses, two Distinguished Conduct Medals (one posthumously) and two Military Medals. Men from 9 Para Squadron, Royal Engineers, were awarded two Military Medals and a member of the Army Air Corps received the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Battle of Wireless Ridge
The Battle of Wireless Ridge was an engagement of the Falklands War which took place on the night of 13 June and 14 June 1982, between British and Argentinian forces during the advance towards the Argentine-occupied capital of the Falklands Stanley. Wireless Ridge was one of seven strategic hills within five miles of Stanley that had to be taken in order for the city to be approached. The attack was successful, and the entire Argentine force on the Islands surrendered later that day.
The British force consisted of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, a troop of the Blues & Royals, with two FV101 Scorpion and two FV107 Scimitar light tanks, as well as artillery support from two batteries of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery and naval gunfire support provided by HMS Ambuscade's 4.5-in gun. The Argentine force consisted of the 7th Infantry Regiment and detachments from other units.

Background
After heavy losses during the Battle of Goose Green, including their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jones, command of 2 Para passed to Lieutenant-Colonel David Chaundler, who was in England at the time of the battle. In an adventure of its own, Chaundler flew to Ascension Island on a Vickers VC-10 and then to the Falklands on a C-130 Hercules that was dropping supplies by parachute. Chaundler jumped out into the sea, where he was picked up by helicopter and eventually delivered to the HMS Hermes for a brief talk with Admiral Woodward and then to Major General Jeremy Moore's headquarters. Four days after Goose Green, Chaundler joined 2nd Para. After debriefing the officers of 2 Para about Goose Green and the events following, he vowed that 2 Para would never again go into action without fire support.
From Fitzroy, 2 Para were moved by helicopter to Bluff Cove Peak where they were held in reserve. The first line of hills, the Two Sisters, Mount Longdon and Mount Harriet, were taken. Following this phase the next three hills would be taken; the Scots Guards taking Mount Tumbledown, the Ghurkhas Mount William and 2 Para Wireless Ridge. The final phase of 3 Commando Brigade's campaign, the battle for Stanley, would have been a street-fight but in the end wasn't necessary. On the morning of 13 June it became clear that the attacks on Tumbledown had been successful. 2 Para would now march around the back of Mount Longdon to take up their positions for the assault on Wireless Ridge. As the action was to be concluded quickly, they took only their weapons and as much ammunition as possible, leaving the camp behind. On Bluff Cove Peak, the Battalion's mortars and heavy machine guns were attacked by Argentine A-4 Skyhawks who delayed their planned move forward, although causing no casualties.

Initial assault
In the closing hours of the 13 June, D Company began the attack, advancing upon 'Rough Diamond' hill north-west of Mount Longdon. It had been hit by an immense barrage from British guns, from land and sea. In the preceding 12 hours, British artillery had fired 6,000 rounds with their 105 mm pieces, and as they began their push, they were further backed by naval fire and the 76 and 30 mm guns mounted on the light tanks. The approximately eighty casualties sustained by the Paras a few weeks earlier at the Battle of Goose Green (including the loss of their commanding officer), had induced them not to take any unnecessary chances the second time around.
When D Company reached the hill, they found that the Argentinian C Company of the 7th Infantry Regiment had withdrawn due to the heavy bombardment. As Major Philip Neame's D Company started to consolidate their position, the Argentinian 7th Regiment launched a series of heavy recoilless rifle, rocket and mortar attacks on Mount Longon causing casualties and destruction to the 3rd Parachute Battalion the Parachute Regiment (Jolly, 1983; p. 138).
With this massive fire support A and B Companies were convinced the enemy on Apple Pie were defeated, and began to advance confidently forward but they met fierce resistance for when they left their trenches they came under heavy machine-gun fire and a massive retaliation was initiated by the British machine-gunners and the guns of the Blues & Royals light tanks.
One Mount Longdon survivor from 3 PARA recalled the British attack in Hugh McManners' The Scars of War (1994) which was initially repulsed the Argentineans:
"They tried going over the top first, but the incoming fire was too heavy so they went back behind the peat and waited for more artillery to soften them up." (McManners, 1994)
The Argentinian defenders there eventually withdrew in the face of such withering fire and A and B Companies took their objective. By this stage of the battle there were not many Argentine officers left. The Forward Artillery Observation Officer (Major Guillermo Nani), the Operations Officer (Captain Carlos Ferreyra) and the A and C Company commanders (Captains Jorge Calvo and Hugo García) and at least three senior platoon commanders (First Lieutenants Antonio Estrada, Jorge Guidobono, Ramon Galíndez-Matienzo) were wounded. C Company then moved down from their northern start line to advance to a position east of Wireless Ridge where they found a platoon position to be unoccupied.

Final assault
D Company then began the final assault from the western end of Wireless Ridge, under the cover of heavy fire from HMS Ambuscade, tanks, twelve 105 mm artillery guns, several mortar pieces and anti-tank rockets. Earlier Argentinean GHQ had sent the dismounted 10th Panhard armoured car squadron to make a reconnaissance foray into the western rocks of Wireless Ridge. Captain Rodrigo Soloaga was particularly effective in persuading his men to engage the light tanks, Milan Platoon and the Machinegun Platoon on Apple Pie while the 7th Regiment's HQ sorted themeselves out. In two hours the cavalry unit suffered five killed and about fifty wounded. The British tankmen were so sickened by the slaughter that they held their fire as the walking wounded stumbled back to Moody Brook and stretcher-bearers tried to find the seriously wounded. Major Neame's parachute company took the first half of the obective relatively easily but upon advancing to the second half, came under very fierce attack from Major Guillermo Berazay A Company of the 3rd Regiment which had tried to move forward to Mount Longdon during the fighting two nights earlier but had only reached Moody Brook valley. Private Patricio Pérez, who had just left school, recalled the unnerving experience of 66 mm rockets coming straight at them like undulating fireballs (Bilton and Kosminsky, 1989). He believed he shot a British Paratrooper (12 Platoon's commander?) and became enraged when he heard that his friend Private Horacio Benítez of his platoon had been shot ("Speaking Out" Bilton and Kosminsky pg. 192). The platoon of 2nd Lieutenant Víctor Rodriguez Pérez of Major Guillermo Berazay's company in fact closed with the British 12 Platoon, under the command of Lieutenant Jonathan Page (following the death of Lieutenant Barry at Goose Green). The fight surged back and forth. Lieutenant Page managed to hold the line, but only just. Major-General John Dutton Frost of the British Army describes the resulting attack on 12 Platoon:
"For two very long hours the company remained under pressure. Small-arms fire mingled with all types of HE [high explosive rifle-grenades] fell in and around 12 Platoon's position as the men crouched in the abandoned enemy sangars and in shell holes." (Frost, 1983)
But Major Neame officers and NCOs rallied the men to capture the final part of their objective and in the face of immense fire, the Argentinians having ran out of ammunition broke and retreated.
The battle was not all over yet. Some 200 Wireless Ridge survivors had been rallied by the 10th Brigade Operations Officer, Major Eugenio Dalton to form under heavy gunfire a last-ditch defensive line in front of the now silenced guns of the 4th Airborne Artillery Group on the racecourse.
Near the church in Stanley, intent on helping Berazay, Major Carrizo-Salvadores, 2IC of the 7th Regiment, helped by the chaplain Father José Fernández, mustered about 50 Wireless Ridge survivors and led them on a bayonet charge, with the soldiers chanting their famous 'Malvinas March' but were stopped by heavy artillery and machine-gun fire. ("Razor's Edge" Hugh Bicheno pg. 312)
The Paras were momentarily alarmed and watched the amazing sight, with one British officer describing it as 'quite a sporting effort, but one without a sporting chance'. ("Operation Corporate" Martin Middlebrook pg. 371)
2 Para had suffered three dead and eleven wounded. The Argentinians suffered approximately twenty-five dead, about 125 wounded (mainly by explosive rounds rather than direct shots) and about fifty were taken prisoner.
For the bravery shown at Wireless Ridge, 2 Para was awarded three Military Crosses, one Military Medal and one Distinguished Conduct Medal. 29 Commando was awarded one Military Cross.

The fall of Stanley
On the night of June 11, after several days of painstaking reconnaissance and logistic build-up, British forces launched a brigade-sized night attack against the heavily defended ring of high ground surrounding Stanley. Units of 3 Commando Brigade, supported by naval gunfire from several Royal Navy ships, simultaneously assaulted in the Battle of Mount Harriet, Battle of Two Sisters, and Battle of Mount Longdon.
During this battle, 13 were killed when HMS Glamorgan, straying too close to shore while returning from the gun line, was struck by an improvised trailer-based Exocet MM38 launcher taken from ARA Seguí destroyer by Argentine Navy techinicians. On this day, Sgt Ian McKay of 4 Platoon, B Company, 3 Para died in a grenade attack on an Argentine bunker which was to earn him a posthumous Victoria Cross. After a night of fierce fighting, all objectives were secured.
The night of June 13 saw the start of the second phase of attacks, in which the momentum of the initial assault was maintained. 2 Para captured Wireless Ridge at the Battle of Wireless Ridge, and the 2nd battalion, Scots Guards captured Mount Tumbledown at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown.
With the last natural defence line at Mount Tumbledown breached, the Argentine town defences of Stanley began to falter. In the morning gloom, one company commander got lost and his junior officers became despondent. Private Santiago Carrizo of the 3rd Regiment described how a platoon commander ordered them to take up positions in the houses and "if a Kelper resists, shoot him", but the entire company did nothing of the kind.
On June 14, the commander of the Argentine garrison in Stanley, Brigade General Mario Menéndez, surrendered to Major General Jeremy Moore. 9,800 Argentine troops were made prisoners of war and some 4,167 were repatriated to Argentina on the ocean liner Canberra alone.
On June 20, the British retook the South Sandwich Islands, (which involved accepting the surrender of the Southern Thule Garrison at the Corbeta Uruguay base) and declared hostilities to be over. Corbeta Uruguay was established in 1976, but the Argentine base was ignored by the UK until 1982.
The war lasted 74 days, with 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors, and airmen, and three civilian Falklanders killed.
The British Government decreed that all classified information would be available to the public in the year 2082.

Casualties
In total 907 were killed during the 74 days of the conflict:

Argentina - 649
Ejército Argentino ( Army ) - 194 (16 officers, 35 NCOs and 143 conscript privates)
Armada de la República Argentina ( Navy ) - 341 (including 321 in Belgrano and 4 naval aviators)
IMARA ( Marines ) - 34
Fuerza Aérea Argentina ( Air Force ) - 55 (including 31 pilots and 14 ground crew)
Gendarmería Nacional Argentina ( Border Guard ) - 7
Prefectura Naval Argentina ( Coast Guard ) - 2
Civilian sailors - 16

United Kingdom - 258
Royal Navy - 86 + 2 Hong Kong Chinese laundrymen (see below)
Royal Marines - 27 (2 officers, 14 NCOs & 11 privates)
Royal Fleet Auxiliary - 4 + 4 Hong Kong Chinese laundrymen
Merchant Navy - 6 + 2 Hong Kong Chinese sailors
British Army - 123 (7 officers, 40 NCOs & 76 privates)
Royal Air Force - 1

Falklands Islands civilians - 3 (3 women killed by friendly fire)

Of the 86 Royal Navy personnel, 22 were lost in HMS Ardent, 19 + 1 lost in HMS Sheffield, 18 + 1 lost in HMS Coventry and 13 lost in HMS Glamorgan. 14 naval cooks were among the dead, the largest number from any one branch in the Royal Navy.
33 of the British Army's dead came from the Welsh Guards, 21 from the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, 18 from the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, 19 from the Special Air Service (SAS), 3 from Royal Signals and 8 from each of the Scots Guards and Royal Engineers.
As well as memorials on the islands, there is a memorial to the British war dead in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London. As for the Argentine war dead, there is a memorial at Plaza San Martín in Buenos Aires, another one in Rosario and a third one in Ushuaia.
There were also 1,188 Argentine and 777 British casualties in addition to the war dead; some of these service personnel were later to die of their injuries. Further information about the field hospitals and hospital ships is at Ajax Bay, List of hospitals and hospital ships of the Royal Navy, HMS Hydra and Argentine Navy's ARA Almirante Irizar.
There are still 125 uncleared minefields on the Falkland Islands and according to forcesmemorial.org.uk via Falklands25's "Official Commemorative Publication" 30 British servicemen had died on the islands, since the end of the hostilities.

Political
The Argentine loss of the war led to ever-larger protests against the military regime and is credited with giving the final push to drive out the military government that had overthrown Isabel Perón in 1976 and participated in the crimes of the Dirty War. Galtieri was forced to resign and elections were held on 30 October 1983 and Raúl Alfonsín, the Radical Civic Union (UCR) party candidate, took office on 10 December 1983. Alfonsín defeated Italo Luder, the candidate for the Justicialist Party (Peronist movement).
For the UK, the war cost 255 men, six ships (ten others suffered varying degrees of battle damage), 34 aircraft and £2.778 billion, but the campaign was considered a great victory for the United Kingdom. The war provided a substantial boost to the popularity of Margaret Thatcher and undoubtedly played a role in ensuring her re-election in 1983. Several members of her government resigned, however, including the Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington, the last time that a UK government minister resigned openly in response to a failure of his department (in not anticipating the war).
Criticism was levelled at Ted Rowlands, a former junior foreign minister in the preceding government, who disclosed in Parliament in April 1982 that the British had broken the Argentine diplomatic codes. Because the same code machines were used by the Argentine military, this disclosure immediately served to deny British access to valuable intelligence. This, and other responses to parliamentary questions, and leaks of information to the BBC has been alleged by historian Hugh Bicheno to be a deliberate attempt to undermine the Thatcher government on the part of a variety of individuals who had a vested interest in its fall.
The United States international image was damaged because of the perception in Latin America that it broke the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) by providing UK with all kinds of military supplies. Chile is also perceived to have broken the TIAR because they supported UK troops. In September 2001, President of Mexico Vicente Fox cited the Falklands War as proof of the failure of the TIAR.
Ultimately, the successful conclusion of the war gave a noticeable fillip to British patriotic feeling, with the mobilisation of national identity encapsulated in the concept of "Falklands Factor." Since the failure of the 1956 Suez campaign, the end of Empire and the economic decline of the 1970s which culminated in the Winter of Discontent, Britain had been beset by uncertainty and anxiety about its international role, status and capability. With the war successfully concluded, Thatcher was returned to power with an increased Parliamentary majority and felt empowered to press ahead with the painful economic readjustments of Thatcherism. A second major effect was a reaffirmation of the special relationship between the US and UK to arguably its closest level ever. Both Reagan and Weinberger (his Secretary of Defence) received honorary knighthoods for their help in the campaign, but the more obvious result was the common alignment of Britain and the USA in a more confrontational foreign policy against the Soviet bloc, sometimes known as the Second Cold War.
Mobilisation of national identity in Argentina, called the "Malvinas Spirit," has now developed in a constant recovery of the relevant aspects of the Falklands-Malvinas War that boost national self-image.

Military
Militarily, the Falklands conflict remains the major air-naval combat operation between modern forces since the end of the Second World War. In his Price of Admiralty, military historian Sir John Keegan noted that the brief conflict showed the irremediable vulnerability of surface ships to anti-ship missiles, and, most importantly, to submarines. Thus, despite the seemingly limited consequences of the war, it, in fact, confirmed the dominance of the submarine in naval warfare. This is especially so, Keegan argues, because submarines are far less vulnerable than aircraft to counterattack, being able to approach and destroy their targets with almost complete impunity. However, Keegan's conclusions must remain conjectural since no other naval conflict of consequence has occurred since 1982.
Neither side achieved total air supremacy; nonetheless, air power proved to be of critical importance during the conflict, due to the isolated, rough landscape of the Falklands in which the mobility of land forces was restricted. Air strikes were staged against ground, sea and air targets on both sides, and often with clear results. All of the UK losses at sea were caused by aircraft or missile strikes (by both the Argentine Air Force and Naval Aviation). The French Exocet missile proved its lethality in air-to-surface operations, leading to retrofitting of most major ships with Close-in weapon systems (CIWS).
The air war in the Falklands vindicated the UK decision to maintain at least the STOVL aircraft carriers after the retirement of the HMS Ark Royal. The domination of air power in major naval engagements was demonstrated, along with the usefulness of carriers and it proved the small but manoeuvrable Sea Harrier as a true fighter. Sea Harriers shot down 21 aircraft with no air-to-air losses themselves, although six Sea Harriers were lost to ground fire and accidents.
It should be noted that the disparity in figures, with the Argentine fighters failing to shoot down a single Sea Harrier, can be explained by several factors. The Argentine planes were operating at the limit of their range (average 450 milles) with no fuel available for dogfighting; the air combat training of the British pilots was indisputably superior; limited fighter control was provided by British warships in San Carlos Water, the then almost unparalleled Blue Fox radar, and the extreme manoeuvrability of the Sea Harrier. These factors were also enhanced with the use by the British of the latest AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles while the Argentine strike planes had no air-to-air missiles for self defence; 2 of their 21 confirmed kills were made against unarmed planes. The only theoretical advantage of the Argentine jets would be their greater speed. However, Argentine pilots could not benefit from this unless they risked running out of fuel, as was seen in the first air combat of the war when a Mirage IIIEA was forced to attempt a landing at Stanley.
The logistic capability of the UK armed forces was stretched to the absolute limit in order to mount an amphibious operation so far from a home-base, onto mountainous islands with few roads. After the war, much work was done to improve both the logistic and amphibious capability of the Royal Navy. Task force commander Rear Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward refers to the conflict as "a lot closer run than many would care to believe", reflecting the naval and military belief that few people understood — or understand — the extent to which the logistical dimension made the war a difficult operation for the UK. The ships of the task force could only remain on station for a limited time in the worsening southern hemisphere winter. With such a high proportion of the Royal Navy's surface fleet actively engaged, or lost in combat, there were few units available for northbound traffic. At the core of the fleet, Invincible could possibly have been replaced by the hastily-prepared Illustrious, but there was no replacement available for Hermes, the larger of the two British carriers. Woodward's strategy, therefore, required the land war to be won before Hermes, in particular, succumbed to the harsh environment. This, as Woodward said, was "a damned close run thing".
The usefulness of Special Forces units was reaffirmed. British special forces destroyed many Argentine aircraft (notably in the SAS raid on Pebble Island) and carried out highly informative intelligence gathering operations.
Contrary to popular understanding, the Argentine Special Forces also patrolled hard, in appalling climatic conditions, against a professional enemy and showed that they could sometimes get the upperhand.
The usefulness of helicopters in combat, logistic, and casevac operations was confirmed.
Nylon was shown to be a poor choice for fabric in uniforms, as it is more flammable than cotton and also melts with heat. Burning nylon adheres to the skin, causing avoidable casualties.
The importance of Airborne Early Warning (AEW) was shown. The Royal Navy had effectively no over-the-horizon radar capability. This was to be hastily rectified after the war as Sea King helicopters were fitted with retractable radomes containing a variant of the Nimrod ASW aircraft's Searchwater radar. These first travelled south after the war on the brand new HMS Illustrious, sister ship to Invincible.
Weapon export controls
The Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM) failed to anticipate a conflict between Argentina and the UK when approving weapon exports to Argentina.

Medical
During the operations, several wounded British soldiers had to spend hours in the cold before receiving medical aid - yet no British soldier died who was evacuated to a medical aid station, a fact confirmed by Dr Rick Jolly, the Chief Medical Officer. Many recovered better than medical opinion of the time considered possible, and subsequent theories have suggested that this was due to the extreme cold. Britain also had medical staff familiar with high velocity gunshot wounds, due to their experiences in the Northern Ireland conflict with the IRA.
The trials of one British patient, Robert Lawrence, MC, were chronicled in a book co-authored by him entitled When the Fighting is Over which was later adapted into a television film. Lawrence was shot at close range by an FN rifle and lost a large percentage of brain matter, but recovered to a degree not thought possible. After the war he became an outspoken critic of the British Army's treatment of Falklands veterans. He remains partially paralysed in the left side of his body.

Public Relations
Argentina:Pre-war: La Prensa speculated in a step-by-step plan beginning with cutting off supplies to the Islands, ending in direct actions late 1982, if the the UN talks were fruitless.War: Selected war correspondents were regularly flown to Port Stanley in military aircraft to report on the war. Back in Buenos Aires newspapers and magazines faithfully reported on the heroic actions of the largely conscript army and its successes.Officers from the intelligence services were attached to the newspapers and 'leaked' information, which verified the official communiqués from the government. The glossy magazines Gente and Siete Días swell to sixty pages with colour photographs and eyewitness reports of the Argentine commandos' guerrilla war on South Georgia 6th May and an already dead Pucará pilot's attack on HMS Hermes .The Malvinas course united the Argentines in a patriotic atmosphere, preserving the junta of critics - even the Madres de Plaza de Mayo were exposed to death threats from ordinary people.
United Kingdom: 17 newspaper reporters, 2 photographers, 2 radio reporters and 3 television reporters with 5 technicians sailed with the Task Force to the war. The Newspaper Publishers' Association selected them from among 160 applicants, excluding foreign media. Due to the hasty departure, all of them weren't "the right stuff": two journalists on HMS Invincible were interested in nothing but Queen Elizabeth's son Prince Andrew.
Merchant vessels had the civilian INMARSAT uplink, which enabled written telex as well as voice report transmissions via satellite. On Canberra there was a facsimile machine which was used to upload 202 pictures from the South Atlantic over the course of the war. The Royal Navy leased bandwidth on US 'Defence Satellite Communications System' satellites for worldwide communications. Television demands a bandwidth 1,000 times greater than telephone, but the MoD was unsuccessful in convincing the US to allocate more bandwidth. Perhaps the enquiry was half-hearted; since the Vietnam War television pictures of casualties and traumatised soldiers were recognised as having negative propaganda value. Videotapes were shipped to Ascension Island, where a broadband satellite uplink was available, resulting in TV coverage being delayed by three weeks.
The press was very dependent on the Royal Navy, and was censored on site. Many reporters in the UK knew more about the war than those with the Task Force. The Royal Navy expected Fleet Street to conduct a World War Two style positive news campaign (like:"our lads beat the Argies") and many reporters, especially from the BBC, wanted to cover the war in a neutral fashion.

Pope John Paul II visits
In May 1982, Pope John Paul II carried out a long-scheduled visit to the United Kingdom. In view of the crisis it was decided that this should be balanced with an unscheduled trip to Argentina in June. It is contended that his presence and words spiritually prepared Argentines for a possible defeat, contrary to the propaganda issued by the Junta. He would return to Argentina in 1987 after democratisation.

Allegations of nuclear deployment
It has been asserted, although not corroborated, that the French President François Mitterrand claimed that Margaret Thatcher threatened to carry out a nuclear strike against Córdoba unless the UK Government were provided with destruction codes for the Exocet missile. It has been reported that two years after the war, Labour MPs demanded an inquiry into reports that a Resolution class submarine armed with the Polaris SLBMs had deployed to Ascension Island during the operation, ostensibly to prepare for a nuclear strike. The Ministry of Defence is reported to have denied the allegations, and Freedman's Official History does the same.
In 1982, British warships were routinely armed with the WE.177, a tactical nuclear weapon with a variable yield of either 10 kilotons or 0.5 kT, which could be used to attack land targets, or as a Nuclear Depth Bomb in an antisubmarine role. The Official History describes the contorted logistical arrangements that led to the removal of the nuclear depth bombs from the frigates, following political alarm in Whitehall. Eventually at least some of the depth bombs were brought back to the UK by an RFA vessel. In December 2003, Argentine President Néstor Kirchner demanded an apology from the British Government for this "regrettable and monstrous" act.

MI6 activity
In his 2002 memoirs Sir John Nott made the following disclosure:
“I authorised our agents to pose as bona fide purchasers of equipment on the international market, ensuring that we outbid the Argentines, and other agents identified Exocet missiles in markets and rendered them inoperable.”

Cultural impact
There were wide-ranging influences on popular culture in both the UK and Argentina, from the immediate postwar period to the present. The words yomp and Exocet entered the British vernacular as a result of the war. The Falklands War also provided material for theatre, film and TV drama and influenced the output of musicians including (among others) English Post-Punk Band Gang of Four, Joe Jackson, Crass, New Model Army, Steve Dahl, Latin Quarter, and Elvis Costello, whose song "Shipbuilding", sung by Robert Wyatt, reached the British top 40.
Pink Floyd's 1983 album, The Final Cut, deals with Roger Waters' feelings regarding the Falklands War, among other war-related topics.
The Super Furry Animals, song "Piccolo Snare" contains several mentions of the conflict, referring to Skyhawks and Tumbledown.
In 2007 the British government expressed regrets over the deaths on both sides in the war. Margaret Thatcher was quoted as saying "in the struggle against evil... we can all today draw hope and strength" from the Falklands victory, while current Argentinian President Nestor Kirchner claimed that the UK won a colonial victory and vowed that the islands would one day return to Argentine sovereignty. He augmented this however, with an affirmation that the use of force could never again be used in an attempt to bring this about.

2007-07-30T04:45:00.000Z

Hello!

Just back from holidays. Get some pics!

See you.

zespri

2007-05-15T07:50:00.000Z

This time a very interesting study dismantling the famous urban legend of nazi ufo. Enjoy!

BR/zespri

THE NAZI UFO MYTHOS

An Investigation by Kevin McClure

The following is, essentially, the article published under the title ‘Phoney Warfare’ in Fortean Studies 7. Having allowed a decent interval for those who had intended to buy Fortean Studies to do so, I’m happy to have it appear on the Magonia site so that it can reach a wider – and undoubtedly discerning – audience.

The relationship between the history of the paranormal, and the 'consensus' history that most of us, informed by historians and the mainstream media, agree on as real, is usually pretty distant. Forteanism could be said to lie somewhere between these two histories, in that it notes the allegedly factual, but possibly anomalous accounts recorded in the media of 'consensus' history, while often rejecting the 'consensus' explanations given for dismissing the strangeness of those events, and the rationale and reasoning adopted in doing so. Fort was lucky to live and work before the worst excesses of Ufology and the New Age appeared. His method of approaching existing, already-recorded facts with an open and wide-ranging mind would often have been thwarted by the sheer lack of facts, and the predominance of imaginary elements, in both of those disciplines. He was generally able - and willing - to trust the reports his research uncovered. To take that approach now would invite ridicule.

The investigations I've set about during the last twenty-odd years usually had their origins in my unease at the wild interpretations being made of reports which had never been properly researched. The 'Egryn Lights' of evangelist Mary Jones and others were being turned into evidence for the 'earthlights' lobby. The Fatima visions and the 'Dance of the Sun' were becoming a 'classic UFO event', artificially extending the history of the UFO thirty years back before 1947. The 'Angels of Mons' legends, in contrast, were being too readily debunked. The usual skeptical explanation was too trite, and I think mistaken. Similarly, most of my research has been in areas where, although the phenomena in question has been visible - audible, tangible even - to certain individuals, its visibility has been selective. There was always room for a debate about why certain persons subjectively perceive extraordinary sights, and events, and information, while others do not.

The situation here, where vast metal disks were meant to be thundering across the European skies before the summer of 1945, is completely different. They were either there or they weren't.What prompted me to start questioning the accepted wisdom about 'Nazi UFOs' was that awful period in Fortean history, two or three years ago, when newsstand magazines of limited quality and dubious intentions blossomed all over the UK. In addition to FT itself and 'UFO Magazine', suddenly there was Alien Encounters, Sightings, UFO Reality and all sorts of other, short-lived titles, all struggling to fill their pages with startling and saleable material. Rotten writers started submitting articles half-heartedly strung together from a handful of second-hand sources, and a couple of hours on the Internet. The publishers accepted these articles with open arms and small amounts of money, and old myths were revived and new myths born. Among them were myths based around the creation and flight of Nazi UFOs.

The more I looked at the emerging tales of astounding Nazi technical achievement, and compared them with Germany's ignominious and ruinous defeat, the less sense that contradiction made. It isn't - and I know I need to make this clear - that I'm asserting that the Axis had no plans, designs, or hopes for the production of high-performance flying disks. Nazi Germany was good at plans, and designs, and - perhaps fortunately for the rest of the world - wasted much time on speculation, and dreams of achievement and power. But it looks as though no high-performance disc so much as left the ground, and if that proposition is true then the Nazi UFO mythos, now celebrating a half-century of vigorous existence, is the most sustained, widespread, complex and multi-faceted hoax ever contrived in our field. A hoax, strangely enough, in which few of the principal participants even knew each other, but which has attracted hundreds to play their part in its development and many, many more individuals to believe that some or all of its claims are true. Tentative as some of my findings of fact may be as yet, what is published here is what I've established so far.

This is not a story with a beginning, middle and an end. Like all the best myths it starts when somebody either thought of it, or first recounted publicly a pre-existing tale. It looked to the past to find support for its claims and then, as time went on, spiraled out of control as further elements were added. My intentions in setting out this 'first investigation' of the Nazi UFO mythos is to make available, in one place, the principal sources for all of the reports and claims that seem relevant and of which - of course - I'm aware. I'm sure there will be more. I make no pretence of having done all this work myself, or of having any kind of monopoly on the subject. If others want to use this piece as a basis for pursuing their own research, I'll be more than pleased. If I've quoted or adopted anyone else's work without crediting it, please accept my apologies.

I'll start by giving a substantial overview of what is probably the only genuine unsolved mystery in all of the speculation about wartime aeronautical technology.

This is the first of five specific 'cores' of key material that I've concluded lie at the heart of the mythos. Having set those cores out first, I'll deal with many of the other contributors to the development of the mythos, both deliberate and unplanned. One brief explanation in advance - while I've almost certainly made errors of my own in translation, and the names of people and places, I've generally refrained from correcting the spelling and grammar of quoted material. Sometimes, style and presentation conveys almost as much as content!

The 'foo fighter' phenomenon seems to have been so named after a wartime US comic strip which featured a character called Smokey Stover, whose catchphrase was "where there's foo there's fire". No doubt this seemed funny at the time, but it is in giving a memorable and appealing name to a very disparate, and under-researched, range of reports of aerial light phenomena that Stover has found lasting fame. Without that name, such different reports might never have been linked together.In a way, the 'foo fighter' evidence doesn't help us much. It is reasonably clear that whatever was seen, the accounts are seldom, if ever, of solid, metal objects. Many of them actually come from the skies over Japan and other Far East countries. Nonetheless, reports of the existence and behavior of the 'foo fighters' over Europe during the war underpin key strands of the 'Nazi UFO' mythos, and while this can't be the thorough examination that the subject deserves to receive one day, any investigation has to start somewhere. I can claim particularly little credit for the research into foo fighters which, effectively, sets the scene for my own research into the more exotic world of the Nazi UFO, but I hope that by setting it out here, it will become more accessible, and will eventually be seen in its proper - very distant - relationship to later claims of wartime flying disk development.

Two thorough and credible researchers have investigated the wartime 'foo fighter' phenomenon. One is the UK researcher and ufological iconoclast Andy Roberts, and the other is US folklore graduate Jeff Lindell. Both have, helpfully, published summaries of their material on the net, and it would be fair comment to say that they have reached somewhat different conclusions. Before turning to their more careful analysis, and ignoring the dubious material presented in post-war editions of Ray Palmer's largely fictional Amazing Stories , it is first worth considering the key, popular article on the subject which, as Roberts comments, "forms the substance of almost every piece written on the subject of foo-fighters". It appeared in the American Legion Magazine for December 1945, one with which Renato Vesco - who had worked in the USA - was familiar, but the German Rudolf Lusar, apparently, was not.

The article was titled 'The Foo Fighter Mystery', and was written by one Jo Chamberlin. This account is enlivened with contemporary "quotes" from the witnesses, making it that much more immediate and appealing. It begins with an account of reports from Japan, apparently after Germany had been defeated:

. . . During the last months of the war the crews of many B-29s over Japan saw what they described as "balls of fire" which followed them, occasionally came up and almost sat on their tails, changed color from orange to red to white and back again, and yet never closed in to attack or crash, suicide-style. "The balls of fire continue to be a mystery -- just as they were when first observed on the other side of the world - over eastern Germany.

This is the way they began. At ten o'clock of a November evening, in late 1944, Lt. Ed Schlueter took off in his night fighter from Dijon, France, on what he thought would be a routine mission for the 415th Night Fighter Squadron. Lt. Schlueter is a tall, competent young pilot from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, whose hazardous job was to search the night sky for German planes and shoot them down. He had done just this several times and had been decorated for it. As one of our best night fighters, he was used to handling all sorts of emergencies. With him as radar observer was Lt. Donald J. Meiers, and Lt. Fred Ringwald, intelligence officer of the 415th, who flew as an observer. The trio began their search pattern, roaming the night skies on either side of the Rhine River north of Strasbourg -- for centuries the abode of sirens, dwarfs, gnomes, and other supernatural characters that appealed strongly to the dramatic sense of the late A. Hitler.

However, at this stage of the European war, the Rhine was no stage but a grim battleground, where the Germans were making their last great stand. The night was reasonably clear, with some clouds and a quarter moon. There was fair visibility. In some respects, a night fighter plane operates like a champion boxer whose eyesight isn't very good; he must rely on other senses to guide him to his opponent. The U. S. Army has ground radar stations, which track all planes across the sky, and tell the night fighter the whereabouts of any plane.

The night fighter flies there, closes in by means of his own radar until usually he can see the enemy, and if the plane doesn't identify itself as friendly, he shoots it down. Or, gets shot down himself, for the Germans operate their aircraft in much same way we did, and so did the Japanese. Lt. Schlueter was flying low enough that he could detect the white steam of a blacked-out locomotive or the sinister bulk of a motor convoy, but he had to avoid smokestacks, barrage balloons, enemy searchlights, and flak batteries. He and Ringwald were on the alert, for there were mountains nearby. The inside of the plane was dark, for good night vision. Lt. Ringwald said,"I wonder what those lights are, over there in the hills." "Probably stars," said Schlueter, knowing from long experience that the size and character of lights are hard to estimate at night. "No, I don't think so." "Are you sure it's no reflection from us?" "I'm positive."

Then Ringwald remembered -- there weren't any hills over there. Yet the "lights" were still glowing -- eight or ten of them in a row -- orange balls of fire moving through the air at a terrific speed. Then Schlueter saw them far off his left wing. Were enemy fighters pursuing him? He immediately checked by radio with Allied ground radar stations. "Nobody up there but yourself." they reported. "Are you crazy?" And no enemy plane showed in Lt. Meiers' radar. Lt. Schlueter didn't know what he was facing -- possibly some new and lethal German weapon - but he turned into the lights, ready for action. The lights disappeared - then reappeared far off. Five minutes later they went into a flat glide and vanished.

The puzzled airmen continued on their mission, and destroyed seven freight trains behind German lines. When they landed back at Dijon, they decided to do what any other prudent soldier would do - keep quiet for the moment. If you tried to explain everything strange that happened in a war, you'd do nothing else.

Further, Schlueter and Meiers had nearly completed their required missions, and didn't want to chance being grounded by some skeptical flight surgeon for "combat fatigue." Maybe they had been "seeing things." But a few nights later, Lt. Henry Giblin, of Santa Rosa, California, pilot, and Lt. Walter Cleary, of Worcester, Massachusetts, radar-observer, were flying at 1,000 feet altitude when they saw a huge red light 1,000 feet above them, moving at 200 miles per hour. As the observation was made on an early winter evening, the men decided that perhaps they had eaten something at chow that didn't agree with them and did not rush to report their experience.

On December 22-23, 1944, another 415th night fighter squadron pilot and radar-observer were flying at 10,000 feet altitude near Hagenau. "At 0600 hours we saw two lights climbing toward us from the ground. Upon reaching our altitude, they leveled off and stayed on my tail. The lights appeared to be large orange glows. After staying with the plane for two minutes, they peeled off and turned away, flying under perfect control, and then went out." The next night the same two men, flying at 10,000 feet, observed a single red flame. Lt. David L. McFalls, of Cliffside, N. C., pilot, and Lt. Ned Baker of Hemat, California, radar-observer, also saw: "A glowing red object shooting straight up, which suddenly changed to a view of an aircraft doing a wing-over, going into a dive and disappearing."

This was the first and only suggestion of a controlled flying device. By this time, the lights were reported by all members of the 415th who saw them. Most men poked fun at the observers, until they saw for themselves. Although confronted with a baffling situation, and one with lethal potentialities, the 415th continued its remarkable combat record. When the writer of this article visited and talked with them in Germany, he was impressed with the obvious fact that the 415th fliers were very normal airmen, whose primary interest was combat, and after that came pin-up girls, poker, doughnuts, and the derivatives of the grape. The 415th had a splendid record. The whole outfit took the mysterious lights or balls of fire with a sense of humor. Their reports were received in some higher quarters with smiles: "Sure, you must have seen something, and have you been getting enough sleep?" One day at chow a 415th pilot suggested that they give the lights a name. A reader of the comic strip "Smokey Stover" suggested that they be called "foo-fighters," since it was frequently and irrefutably stated in that strip that "Where there's foo, there's fire." The name stuck.

What the 415th saw at night was borne out in part by day. West of Neustadt, a P-47 pilot saw "a gold-colored ball, with a metallic finish, which appeared to be moving slowly through the air. As the sun was low, it was impossible to tell whether the sun reflected off it, or the light came from within." Another P-47 pilot reported "a phosphorescent golden sphere, 3 to 5 feet in diameter, flying at 2,000 feet." Meanwhile, official reports of the "foo-fighters" had gone to group headquarters and were "noted." Now in the Army, when you "note" anything it means that you neither agree nor disagree, nor do you intend to do anything about it. It covers everything. Various explanations were offered for the phenomena - none of them satisfactory, and most of them irritating to the 415th.

It was said that the foo-fighters might be a new kind of flare. A flare, said the 415th, does not dive, peel off, or turn. Were they to frighten or confuse Allied pilots? Well, if so, they were not succeeding -- and yet the lights continued to appear. Eighth Air Force bomber crews had reported seeing silver-colored spheres resembling huge Christmas tree ornaments in the sky -- what about them? Well, the silver spheres usually floated, and never followed a plane. They were presumably some idea the Germans tried in the unsuccessful effort to confuse our pilots or hinder our radar bombing devices.What about jet planes? No, the Germans had jet planes all right, but they didn't have an exhaust flame visible at any distance. Could they be flying bombs of some sort, either with or without a pilot? Presumably not - with but one exception no one thought he observed a wing or fuselage. Weather balloons? No, the 415th was well aware of their behavior. They ascended almost vertically, and eventually burst. Could the lights or balls of fire be the red, blue, and orange colored flak bursts that Eighth Air Force bomber crews had reported? It was a nice idea, said the 415th, but there was no correlation between the foo-fighters they observed and the flak they encountered. And night flak was usually directed by German radar, not visually. In short, no explanation stood up.

On Dec. 31, 1944, AP reporter Bob Wilson, was with the 415th and heard about the foo-fighters. He questioned the men until 4 a.m. in the best newspaper tradition until he got all the facts. His story passed the censors, and appeared in American newspapers on January 1, 1945, just in time to meet the customary crop of annual hangovers.

Some scientists in New York decided, apparently by remote control, that what the airmen had seen in Germany was St. Elmo's light - a well-known electrical phenomenon appearing like light or flame during stormy weather at the tips of church steeples, ships' masts, and tall trees. Being in the nature of an electrical discharge, St. Elmo's fire is reddish when positive, and blueish when negative. The 415th blew up. It was thoroughly acquainted with St. Elmo's fire. The men snorted, "Just let the sons come over and fly a mission with us. We'll show em."

Through January, 1945, the 415th continued to see the "foo-fighters," and their conduct became increasingly mysterious. One aircrew observed lights, moving both singly and in pairs. On another occasion, three sets of lights, this time red and white in color, followed a plane, and when the plane suddenly pulled up, the lights continued on in the same direction, as though caught napping, and then sheepishly pulled up to follow. The pilot checked with ground radar - he was alone in the sky. This was true in every instance foo-fighters were observed. The first real clue came with the last appearance of the exasperating and potentially deadly lights. They never kept 415th from fulfilling its missions, but they certainly were unnerving.

The last time the foo-fighters appeared, the pilot turned into them at the earliest possible moment -- and the lights disappeared. The pilot was sure that he felt prop wash, but when he checked with ground radar, there was no other airplane. The pilot continued on his way, perturbed, even angry -- when he noticed lights far to the rear. The night was clear and the pilot was approaching a huge cloud. Once in the cloud, he dropped down two thousand feet and made a 30 degree left turn. Just a few seconds later be emerged from the cloud - with his eye peeled to rear. Sure enough, coming out of the cloud in the same relative position was the foo-fighter, as though to thumb its nose at the pilot, and then disappear.

This was the last time the foo-fighters were seen in Germany, although it would have seemed fitting, if the lights had made one last gesture, grouping themselves so as to spell "Guess What" in the sky, and vanishing forever. But they didn't. The foo-fighters simply disappeared when Allied ground forces captured the area East of the Rhine. This was known to be the location of many German experimental stations. Since V-E day our Intelligence officers have put many such installations under guard. From them we hope to get valuable research information -- including the solution to the foo-fighter mystery, but it has not appeared yet. It may be successfully hidden for years to come, possibly forever. The members of the 415th hope Army Intelligence will find the answer. If it turns out that the Germans never had anything airborne in the area, they say, "We'll be all set for Section Eight psychiatric discharges." Meanwhile, the foo-fighter mystery continues unsolved. The lights, or balls of fire, appeared and disappeared on the other side of the world, over Japan -- and your guess as to what they were is just as good as mine, for nobody really knows." [8]

Had this article not been published, then we would probably have heard little more about this unusual range of events, in different times, in different places, which has been gathered together under the foo-fighter name. Fortunately, others have gone on to gather more accurate, less dramatized accounts, and to make informed judgments about the possible causes underlying the reports.

ANDY ROBERTS

Andy Roberts is a seasoned UK researcher with a reputation for unraveling seemingly complex cases. He went out and found a number of first-hand experiencers.

"I wrote to every air-related magazine in the UK with a request for information from ex-aircrew. To date I have had some thirty replies from pilots and crew detailing their experiences with strange balls of light (incidentally not one of them knew them by the name "foo-fighters," or any other name for that matter).Official confirmation of wartime phenomena was not so easy to come by"My research so far with the RAF/MOD/PRO in the UK has drawn a total blank regarding official documentation and investigation of the subject, as have preliminary investigations in the USA. UFO skeptics will of course say that this is because it doesn't exist, proponents, especially cover-up buffs, will say it is because it is being kept secret. The simple facts are that if documentation does exist in the UK I am unlikely to be able to get at it easily because of our archaic procedures for obtaining any government documents. We are not blessed by a FOI Act as is the USA, and obtaining any document depends on whether a department can be bothered to answer your letters or if so, can be bothered to undertake a meaningful search of their records. The situation is further complicated by the fact that many records in our Public Records Office are hard to locate due to how it is organized and furthermore are subject to "rules" such as the 30 year rule whereby information is not available for 30 years from date of classification. Worse still many W.W.II records are languishing under a 75 year rule for reasons I have not yet fathomed! In addition to this fact I have spoken to some ex-wartime RAF intelligence people in the UK and they claim no knowledge of the phenomena."

Roberts has a very low opinion of most 'foo fighter' research. I fully support his view, which he illustrates by identifying one certain 'foo' hoax, and another probable one: these are summarized in the 'False Histories' section, below. Yet Roberts is not entirely disillusioned by his discoveries, and concludes of the many apparently guileless reports of aerial lights that:"Out of all this some clear facts are apparent. Hundreds of aircrew saw and recorded what we now call foo-fighters during W.W.II. There must be many thousands of ex-aircrew who have stories to tell. The problem is finding them and the odd ad. or article is only going to draw a few out and I have yet to attempt to get to American information from squadron survivors units etc. The situation regarding German information is further complicated by a language barrier but it is only a matter of time. I firmly believe that foo-fighters were a real, although non-solid phenomena and I reject the hallucination/misperception hypothesis almost entirely. These people's lives depended on being able to see and identify aerial objects very quickly. One mistake and it was their last. Some crew have admitted misperceiving Venus etc., but realizing it in seconds, and certainly not a whole crew being fooled for any length of time." [9]

JEFF LINDELLUS

Folklorist Jeff A Lindell is a retired USAF electronic warfare systems analyst. He has conducted extensive interviews with airmen who witnessed light phenomena during WWII, and tends towards a rationalist explanation of all such reports, utilizing the possible misinterpretation of different kinds of natural events. In his paper 'The Foo Fighter Mystery: Revised' in the context of historical accounts identified as 'Jack o'Lantern' and 'Will o' the Wisp', he sets out some key 'foo fighter' reports from earlier sources.

"Let us proceed with the World War II version of this legend type. Early in October of 1944, pilots in the 422 Night Fighter Squadron (NFS), based out of Florennes, Belgium began to report "balls of light" pacing their fighters over Western Germany. By early November several 422nd pilots and radar operators had reported encounters with Me163 rocket fighters and Me262 jet fighters on night missions over the Reich.

On the 7th of November of 1944 the Associated Press Corps in Paris released this statement:

Paris (AP) - The Germans are using jet and rocket propelled planes and various other 'newfangled' gadgets against Allied night fighters," Lt. Col. B. Johnson, Natchitoches, La., commander of a P-61 Black Widow group, said today." In recent nights we've counted 15 to 20 jet planes," Johnson said. "They sometimes fly in formations of four, but more often they fly alone." (The Day, New London, Connecticut, p.1).

In an interview with Philip Guba, Assistant Intelligence Officer of the 422 NFS, he states"At first we thought they (the pilots) were seeing things, and they kept saying that these things were chasing them around. Whether they actually identified... not while I was on duty, they did not identify a jet as such. But I think that was the only conclusion we could reach... that was a jet. It could not have been a Will-o'-wisp or something like that. What they reported seeing was simply the exhaust, you see. They did mention that these guys (the jets) seemed to play around with them. They did mention that these guys (the jets) never shot at them and I can't recall whether the Radar observer actually saw them on the screen. It was mostly visual in other words."Meanwhile, the 415th N.F.S. based out of Dijon France began to report the "balls of fire" which they had affectionately dubbed, "foo fighters."

On the 27th of November the first foo fighter was sighted over Western Germany by an Ed Schleuter and Don Meiers flying a Beaufighter, here is Don's account:"A foo fighter picked me up at 700 feet and chased me 20 miles down the Rhine Valley," Meiers said. "I turned to starboard and two balls of fire turned with me. We were going 260 miles an hour and the balls were keeping right up with us. On another occasion when a foo fighter picked us up, I dived at 360 miles an hour. It kept right off our wing tips for awhile and then zoomed into the sky. When I first saw the things, I had the horrible thought that a German on the ground was ready to press a button and explode them. But they didn't explode or attack us. They just seem to follow us like the Will - o'- the-wisp."(N.Y. Times, 2 Jan.1945, p.1,4.)

Well, to complicate things even more, the 416th N.F.S. stationed in Pisa Italy also began to spot "foo fighters" in February of 1945. Here are some excerpts from the 416th NFS' historical data and operations records respectively:

17 February 1945: "Our crews are beginning to report mysterious orange-red lights in the sky near La Spezia and also inland. These "foo fighters" have been pursued, but no one has been able to make contact. G.C.l. and intelligence profess to be mystified by these ghostly apparitions. The hypothesis that the foo-fighters are a post-cognac manifestation has been disproved. Even the teetotalers have observed the strange and mysterious foo-fighters which have also been observed in France and in Belgium." (17 Feb.1945, 416th historical data. U.S. Army.)

17 February 1945: "At 21:30 saw reddish white light going off and on in spurts about 6 or 8 miles away, near La Spezia at 10,000 ft. going NE. chased it at 280 MPH for 11/2 minutes. It took erratic course and faded out. At 21:40 saw some type of light 10 miles South of La Spezia and it went North and turned East of La Spezia at 9000'. Faded near La Spezia. Pilot came within 5 miles of La Spezia, suspected Ack Ack trap. At 21:55,10 miles south of La Spezia chased another and it went across La Spezia and pilot followed. Faded 10 or 15 miles North of La Spezia. Our aircraft at 300 MPH couldn't catch it. No ack ack at La Spezia. At 22:50, 5 miles south of Pisa, saw same light from distance of 10 miles. Chased it for 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. It took north course, disappeared over Mt. this light 10,000'. Light described as glow that alternates between weak and bright. No contacts on Al (radar). Apparently no jamming." (17 Feb.1945. Daily Operations Report, 416th NFS, 12th AF-SCU-01.)

The above sighting was made by George Shultz and Frankie Robinson." Lindell presents a convincing case for accepting that whatever the cause of the reports, because of their low numbers and limited geographical range, Me163 rocket fighters and Me262 jet fighters were seldom responsible. He reports"Kurt Welter was appointed to form the first Me 262 Night Fighter test detachment (Erprobungs-Kommando) on 2 November of 1944. This was the only German Jet Night Fighting outfit in WWII and until the last week in February, Kurt Welter was the only pilot flying the Me 262 aircraft at night. Welter's detachment did not become operational until mid-December of 1944 with only two Me 262 Al-a's. His orders were to intercept the nightly assaults of Mosquito bombers hitting Berlin known as the "Berlin Express." This allows Welter very little time to organize, recruit, equip and fly all of the missions which Allied pilots claim were flown. (From Hugh Morgan's "Me262, Stormbird Rising)

This still leaves us with the question of the Me 63 rocket fighters. The Second Squadron of Jagdgeschwader (JG) 400, the first and only Me 63 Combat Wing, was stationed at Venlo airfield in the Netherlands and saw limited action until it was withdrawn to the home wing in Brandis, south of Leipzig, in July of 1944.

At Brandis, JG 400 saw its peak of operational performance on the 28th of September of 1944 when it was able to scramble 9 Me 63s in order to intercept an Allied day-light bombing raid. This rocket fighter was only used as a day interceptor for bombers; no records exist concerning the night testing of the Me 163 at the German experimental airfield, Estelle Retime, which is where all of the experimental aircraft were tested for night flying. (Morgan, Price, Ziegler.)

Mano Zeigler who flew as one of the three chief test pilots assigned to Erprobungs-Kommando 16 and later a Rocket pilot in JG 400 commented on the practicability of flying such a nocturnal mission in a Me 63, "Trying to land in the dark you'd spread yourself in small pieces around the countryside!" (Ziegler p.113)

This aircraft also had an effective combat radius of no more than 25 miles under perfect visual conditions and thus limited JG 400's operations to the Leipzig area for the duration of the war."[10]

Lindell goes on to present information about later sightings of mysterious - and possibly responsive - lights in the Far East where, of course, the war continued after Germany's defeat. Interesting, and broadly similar, as that material is, it doesn't really form part of our investigation into the flight of high-performance German disks. His careful conclusions are, however, helpful. He admits to a fairly skeptical approach to the material, but conclusions drawn from such thorough research have considerable value. He says: "At this point it is of vital interest to relate the above terms with that of "aviator's vertigo."

In May of 1946, Dr W. E. Vinacke submitted the first ever report concerning folk beliefs among aviators concerning anomalous experiences associated with flying. In his report 'The Concept of Aviator's Vertigo', Vinacke states:"Vertigo is primarily a psychological problem. It appears to be associated with the mental hazards of flying, and with the 'mysterious' events which sometimes happen in an aircraft. there is thus a two-fold source of emotional loading in the term 'vertigo', i.e. dangerous conditions and unexplained, though actual, phenomena. (Vincacke p.2)

In the pursuit of fairness I have also interviewed the same pilots periodically and concerning various topics involving night flying. This effect has been significant. Pilots who never reported seeing foo fighters were asked if they had experienced vertigo. The vertigo stories could easily be classed as foo fighter stories. These persons tended to be either commanders or high ranking experienced night fighters. The point is that there are a wide variety of "conditions" in which a story can be recounted concerning an anomalous personal experience. Persons who had not seen foo fighters could offer no such similar experience other than a "mistaken identification" interpretation such as St. Elmo's fire, jets, Venus, etc.

Persons who had experienced "visual-vertigo" in night flying offered experiences which are, for all practical purposes, identical to first hand experience narratives concerning foo fighters, baka bombs, jets, Venus, balls of fire and the Jack-o'-lantern. Edgar Vinacke writes,"Pilots do not have sufficient information about phenomena of disorientation, and, as a corollary, are given considerable disorganized, incomplete, and inaccurate information. They are largely dependent upon their own experience, which must supplement and interpret the traditions about 'vertigo' which are passed on to them. When a concept thus grows out of anecdotes cemented together with practical necessity, it is bound to acquire elements of mystery. So far as 'vertigo' is concerned, no one really knows more than a small part of the facts, but a great deal of the peril. Since aviators are not skilled observers of human behavior, they usually have only the vaguest understanding of their own feelings. Like other naive persons, therefore, they have simply adopted a term to cover a multitude of otherwise inexplicable events." (Vinacke p.5.) [11]

Surprisingly, this is probably the most thorough account of 'foo fighter' reports yet published, and I've almost completely ignored the reports from outside the European theatre of war. There is an excellent book to be written about the whole 'foo fighter' issue, which ideally would include the research conducted by both Andy Roberts and Jeff Lindell. I would strongly suggest, however, that none of the 'foo fighter' evidence correlates in any objective manner with the later claims for the existence of high-performance flying disks.

A final point about 'foo fighters': there are various photos of planes seemingly accompanied by blobs of what may be light, or emulsion flaws, or tiny aircraft, or whatever. They are paraded periodically - Mark Ian Birdsall of the UK UFO Magazine seems keen on them - as evidence of the physical reality of the phenomenon. To date, I have found no evidence of the specific provenance of any of these photos - who took them, on what date, where, with what camera, in what circumstances, and so on. In the case of the photo most commonly reproduced, it is not even clear what type of aircraft is shown. Others images look as if they might well have been manipulated. At present, these photos are evidence of nothing but the willingness to accept inadequate evidence to support an inadequately evidenced belief. Of course, if relevant provenance could be established, my opinion might well change.

One individual - only partially aware that he was doing anything of the sort - turned the press reports of 'foo fighters' into armed, controlled, high-performance flying discs.

His name was Renato Vesco, an Italian who wrote three books in his own language, only one of which was translated into English. He also had an article published in the August 1969 edition of the US men's magazine Argosy, which was probably little more than a hack writer's rendering of material in the book.

The article was titled "Aerospace expert claims Flying Saucers are Canada's Secret Weapon", and in the introduction to the piece there first appears the statement which lies at the heart of the authority which Vesco has come to command over the years.

It said:"Renato Vesco is a fully licensed aircraft engineer and a specialist in aerospace and ramjet developments. He attended the University of Rome and, before WWII, studied at the German Institute for Aerial Development. During the war, Vesco worked with the Germans at the Fiat Lake Garda secret installations in Italy. In the 1960s, he worked for the Italian Air Ministry of Defense as an undercover technical agent, investigating the UFO mystery." [12]

It is in the context of this statement that many writers have first considered the material set out by Vesco in the first of his three books, often without having actually seen the book itself.

Here are some key selections of what Vesco says about the supposed Feuerball and Kugelblitz in the paperback version of 'Intercept UFO'.

"... another center, run by Speer and the S.S. Technical General Staff, had adopted the idea of employing "proximity radio interference" on the very much more delicate and hence more vulnerable electronic apparatuses of the American night fighters... Thus a highly original flying machine was born; it was circular and armored, more or less resembling the shell of a tortoise, and was powered by a special turbojet engine, also flat and circular, whose principles of operation recalled the well-known aeolipile of Hero, which generated a great halo of luminous flames. Hence it was named Feuerball (Fireball). It was unarmed and pilotless. Radio-controlled at the moment of take-off, it then automatically followed enemy aircraft, attracted by their exhaust flames, and approached close enough without collision to wreck their radio gear.The fiery halo around its perimeter - caused by a very rich fuel mixture - and the chemical additives that interrupted the flow of electricity by over-ionizing the atmosphere in the vicinity of the plane, generally around the wing tips or tail surfaces, subjected the H2S radar on the plane to the action of powerful electrostatic fields and electromagnetic impulses (the latter generated by large klystron radio tubes protected with special anti-shock and anti-heat armor). Since a metal arc carrying an oscillating current of the proper frequency - equal, that is, to the frequency used by the radar station - can cancel the blips (return signals from the target), the Feuerball was almost undetectable by the most powerful American radar of the time, despite its nighttime visibility. In addition, the builders of the device hoped - and their hopes were fulfilled - that when the Allied flyers, not knowing their nature or purpose, noticed that the fiery balls were apparently harmless, they would not fire on these enormous-looking (because of their large halos of fire) "inoffensive" devices for fear of being caught in some gigantic explosion. More than one, in fact, as they fearfully watched those huge lights close in, the American pilots thought that some German technician on the ground was perhaps getting ready to push a button and cause the Foo Fighter to explode. Project Feuerball was first constructed at the aeronautical establishment at Wiener Neustadt, with the help of the Fluggfunk Forschungsanstalt of Oberpfaddenhoffen (F.F.O.) in so far as radio control of the missile was concerned (but was it really a missile?) One person who saw the first short test flights of the device, without its electrical gear, says that "during the day it looked like a shining disc spinning on its axis and during the night it looked like a burning globe". Hermann Goring inspected the progress of the work a number of times, for he hoped, as in fact happened, that the mechanical principle could also later be used to produce an offensive weapon capable of revolutionizing the whole field of aerial warfare.When the Russians began to press on toward Austria, the construction of the first Fireballs was apparently continued by a number of underground plants in the Schwarzwald that were run by the Zeppelin Werke. The klystron tubes were supplied by the section of the Forschungsanstalt der Deutschen Reichpost (F.D.R.P.) of Aach bei Radolfzell on Lake Constance, and later also by the F.D.R.P. section of Gehlberg, whose products, however, were not as perfect as those delivered by the F.D.R.P., a fact that caused a number of Fireballs to be used simultaneously in formation." [13]

Expressly identifying the reports of aerial lights known in some parts of the US Air Force as 'foo fighters' as being evidence of the amazing, hitherto and hereafter unheard of secret weapon he called the Feuerball, Vesco sets out some more technical details:

"... The Foo Fighters did contain a strong explosive charge to destroy them in flight in case serious damage to the automatic guidance system made it impossible for the operators to control it... It seems, however, that during the time they were last seen, at least one American flyer opened fire on a Foo Fighter from a safe distance without succeeding in shooting it down, although he had it well within his sights. A convincing detail, this, especially in view of the fact that under the armored covering of the Foo Fighters there was a thin sheet of aluminum attached to it (but electrically insulated) that acted as a switch. When a bullet pierced the outer covering, contact between the two sheets was established and the consequent closing of the circuit that operated the maximum acceleration device of the craft (generally in a vertical direction) caused the Foo Fighter to fly off, taking it out of the range of further enemy fire." [14]

Now and then, Vesco includes references which support his claims, but he never does so with regard to the Feuerball. Let's analyse what he is actually saying here, and what sense (if any) it makes, because, thanks to Vesco, and Vesco alone, we know that this device designed to achieve “proximity radio interference” ; "was circular and armored, more or less resembling the shell of a tortoise" ; " was “enormous-looking” ; "during the day it looked like a shining disc spinning on its axis and during the night it looked like a burning globe" ; "was powered by a special turbojet engine, also flat and circular, which generated a great halo of luminous flames around its perimeter" ; "was unarmed and pilotless" ; "was radio-controlled at the moment of take-off" ; “automatically followed enemy aircraft, attracted by their exhaust flames" ; "approached close enough to the enemy aircraft, without collision, to wreck their radio gear" ; "carried large klystron radio tubes protected with special anti-shock and anti-heat armor" ; "could be used simultaneously in formation with other feuerballs"; "contained a strong explosive charge to destroy it in flight in case serious damage to the automatic guidance system made it impossible for the operators to control it" ; "had under its armored covering a thin sheet of aluminum attached to it (but electrically insulated) that acted as a switch. When a bullet pierced the outer covering, contact between the two sheets was established and the consequent closing of the circuit that operated the maximum acceleration device of the craft (generally in a vertical direction) caused it to fly off, taking it out of the range of further enemy fire* had chemical additives (in its fuel?) that interrupted the flow of electricity by over-ionizing the atmosphere in the vicinity of the plane, generally around the wing tips or tail surfaces, subjecting the H2S radar on the plane to the action of powerful electrostatic fields and electromagnetic impulses, making it almost undetectable by the most powerful American radar of the time".

I don’t want to labor the point here - we could go on for a long time making fun of this nonsense - but this is not a description of anything real. We aren’t told what its actual size was. We know that it had no wings, but that it did carry a powerful engine, two layers of metal to protect it and trigger its escape when hit, liquid fuel (lots of it, presumably), large klystron radio tubes protected with special anti-shock and anti-heat armor, a strong explosive charge, radio control equipment, and the absolutely mysterious devices which interfered with radio transmissions and made it nearly invisible to radar. It must, therefore, have been a dense, heavy, tortoise-shaped package.

We can only speculate how it developed the lift not only to reach heights of 10,000 to 25,000 feet (the range within which bombing raids usually took place), at speeds in excess of 200mph just to follow the bombers, and faster to accelerate away from them. It seems to have been radio-controlled at launch (however launch was achieved, let alone landing - were these devices meant to be landed and reused?), and also, because otherwise why would it contain “a strong explosive charge to destroy it in flight in case serious damage to the automatic guidance system made it impossible for the operators to control it” during flight. Between 2 and 5 miles up. In the dark. All these things just to follow aircrafts traveling at 200mph or so, apparently over considerable distances.

We are again left to speculate how the operators knew what they were controlling, what was happening to their particular feuerball at any given moment, or what form of radio control could, in 1943 - 1945, work that accurately over that distance.

Vesco does not address the question of how direction or speed of flight (if the motion of an armored wingless tortoise can be accurately described as flight) was controlled or determined.Other questions arise. How did the feuerball distinguish an enemy aircraft from a friendly one? How did it stop following the exhaust flames? Where did it go when it stopped? Why, when it was traveling laterally behind the engines of an enemy aircraft, attracted by its exhaust flames, did it suddenly depart “generally in a vertical direction” when hit? Which “chemical additives interrupted the flow of electricity by over-ionizing the atmosphere in the vicinity of the plane”? Just how did that work? How did it wreck the radio gear of enemy aircraft? Where? When? And how, for pity’s sake, Why? Could these devices ever have flown “in formation with other feuerballs”? Those of you who actually know about aeronautical engineering - as Vesco is supposed to have done - will be able to phrase these questions far better than I.

Perhaps Vesco himself would like to put his mind to answering them: I certainly can’t. At present, though I’m happy to be persuaded otherwise and to publish any hard evidence to that effect, my view is that the feuerball - which even Lusar had never heard of - is a fantasy. How this fantasy came to be published, I’m really not sure. But I wondered for a year or two how he had come to construct these pseudo-technical descriptions, which originate absolutely and only with Vesco.

Eventually I realized that what he had done was to look at the few reports of 'foo fighters' that he quotes - from the 'American Legion Magazine' and 'Amazing Stories', because he didn't have the benefit of the excellent investigative work done by Roberts or Lindell - and to build round those descriptions of the behavior of those lights, speculative technical explanations which he considered matched their reported performance. The only reasonable conclusion available to me is that Vesco - or one of his obviously careless editors or publishers - put these 'technical' descriptions in his book knowing that they had no factual basis. Passing time, the laziness of later authors, and the inexplicable readiness to believe in the wonders of Nazi intellect has gradually turned these dumb speculations into accepted facts. Unless strong and reliable evidence appears to the contrary, I think we can dismiss the feuerball - and its even less defined relative the kugelblitz, to which Vesco mistakenly gave the name of a flak panzer in development early in 1945 - as objects that never had any physical reality, and were probably never even designed. I think that we could, quite reasonably do this on technical and scientific grounds alone.

Yet Vesco continues to be highly influential, regarded as the leading authority of the Axis on secret technological developments in aeronautics. And, given his background, his experience and his authority, as summarized in the article in 'Argosy', what could be wrong with that? Had readers looked as far as the cover of the book from which these claims came, they would have found a substantially different version of Vesco's authority to that given in 'Argosy'.

This didn't say that he had, before WWII, "studied at the German Institute for Aerial Development." Or that, during the war, he had "worked with the Germans at the Fiat Lake Garda secret installations in Italy." Nor did it claim that "In the 1960s, he worked for the Italian Air Ministry of Defense as an undercover technical agent, investigating the UFO mystery." Instead, it said that"Renato Vesco was born in Arona, Italy, in 1924. A licensed pilot, in 1944 he commanded the technical section of the Italian Air Force. In 1946-47 he served in the Reparto Tecnico Caccia. Mr Vesco has been a senior member of the Italian Association of Aerotechnics since 1943, and is a student of aeronautical problems, particularly in the field of jet propulsion. He is a contributor to various aeronautical publications." [15]

There is clearly something very wrong here. Born in 1924, Vesco would have been 14 or 15 when WWII broke out. Surely, by that age, he had not attended the University of Rome and studied at the German Institute for Aerial Development? If he worked with the Germans at the Fiat Lake Garda secret installations in Italy, why didn't other authorities mention him? Would he really have "commanded the technical section of the Italian Air Force" at the age of 19 or 20, and "been a senior member of the Italian Association of Aerotechnics" at the age of 18 or 19? Surely, if he really were that remarkable, that important, his name would have appeared in the index or references of at least one of the countless books about the war that I've examined? Yet it doesn't. Who was Vesco, and what did he really know about wartime German aircraft? Where did his material come from?

Thanks to the highly-respected Italian researchers Maurizio Verga and Eduardo Russo, we now have clear answers to these questions: they both know Vesco personally. As Verga says:"Vesco exists, definitely!

He is an old man now, born in 1924. What's written by him by people like Al Pinto on the Internet and BBSs, as well as by Harbinson, is complete rubbish.

His introduction in the 1971 English translation of his first book is quite accurate, even though he was not commanding any "technical section" in the Italian Air Force. He was an aeronautical engineer and he got an interest in flying saucers (always seen as a secret development of man-made aircraft) in the late 40's. He published several articles (about German secret weapons, flying saucers, aviation and other subjects) since the very early '50s, soon becoming a real skeptic against the then-common idea of ETH visits (he commented and explained some sightings due to atmospheric or conventional phenomena). The manuscript of his first book was ready in 1956, but he stopped publication because he was to go abroad for a long time, due to his job. When he was back in the '60s, after collecting a huge quantity of additional stuff, he had hundreds and hundreds of written pages, later to be turned into his three books. Vesco claims his sources are BIOS and CIOS reports dating between 1945 and 1947, plus other military and intelligence documents, mostly British. He told me "important persons" (I guess high-ranking officers from the Italian Air Force and other foreign Air Forces) contributed to his research with information and documents still classified. He promised not to make public their names, even though he says that most of them are surely dead. I know he borrowed the BIOS/CIOS reports he quoted in his books from some Italian AF officers, through the library or libraries of the IAF itself. It is true he is the only aviation student who introduced the 'Feuerball' and 'Kugelblitz' devices, at least as far as I know. Please also note that 'Kugelblitz' was a name given to other German weapons, including a flak panzer.Vesco thinks the Schriever & Co stories simple bullshits, while Vril and Haunebu pure science-fiction." [16]

The deceptive biographical information provided by Vesco’s various publishers has succeeded in misleading many later writers and researchers, and in providing support for the false claims of others. Like all too many of those involved in the world of Nazi UFOs, Vesco gave an impression of authority, and that authority was accepted without challenge. It now appears that Vesco was a man with an interest in man-made UFOs, who was strongly opposed to the extra-terrestrial hypothesis (ETH), used to explain many early ‘flying saucer’ sightings. He provides, in the feuerball and kugelblitz accounts given in a book we now know was completed by 1956, what sounds like a convincing hypothesis for explaining away, without the involvement of spacemen and interplanetary travel, not only the 'foo fighter' reports of which he was aware, but also the very ‘physical’ sightings and photographs of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. It is unfortunate that, in seeking to use his knowledge of aeronautical engineering to popularize what he apparently saw as a rational explanation for a body of irrational reports and interpretations, he only succeeded in co-founding the Nazi UFO mythos, a living and growing belief system which, for sheer irrationality and unpleasantness, came to far exceed anything from those innocent early days of ufology.

The book “German Secret Weapons of the Second World War” by Rudolf Lusar contains less than two pages of text in the section headed 'Flying Saucers', but its influence has been quite remarkable. Here, in full, is the text of that brief section: "Flying saucers have been whirling round the world since 1947, suddenly turning up here and there, soaring in and darting off again at unprecedented speed with flames encircling the rim of the saucer's disc. They have been located by radar, pursued by fighters and yet nobody has so far succeeded in establishing the existence of such a 'flying saucer' or managed to ram or shoot one down. The public, even the experts, are perplexed by an ostensible mystery or a technical miracle. But slowly the truth is coming out that even during the war German research workers and scientists made the first moves in the direction of these ''flying saucers''. They built and tested such near-miraculous contraptions. Experts and collaborators in this work confirm that the first projects, called "flying discs", were undertaken in 1941. The designs for these ''flying discs'' were drawn up by the German experts Schriever, Habermohl and Miethe, and the Italian Bellonzo.

Habernohl and Schriever chose a wide-surface ring which rotated round a fixed, cupola-shaped cockpit. The ring consisted of adjustable wing-discs which could be brought into appropriate position for the take-off' or horizontal flight respectively.

Miethe developed a discus-shaped plate of a diameter of 42m in which adjustable jets were inserted. Schriever and Habermohl, who worked in Prague, took off with the first "flying disc'' on February 14. 1945. Within three minutes they climbed to an altitude of I2,400m and reached a speed of 2,000 km/h in horizontal flight (!) It was intended ultimately to achieve speeds of 4,000 km/h. Extensive preliminary tests and research were necessary before construction could be started. Because of the great speed and the extraordinary heat stress, special heat-resisting materials had to be found. The development, which cost millions, was almost completed at the end of the war. The then existing models were destroyed but the plant in Breslau where Miethe worked fell into the hands of the Russians who took all the material and the experts to Siberia, where work on these "flying saucers" is being successfully continued. Schriever escaped from Prague in time; Habermohl, however, is probably in the Soviet Union, as nothing is known of his fate. The former designer Miethe is in the United States and, as far as is known, is building "flying saucers" for the United States and Canada at the A. V. Roe works. Years ago, the U.S. Air Force received orders not to fire at "flying saucers". This is an indication of the existence of American "flying saucers" which must not be endangered. The flying shapes so far observed are stated to have diameters of 16, 42, 45 and 75 m respectively and to reach speeds of up to 7,000 km/h. (?). In 1952 "flying saucers" were definitely established over Korea and Press reports said they were seen also during the NATO maneuvers in Alsace in the autumn of 1954. It can no longer be disputed that "flying saucers" exist. But the fact that their existence is still being denied, particularly in America, because United States developments have not progressed far enough to match the Soviet Union's, gives food for thought. There also seems some hesitation to recognize that these novel "flying saucers" are far superior to conventional aircraft - including modern turbo-jet machines - that they surpass their flying performance, load capacity and maneuverability and thereby make them obsolete." [17]

THE SAUCER-BUILDERS

I am grateful to the carefully-presented information provided by Maurizio Verga on the UFO Online website [18] for much of the material I have used, in this section, to try and answer the questions raised by Lusar.

Belluzzo

The earliest claim by an individual of the construction of a wartime flying disk was made by Guiseppe Belluzzo on or around March 27 1950, at a time when there had been a number of flying saucer reports in the Italian media, and European interest in the subject was high. On that date the Italian newspaper 'Il Mattino dell'Italia Centrale' published, with a vague and uninformative line-drawing as illustration, Belluzzo's apparent claim that circular aircraft had been developed since 1942, first in Italy, and then in Germany. The Italian idea was, supposedly, developed by the Germans in North-East Norway. The story also appeared in 'Il Corriere della Sera', 'La Nazione', and 'La Gazzetta del Popolo', and, in 'Il Corriere d'Informazione' of March 29-30 1950, with a comment by a General Ranza of the Italian Air Force dismissing Belluzzo's claims. It seems that Belluzzo did not claim that the disc flew during the war but that, by 1950, it had been sufficiently developed to deliver an atom bomb. This development was said to be some 10 meters wide, constructed with very light materials, and unmanned.We know something of Belluzzo's background and competence. Verga notes that he lived from November 25 1876 to May 21 1952, and was a turbine expert who published nearly fifty technical books. He was elected to the pre-war Fascist parliament, and from 1925 to 1928 served as Minister of the National Economy. I have traced a listing for a book of his - on turbines - full of technical drawings and translated into English in 1926. It is quite feasible that he could have contributed to a range of technological projects, but it seems that he never claimed to have built a flying disc, or to have named those who worked with the Germans in Norway. As in all such reports, no viable propulsion, launch, lift, flight, control or landing data is provided, and the criteria for publication seems to have been that the object should resemble the flying saucers which, as ever, had caught the media's attention. It is quite possible that a former Fascist minister would be happy to seek a little belated glory for his nation and his regime, but for all of the later interpretations of his role in the history of Nazi UFOs his claims were very limited, and so far as the assertion of a design for a reasonably-sized, unmanned flying disc was concerned, they are neither unique nor implausible. Belluzzo may, in part at least, have been telling the truth. It is worth noting that several later sources changed the name of the one individual who we can be sure actually had some relevant technical background from Belluzzo to Bellonzo.

Schreiver

News travels fast. Verga speculates that the Belluzzo story was also published in Germany, where it would certainly have been of great interest. Anyway, just days after Belluzzo's claims were first published, one Rudolph Schreiver made very similar claims in a general flying saucer article in 'Der Spiegel' for March 30 1950. He, too, claimed only that he developed blueprints, starting in 1942, which he believed later fell into the hands of the Americans or Germans. The article first introduced a wonderfully infeasible drawing/diagram which looked like something designed by a latter-day Otto Lilienthal and, of course, lacked any meaningful technical information. This regularly resurfaces (most recently as an amazing new and secret discovery on the Sightings website [19]) in the belief-oriented media. It is said that drawings of flying discs were found among Schreiver's possessions after he died in the late 1950s. It seems that Schriever described himself as "Flugkapitan Schriever", and that in March 1950 he was working for the US Forces in Germany, delivering copies of the newspaper 'Stars and Stripes' to army bases. Vladimir Terziski, that least reliable of sources, tries to find some glamour in this job, suggesting it was a cover for smuggling valuables of various kinds for some Nazi underground. Harbinson says that he purported that his 'flying disc' had been ready for testing in early 1944, but, with the advance of the Allies into Germany, the test had been cancelled, and the machine destroyed. Initially, though, he appears to have claimed little more than Belluzzo earlier the same week. Again, his involvement is just a side-bar to media coverage of a UFO flap. Again, it is others who have made entirely different claims for him. After all, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to be a lorry driver!

Miethe

There is an interview with a "Dr Richard Miethe", 'German aeronautical engineer' and 'ex-Colonel', in France-Soir for 7 June 1952. I only have a transcript, in French, but apparently the paper also published a photo of Dr Miethe in his swimming trunks. My French isn't great, but it seems that in the interview with Dr Miethe, conducted in Tel Aviv in June 1952, he says that he is 40 years old, gives specific details of his military background, and claims that he built a flying-saucer - the V7 which he built in 1944, the motors of which the Russians found at Breslau. He claims that from April 1943 he commanded a group of technicians of the 10th Reich Army, at Essen, Stettin and Dortmund, where the main research into German secret weapons was conducted. He doesn't name any of the other six engineers he says were involved, but says clearly that three are dead, and three are believed to have been taken by the Russians. Not unusually, the heart of the interview is his comments on some recent Brazilian flying saucer reports, and his opinion that if flying saucers are seen, then they will have been Russian-built from the knowledge of his three captured colleagues. But perhaps the most important point of all is that this Miethe seems to have had nothing to do with the USA, Operation Paperclip, or anything similar. The article says, I think, that a few days before the German surrender he left the front to join the Arab Legion based in Addis Ababa and Cairo, where a number of Hitler's senior officers had regrouped. At the time of the interview, in Tel Aviv, it seems that he had been ejected from Egypt, where he says he had been working with others to reconstruct the engine with which his earlier flying disc had been powered. The trigger for the expulsion may have been a breakdown in diplomatic relations between Germany and Egypt. As ever, we have no idea how the saucer flew or functioned, but more than two years later, in September 1952, the Italian magazine “Tempo” published some fuzzy, unconvincing photos of something looking not unlike a curling stone, on an angle against a featureless background (those featureless backgrounds are everywhere in 50s ufology). These, 'Tempo' claims, were taken over the Baltic on April 17, 1944, when the Miethe saucer was test-flown. The article persisted with the assertion that the Russians had obtained the secrets of these miraculous flying discs.

George Klein - February 1945

Harbinson notes that "alleged eye witness Georg Klein, a former engineer with Albert Speer's Ministry for Armament and Ammunition, told the press that he had actually seen the test flight of the Schriever disc, or one similar, near Prague on 14 February 1945."Redfern and Downes quote a CIA report dated 27 May 1954, which says "A German newspaper (not further identified) recently published an interview with George Klein, famous German engineer and aircraft expert, describing the experimental construction of 'flying saucers' carried out by him from 1941 to 1945. Klein stated that he was present when, in 1945, the first piloted 'flying saucer' took off and reached a speed of 1,3000 miles per hour within 3 minutes. The experiments resulted in three designs: one designed by Miethe was a disc-shaped aircraft, 135 feet in diameter, which did not rotate; another designed by Habermohl and Schriever, consisted of a large rotating ring, in the centre of which was a round, stationary cabin for the crew. When the Soviets occupied Prague, the Germans destroyed every trace of the 'flying saucer' project and nothing more was heard of Habermohl and his assistants." [20]

The German newspaper appears to have been 'Welt am Sonntag' for (different dates are given) April 25 or 26 1953. The article is titled "Erste 'Flugscheibe' flog 1945 in Prag", and there is a photo of 'George Klein' pointing at the same vague diagram that Lusar reprints.

HABERMOHL

It may be that there is another source of which I'm not aware, but 'Klaus' Habermohl seems to have made his first and last appearance in Klein's 1953 account. Real history and science reveal nothing of his existence or his achievements. He may well have lived nowhere but in the active brain of Herr Klein, of whose existence the worlds of science and engineering are similarly ill-informed.

The Lusar question - solved

The copy of “German Secret Weapons of the Second World War” that I read came from the British Library. It is worth noting that it didn't have a dust jacket, which may have contained additional information, but the text of the book itself gives no clue as to the author's background, his sources, or of any special authority or knowledge he might have had, or of access to information that was not already in the public domain. To afford some impression of authority, others have given Lusar various different jobs and titles by various different commentators, but as with so many others in the mythos, there is no objective evidence to verify any of them. The simple fact is that all the 'factual' content of Lusar's section about 'flying saucers' came from the content of the newspaper comments by Belluzzo, Schriever and Klein. He seems to have been aware of the “Tempo” article including the photos of the 'Miethe saucer', but not of the earlier interview with Miethe. He has Miethe as a builder of saucers, but says he is in Canada, and not in Egypt or Israel. He ignores the fact that neither Belluzzo nor Schriever - initially at least with regard to the latter - claimed that discs had been built or flown. Instead, he adds Klein's claims of construction and flight to the names and supposed background of Belluzzo and Schriever and, as he had seen the photos of Miethe's disc in Tempo, purports that Miethe's design flew, too. Why he excluded Klein's name from “Secret Weapons...” is not clear, but because he wasn't named, he never achieved the fame of the others. Even Habermohl, whose name was neither German nor Italian, and who probably never existed at all in the context of the development of flying discs, has achieved greater fame than George Klein. Perhaps we can, in future, acknowledge the vital, perhaps paramount part he played in building the Nazi UFO mythos. After all, it was Klein who decided that the high-performance wartime discs actually flew: Lusar only gave Klein's decision lasting, international publicity.Very few writers have made clear that Lusar actually wrote his explanation of German disc developments in the context of worldwide flying saucer reports. Indeed, little emphasis has been placed on the fact that all of the material published prior to Lusar’s book only appeared in that context, providing a relatively local angle on reports of flying saucers furthers a field. Given the total absence of tangible, objective, contemporary evidence to support any of Lusar's assertions, I think we can safely say that Nazi UFOs did not lead to any of the reports of flying saucers from 1947 onwards. It would be far more accurate to say that the flying saucer craze led to the making of increasingly false and hollow claims about the existence, and achievements, of Nazi UFOs.Finally, the question of why Vesco, published in 1969, didn't mention Lusar or the Saucer Builders. The answer seems to be that because Vesco’s first book (the only one of interest to us here) was completed in 1956, before the earliest version of Lusar’s book appeared, and because Lusar’s book was published long before the actual publication of Vesco’s first book in 1969, we shouldn’t be surprised that their two theories of German flying saucers are entirely exclusive: Lusar doesn’t mention Vesco’s feuerball and kugelblitz, and Vesco has clearly never heard of Lusar’s SMBH disk. There's no mystery here. There just isn’t anything at all!

SF author W. A. Harbinson has written a series of chunky paperbacks based on the Nazi UFO mythos. The series is run under the overall title Projekt Saucer, the key titles relating to WWII being Inception and Genesis [21].

I find his writing interesting and often quite exciting, though the accounts of violence and cold Nazi ruthlessness can be a little strong for my taste. Were these books sold only as fiction, they'd be of little interest to us here. However, not only do the novels include an 'Author's Note' which suggests that the author's own research has established a factual basis to his 'fiction', but he has also published a non-fiction book , Projekt UFO. The blurb on the back says "For nearly half a century, ever since the first UFO sightings of June 1947, it has been assumed that flying saucers, if they exist at all, are of extraterrestrial origin. Projekt UFO: The Case for Man-Made Flying Saucers proves conclusively that this is not so." [22]

The book extends well beyond the end of WWII, and for the most part it deals with the usual post-war questions regarding the reality of UFO sightings, the development of terrestrial technologies, and key cases, such as Socorro. It also introduces - in Harbinson's Foreword - the 'Brisant' document, one of the truly great ufological red herrings"

In May 1978, at Stand 111 in a scientific exhibition in the Hanover Messe Hall, some gentlemen were giving away what at first sight appeared to be an orthodox scientific newspaper called Brisant. The paper contained two seemingly unrelated articles: one on the scientific and ecological value of the Antarctic, the other about a German World War II flying saucer construction project, named 'Projekt Saucer'. The first article, written from a neo-Nazi standpoint, included a suggestion that West Germany should claim back their right to Queen Maud Land in the Antarctic, which the Nazis stole from the Norwegians during World War II and renamed Neu Schwabenland. The second article, which asserted that the German scientists were the first, but not the only ones, to construct highly advanced saucer-shaped aircraft, was accompanied by reproductions of technical drawings 6f a World War II flying saucer. The unnamed author failed to name the designer of the flying saucer and claimed that the drawings had been altered by the West German government to render them 'safe' for publication. Adding weight to his claim, he also pointed out that during World War II all such inventions, whether civilian or military, would have been submitted to the nearest patent office where, under paragraphs 30a and 99 of the Patent-und Straffezetsbuch, they would have been routinely classified as 'secret.' After being confiscated and passed on to one of Himmler's many 55 research establishments, at the end of the war they would perhaps have disappeared into secret Soviet files, or into equally secret British and US files, or lost with 'missing' German scientists and SS troops. The rest of the article was just as intriguing. It claimed that throughout the course of World War II the Germans sent ships and planes to Queen Maud Land, or Neu Schwabenland, in the Antarctic, with equipment for massive underground complexes, similar to those they had constructed in Thuringia and the Harz Mountains in Germany. It said that at the end of the war some of the scientists and engineers who had worked on Projekt Saucer escaped from Germany by submarine and ended up in an underground base in the Antarctic, where they continued to construct even more advanced flying saucers, and that the Americans and Soviets, upon learning about this, then used their captured German scientists and technical papers for the secret construction of their own flying saucers." [23]

Mark Ian Birdsall, in his paper "The Ultimate Solution" ,asserts that it was Harbinson himself who found 'Brisant', though Harbinson doesn't make that claim "Harbinson while researching 'Genesis' paid a visit to the semi-Northern city of Hannover in the late 70's. It was here that he reportedly attended a science lecture exhibition at the 'Hannover Messe Hall'. Whilst looking around the hall, Harbinson arrived at stand number 111, it was here that he was handed a magazine called 'Brisant'." [24]

I wrote to Harbinson via his publishers to ask for further information about 'Brisant', because it is clearly - if it ever actually existed - a key document in the development of the mythos. Henry Stephens of the German Research Project (see below) offers copies of what he says are some pages, and claims that the originals of 'Brisant' were lost by Harbinson's publishers: so I asked about that, too. Unfortunately, I received no response, so the authority and provenance of 'Brisant' remain unknown.

Harbinson seems to have been inspired by the content of the paper, despite the implausibility of the bit about the patent office and the plans having been "altered by the West German government to render them 'safe' for publication". That sounds more like an excuse for the technical infeasibility which afflicts every diagram of discs in the mythos. Undeterred, Harbinson continues: "This theory would explain why, even before glasnost, all the nations of the world - even the Soviets and the Americans - had cooperated with one another only in the Antarctic. In short, the flying saucers seen by so many people since World War II are not extraterrestrial space-craft, but are, in fact, extraordinarily advanced, top secret, man-made machines. They come from right here on Earth… During my two years of intensive research, I uncovered written and photographic evidence which proved beyond doubt that Nazi Germany had in fact initiated a research program for the development of saucer-shaped aircraft. I found that at the close of the war seasoned Allied pilots were submitting official reports about harassment by 'balls of fire' that tailed them and made their aircraft and radar mal-function. In addition, one of the leading members of Germany's Projekt Saucer development team disappeared into the Soviet Union and another went to work with German rocket expert, Wernher von Braun, for NASA in the United States … My research also uncovered articles about man-made flying saucers, including the German Kugelblitz and the Canadian AVRO-Car prototype published not only by the 'lunatic' fringe but by highly respected aeronautical magazines such as Lufthahrt International, the Royal Air Force Flying Review, and the US News and World Report. So, flying saucers, whether primitive or highly advanced, were certainly constructed in Nazi Germany and post-war Canada, in the latter case with the aid of the United States … In 1980, my 615-page novel, Genesis, based on a mass of research material, including that mentioned above, was published. It became a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic, eventually becoming a 'cult' book, and is still in print ten years after its publication..."

Reviewing the novel on its publication in the United States, Publishers Weekly said: 'Harbinson has drawn so heavily on factual material and integrated it so well into the text that the book begins to read like non-fiction...' [25]

That Publishers Weekly was so impressed, says much for the quality of Harbinson's writing, but little for his research. In his chapter 'Technology and Sightings of World War II' we find a familiar statement, with a few added details: "Renato Vesco was an aircraft engineer specializing in aerospace and ramjet developments. Educated before World War II at the University of Rome, he then studied aeronautical engineering at the German Institute for Aerial Development. During the war, he was sent to work with the Germans at Fiat's immense underground installations at Lake Garda, near Limone in northern Italy, where he helped in the production of aeronautical devices that were tested at the Hermann Goering Institute of Riva del Garda. After the war, in the 1960s. Vesco worked for the Italian Air Ministry of Defence as an undercover technical agent, investigating the UFO phenomenon." [26]

Harbinson accepts Vesco's claims without further ado, and then goes on, in his chapter 'Division of the Scientific Spoils of War', to accept Lusar, too, saying: An article about 'Projekt Saucer' was later published in the indispensable volume, German Secret Weapons of the Second World War (1959) by Major Rudolph Lusar, and included reproductions of the flying saucer drawings of Schriever and Miethe." [27]

Harbinson sets out more of Lusar's material, and then reports, helpfully, some research of his own:"Schriever's recollection of the test flight date is contradicted in certain details by alleged eye witness Georg Klein, a former engineer with Albert Speer's Ministry for Armament and Ammunition, who told the press that he had actually seen the test flight of the Schriever disc, or one similar, near Prague on 14 February 1945. A certain doubt may be cast on Klein's date, since according to the War Diary of the 8th Air Fleet, 14 February 1945 was a day of low cloud, rain, snow and generally poor visibility - hardly the conditions for the testing of a revolutionary new kind of aircraft…"One of those who may have been involved in the actual Projekt Saucer is Heinrich Fleischner, of Dasing, Augsburg in the Federal German Republic. Interviewed for the 2 May 1980 edition of Neue Presse magazine, Fleischner, who was then seventy-six, claimed that he had been a technical consultant on a jet-propelled, disc-shaped aircraft that had been constructed by a team of technicians in Peenemunde, though the parts had been built in many other places. According to Fleischner, Hermann Goering had been the patron' of the aircraft and had planned to use it as a courier plane. At the end of the war, the Wehrmacht destroyed most of the plans and a few of the 'unimportant' drawings fell into the hands of the Russians. Hermann Klaas, from Muhlheim, West Germany, a bio-technician specializing in aerodynamic phenomena, was another who claimed to have worked on various remote-controlled models for disc-shaped aircraft during World War II. The most common model was 2.4 metres in diameter and propelled by an electro-engine supplied by the Luftwaffe. According to Klaas, these models were similar to those then being developed by Schriever, Habermohl, Miethe, and Belluzzo in Bohmen (Czechoslovakia) and Breslau (now Wrocklaw, Poland). [28]

Overall, bearing in mind the quality of most of his sources, Harbinson's research is better than most: it takes a while to realize that the world of ufology is full of dreams, misapprehensions and outright lies. For me, though, why the Germans would have called their enterprise 'Projekt Saucer' is a mystery in itself. The drawings produced during the 1950s, and even in the hypothetical 'Brisant', in no way resemble saucers, 'saucer' is not a German word, and the term 'flying saucers' didn't appear until 1947 when a journalist mistook Kenneth Arnold's description of the way unidentified objects moved in the air over the Cascade Mountains for a description of what they looked like.

Maybe this is what they call "artistic license", fine for fiction, but distinctly out of place if it's conveyed as the truth. I have no hesitation in concluding that there was no 'Projekt Saucer' in the real world, and that Harbinson has, presumably quite inadvertently, made a major contribution to the development of the mythos.

Vladimir Terziski

One of the few references that I haven't managed to find before writing this piece is a book, probably from 1993, called Close Encounters of the Kugelblitz Kind, by Vladimir Terziski.

Terziski first appeared in or around that year, claiming to be the "President, American Academy of Dissident Sciences, 10970 Ashton Ave. # 310, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.

When I wrote to the Academy asking for further information, my letter was returned, the Academy not being known at the address. He also claims that he is "a Bulgarian born engineer and physicist, graduated Cum Laude from the Master of Science program of Tokai University in Tokyo in 1980. Served as a solar energy researcher, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, before immigrating to the US in 1984." [29]

Terziski seems - with a little help from Al Bielek of the completely loopy 'Montauk Project', who was co-founder of the Academy - to have introduced a completely new strand of 'Nazi UFO' material. It also appears in one of the series of Montauk Project books. It is so outrageously unbelievable, implausible, and devoid of supporting evidence that it has proved to be very popular among those who believe in an Illuminati conspiracy, the New World Order, and the links between our rulers and Reptilian Aliens.

The last trace I've found of Terziski is as speaker at a 'patriot' meeting in 1998, but his influence lives on, creating an alternative, revised history in which the Nazis won in the end. Terziski describes Renato Vesco as "the Italian Wernher von Braun, the research scientist in charge of the Italian Air Force and Space Research and Development program during the war", which says much for the thoroughness of his research. But then, research isn't really what Terziski is (or was) about.

Brad Steiger quotes him as telling of: "an 'alien tutor race' that secretly began cooperating with certain German scientists in the late 1920s in underground bases and began to introduce their concepts of philosophical, cultural, and technological progress" . . "(he) maintains that antigravity research began in the 1920s with the first hybrid antigravity circular craft, the RFZ-1, constructed by the secret Vril society. In 1942-43 a series of antigravity machines culminated in the giant 350-foot-long, cigar-shaped Andromeda space station, which was constructed in old Zeppelin hangars near Berlin by E4, the research and development arm of the SS." [30]

He is also quoted (by Branton - see below) as making comments about the continued use of slave labor by the 'pure-bred Aryan S.S.' who live underground, conducting genetic experiments continuing those of WW2, in pursuance of the "Germans-Nazis-Illuminati pact", which was established "with the serpent races long years before the American 'secret/conventional' hybrid government had done so." [31]

Nor has Terziski's account of the trips to the Moon or Mars proved as unbelievable as we might hope. He says:"The Germans landed on the Moon as early as probably 1942, utilizing their larger exo-atmospheric rocket saucers of the Miethe and Schriever type. The Miethe rocket craft was built in diameters of 15 and 50 meters, and the Schriever Walter turbine powered craft was designed as an interplanetary exploration vehicle. It had a diameter of 60 meters, had 10 stories of crew compartments, and stood 45 meters high... Ever since their first day of landing on the Moon, the Germans started boring and tunneling under the surface, and by the end of the war there was a small Nazi research base on the Moon. The free energy tachyon drive craft of the Hanebu-1 and 2 type were used after 1944 to haul people," materiel and the first robots to the construction site on the Moon. When Russians and Americans secretly landed jointly on the Moon in the early fifties with their own saucers, they spent their first night there as guests of the ... Nazi underground base...

According to the authors of the underground German documentary movie from the Thule society (presumably 'UFO Secrets of the Third Reich', which Terziski is alleged to have produced himself - KM), the only produced craft of the Hanebu - 3 type - the 74 meter diameter naval warfare dreadnought - was chosen for the most courageous mission of this whole century - the trip to Mars. The craft was of saucer shape, had the bigger Andromeda tachyon drives, and was armed with four triple gun turrets of large naval caliber (three inverted upside down and attached to the underside of the craft, and the fourth on top of the crew compartments)… A volunteer suicide crew of Germans and Japanese was chosen, because everybody knew that this journey was a one-way journey with no return. The large intensity of the electro-magnetogravitic fields and the inferior quality of the metal alloys used then for the structural elements of the drive was causing the metal to fatigue and get very brittle only after a few months of work of the drive. The flight to Mars departed from Germany one month before the war ended - in April 1945 . . The radio message with the mixed news was received by the German underground space control center in Neu Schwabenland and by their research base on the Moon." [32]

By March 2000, the Vril and Hanebu craft had become real in many minds, not least that of the author of William Bacon's Home Page/Nordic Saucer Report. In addition to the Feuerball and Kugelblitz, and assorted Schreiver, Belluzzo, Miethe and Habermohl creations, he included in his list, 'Reported German Disc Aircraft Types January 28, 2000 (updated to March 2000)

Electrogravitic Craft Based on Currently Unknown Physics
1. Original Vril Society Craft. Said to be a "time machine", it underwent two years of experiment. Dismantled early in 1924 (!) and shipped to Augsburg. The design was said to have been based on channeled information from a supposed planet orbiting the star Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri). Disposition unknown

2. RFZ-1 (RFZ=runflugzeug=round aircraft). Disc created in mid 1934 by Vril Society. Crashed from low altitude on first test.

3. RFZ-2. Completed at the end of 1934 by the Vril Society. length was 16 feet, and it was the first with "magnetic field impulse steering". It was operational in 1940 as seen in a photograph taken over an ocean, said to be the South Atlantic.

4. RFZ-4. A test craft driven by propeller to study the aerodynamics of a disc-shaped craft. associated with Schutzstaffel (SS) unit E4.

5. RFZ-5. Also known as Hanebu I (note: nebel=haze or smoke). Flew 08/1939. Diameter 83 feet. Photograph exists, said to have been taken over Prague. With a crew of eight, said to have reached 12,000 mph and upper atmosphere. Claimed to have been equipped with two laser (apparent anachronism) guns.

6. RFZ-6 (Hanebu II). Work began before the end of 1942. Various shapes, 85 feet to 100 feet in diameter and 30 to 36 feet high, were produced. A 3200 knot speed is assigned, making for near-space capability. One plan shows a Donar Ray Gun (!) in a turret on the underside. Some had sleeping quarters. a deep-space variant was said to be 234 feet in diameter. At least one side-view drawing with data survives and it bears an uncanny resemblance to an orthographic projection which has been made from the famous Adamski and Darbishire UFO photographs.

7. Hanebu III. An SS E4-planned deep-space disc craft. Various photographs show design variations. Over 400 feet in diameter. A side view drawing with data survives. Reportedly, U.S. found none. A Haunebu IV also is reported.

8. Andromeda Project A large craft planned by SS E4 for interstellar travel, Over 100 ton capacity. 360 feet long.

Other Crafts

These types may have combined what we now consider known and unknown physics. The Vril craft were of 20 to 40 feet in diameter:

1. RFZ7T. Work began in 1942 on a discus craft by Miethe, Joined by Bellonzo then Schreiver and Habermohl. A "reliable, functional light craft".

2. Vril I. A 36 foot single seat craft, which was armed and tested before the end of 1942. Flew 7000 mph from its Brandenburg test site. Could instantly change direction.

3. Vril II. An air-water motor in the center of the craft spun rapidly like a tornado, thus according to Schauberger's implosion principle, neutralizing gravity, as with the Vril I craft. diameter also similar. Vril VII and Vril IX also reported.

4. V7. Possibly numbered as one of theVergeltungswaffen(retaliation weapons). Fitted with 12 BMW jet engines. Reached 78,000 feet, later 80,000 feet on first tests over the Baltic sea, 04/17/1945. A spherical glass like-dome surrounded by a rotating wing of turbine blades." [33]

This presentation of completely fictitious data as historical and technical data makes it that much more credible, but Bacon is by no means the most extreme of believers.

BRANTON

The imaginary history invented or presented (or both) by Terziski has itself been carried forward by others, for reasons that continue to baffle me. Probably the most high-profile, and perhaps the most productive of these is 'Branton', whose 'Omega Files' material in various areas of conspiracy and that peculiar neo-fascism that exists among 'patriots' who also believe in the intervention of alien beings is all too easy to find on the Net.

I had been wondering who Branton was, and an answer seems to have come recently from an Alan DeWalton, under the title 'Branton's Testimony': "Branton is a guy who has been involved in abductions since he was a child [generational family stuff], many of which involved Alien/CIA agendas in the underground bases. He was "programmed" as an alternate personality or a “sleeper agent” by the CIA and has interacted with underground bases and especially Dulce while in the altered state of consciousness.

Many abductees will tell you that during abductions their "conscious mind" seems to switch off and another "personality" that is programmed by the alien agenda kicks in. These alternate identities are individuals in a sense, but also are linked to the alien collective which is how Branton gets much of his information, literally "hacking the hive"... having spent years being manipulated by the alien group-mind he has now turned it around with God's help and is using it as a weapon against them, although you'll never know how painful it has been for him... a literal hell... but having taken up the "cross" as his sword and shield he is prevailing against the "beast", just like "Saint" George the Dragon slayer of old you might say. Branton was "saved" [born again] in 1985 and "Branton the alter ego" is apparently still involved with the underground scenarios on a nocturnal basis, trying to put together a literal "underground resistance" movement, both in the underground bases and above. This resistance movement involves freedom fighter forces within certain military bases, several "hybrids" [many his own 'kids'], Nordics, Telosians, several of "the orange" group, and even some of the Sasquatch type aliens..." [34]

These biographical details may make Branton's willingness to accept Terziski's claims as true. Branton reports: "Although it may sound rather incredible, Terziski alleges that he possesses confirming information such as the "... first video expose of Nazi UFOs. German/Japanese saucer landings on the moon and Mars in 1944-46, Marconi group's landing on Mars in 1956... video footage of Nazi interplanetary dreadnoughts and of secret Soviet-American saucer landing on Mars." Although many of the 'Greys' have been described as being of neo-saurioid configuration, other 'Greys' pose a different mystery as to their origin and seem to be more of a bio-synthetic or 'manufactured' configuration.

Vladimir Terziski suggests that some of these greys may be "...a product of the US government's biogenetic cyborg R&D program." [35]

The Omega File titled 'Nazi History' is another example of the presentation of the incredible as if it were fact. This is just an excerpt, and I have excised some of the rambling about rich industrialists and the Illuminati:

370000 - Germans recover crashed disk. Work begins on German disk program based on recovered 'alien' technology.
380000 - Standard [EXXON] Oil sends I.G. Farben 500 tons of lead additives for gasoline.
390000 - Germans working on mini-television for bomb / rocket guidance.
390901 - Germany invades Poland.
390901 - Soviets invade Poland.
410000 - Germans test Schriever-Habermohl Model I prototype flying disk or lenticular aircraft Model II in 1944.
410600 - Germany successfully tests Schriever disk design.
410800 - I.G. Farben tests Zyklon B gas.
420000 - German 'fireballs' harass allied pilots and aircraft.
420225 - [German?] UFOs appear over Los Angeles. 1,430 rounds fired against them. Some on the ground killed or wounded by unexploded anti-aircraft shells.

430000 - CIA's Allen Dulles [Bavarian Illuminati] cuts a deal with Nazi SS intelligence. This would eventually lead to a massive infiltration of the CIA by Nazi S.S. agents, who would in turn begin a global program of toppling third world governments and replacing them with their own fascist puppet dictatorships. Germans complete research on alloy of magnesium and aluminum.
440000 - OSS agent Douglas Bazata receives contract on General George Patton's life. Feuerball aircraft constructed at aeronautical factory at Wiener Neustadt. Germans test Bellonzo-Schriever-Meithe designs based on Coanda disk.
440300 - Wilson* replaces German saucer [rotor] propulsion with advanced jet propulsion. *('Wilson' is presumably the fictional character in the 'Project Saucer' novels of W. A. Harbinson, who has somehow crossed over into Branton's version of reality)
441123 - Allied pilots run into 'fireballs' over Strasbourg.
450000 - Both L.F.A. at Volkenrode and center at Guidonia working on disk craft. Soviets gain some German disk data [and apprehend?] Dr. Guenther Bock. United States captures some German disk technology and scientists. British technical advisor discovers German plans for advanced lenticular aircraft.
450200 - Kugelblitz [crew-carrying Fireball] test flown in Thuringia, reached speeds of 1250 mph.
450216 - Kugelblitz tested near Kahla, disk-shaped, 1250 mph. Germans begin to transfer saucer projects to South Polar underground bases.
450223 - Perfected engines removed from Kugelblitz and sent to polar base. Kugelblitz, minus engines, blown up by SS personnel to prevent the design from falling into the hands of the Allies.
450225 - Workers at Kahla complex brought to Buchenwald and gassed so as not to reveal secret of Nazi disk projects. Kahla closed. Slavian slave-laborers from various underground facilities also taken to Karshagan and other camps and killed.
450400 - General Hans Kammler disappears from Germany
.450425 - Gen. Kammler joins Wilson and Gen. Nebe on U-977 bound for South Pole.
450507 - Germany 'surrenders'.
460000 - America turns 2/3rds of Germany's aircraft manufacturing over to Soviets. Nazis help form CIA operations division with Rockefeller assistance. Imported SS intelligence officers help form Radio Liberty and Voice of America. Gen. Hoyt Vandenburg becomes director of CIA. U.S. and Canada begin joint disk development programs in underground plants.
460726 - Truman signs National Military Establishment Act. Creates NSC, CIA
.470000 - CIA Mind-Control drug project begins at Bethesda Naval Hospital. German disks start flyovers over United States. National Security Act. CIA begins to monitor UFOs.
470100 - Operation Highjump begins at South Pole to find the German Bases. Military Commander Admiral Richard E. Byrd leads 4000 troops in reconnaissance over Antarctica, and encounters resistance from 'Aryan' [German/Austrian] saucer fleets. Apparent casualties on both sides. [36]

I've begun to be accustomed to dealing with extreme beliefs and outlooks, without ever getting immured to the moral and intellectual desert that inevitably underpins them. Yet there is something almost uniquely twisted about the statement, "Workers at Kahla complex brought to Buchenwald and gassed so as not to reveal secret of Nazi disk projects." In that there were no construction projects for Nazi discs, there were no slave workers building Nazi discs, and therefore no workers could have been taken to Buchenwald and gassed for the reasons Branton gives.

He also asserts that huge numbers of slave workers were taken to build the Nazi bases under the South Pole. What sort of need is fulfilled by simply making up these demented distortions of the miserable truths of the Holocaust is quite beyond my understanding. If we actively resist no other element of the Nazi UFO mythos, perhaps we can at least make our rejection of this one as obvious, and effective, as is possible. Other 'false histories' follow.

Project Uranus

In another careful analysis of a dubious element of UFO history, Andy Roberts says:"We have at least one outright hoax in foo-fighter lore. For years rumours had been flying round that the Germans had been fully aware of the foo-fighter phenomenon and that they had a special study group formed to look into the problem under the name of "Project Uranus", backed by a shadowy group by the name of Sonderburo 13.

This was first detailed in La Livres Noir De Soucoupes Volantes (The Black Book of Flying Saucers - 1970) by French ufologist Henry Durrant. The rumour spread in Europe and eventually took physical form in the English language in Tim Good's acclaimed book Above Top Secret where it is used to help substantiate further vague rumours of an Anglo/American foo-fighter study. Good had not checked his facts and had in fact just copied the information direct from Durrant's book. When I checked this out with Durrant he informed me that the whole "Project Uranus" affair was a hoax which he had inserted in his book precisely to see who would copy it without checking. The hoax apparently had been revealed in France some years before but hadn't percolated its way through to English speaking ufologists. Perhaps other foo hoaxes await discovery." [37]

The 'Schweinfurt Raid'

This tale involves, well, little flying saucers, in a B-17 raid on October 14 1943, aimed at the ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt in Germany. It was publicized by popular US author Frank Edwards in Flying Saucers - Here and Now [38] in 1967, but I understand that the original glamorized version comes from one Martin Caidin, in his book Black Thursday, published in 1960. Caidin reports that:"During the bomb run of several groups, starting at about the time the Fortresses approached the Initial Point, there occurred one of the most baffling incidents of World War II, and an enigma that to this day defies all explanation." "As the bombers of the 384th Group swung into the final bomb run after passing the Initial Point, the fighter attacks fell off. This point is vital, and pilots were queried extensively, as were other crew members, as to the position at that time of the German fighter planes. Every man interrogated was firm in his statement that "at the time there were no enemy aircraft above." "At this moment the pilots and top turret gunners, as well as several crewmen in the Plexiglas noses of the bombers, reported a cluster of discs in the path of the 384th's formation and closing with the bombers. The startled exclamations focused attention on the phenomenon and the crews talked back and forth, discussing and confirming the astonishing sight before them." "The discs in the cluster were agreed upon as being silver colored, about one inch thick and three inches in diameter. They were easily seen by the B-17 crewmen, gliding down slowly in a very uniform cluster." "And then the `impossible' happened. B-17 Number 026 closed rapidly with a number of discs; the pilot attempted to evade an imminent collision with the objects, but was unsuccessful in his maneuver. He reported at the intelligence debriefing that his right wing "went directly through a cluster with absolutely no effect on engines or plane surface." "The intelligence officers pressed their questioning, and the pilot stated further that one of the discs was heard to strike the tail assembly of his B-17, but that neither he nor any member of the crew heard or witnessed an explosion." "He further explained that about twenty feet from the discs the pilots sighted a mass of black debris of varying sizes of clusters of three by four feet." "The SECRET report added: `Also observed two other A/C flying through silver discs with no apparent damage. Observed discs and debris two other times but could not determine where it came from." "No further information on this baffling incident has been uncovered, with the exception that such discs were observed by pilots and crew on missions prior to, and after, Mission 115 of October 14, 1943." [39]

Caidin's account is footnoted "1 Memorandum of October 24, 1943, from Major E.R.T. Holmes, F.L.O., 1st Bombardment Division, Reference FLO/IBW/REP/126, to M.I.15, War Office, Whitehall, London, SW (copy to Colonel E.W. Thomson, A-2, Pinetree)", but Andy Roberts actively investigated the reference, and reports that:

"a letter to the M.O.D at their Air Historical Branch 5 came to nothing, suggesting that either of the documents may be held at the Public Records Office at Kew, London. A professional researcher was dispatched to try to find the document. She searched all relevant Air Force records available (some are still bound by various `rules' with embargoes on viewing of up to 100 years) but could find nothing; despite the help of staff there and noting that "the reference FLO etc. does not correspond with any references at the record office.

In the USA, Dennis Stacy (then MUFON UFO Journal editor) had taken an interest in the case and followed up several leads, aided by the Freedom of Information Act. Firstly the A.F. Historical Research centre at Maxwell AFB searched their 8th A.F. files but could come across no documentary record of the event (interestingly enough I tried the same source and whilst they gave me squadron histories of the 415th Night Fighter squadron and their documented foo-fighter sightings, they could provide nothing on the Schweinfurt raid -- odd if the Schweinfurt events were real). The National Archives (Washington) searched their files but drew a blank.

A letter written to French researcher J. M. Bigorne from the National Archives stated "A search in records of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS), European War, Target Damage File, 11a (2606), Schweinfurt, failed to disclose any documentation or information regarding little flying discs by B-17 pilots." All this presents us with a quandary. If the Archives are quite free about some foo-fighter info why, if it exists at all, should they be that bothered about concealing the Schweinfurt material? So far three independent researchers over the past ten years have had the same answer -- none of the flight records for that day record the event in Caidin's book. As I have seen other pilots' logs which mention unusual UFO-type sightings during missions it would be inconceivable for at least a few aircrew on that raid to have mentioned it even in passing - especially as in this case it was obviously something of an item at de-briefing.

Letters in numerous aircrew magazines (UK & US) requesting info on the raid were placed and despite many replies no-one knew anything. Aviation writers Martin Middlebrook and Chaz Bowyer who have written many highly detailed books about the air war, and have interviewed thousands of aircrew, wrote to say they had never heard of the incident, despite having had foo-fighters mentioned to them in other contexts. Dennis Stacy contacted the 384th Bombing Group survivors association and with no account of the UFO sighting forthcoming from them was put onto General Theodore Ross Milton who led the raid that day and went in first with the 91st Group Formation. He wrote; "I don't recall seeing black discs or hearing about any strange phenomena from any of my group." [40]Roberts and Stacy pursued the source further:Martin Caidin, originator of the rumour also presents problems. His book Black Thursday was first published in 1960 and yet quotes an alleged SECRET report. How did he get hold of it then and why has it not been seen since? As for Caidin himself, several people have tried to get in touch with him without success.

Both I and (then) MUFON Journal editor Dennis Stacy have tried to track him down via his publishers and a UFO magazine he has written for, but to no avail. He last appeared in the dodgy US magazine UFO Universe where he was featured on the front page as having 'chased bogies at 20,000 feet,' (an astonishing spectacle no doubt!), but whilst the article gave details of UFOs he'd seen post-WWII, government film of UFOs, cover-ups, and you name it (along with much promotion for his many books, including UFO based novels) the Schweinfurt raid was never mentioned. Funny that, really." [41]

However, with the terrier-like tenacity for which he is renowned, Roberts kept searching, and in September 2000 finally found, in the Records Office at Kew the document which Caidin obviously based his account on. It reads as follows. All spelling and punctuation is in the original. The file in which the document can be found is: AIR 40/464. At the top right of the document is a rubber stamp giving details of circulation to:

1. Col Kingman Douglas

2. A.I.3. ? (W/Cdr Smith)

3. A.I. 2. ? (W/Cdr Heath)

(Author's note: the ? refers to a squiggle or letter I cannot decipher, although it could well be 'to'. Also the background of the stamp on which the above was written says:"Received 17 Oct 1943""Copies sent to A.I.8 (USA))

The rest of the document is as follows:

EKG. TELEGRAM EN CLAIR 4112Recd. AMCS. 171129a hrs Oct.43

To- OIAWW, OIAJX, OISHL, HBC, AMY.

From - OIPNT

IMPORTANT - CONFIDENTIAL8 BC 0-1079-E

Annex to Intelligence Report Mission Shweinfurt 16 October 1943

306 Group report a partially unexploded 20mm shell imbedded above the panel in the cockpit of A/C number 412 bearing the following figures 19K43. The Group Ordnance Officer believes the steel composing the shell is of inferior grade. 348th Group reports a cluster of disks observed in the path of the formation near Schweinfurt, at the time there were no E/A above. Discs were described as silver colored - one inch thick and three inches in diameter. They were gliding slowly down in very uniform cluster. A/C 026 was unable to avoid them and his right wing went directly through a cluster with absolutely no effect on engines or plane surface. One of the discs was heard striking tail assembly but no explosion was observed. About 20 feet from these discs a mass of black debris of varying sizes in clusters of 3 by 4 feet. Also observed 2 other A/C flying through silver discs with no apparent damage. Observed discs and debris 2 other times but could not determine where it came from.

Copies to:-P.R. & A.I.6.D.B.OpsWar RoomD.A.T.A.I.3. (USA) (Action 2 copies)

Presumably Caidin must have seen a copy of this document from one of the American recipients... The Rubber stamp clearly states it was received on 17 October, pre-dating Caidin's reference by seven days. But the sheer number of channels through which documents went could be the reason for this confusion and now the original document has been located I don't think we need get hung up on the original reference any more. I have found no record of most of the personnel listed. However a Squadron Leader Heath was involved in the UK's investigations of the Scandinavian 'ghost rockets' in 1946.

He concludes: "At least we now know Caidin's reference exists! Besides that there is little to say really. The objects reported are intriguing but not completely mystifying. There were many types of flak being used by the Germans in W.W.II and several files in the PRO refer to colored flak, flak which threw off unusual fragments, and so on. This explanation is made more likely by the fact that the 'F.L.O.' in Caidin's reference stands for 'Flak Liaison Officer', at least suggesting that the Air Ministry were treating it within a flak context. The objects could also have been some kind of 'window' dropped by the Germans in an attempt to disrupt radar or radio communication among air crew. The explanation as to what the small objects were is now more of a task for the air historian than it is for the ufologist.

What is clear from the original account is that the discs, whilst unusual, were clearly not any type of 'craft', under intelligent or purposeful control or dangerous to the air craft or crew. In my opinion these objects do not belong in the category of sightings referred to as 'foo-fighters', both by their physical description and by their behavior and characteristics. Although often lumped in with foo-fighter reports they are clearly different.

This story has been a staple of UFO writers for the past three four decades. Now we have further clarification and I believe that this particular mystery is more or less laid to rest. Andy Roberts is more charitable to Caidin's exaggerated and redefined version of the report than I, but Caidin is nowhere near as foolish as those who put together the second block (1998 release) of 'Majestic 12' documents.

Nevertheless, Nick Redfern and Jonathan Downes present a copy of a section of these silly documents, which says: "Aerial interference with military aircraft has demonstrated the ability to observe our air operations in war and peacetime conditions. During the war over 900 near-miss incidents were reported by allied pilots and crews in all theater of operations. One of the most dramatic near-miss encounters occurred on 14 October 1943, 8th AF Mission 115 over Schweinfurt, Germany, B-17 crews reported many formations of silvery discs flying down into the B-17 formations. Several times during the bombing mission, large objects were seen following the discs descent into the formations. Unlike previous reports, no engine failures or airframe damage was reported. After the surrender of Nazi Germany, GAF fighter pilots were interrogated by AF intelligence concerning Mission 135. GAF did not have any aircraft above our bombers at that time." [42]

I've never found the whole 'MJ-12' idea credible, but at least the first release of documents was prepared with sufficient care to provoke meaningful discussion. This ridiculous exaggeration of an already elaborated tale makes the second release of documents look absurd. I would also point out that the Nazi UFO mythos and MJ-12 are essentially incompatible: if the Americans had already gained the ability to build high-performance flying discs from the Germans, why would they have become so excited about crashed ET discs? And why didn't all those portentous 'first-release' documents mention them at all?

The Massey Project

Redfern and Downes continue to publicize another claim made by Frank Edwards, just before his account of the Schweinfurt Raid. Despite being aware of the negative outcomes of research conducted by both Andy Roberts and Tim Good, they say: "As far as the British Government is concerned, there is strong evidence to show that extremely rigorous investigations were made into the Foo Fighter phenomenon by an elite team of Air Ministry and Royal Air Force operatives." [43]

They quote Edwards: "As early as 1943, the British had set up a small organization to gather information on these objects. It was under the direction of Lieutenant General Massey, and it had been inspired to some extent by the reports of a spy who was in reality a double agent, working under the directions of the Mayor of Cologne. He had confirmed that the Foo Fighters were not German devices, which of course the British knew they were not. The British Air Ministry, in 1966, told me that the Massey project was officially terminated in 1944. Perhaps it is only coincidence that the double agent was exposed and executed in the spring of 1944." [44]

Three problems arise immediately. Tim Good has established, from a dependable source, that there was no Lieutenant General Massey. Almost all the foo fighter reports date from 1944 onwards, so it's not clear why "extremely rigorous investigations" should start in 1943 and end in 1944. And what on earth was a spy doing being controlled by the Mayor of Cologne? On the evidence, the 'Massey Project' sounds like a complete, and deliberate, fabrication.

Crashed saucers and back-engineering

Nick Redfern makes a great deal of limited evidence in suggesting that there has ever been one extra-terrestrial flying craft crash on Earth since 1900, let alone more than one. He has not, however, been unwilling to suggest that the Nazis had access to one or more crashed flying saucers, and back-engineered technology from them. This, supposedly, was how they were able to develop such sophisticated flying discs! Of course, he is not alone in making suggestions of this kind, but I hardly need point out that when the evidence suggests that Germany had no sophisticated flying discs, then there is nothing to explain. Anyway, Redfern concludes from the rather desperate, and generally quite implausible intelligence reports that he has collected: "If ... the data related in official FBI memoranda of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s is accurate, how were the Nazis able to develop technology that, years later, was still defying America's finest" As I will later show, there are firm grounds for believing that a number of extra terrestrial vehicles crashed to earth on US soil in the late 1940s. Is it stretching the bounds of possibility to speculate that a similar event may have occurred on Nazi territory several years previously? If such an event did take place, and the Germans were able to grasp the rudiments of the technology, this would perhaps go a long way towards explaining their pressing desire to perfect a man-made flying saucer. The truth may ultimately turn out to be far stranger than has previously been realized." [45]

Well, yes, it really does stretch the bounds of possibility, but that doesn't stop Corso from reporting, in 'The Day After Roswell', what he and General Twining had wondered about after inspecting the crashed saucer at Roswell:"At the very least, Twining had suggested, the crescent-shaped craft looked so uncomfortably like the German Horten wings our flyers had seen at the end of the war that he had to suspect the Germans had bumped into something we didn't know about. And his conversations with Wehrner von Braun and Willy Ley at Alamogordo in the days after the crash confirmed this. They didn't want to be thought of as verruckt but intimated that there was a deeper story about what the Germans had engineered. No, the similarity between the Horten wing and the craft they had pulled out of the arroyo was no accident. We always wondered how the Germans were able to incorporate such advanced technology into their weapons development in so short a time and during the Great Depression. Did they have help? With an acceleration capability and maneuverability we'd never seen before, this craft would keep American aircraft engineers busy for years just incorporating what you could see into immediate designs." [46]

While we're in a corner of reality that accepts the reality of the Roswell crash, and its cargo of dead or possibly living entities, I have to mention the analysis of Polish writer Zbigniew Blania-Bolnar in Alien Encounters for April 1998. Telling us that " ... the post-war American Army had at its disposal a considerable number of V2 rockets, several V3 and V4 prototypes, and about 30 kugelblitzes of different kinds", he concludes that the dead entity in the Laredo crash (the Laredo crash?) was "a laboratory monkey used by the Air Force in a secret experiment." And, of course, "if a tested kugelblitz crashed at Laredo, then a similar object could have crashed at Roswell." [47]

None of the suggestions that the Germans back-engineered crashed alien craft pre-date the Lazar and Lear back-engineering stories. Three more have come to light already. In her book 'Sightings: UFOs' Susan Michaels reports that writer Jan Van Helsing (a contact of the inner circle of the 'Montauk Project') "describes the discovery of a crashed saucer in the Black Forest in 1936 and says that this technology was taken and combined with the information the Vril Society had received through channeling and was made into a further project called the Haunebu." [48]

There is also a report of a crash in Italy in 1933, the details and information of which were made known to Mussolini, and which assisted Belluzzo in his design and development. [49]

And at the 'Gdansk UFO-Marathon' in October 1997, it was announced that there had been a crash in Poland in the summer of 1938, in Czernica. Evidence and wreckage recovered from the crash was seized by Nazi Germany after the invasion of Poland the next year, and the information so gathered was used in the building of the 'Haunebu' and 'Vril' craft. [50]

The current popularity of back-engineering is such that I expect to see more such reports.

The term 'unnamed soldier' is one which I - I think - coined to describe the anonymous supposed ex-forces personnel who purveyed such nonsense about alien abductions and secret military activities over the last decade or so. But the phenomenon is nothing new, as is evidenced by a few typical reports which I've selected here.Redfern and Downes have reprinted some accounts volunteered to the US intelligence services. The nature of intelligence collection is, of course, that it involves collecting every scrap of nonsense, every wild claim that can be collected, and then sifting through it for what might be important. I don't think that any of these reports could be said to be important, or even truthful, but it is always useful for authors to present material like this as 'intelligence reports'. This is, it seems, from a letter from 1947, the writer have been inspired by early flying saucer accounts:"Recently I have heard and read about reports of disc-shaped aircraft or whatever they are, in our Western regions. They reminded me of a nearly-forgotten incident in Germany, after the war. I report this to you because I feel this may be of international scope. My buddy and I went on pass to see a friend of his. One evening the three of us were driving along some back roads when I sighted strange-looking object in the sky from eight to ten miles to our front and approximately 5,000 feet high. I immediately stopped the jeep for a better look. The object rapidly came toward us, descending slowly. About a mile away it stopped its horizontal motion but continued a slow-oscillating descent similar to a descending parachute. Then it stopped in a spiral motion.Immediately I drove to where it had dropped. It took almost five minutes to reach the place but we saw nothing. After ten minutes of cruising around the area it became too dark to see so we went back to town.I am not sure my companions saw this because it happened so quickly it could easily have been missed, but I described what I had seen so vividly that they were as excited as I was ... The location of this incident was approximately 120 miles north-west of Ubberbishophiem." [51]

Redfern and Downes continue:"What were perhaps two of the most persuasive accounts positing a direct link between the Nazi war machine and unidentified flying objects came via two individuals interviewed by FBI agents, in 1957 and 1967 respectively.In the 1957 case, agents at Detroit recorded that they had spoken with a man who was...'...born February 19,1926, in the State of Warsaw, Poland, and was brought from Poland as a Prisoner of War to Gut Alt Golssen approximately 30 miles east of Berlin, Germany, in May1942, where he remained until a few weeks after the end of World War II. According to the man, during 1944, month not recalled, while enrooted to work in a field a short distance north of Gut Alt Golssen, their tractor engine stalled on a road through a swamp area. No machinery or other vehicle was then visible although a noise was heard described as a high-pitched whine similar to that produced by a large electric generator. An 'SS' guard appeared and talked briefly with the German driver of the tractor, who waited five to ten minutes, after which the noise stopped and the tractor engine was started normally. Approximately 3 hours later in the same swamp area, but away from the road where the work crew was cutting hay, he surreptitiously, because of the German in charge of the crew and 'SS' guards in the otherwise deserted area, observed a circular enclosure approximately 100 to 150 yards in diameter protected from viewers by a tarpaulin-type wall approximately 50 feet high, from which a vehicle was observed to slowly rise vertically to a height sufficient to clear the wall and then to move slowly horizontally a short distance out of his view, which was obstructed by trees.'This vehicle, observed from approximately 500 feet, was described as circular in shape, 75 to 100 yards in diameter, and about 14 feet high, consisting of dark gray stationary top and bottom sections, five to six feet high. The approximate three foot middle section appeared to be a rapidly moving component producing a continuous blur similar to an airplane propeller, but extending the circumference of the vehicle so far as could be observed. The noise emanating from the vehicle was similar but of somewhat lower pitch than the noise previously heard. The engine of the tractor again stalled on this occasion and no effort was made by the German driver to start the engine until the noise stopped, after which the engine started normally." The next report comes from 1967'On April 26,1967 [the witness] appeared at the Miami Office and furnished the following information relating to an object, presently referred to as an unidentified flying object, he allegedly photographed during November, 1944.'Sometime during 1943, he graduated from the German Air Academy and was assigned as a member of the Luftwaffe on the Russian Front. Near the end of 1944, he was released from this duty and was assigned as a test pilot to a top secret project in the Black Forest of Austria. During this period he observed the aircraft described above. It was saucer-shaped, about twenty-one feet in diameter, radio-controlled, and mounted several jet engines around the exterior portion of the craft. He further described the exterior portion as revolving around the dome in the center which remained stationary. It was his responsibility to photograph the object while in flight. He asserted he was able to retain a negative of a photograph he made at 7,000 meters (20,000 feet).According to him, the above aircraft was designed and engineered by a German engineer whose present whereabouts is unknown to him. He also assumed the secrets pertaining to this aircraft were captured by Allied Forces. He said this type of aircraft was responsible for the downing of at least one American B-26 airplane.He has become increasingly concerned because of the unconfirmed reports concerning a similar object and denials from the United States to have such an aircraft. He feels such a weapon would be beneficial in Vietnam and would prevent the further loss of American lives which was his paramount purpose in contacting the Federal Bureau of Investigation.' [52]

Paul Stonehill of the Russian Ufology Research Centre has presented some unlikely tales from the former Soviet Union, but few are as dramatic as the anonymous account apparently told to "Konstantin Tiouts, an engineer in Moscow, Russia" who passed it on to Stonehill. Stonehill is "convinced of the authenticity of the document". The witness - "X" - was in the Red Army when, in 1941"The Germans took him and his comrades to a POW camp. X was then immersed into living hell. He starved. He was betrayed. He was dying of typhus, but he managed to survive and attempted an escape. But they caught him and sent him to Auschwitz. There he was "employed" as a medical orderly, until he again contracted typhus.X was sent to the ovens. He recalls the nauseating smell of the burning human flesh as he stood in line to be dispatched into a crematorium oven. But X did again survive. In August of 1943, X and some other prisoners were moved to a camp in the vicinity of Peenemunde, where the Nazis' camp was designated as "KZ-A4," and located in Trassenhede. The camp's purpose was to carry out the programs of the Hochdrukpumpe Project: removal of the consequences of British bombing raids. Hangman of Auschwitz, SS Brigadenfuhrer Hans Kampler ordered prisoners to be transferred to the Peenemunde testing grounds. Major General Dehrenberger, head of the testing ground, had little time for the reconstruction work, and therefore sanctioned the use of concentration camp prisoners.In September of 1943, X inadvertently became a witness to something that is of great interest to UFO researchers. X was with a group of prisoners engaged in demolishing a reinforced concrete wall. During the lunch break, the group was driven away under guard. However, X remained at the demolition site, because of a dislocated foot. Later he set the bone himself, but the truck with his fellow prisoners had already left. Suddenly, four workers rolled out on a concrete landing strip next to a nearby hangar a weird looking apparatus. X described it as round in parameter with a drop-shaped cockpit in the center with small inflatable wheels. He said it looked like an upside down washbasin. After a hand signal from a short, stout man, quivering in the wind, the strange apparatus - the color of heavy silvery metal - made a hissing sound and took off. It hovered at an altitude of approximately five meters over the landing strip, the hissing sound reminding X of a blowlamp. He noted that the outline of the apparatus clearly showed through on its silvery surface. For a short while the device rocked, like a tilting doll and then the borders of the outline slowly began to blur as if it were going out of focus. Then it jumped up sharply like a humming top and gained altitude in a snakelike motion. The flight, judging by the rocking of the apparatus, advanced erratically. A sudden gust of wind from the Baltic Sea turned the craft upside down, and it began to lose altitude rather sharply. X was enveloped in a mixture of smells-burning, hot air and ethyl alcohol. He heard the apparatus impacting with the ground, the crunching and breaking of components. It hit the ground not far away from X. Instinctively, the inmate ran toward the crashed apparatus, thus revealing himself. But he had only one thought in his mind-to try to save the pilot, a human being... [53]

And so it goes on, a man who makes Indiana Jones look like Thomas the Tank Engine, and sees flying saucers as well. Another classic - and amazingly brave except when giving his name - 'unnamed soldier' comes from an Internet posting also, as often happens, published by Nexus magazine. This is, supposedly, an account of the real secrets of the 'foo fighters', told by a former Italian Resistance member who became so close to the SAS in Southern Italy from 1943 to 1945 that he was able to see films taken of them shot by allied planes but (and does this seem familiar?) could only show "Italian researcher Fabio Di Rado" stills taken from these. In a particularly modern twist this nameless witness did not, however, say that he believed that they were of German manufacture. Instead, he supposedly told Di Rado: "Those machines, if we can call them that, could perform such quick and agile movements that they were unlikely to have been built by human beings. You can believe me - foo-fighters couldn't be Nazi - otherwise they could have won the war easily. The more likely hypothesis ... an Air Force coming from other worlds was among us. "The absolute giveaway to this tale lies in the beginning of the account:"During the Spring of 1998 I went with another person to an inland village of Sicily to meet an 80-year-old man who claimed to have some unknown documents about foo fighters.When we arrived at a farmhouse in the heart of the countryside, our witness showed us into a room which seemed to be his private study ... We were ordered not to take pictures; we could only make notes. To our disappointment, we had to accept this. I was given a copy on high-resolution CD-ROM of the pictures and documents that I saw there in the original version, with some censored parts." [54]

Whatever would we do without the contribution of these rural Italian 80-year-olds and their high resolution CD-ROMs?

Prague-Kbely

Probably the most influential of the original 'unnamed soldier' accounts formed, in the late 1980s, an input to the mythos which led to the identification of a specific aerodrome as the location for a test flight of a substantial flying disc. This seems to have come from an anonymous, untested press account, here summarized (in translation) in an excerpt titled The Reich's Flying Saucers by Manuel Carballal, excerpted from his book Saucers Unveiled!. "In its February 1989 issue, the German magazine Flugzeug published the following report made by a German aviation official who, allegedly, been the protagonist of the astonishing sighting involving a "flying saucer" at the Prag-Gbell (formerly Praha-Kbely) aerodrome in 1943. The controversial report follows:Place of Sighting: C 14 Flight School at the Prag-Gbell aerodrome. Date of Event August/September 1943, supposedly on a Sunday (I seem to recall there were no services on that day. The weather was good, dry and sunny. Kind of Observation: "I was with my flight comrades on the air strip, more precisely, near the school buildings, some 2000 meters away from the arsenal (located to the extreme left). See adjoining diagram. The device was inside the hangar: a disk some 5-6 meters in diameter. Its body is relatively large at the center. Underneath, it has four tall, thin legs. Color: Aluminum. Height: Almost as tall as a man. Thickness: some 30 - 40 cm., with an rim of external rods, perhaps square orifices. The upper part of the body (almost a third of the total height) was shrunken over the upper half of the disk. It was flat and rounded. See the attached sketch for the lower half. Along with my friends, I saw the device emerge from the hangar. It was then that we heard the roar of the engines, we saw the external side of the disk begin to rotate, and the vehicle began moving slowly and in a straight line toward the southern end of the field. It then rose almost 1 meter into the air. After moving around some 300 meters at that altitude, it stopped again. Its landing was rather rough. We had to leave the area while some custodians pushed the vehicles toward the hangar. Later on, the "thing" took off again, managing to reach the end of the aerodrome this time. Afterwards, I made a note in my flight log of the members of the FFS C14 who were present at the moment: Gruppenfluglehrer (group flight instructor) Ofw. Michelsen; Fluglehrer Uffz. Kolh und Buhler; Flugschüler (flight students): Ogefr, Klassmann, Kleiner, Müller, Pfaffle, Schenk, Seifert, Seibert, Squarr, Stahn, Weinberger, Zoebele, Gefr, Hering, Koza, Sitzwohl, Voss, and Waluda."Certainly, even Flugzeug's editors treat the report cautiously: "the device described by these observers is antithetical to those described by Schreiver, Habermohl, Miethe, and Bellonzo with their vast basic dimensions." And these German experts cannot be mistaken, since it is known to all of those who are well-versed in aeronautics that during the history of Nazi aviation at least two circular-wing aircraft were built, and fifteen others were designed, although there remains the possibility that the object supposedly tested at Prag-Gbell was one of the prototypes destroyed by the Nazis in order to keep it from falling into Allied hands after the fall of the Third Reich." [55]

ASHTAR

Perhaps we should start at the top, in worlds other than ours, and then work our way back, very much, down to the depths. You can always be sure that wherever two or three are gathered together to listen to channeling, Ashtar will be there too. Here is a message channeled by 'Lady Nada' in 1996, under the title 'Home Questions From Our Visitors'. The presentation and spelling are verbatim!

Ques: What is the Relation of the Ashtar Command & the Human Race?

Ans: The Ashtar Command are among many entities that come to Earth and have been circled above the Earth - for the most part invisible to the naked eye - since early 1950's A.D. . . There have been many people who were contacted by Extra-Terra-Astrals. Some of their stories were fabricated and some were authentic. These Beings from Aldebaran were insulted after they were labeled untrustworthy. They went back in time and had a meeting of psychics with the Thule Society who were a secret society. The meeting of the Thule Society led to what is called the Third Rite (Reich). The Ashtar Command was also in contact with two psychics, named Maria Austish and Zigrum who were in contact with Hitler. Hitler and Nazi Germany were building crafts during WWII. Hitler assembled a team of elite and intelligent scientist and engineers who were experts in the field of Aerodynamics. They began designs for the flying disc in 1941 A.D. During the year 1945-47 three German experts Schriver, Habermohl, and Meithe and an Italian A. Bellonzo were involved in R&D of a saucer-shaped craft. On February 14,1945 A.D. Shriver & Habermohl flew a disc that within 3 minutes climb to an altitude of 12,400 meters and reached a speed of 2,000 km/h in horizontal flight. This technology was given to them by the Ashtar Command. [56]

Billy Meier and P'taah

Billy Meier, the Swiss contact and photographer of beings, and craft, from the Pleiades, has never really convinced me of the objective reality of either his contacts or his photos. I am certainly not alone in taking that view, and my opinion has not been improved by a conversation that Meier reports in Volume 1, No 6 of his FIGU Bulletin, published in English in October 1997. A reader - "Til Meisterhans, Germany" - quotes from a balanced, and quite skeptical, article "article in the January 1980 edition of UFO magazine", and asks:

"What should one think of the claim that during World War II the Germans built flying disks, respectively flying "Foo Fighters," and actually flew them?

Those of you who are accustomed to the staking of claims for responsibility for anomalous objects and events will not be surprised to find that Meier cannot resist responding with "information" to which only he has access. He writes:

"The following is worth mentioning: According to the Pleiadians/Plejarans, such "Foo Fighters" or disks were constructed in Germany but were never test flown, let alone put into service. Anyone claiming such flying devices reached speeds of several thousand kilometers per hour, flew at altitudes of 12.000 meters [36,000 ft.], and actually reached Mars, is talking complete nonsense.

The authentic story about these events is discussed in the 254th contact conversation with P'taah on November 28, 1995:

Billy: You know, my dear friend, now and then one hears strange things regarding the German flying disks. Is it true that the Germans actually attempted to fly them, and did the disks reach altitudes of up to 12,000 meters?

Ptaah: Such claims are absurd. The "Flying Tops," as they were called, were never finalized in Germany. However, flying disks were eventually built some time later in other countries, e.g., in South America. In the former Soviet Union and in America attempts were also made to construct such flying devices after pertinent blueprints fell into the hands of Germany’s occupying forces. These blueprints were incomplete in that those who held the plans needed to input a great deal of effort to construct the flying disks. These units were and are flown in terrestrial air space only to this day, excluding, of course, a particular group of people in South America of which you are well aware.

Billy: Can you also tell me whether the blueprints for this type of flying disks secured by the occupying forces were the same ones you people telepathically transmitted to the Germans via impulses? Who was actually in charge in Germany?
Ptaah: The transmissions were directed to two men, Schriever and Miethe who, on their own, had drawn up plans for the "Flying Tops." These blueprints fell into the hands of the Americans and Soviets who began studying and constructing the units. Also, through theft, the group in South America obtained copies of the same "Flying Tops."

Billy: One can say with certainty that this group consisted of high-ranking Nazis who fled from Germany after the war ended and disappeared in South America.
Ptaah: You should not mention any more about this subject.

Billy: Of course not. - On account of World War II, disk-shaped flying objects were observed also in Germany, indeed, worldwide . . .

Ptaah: You are correct in this, yes. However, these flying objects were not of terrestrial origin. They belonged to us and to our allies from the federation.

Billy: This would mean that the flying disks which had been observed were not related to the flying disks, respectively "Flying Tops" disks, or Foo Fighters, of the Germans. Claims to the contrary, therefore, are actually foolish assertions by liars, fantasists, and know-it-alls. We've wanted to know about this for a long time.
Ptaah: What I have told you only refers to the Schriever and Miethe Foo Fighters.

Billy: You mean there were others?

Ptaah: Yes, others did exist. However, they were part of a private research program conducted by power hungry Nazis who drew upon Schriever's and Miethe's blueprints. Efforts to develop and test fly their Foo Fighters were underway with positive results in Germany at that time.

Billy: By the group now in South America?
Ptaah: Your conjecture is correct.Billy: And all of this took place right under the nose of the Gestapo?

Ptaah: Many influential members of the Gestapo and its SS-leadership were secret, active participants who attempted to prevent the rest of the world from gleaning any information about the construction, test flights, and other matters. When the war ended, they fled Germany and went to South America, taking with them all of their material and staff. This was not a difficult task, for the Foo Fighters had reached a point were they had the capability of circling the Earth non-stop and transporting all required personnel and materials to South America before the Allied Forces could seize them - or prior to the Allied Forces finding out anything about these secrets.

Billy: So that's how this all happened. How far did the construction of Schriever's and Miethe's Foo Fighters progress?

Ptaah: The prototype for the first test flight was available on July 15, 1941. We monitored this very closely. The Foo Fighter was, however, not constructed according to the data we had transmitted, for we had intentionally made them ineffective by then, as we could foresee the grave danger they would present for terrestrial mankind...

[Comments by Billy: The Pleiadians/Plejarans transmitted data for the construction of flying disks to the Germans Schriever and Miethe at the end of the 1920s and beginning of 1930s with the intent to produce an aeronautical technology that would help prevent the looming warfare conflicts. Unfortunately, they soon realized that this technology would be used for the exact opposite purposes. For this reason, the Pleiadians/Plejarans counteracted the undertaking again.]

... We did not attempt to interfere in the development of Schriever's and Miethe's Foo Fighter until we suddenly recognized that the units also posed an immense threat to mankind. Once we realized the flight was going to be a full success, and that mass production of the Foo Fighter would result, we intervened during the preparations to the first test flight."

This 'dialogue' continues on for some time, until Meier concludes: " ... fantastic stories were concocted about flying disks/Foo Fighters which were said to have reached altitudes of 12,000 meters [7_ miles] and Mach 2 or more during their first test flight (which never did take place). Additionally, a fairy tale tells of the Germans having flown to Mars, landing and performing studies there, so that they could inhabit the planet one day. Complete nonsense, all of it. Billy" [57]

Henry Stephens

Henry Stephens runs the 'German Research Project', and sells copies both of much of the pro-mythos material, and of more identifiably Nazi and arguably anti-Semitic material. In an article in 'The Probe', referring to the work supposedly done on a flying disc by A.V. Roe in Canada, he claims that one of the recorded contributors to the project is shown as "Miethe-Designer 1950(?)"

Spinning off into the realms of imagination, Stephens continues: "The reference is obviously about Dr Heinrich (Heinrich? How many names does this man have?) Richard Miethe, who was the designer and builder of the wartime German saucer project, the V-7. Dr Miethe worked during the war at a German facility in Breslau, now part of modern Poland. After the war, he was recruited by the Americans and Canadians to recapitulate his earlier work for Germany in America. Renato Vesco, an Italian engineer who worked with the Germans during the war and who afterwards held a cabinet position with the Italian government, states that Kahla was the location where a turbo-jet powered German saucer lifted off in its maiden flight in February of 1945. Vesco later wrote a book about his experiences, originally titled 'Intercept but Don't Shoot'" [58]

Actually, for all his wild speculation, Vesco never claimed that he was writing from his own experience, but details like that simply don't bother Stephens, as he spirals off into wild assertions about German free energy, atom bombs, Vril, Haunebu, Tesla, Montauk, the New World Order and the rest. And all this from the man whose mail-order business makes him one of the more influential figures in this strange field. His 1998 catalogue outlines the purposes of the GRP.German Research Project is an organization devoted to distributing information concerning flying saucer-type devices made by the Germans during the Second World War. Beyond this goal, we also hope to distribute information concerning other German weaponry and technology, such as free-energy technology, which is still kept secret and classified by the former Allied Powers. We also hope to explore the reasons for this secrecy. Part of this technology now comprises the research being done by the Americans at Area 51. Much of this technology was retained by a German organization which did not surrender at the cessation of hostilities. These groups and their histories will be explored also.The Germans built several types of flying craft which today we would designate "UFOs". Some were conventionally powered, that is with jet and rocket power, and some were powered electromagnetically. They were built in different places throughout the greater German Reich by different organizations within the government. They were kept under the tightest secrecy. Near the close of the War some of these devices were disassembled and transported by U-boat or simply flown to secure areas outside Germany.Today, especially since the unification of Germany, more and more information is surfacing concerning these developments in spite of the efforts by our government and its media to discredit divert and confuse the issue. For those individuals new to this topic, we suggest first reading item number 16 in our catalogue, "Introduction To Secret German Flying Discs Of World War 2" and any title from our video offerings." [59]

Len Kasten

The incidence of disinformation with relation to Nazi achievements in general, and flying discs in particular, is high. Here are some parts of an article by "Len Kasten" from the New Age glossy Atlantis Rising. As usual, he adopts Vesco as an authority, and introduces Viktor Schauberger into the myth. It may be that he actually produces the most detailed account of disc-propulsion, too!"The more important anti-gravity weapons research was carried on near Prague primarily by Viktor Schauberger and Richard Miethe. In 1944 Miethe, in cooperation with the Italians, developed the large helium powered V-7 and the small one-man Vril models which achieved a speed of 2,900 km/hr in flight tests ... Captain Hans Kohler developed the Hanibu 2 with a diameter of 25 metres which carried a complete flight crew and was powered by a simple electro gravitation motor called the Kohler Converter ... Kasten describes the (totally fictional) Kugelblitz as an "explosive gas weapon", having:"a 50-50 mixture of butane and propane, which was ignited by the exhaust of the bombers . . direct gyroscopic stabilization, television-controlled flight, vertical take-off and landing, jam-free radio control combined with radar blinding, infrared search 'eyes', electrostatic weapon firing, hyper-combustible gas combined with a total reaction turbine, and last, but not least, anti-gravity flight technology. This was the incredible Kugelblitz or 'lightning ball'. If it had emerged even six months earlier, could the war have turned out differently? We will never know, because by this time the Allied armies were rapidly converging on Berlin. So the Kugelblitz puffed out a formation of bombers, and flew off into history - or did it?" [60]

We'll return to the 'formation of bombers' when we come to Wendelle Stevens.

David Hatcher-Childress

Those of you familiar with the fields of both pseudo-science and pseudo-history - and pseudo pretty much anything, really - will already know of the boundless imagination of Hatcher-Childress. In his publication 'Man-Made UFOs 1944 - 1994, 50 Years of Suppression', by "Renato Vesco and David Hatcher-Childress", Hatcher-Childress actually republishes the whole of Vesco's first book (without really making clear that's what it is), adds some early UFO photos that might look like the ones he appears to believe were built in Germany during the war, and speculations of his own. His "Summary of the Claims and Evidence" has some familiar elements . . ."After various experimental prototypes, including the rocket powered Miethe and Schriever discs, production began on the small ten meter diameter interceptor-fighters of the Vril series. The larger Haunibu series began with the 25 meter Haunibu 1 & 2. These craft had canons mounted underneath and were designed as "tank Killers".The 74 meter Haunibu-3, designed as an anti-shipping craft for use over long distances, was actually built and tested. It had inflatable rubber cushions on the underside for landing. The 300 meter Haunibu-4 was on the design board for interplanetary travel. It was disc shaped and could also carry several of the smaller Vril craft. Also reportedly in the design stage was an immense 330 meter cigar-shaped battleship.Towards the end of the war, the Germans had developed interplanetary craft with no moving parts which were capable of going to the Moon or even Mars." [61]

In 'The Thesis of This Book', he also asserts that: "Some German divisions removed themselves to South America and Antarctica in the few months and weeks before the end of the war ... the Americans, British and Russians began to build test discoid aircraft in the late 40s and 5Os. Isolated German pockets in South America have intense UFO activity. Antarctic bases are probably vacated or captured by Americans and Russians. Today, a seven-story or more underground base run jointly by America and Russia exists at the South Pole." [62]

I have no idea whether Hatcher-Childress actually believes this nonsense. I suppose he must, because otherwise he'd be knowingly misleading his many readers. Unfortunately, this concoction of a book has created something of a new generation of believers, including the UK author Alan Baker. In spite of his publisher's confident assertion of his "meticulous research" for his book 'Invisible Eagle', Baker accepted Hatcher-Childress without question, and now a new readership is stuck with Vesco developing flying discs at Lake Garda and investigating UFOs for the Italian Air Ministry, the reality of the Feuerball and Kugelblitz, and the top-secret Projekt Saucer. One man's research is another man's trip to the bookshop.

Wendelle Stevens

Wendelle Stevens, veteran ufologist and Billy Meier supporter has, he says, been privy to a unique range of experiences pertaining to Nazi UFOs. As well as having been "sent to Alaska to supervise the installation of special equipment onboard B-29 bombers" to look for "mysterious flying objects known as 'fire balls' or 'foo fighters'", he claims in 'Alien Encounters' issue 25 that the Vril and Haunebu discs "were used just once against the Allies, in which they devastated a vast 800 bomber raid over Germany, shooting down an unprecedented 200 in just one night". [63]

Bomber Command clearly missed this tragedy when compiling its records. David Icke, who in 'The Biggest Secret' takes the Nazi UFO mythos as true along with hundreds of other nonsensical beliefs, reports Stevens as saying that: "the Foo Fighters were sometimes grey-green, and sometimes red-orange. They approached his aircraft as close as five meters and then just stayed there, he said. They could not be shaken off or shot down and caused many squadrons to either turn back or land." [64]

Stevens also purports that while working at the Air Technical Intelligence Center he saw a map of Germany which was marked with nine Saturn-shaped symbols. He later found out from Vladimir Terziski that these were where Nazi research centers were located, "By the end of the war the Nazis had nine secret research facilities where they built two types of disc: the smaller 'Vril' craft, and the much bigger 'Haunebu' Both of these were powered by a 'gravity null field'. In test flights the craft rose 60,000ft in just six and a half minutes, which radically outstripped the performance of any allied aircraft." [65]

Vanguard Science/Keely-Net/Al Pinto

Any Internet search for 'Nazi UFOs' and similar subjects is likely to produce links to material by "Al Pinto" or "Tal", apparently "Sponsored by Vanguard Sciences, PO Box 1031, Mesquite, TX 75150, USA" which depends heavily on the article written under Vesco's name in 'Argosy'. [66]

Additional material re Nikola Tesla and Viktor Schauberger is added to quotes from Vesco and Lusar, particularly a claim that Schauberger had developed the 'Schriever, Habermohl, Miethe and Bellonzo Flying Disc' at Malthausen Concentration Camp, using prisoners to do the work. I still don't really know quite who "Al Pinto" and "Tal" are, or what the underlying intention of 'Vanguard Sciences' may be. The coincidence of the name 'Vanguard' with a prominent neo-Nazi organization has been mentioned to me on several occasions. I did receive, through a friend who had published some earlier findings on Nazi UFOs, a message from a Jack Veach who said (inter alia) that: "Mr. McClure makes some very positive statements debunking a great deal of untruths about Nazi UFOs, however I would like to offer him a website and an email whereby he might find more information about Mr. Renato Vesco.I am a member of Vanguard Science, not Vangard Science, as he has listed. This is a civilian group of folk, here in the Dallas-Ft Worth area that are open-minded about the verity of science and have taken it upon ourselves to study Tesla, Keely, and a host of others we feel have been given the short-end of the stick with respect to technology and applications thereof. Mr. Jerry Decker and Mr. Chuck Henderson could much better avail you of information about Mr. Vesco and his work. I personally had an English translation of one of his works I gave away about ten years ago pursuant the German V-7.My father and his C.O. both saw Foo Fighters over Europe during WWII, so that much is real. Neither my dad nor Col. Lasly knew anything about UFOs, nor had any interest in them. What they did say was that between the Foo Fighters and the Me-262s they encountered, they felt they would be killed before the war was over in Europe. I hope that will clear some things up for Mr. McClure with respect to Vanguard Science and Mr. Vesco and hopefully all of us can clear the riddle of the Nazi UFOs from all the smoke and mirrors that unfortunately come to the fore on something of this nature."My friend sent an e-mail back to Mr. Veach, expressing my interest in receiving further information about Vesco, but no response was forthcoming. The post-mortem involvement of both mainstream and fringe scientists in the development of flying discs has raised a variety of names, including Marconi, Einstein, Tesla, Schauberger, Keely and others. I am unaware of any real evidence that Schauberger worked at Malthausen using slave labour. If that suggestion is no more than wishful thinking, then I am left wondering why anybody should wish for it. Mark Ian BirdsallBirdsall has long been an influential figure in ufology. Currently Editor of the newsstand magazine Unopened Files - Access a Number of Well Kept Secrets and Features Editor of UFO Magazine, he has an established interest in wartime UFO events.

In his 1998 book Alien Base', Tim Good says:"Interestingly, there is circumstantial evidence that at least one of the V~7 project aircraft was prototyped. According to the researcher and author Mark Ian Birdsall, several projects involving a circular-wing aircraft were conceived during the war, the most elaborate of which was constructed by Dr. Richard Miethe at facilities in Breslau (Wroclaw), Poland, and in Prague. A small prototype was rumored to have flown over the Baltic Sea in January 1943, and two full-scale aircraft with a diameter of 135 feet were eventually built. Also, reports Birdsall, another V-7 project was a 'spinning saucer', based on helicopter principles, about 35 feet in diameter, designed by Rudolf Schriever, a small prototype of which was allegedly first flown in 1943." [67]

Good's reference for these comments is given as "Birdsall, Mark Ian, Flying Saucers of the Third Reich: The Legacy of Prague-Kbely (pending publication). That book has not, as I write, yet been published.In, I think, 1988, Birdsall had published the unfortunately-titled booklet 'The Ultimate Solution' which, in just 29 pages, presented three different pictures of Hitler. It also includes copies of US intelligence documents reporting the newspaper accounts of George Klein's claims of the test-flight on 14 February 1945, diagrams of assorted Miethe-Schreiver-Bellonzo discs, and some probably avoidably uncritical material about 'secret' Antarctic exploration and the escape of Nazis from Germany at the end of the war. [68]

In 1992, in Vol.7 No.4 of the US 'UFO Magazine', he wrote an article titled 'Nazi Secret Weapon - Foo Fighters of WWII', and included illustrations of a supposed 'Schriever-Habermohl' disc. [69]

The introduction to the article says that Birdsall "just completed a hefty manuscript which enlarges considerably the scope of the available source material". It would be interesting to see what material Birdsall has found, and whether his views might be influenced by what is being published in this piece.

Ernst Zundel/Mattern Friedrich

Ernst Zundel, also known as Mattern Friedrich (the name under which he authored UFOs - Nazi Secret Weapon? [70]) and Christof Friedrich (how he has signed the copy of that book which I have) has had considerable involvement in the distribution of material regarded as Holocaust revisionism.

He has often been described as an anti-Semite. Zundel sustained the 'Nazi UFO' myth through much of the 1970s, presenting a mixture of Lusar, Schauberger, and the 'Hitler survived/Nazi Antarctica' material, illustrated with vague photos of uncertain provenance, and the usual diagrams from the European press. He seems to have been unaware of Vesco, but could well have introduced the idea that Schauberger worked actively on disc development with slave labor. While not doubting the underlying sincerity of Zundel in promoting German wartime achievements, a report of comments he allegedly made to Frank Miele may well reflect his attitude to his readers. Miele quotes Zundel as saying:"I realized that North Americans were not interested in being educated. They want to be entertained. The book was for fun. With a picture of the Fuhrer on the cover and flying saucers coming out of Antarctica it was a chance to get on radio and TV talk shows. For about 15 minutes of an hour program I'd talk about that esoteric stuff. Then I would start talking about all those Jewish scientists in concentration camps, working on these secret weapons. And that was my chance to talk about what I wanted to talk about." [71]

Whatever else may be true of Zundel, I think I can safely say that his work has no factual contribution to make to the 'Nazi UFO' debate. But that doesn't mean that he hasn't influenced its development, or that others less canny than he, but with similar beliefs, have not involved themselves in the subject because they believe what he said.

The publication of Lusar's book in 1957 not surprisingly provoked both military and intelligence interest. From the New Britain Herald for Thursday, March 14 1957 comes a media-friendly response to the publicity the book had been given.

No Flying Saucer Built by Hitler

WASHINGTON (AP) James H. Doolittle says it "just ain't so" that Nazi Germany developed a flying saucer and a bomber that could attack the United States and return without refueling.The veteran airman, chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, gave a House Appropriations subcommittee his estimate of reports published in Germany of great aviation accomplishments under Hitler. These were contained in a book by Rudolf Lusar, former German War Ministry special weapons chief.Doolittle's testimony was published today, along with that of Hugh L. Dryden, director of the advisory committee. Dryden said "there is no truth" in a statement that German engineers designed a flying saucer which attained a height of 40,000 feet and speed of 1,250 miles an hour."This is an advertisement for a book which includes material discovered by our groups who went into Germany after the war", he said.Dryden said also the man supposed to have designed the bomber that could cross the Atlantic without refueling had written a book of his own with no mention of any such invention.Doolittle, asked about the saucer and the bomber, said, "It just ain't so." [72]

A report dated 29 March 1957, declassified in 1978, from Robert E O'Connor of the Air Technical Intelligence Center to the Director of Intelligence is considerably more specific. It has become very common in the past few years to publish 'intelligence' documents on the pretext that they all have equal value, but this report records the outcome of genuine research by those competent to conduct it. I've quote the relevant sections - perhaps it isn't too surprising that those who want us to believe in the Saucer Builders haven't given it much publicity!

Subject: (Unclassified) Review of Book by Rudolf Lusar

1.Reference is made to conversations between Colonel W. O. Farrier and Dr. S. T. Possony on the above subject (Unclassified)

2. This office basically concurs with your review of the book 'The German Weapons and Secret Weapons of World War II and their subsequent development' (Unclassified)

3. There is no evidence in AFOIN-4 files of German development of 'Flying Discs', nor is there any indication of Soviet development of such a vehicle. A check of available biographical files reveals no information on Miethe. The A. V. Roe engineering staffs were contacted and they have no knowledge of Miethe in their organization." [73]

There seems to be no reason to believe that these comments were at any stage designed to be misleading, or were based on inadequate or inaccurate research. What the Air Technical Intelligence Center found seems to have been the truth: that there were no high-performance flying discs, and that nobody had a clue about 'Miethe', whatever his first name may have been, becoming involved in disc or rocket development anywhere, at any time.

Ufologists, especially - I suspect - those who want to believe that the Nazis flew high-performance UFOs - can take life dreadfully seriously. Unfortunately, this failing extends to not being able to spot a genuine mistake, or recognize a fantasy or a fiction that was never intended to be anything but that. Two classic blunders involved taking Lusar far too seriously, and undermining the credibility of otherwise serious and respectable books.

German Jet Genesis

The first is in a Jane's publication - a publisher with a fine reputation of dealing with all kinds of arms and armaments. However, in German Jet Genesis by David Masters, published in 1982, the author not only reprints Lusar's claims re flying performance, but also what appear to be pre-Harbinson details from 'Brisant'. Particularly absurd are the three apparently freehand drawings, depicting a 'Miethe flying disc', a 'Schriever flying disc' and a 'Schriever and Habermohl flying disc. Masters sets out some of the traditional array of excuses for the absence of evidence, saying: "Information on this aspect of German jet aircraft development is very sketchy. The project was always highly secret, and documents that may have existed were probably either destroyed, lost or taken by the Russians when the war ended. A last possibility is that the Allies discovered Schriever's work and considered it too important to reveal", [74]

But in reality I'd guess this was one of the publisher's most embarrassing moments.

Robert Jungk

Jungk's 1956 book "Brighter than a Thousand Suns" was first published in English in 1958. An impressive history of the development of the atomic bomb, it contains (at page 87 in my 1965 Pelican edition) a curious footnote, which has been used to add credibility to the 'Saucer Builder' legends. Referring to a sentence in the text where Jungk says: "The indifference of Hitler and those about him to research in natural science amounted to positive hostility". The footnote says:"The only exception to the lack of interest shown by authority was constituted by the Air Ministry. The Air Force research workers were in a peculiar position. They produced interesting new types of aircraft such as the Delta (triangular) and 'flying discs'. The first of these 'flying saucers', as they were later called - circular in shape, with a diameter of some 45 yards - were built by the specialists Schriever, Habermohl and Miethe. They were first airborne on 14 February 1945 over Prague and reached in three minutes a height of nearly eight miles. They had a flying speed of 1250 mph which was doubled in subsequent tests. It is believed that after the war Habermohl fell into the hands of the Russians. Miethe developed at a later date similar 'flying saucers' at A. V. Roe and Company for the United States." [75]

It is clear that this footnote derives from Lusar, and should therefore not be taken as true. I note that the original book was written in 1956 and I wonder whether, in fact, the footnote was added by someone other than Jungk at the translation stage in 1957 or 1958. It would be interesting to know whether the original, “Heller als tausend Sonnen “(Alfred Scherz Verlag 1956) had this footnote, too. Either way, Jungk - of whose book the Spectator said: "He tells the story brilliantly; no intelligent man or woman can afford to miss it ... Should be compulsory reading for every budding scientist in every sixth form and every university in the world" may be forgiven this lapse, which should not be exploited in order to provide support for the nonsense that Lusar concocted.

The Miethe Legend
In 'Projekt UFO', Harbinson asserts that, of the 'rocket scientists' involved in flying disc development"at the close of the war, Walter Miethe went to the US with Wernher von Braun, Dornberger, and hundreds of other members of the Peenemunde rocket programme . . . Miethe, though initially working under Wernher von Braun for the United States' first rocket centre in the White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico, joined the A.V. Roe (AVRO-Canada) aircraft company in Malton, Ontario, reportedly to continue work on disc-shaped aircraft, or flying saucers just as Habermohl was thought to be doing with the Russians." [76]

These assertions, presumably based on Lusar's, seem to have led to the development of an impressive, but entirely false, history for the elusive Miethe, covering many years. I think we can now dispose of them... Tim Matthews, in his book UFO Revelation, refers to the "three years of painstaking research by UK astronomy, aviation and photographic specialist Bill Rose, which included on-site research in Germany, Canada and the USA ... he was able to discover that Dr. Walter Miethe who all sources agree was involved with Schriever, Klaus Habermohl and Guiseppe Belluzzo (an Italian engineer) had been the director of the saucer programme at two facilities located outside Prague. In May 1945, after testing of the prototype had taken place, both Miethe and Schriever were able to flee in the direction of allied forces. Rose learned not only that test-flights had taken place but that there was film footage of them ... Rose was shown some stills taken from the original 16mm film and, given his expert photo-technical background, concluded, after careful consideration, that this was probably real and historical footage . . We know a little more about Dr Miethe. One of the important pieces of information came in the form of a rare group photograph showing various young German scientists in 1933. The photograph shows Werner von Braun and Walter Miethe (or Richard Miethe - different sources mention different first names). It would seem that these two knew each other well” [77]

Rose and Matthews claimed that Miethe worked with von Braun in 1933, and that the photo provided by the person who responded to an advert Rose had placed showed them together with other rocket scientists in that year. Fortunately, this is a well-researched and well-recorded period of history, and it should be no more difficult to find records of Miethe than it is that of von Braun. Indeed, von Braun was born in 1912 and if Miethe was 40 in 1952, they should have been absolute contemporaries.

"The Rocket and the Reich" by Michael J Neufeld [78] covers this period, and von Braun's activities, in detail, as well as detailing rocket and 'secret weapon' development right through to the end of the war. Yet it makes no mention at all of Miethe (Walter or Richard), Habermohl, Schreiver, or Belluzzo, Klein or Klaas. Nor, for that matter, does Philip Henshall in "Vengeance - Hitler's Nuclear Weapon Fact or Fiction" [79], which covers a similar range in rather less detail.

You might think that these people never existed or that, if they did, they played no part in the development of any German flying disc. Since his book was published I've spoken to Tim Matthews about this matter, and corresponded with Bill Rose. I don't think either would disagree if I were to say to that it seems that, while Rose is not in a position to disclose details of the elderly West German from whom it appears that both the photos and the surrounding information derived, those photos did not depict a craft in flight or, indeed, fully constructed.

In view of the 1952 'France-Soir' interview, the 1957 intelligence report, and the complete absence of anyone called Miethe in the mainstream history of rocketry, I think we can safely set any contrary evidence aside. In view of the considerable influence 'UFO Revelation' and its effective and communicative author have had, particularly in the USA, I hope that the full story behind Rose's source(s) will be made public. In the meantime, if what was published wasn't exactly a mistake, it may be fair to say that somebody got hold of the wrong end of the stick, but I'm not sure who was holding the stick at the time.

Balls

I strongly suspect that a supposed AP release of December 1944 about the Germans having "a secret weapon in keeping with the Christmas season" which "resembles the glass balls which adorn Christmas trees", "are colored silver and are apparently transparent", and "have been seen hanging in the air over German territory, sometimes singly, sometimes in clusters", was actually a light-hearted bit of fun designed for Christmas. The phenomenon described certainly doesn't bear any resemblance at all to the 'foo fighter' reports. This item was apparently only published - in similar but not identical versions - in the South Wales Argus for 13 December 1944 and the New York Herald Tribune for 2 January 1945. Any competent historian will be aware that in wartime, censorship ensures that the existence of mysterious, enemy secret weapons is not announced by AP, and published openly by the newspapers of combatant nations. Mainstream history has taken no notice of these reports, and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary I suggest they were no more than slight, seasonal jokes, published by just two newspapers out of the thousands that, if the information really derived from a serious AP report, would have taken it up.

An extensive search in the mainstream, 'consensus' historical record of this, the most researched and chronicled period in history, found no mention of even the most prominent features of the mythos. Putting these two findings together, the only reasonable conclusion on the available evidence is that the long-held belief that high-performance, German, disk-shaped craft actually flew during the Second World War can be shown to be a false belief. I hope that this investigation into the 'Nazi UFO' mythos has demonstrated that the evidence presented to date - at least, that of which I am aware - is irrevocably flawed.

Of course, there is much more to investigate, particularly the links between the 'flying discs' and the supposed survival of the Third Reich in - or under - South America and the Antarctic. Joscelyn Goodwin's book Arktos [80] has set out some useful information in this respect, but misses the drama of the creation of New Berlin, the trips to the Moon and Mars, the belief in the dramatic US-Nazi battles in Operation Highjump, and the links that those making these claims may have with particular cultural and political groups.I don't want to try to direct the responses that readers may have to the material I've put together here.

My opinions of fascism and those who use their authority - real or false - to mislead others for their own profit or other advantage are pretty obvious. I hope that readers will also have appreciated that I have tried to distinguish between materials that harms, and that which does not.

However, I'd like to set out a couple of points that arise from the inconsistencies between the mythos version of history, the 'consensus' version of history, and the somewhere-in-between history of ufology.

Operation Paperclip

Operation Paperclip was a secret, now well-documented initiative by the US government to enable the Western Allies in the war to benefit from the knowledge of former Axis scientists who were, nominally, forbidden to enter the USA because of their previous affiliations. Even before the defeat of the Germans, it was apparent to both politicians and military leaders in the West that the Soviet Union was now the enemy of choice, and Paperclip was one of the steps seen as necessary to deal with that enemy. Overall, it appears to have been a sound policy decision, apparently (though reports are not entirely consistent) bringing the talents of luminaries like Werner von Braun to work in, and for, the West. Paperclip was, if nothing else, carefully organized. It was a secret operation, being run for high stakes, and there is no reason to believe that it failed to target the best and most skilled scientists available. In the field of rocketry, certainly, it succeeded, laying the foundations for the US space program in general, and the US successes of the Sixties in particular.Most detailed Nazi UFO accounts refer to Operation Paperclip, using it to support the argument for the extent of German wartime technical achievements with flying discs by implying that the development of US technology - up to and including the present generation of 'Stealth' aircraft - depended on the importation and input of German scientists. Yet the very German 'scientists' who were supposedly responsible for the development of those wonderful discs seem to have been completely ignored by Paperclip, and to have ended up in inappropriate employment in Europe, with only popular newspapers showing an interest in their skills.

Either the saucer builders were also 'the men that Paperclip forgot', or because there were no saucers, Paperclip didn't make a mistake in not taking them off to the USA.

Early ufology

In a recent disagreement I had with Tim Good and his publishers over the provenance of photographs printed in his book 'Alien Base' [81], I raised what I thought was a valid point. Many of the photographs - the ones which didn't depict faked alien corpses - were from Fifties ufology, supposedly taken by George Adamski, Paul Villa, Daniel Fry, Howard Menger and Hugo Vega. These have attracted both belief and ridicule over the years, and Good had not addressed various doubts about their provenance, such as possible associations with kitchen equipment, string, the use of perspective to make small objects look larger, and the simple tactic of throwing things in the air.

Tim Good agreed, honorably, to have these photographs examined by a university expert using modern techniques at his own expense, and although hampered by the copies being some generations from the original, these reports were published. The expert was not convinced that the photos depicted independently airborne craft of the size and at the distance claimed by the photographer. The point I had raised was whether, even if the photographs showed no evidence of deliberate faking, it was likely that these craft - mostly chubby, awkward, tinny and lacking any visible method of propulsion or steering - were actually aerodynamically viable. Could they fly over short distances here on Earth, let alone between planets in our solar system or beyond? As it happened, there was sufficient doubt about the provenance of the photos, and the reality of what they purported to show, that the wider question didn't have to be answered, but I'd suggest that the answer should be a resounding 'No'. If these craft were real, and of the size and in the place that those who took the photographs suggested, then there isn't the slightest chance that they had flown from Venus or Mars, let alone any further away. They couldn't.

They look as though they'd been made out of the bits left over in the average suburban garage, and that they would fall to bits if the string holding them up were to break: whether that's what they actually were you might well ask, but I couldn't possibly comment. An alternative explanation has been given for the inadequacy of these 'craft'. It's always lurked somewhere in the background of extra-terrestrial ufology, as a fall-back position to take where interplanetary flight seems a deeply unlikely explanation for a UFO photograph, but nobody wants, or dares, to cry 'fake'. In recent years this second-best explanation has been adapted into an explanation of choice, eagerly adopted by David Hatcher-Childress and others, in books and in videos.

No longer are these clumsy aggregations of household waste even supposed to be extra-terrestrial craft. Instead, they are prime evidence of the might of Nazi UFO technology, either imported by the US after the war, or by the Russians, who were using them for reconnaissance or, even more wonderfully, by the Nazis themselves, flying to prove that the Third Reich never died, but lives and fights on in secret bases in South America or Antarctica.

As you can imagine, if there was no wonderful flying disc technology in Germany during the war, then it could never have been exported. And if that was the case, then fakes are pretty well all the close-up photos of that era could have been.

That said, one hopefully simple conclusion - moral, even - does come to mind. Ufology has always sought for respectability. It has sought scientific respectability and, trying to explain away the absurdly sudden beginning it had in 1947, has also looked for a history going back before that date.

The 'foo fighter' material is certainly interesting in this respect, but those sightings bear no real resemblance to the craft of early ufology: I'd suggest that for research purposes it should be regarded as an entirely separate subject from the tinny close-up saucers and Nordic occupants of just a few years later.

If my approach to the wartime flying disc material is correct, then 1947 look more sudden - and inexplicable - than ever, and the contact experience even more isolated. Far from achieving any kind of respectability, by accepting so readily the existence of high-performance wartime German flying discs without, with a handful of honorable exceptions, bothering to make even the simplest of enquiries, ufology has again made itself look amateur, gullible, and easily manipulated. So no change there, then.

Thanks

Thanks, at least, are due to David Sivier, Dave Newton, Peter Brookesmith, Peter Williams, Wayne Spencer, Andy Roberts, Eugene Doherty, Hilary Evans, Martin Kottmeyer, James Moseley, JC Carbonel, Peter Rogerson, Maurizio Verga, Tim Matthews, Jeff Lindell, Claude Mauge and Eduardo Russo for their thoughtful and intelligent assistance in putting this investigation together.

Endnotes

[1] Lusar, Rudolf (1959) Trans Heller, R P and Schindler, M German Secret Weapons of the Second world War Philosophical Library New York p.165

[2] Vesco, Renato (1971) Intercept UFO Grove Press New York p.85

[3] Kasten, Len (1996) 'Nazi UFOs' in Atlantis Rising No.7

[4] Stephens, Henry (1998) 'UFOs and the Third Reich' in The Probe Vol 3 #4[5] Terziski

[6] Stevens, Wendelle, interviewed in 'The Godfather of UFOs' in Alien Encounters #25

[7] Redfern, Nicholas (1998) The FBI Files Pocket Books London p.210

[8] Chamberlin, Jo 'the Foo Fighter Mystery' in the American Legion Magazine, December 1945

[9] Roberts, Andy Foo Fighters - the Story So Far Project 1947 website

[10] Lindell, Jeff A. 'The Foo Fighter Mystery Revised' I.U. Folklore Institute

[11] Ibid

[12] Vesco, Renato 'Aerospace expert claims Flying Saucers are Canada's Secret Weapon' in Argosy Magazine August 1969.

[13] Vesco, Renato (1971) Intercept UFO Grove Press New York p.85

[14] Ibid p.86

[15] Ibid (back cover)

[16] Correspondence with author

[17] Lusar op cit p.

[18] www.ufo.it/german

[19] 'Sightings' website

[20] Redfern, N and Downes, J (2000) Weird War Tales 1 - UFOs: 1939-45 Weird War Tales Library

[21] Published by New English Library, London

[22] Harbinson, W A (1995) Projekt UFO - The Case for Man-Made Flying Saucers Boxtree London (back cover)

[23] Ibid (Foreword)

[24] Birdsall, Mark Ian (1988?) The Ultimate Solution Self-published p.13

[25] Harbinson op cit p.5

[26] Ibid p.61

[27] Ibid p.72

[28] Ibid p.74

[29] Interview with Terziski on Sam Russell's 'Open Mind Forum' radio programme on June 5 1993.

[30] Steiger, B and SH (1994) The Rainbow Conspiracy Windsor Publishing Corp New York p.62

[31] Branton - Omega Files

[32] Branton - Omega Files

[33] Website - William Bacon's Home Page/Nordic Saucer Report.

[34] Brantons Testimony http://www.ufomind.com/ufo/media/mailing/archive/iufo/msg18723.shtml[35] Branton - Omega Files

[36] Branton - Omega Files - 'Nazi History'

[37] Roberts, Andy Ibid

[38] Edwards, Frank (1967) Flying Saucers - Here and Now! Lyle Stuart

[39] Caidin, Martin (1960) Black Thursday

[40] Roberts, Andy 'In search of "Foo-Fighters"' in UFO Brigantia No.66 July 1990

[41] Roberts, Andy Ibid

[42] Redfern, N and Downes, J Ibid p.62

[43] Ibid

[44] Edwards, Frank (1967) Ibid

[45] Redfern op cit p.210

[46] Corso, Col. Philip J., with Birnes, William J. (1997) The Day After Roswell Pocket Books London and New York p.73

[47] Blania-Bolnar, Z (1998) 'Monkey Business' in Alien Encounters April 1998[48] Susan Michaels (1997) Sightings: UFOs Fireside Books

[49] "L'UFO Crash di Mussolini" Unknown website

[50] UFO Magazine May/June 1998 p.49

[51] Redfern, N and Downes, J p.16

[52] Redfern, N and Downes, J p.18

[53] Stonehill, Paul 'Nazi UFOs: A Russian Eyewitness' in UFO Magazine (California) Vol 10, No.2, 1995.

[54] Di Rado, Fabio (allegedly) Unattributed Net posting.

[55] Carballal, Manuel (1995) from Saucers Unveiled!

[56] From: "ladynada"

[57] Meier, Billy and P'taah in FIGU Bulletin Vol1, No 6

[58] Stephens, Henry (1998) 'UFOs and the Third Reich' in The Probe Vol 3 #4[59] Stephens, Henry (1998) German research Project catalogue

[60] Kasten, Len Op cit

[61] Hatcher-Childress, D and Vesco, R (1994) Man-Made UFOs 1944-1994 - 50 Years of Suppression Adventures Unlimited Press 1994 p.366

[62] Ibid p.370

[63] Stevens ibid

[64] Icke, David (1999) The Biggest Secret Bridge of Love Scottsdale p.254

[65] Stevens op cit

[66] Vesco (1969) ibid

[67] Good, Timothy (1998) Alien Base Century London p.23

[68] Birdsall, Mark Ian op cit p

[69] Birdsall, Mark (1992) 'Nazi Secret Weapon - Foo Fighters of WWII' in UFO Magazine (California) Vol 7 #4

[70] Friedrich, M (1975) UFOs - Nazi Secret Weapon? Samisdat Toronto

[71] Miele, Frank in an article 'Giving the Devil His Due'. Found on Zundel's Flying Saucers Index website.

[72] 'No flying saucer built by Hitler', New Britain Herald for Thursday, March 14 1957

[73] Air Technical Intelligence Center Memorandum T57-7999, 29 March 1957[74] Masters, David (1982) German Jet Genesis Jane's London p.135

[75] Jungk, Robert (1965) Brighter Than A Thousand Suns Pelican Middlesex [76] Harbinson op cit

[77] Matthews, Tim (1999) UFO Revelation - The Secret Technology Exposed Blandford London

[78] Neufeld, Michael J (1995) Peenemunde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era Harvard University Press Massachusetts

[79] Henshall, Philip (1995) Vengeance - Hitler's Nuclear Weapon Fact or Fiction Alan Sutton

[80] Godwin.Joscelyn (1996) Arktos - The Polar Myth Adventures Unlimited Illinois

[81] Good op cit Various illustrations

2007-05-14T11:18:00.000Z

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Questa è una vera “trattoria del camionista”, anche l’ubicazione, sulla statale UD – GO, la dice lunga. Però ti sorprende, per la cortesia, l’ambiente pulito e accogliente e la cucina regionale espressa ad un buon livello. Qui non trovate sperimentazioni o rivisitazioni. Qui trovate il gran classico, senza fronzoli, abbondante, saporito. Le tavole sono ben apparecchiate, con tovaglie di cotone immacolate. Una delicatezza sono il doppio calice per acqua e vino e il pane caldo.

Da non perdere l’antipasto di salumi con un S.Daniele che si scioglie in bocca, un lardo saporitissimo e un salame di asino fresco degno di nota. I tagliolini al S. Daniele sono semplici e saporiti, non chiedete il parmigiano, l’Oste non è del parere.

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IT - 33048 S. Giovanni al Natisone (UD)
0039.0432.756584
Chiuso: Domenica

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