The Falklands Conflict, Forty Years Later

[Slim]

10th April, 1982

Having familiarised himself with the British position in London, US Secretary of State Al Haig flies to Buenos Aires to meet President Galtieri and his foreign minister, Costa Méndez. They are alarmed by the British response to the invasion, but despite Haig's attempt to persuade them to the contrary, they appear to believe that the British are bluffing.

Haig's arrival coincides with tens of thousands of Argentinians gathering at Plaza de Mayo to show their support for their President.

As the Task Force steams south, 801 Naval Air Squadron conducts air combat and intercept practice from Invincible.

[Slim]

11th April, 1982

Haig leaves Buenos Aires for London for the next round of talks. He hopes that it may be possible to reach an agreement between both sides for an interim administration on the islands, prior to starting long-term sovereignty negotiations. But the Junta's position appears to be divided.

Haig instructs his deputy, General Vernon Walters, to see Galtieri privately and persuade him as to the seriousness of his situation. Walters stresses that the British will fight if necessary. Galtieri dismisses this, declaring "that woman wouldn't dare".

Walters replies "I wouldn't count on that if I were you".

Task Force Commander Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward chairs a meeting of his captains aboard HMS Glamorgan to discuss likely threats and tactics.

[David L]

11th April, 1982

 Walters stresses that the British will fight if necessary. Galtieri dismisses this, declaring "that woman wouldn't dare".

Walters replies "I wouldn't count on that if I were you".

Quote of the conflict?

[Slim]

14th April, 1982

Haig returns to Washington, en route to Buenos Aires. He meets with President Reagan and suggests that the time has come to threaten the Argentine military Junta with the full weight of American support for Britain if they do not honour Resolution 502. Reagan agrees.

HMS Glamorgan turns north to rendezvous with the approaching carriers Invincible and Hermes as they progress southward.

A squadron of Royal Navy ships led by Captain Brian Young in HMS Antrim makes a rendezvous with HMS Endurance, 1,000 miles north of South Georgia. Aboard are a group of special forces and Royal Marines, tasked with the recapture of South Georgia.

Young receives orders from Northwood Headquarters to:

• Recapture Grytviken and Leith
• Neutralise Argentinian Communications
• Capture or kill Argentinian military
• Arrest and remove Argentinian civilians

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher addresses Parliament on the current situation.

The Argentine fleet leaves Puerto Belgrano, to prepare to confront the approaching British fleet if necessary.

[Slim]

15th April, 1982

Al Haig returns to Buenos Aires, to continue his efforts to find a solution acceptable to both sides that will prevent conflict.

The British War Cabinet meets at the Ministry of Defence to arrange for more troops to be sent to join the Task Force, and to examine the most recent draft of the peace proposals.

Mrs Thatcher receives a message from President Reagan. Reagan says that he has received a telephone call from an anxious Galtieri, who says that he wants avoid a war. She replies:

I note that General Galtieri has reaffirmed to you his desire to avoid conflict. But it seems to me - and I must state this frankly to you as a friend and ally - that he fails to draw the obvious conclusion. It was not Britain who broke the peace but Argentina. The mandatory Resolution of the Security Council, to which you and we have subscribed, requires Argentina to withdraw its troops from the Falkland Islands. That is the essential first step which must be taken to avoid conflict. When it has been taken, discussions about the future of the islands can profitably take place.

Any suggestion that conflict can be avoided by a device that leaves the aggressor in occupation is surely gravely misplaced. The implications for other potential areas of tension and for small countries everywhere would be of extreme seriousness. The fundamental principles for which the free world stands would be shattered.

A British naval group consisting of three type 42 destroyers and the frigates Brilliant and Arrow takes up its holding position in mid-Atlantic. The two carriers and their escorts are still to the north, but the cabinet wishes to establish a British force as deep as possible in the Atlantic while the diplomatic effort continues.

[Slim]

16th April, 1982

Al Haig returns to Buenos Aires. He intends to present a five point plan. This involves withdrawal by both sides, a three-flag administration until the end of the year, restored communication with the mainland, negotiations for a long-term solution in the new year and consultation with the islanders.

Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward, in command of the naval Task Force, is helicoptered to HMS Fearless to discuss options for amphibious landings with Brigadier Julian Thompson and his staff of 3 Commando Brigade, and Commodore Michael Clapp, in charge of the landing-force ships. One option considered is to establish a bridgehead on West Falkland to be defended while an airstrip is built to receive Hercules transports and Phantom fighter aircraft.

Woodward's leadership style is not well received by the commando brigade staff. One officer present later says that "he made us feel like a bunch of small boys under scrutiny of the headmaster".

The European Community suspends all Argentinian imports.

The hunter-killer submarine HMS Conqueror enters the operational area to patrol the Maritime Exclusion Zone.

[Slim]

18th April, 1982

Admiral Woodward and the carrier group leave Ascension Island and sail south, toward the Falkland Islands and possible confrontation with the Argentine military.

Al Haig and his team spend the day in talks with representatives of the government and military in Buenos Aires. Little progress is made. At a meeting with the full Junta, Haig stresses that Britain is quite prepared to take military action. He points out that their forces are better equipped and better trained than their Argentine opponents. He tells them that Washington will not tolerate the fall of Mrs Thatcher's government.

Admiral Jorge Anaya, in charge of the Argentine Navy and the most hawkish of the three-man ruling Junta, dismisses this. He believes that a democracy cannot sustain significant casualties and is sure that Britain has no stomach for a fight.

Haig finally tells the Junta that Argentina must enter realistic negotiations on the basis of Resolution 502, requiring them to withdraw their forces, or America will side with Britain. In response to this Anaya leans across the table and tells Haig, to his face, that he is lying.

[Slim]

20th April, 1982

The troop ship Canberra, carrying 3 Commando Brigade, arrives at Ascension Island.

On South Georgia, civilian British Antarctic Survey personnel carry out covert surveillance of strategic positions on the island. They find little evidence of Argentine activity outside Grytviken and Leith. They radio their information back to their headquarters in Cambridge, where it is relayed to the Royal Navy and the elite special forces units, the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service.

An RAF Victor reconnaissance aircraft flies a radar mapping mission over South Georgia.

The Type 22 frigate Broadsword and Type 42 destroyers Coventry, Glasgow and Sheffield enter the operational area.

British forces are now converging on the South Atlantic. Attempts to reach a diplomatic solution have failed.

The British cabinet orders the repossession of the Falkland Islands.

[Slim]

21st April 1982

A patrol from Mountain Troop, D Squadron SAS is inserted by helicopter from HMS Antrim onto Fortuna Glacier, on the northern side of South Georgia. Their mission is "to recon Leith, Stromness, Husvik and East Fortuna Bay for a squadron-sized attack".

The Argentine government renames Port Stanley. It declares that henceforth, the capital of the Islas Malvinas will be known as Puerto Argentino.

The Task Force makes its first contact with the enemy. Long range radars on several of the fleet's ships including Invincible detect a high level contact approaching the Carrier Battle Group, at a range of 150 miles and a height of 40,000 feet. A Harrier is scrambled from Hermes to intercept, and the unwelcome visitor is turned away. It is an Argentine Air Force Boeing 707 reconnaissance aircraft. Present rules of engagement dictate that combat air patrols are to
"visibly escort the aircraft and dissuade it from overflying the force".

[Slim]

22nd April, 1982

Following a night sheltering against the conditions in dramatically worsening weather, Captain John Hamilton, commanding the SAS recon patrol on Fortuna Glacier at the northern edge of South Georgia, is forced to call a halt to the operation. He sends a signal to Antrim: "Unable to move. Environmental casualties imminent". A helicopter is sent to retrieve the men into a howling blizzard, but crashes onto the glacier in a sudden whiteout. A second lands successfully but suffers the same fate within seconds of takeoff.

Finally, Lieutenant Commander Ian Stanley brings a third helicopter down onto the glacier.

Grossly overloaded with seventeen bodies - all of the SAS men and helicopter crews have survived - he pilots his Wessex helicopter back to Antrim and brings it down onto a pitching deck in a controlled crash. For his skill and bravery in extreme circumstances, he will be awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

An SBS patrol from HMS Endurance is inserted by helicopter At Hound Bay on South Georgia.

An Argentine Boeing 707 reconnaissance aircraft attempts to overfly the Task Force once again, but is turned away before it can overfly the fleet once more, by a Harrier scrambled from Invincible.

Foreign Secretary Francis Pym boards a Concorde to fly to Washington, to respond to Al Haig's peace proposals.

General Galtieri visits the Falkland Islands.

The US Embassy in Argentina sends a report to Washington relaying an opinion gleaned from a "well-informed politician who has served in and generally supports the military government". Said politician says that "there are no politicians in the country who think that the invasion of the islands was anything other than a colossal error". He also believes that "if there is a major incident in which large numbers of Argentines are killed .. the public will be uncontrollable.  Among their targets will be the US Embassy".

The first British Task Force ships enter the waters of the Falkland Islands.

[Slim]

23rd April, 1982

Invincible locks her Sea Dart surface to air missile system onto an aircraft approaching the Task Force from the Argentine coast. The Harrier pilot sent to intercept it reports that it is a Brazilian airliner, with normal navigation and running lights on, on a direct line to Durban in South Africa. Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward immediately orders "weapons tight", preventing any British ship or aircraft from engaging the plane.

Details of the interception are printed in the Brazilian press in coming days, with passengers alleged to have been frightened. Woodward's reply to the Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy when asked to report the incident includes the sentiment "Inconvenience to passengers' underwear regretted unless any of them were Argentinian".

A reconnaissance patrol from Boat Troop, D Squadron SAS, put ashore from the ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance, reports to Antrim that the Argentine presence at Leith consists of a garrison of sixteen Argentine marines with no supporting artillery.

Endurance intercepts transmissions from an Argentine C-130 to and from an Argentine submarine. Signal strength indicates that the sub is approximately one hundred miles from Endurance and possibly closer to Antrim. Captain Young, in command of the South Georgia Task Force group, sends his two tankers escorted by Plymouth two hundred miles to the north-east, out of harm's way. Further intercepts disclose that the submarine, Santa Fe, has orders to deliver reinforcement troops to the garrison at Leith.

HMS Brilliant, equipped with state-of-the-art sonar and two anti-submarine-warfare helicopters, is detached from the main Task Force and sent to South Georgia.

Foreign Secretary Francis Pym returns to London by Concorde, following a four-hour session with Secretary of State Al Haig at the State Department. The two men have arrived at a compromise proposal, to be considered by the British and Argentine governments in the hope of averting armed conflict.

A message is passed from the British Government to the military Junta in Argentina, via the Swiss embassy in Buenos Aires:

In announcing the establishment of a Maritime Exclusion Zone around the Falkland Islands, Her Majesty's Government made it clear that this measure was without prejudice to the right of the United Kingdom to take whatever additional measures may be needed in the exercise of its right of self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. In this connection, Her Majesty's Government now wishes to make clear that any approach on the part of Argentine warships, including submarines, naval auxiliaries or military aircraft, which could amount to a threat to interfere with the mission of British Forces in the South Atlantic will encounter the appropriate response.

The British Foreign Office advises British nationals in Argentina to leave.

A British Sea King helicopter, carrying out a replenishment mission from Hermes, crashes into the South Atlantic in bad weather at night. The pilot is rescued but a crewman is lost, becoming the first British fatality of the Falklands campaign.

[Slim]

24th April, 1982

The Prime Minister examines a proposal for a peaceful settlement agreed by her Foreign Secretary Francis Pym and US Secretary of State Al Haig, and is horrified. She tells him that the terms are totally unacceptable. She will later describe the plan as "conditional surrender".

She asks the Attorney-General to scrutinise the document. He confirms her fears. The plan would withdraw the Task Force, immediately remove sanctions imposed on Argentina, allow large-scale Argentine immigration to the islands and erode the islanders' right of self-determination.

The cabinet meets to discuss the proposal, and Pym recommends that it should be accepted. But the rest of the cabinet agrees with the Prime Minister: the proposal is unacceptable.

Defence Secretary John Nott suggests that Haig should put the plan to the Argentinians first. If they reject it, as he believes they will, then the British Government need not even respond to it.

Off South Georgia, Brilliant makes rendezvous with Antrim. The Task Force group once again moves inshore. Additional SAS and SBS patrols are inserted onto the island.

In response to the British warning of the previous day, the Argentine military Junta issues a statement appealing to the British Government's wisdom, urging it to end its "long series of provocations unbecoming a civilised nation", and warning that the Argentine armed forces will respond to any British aggression.

Two Argentine commandos, Máximo Nicoletti and Antonio Nelson Latorre, leave Buenos Aires for Paris, en route to Malaga. They are carrying counterfeit passports, military scuba gear and a large quantity of cash in US dollars. Their mission is to rendezvous with two colleagues, travel south to Algeciras, then swim across the bay to Gibraltar where they will plant limpet mines on a high-value British warship target. They are ordered, if caught, to claim to be Argentine patriots acting independently of their government and military.

At 23:00, Argentine Foreign Secretary Costa Méndez leaves for Washington, to attend a meeting of the Organisation of American States. He tells reporters: "I travel with great faith in Latin American solidarity, with great faith in our America", and that he hopes for a peaceful settlement.

[Slim]

25th April, 1982

Antrim's Wessex III helicopter picks up an unidentified radar contact just off South Georgia. Its pilot, Lieutenant Commander Ian Stanley, makes visual contact.

It is an Argentine submarine. It is in fact the ARA Santa Fe, heading out to sea but still surfaced after landing reinforcements for the garrison at Grytviken.

His navigator and weapons officer, Lieutenant Chris Parry, quickly works out the ballistic calculations for the movement of the submarine. She is heading 310 degrees northwards at eight knots. He directs his pilot to fly along the submarine's track in the water, and arms both the helicopter's depth charges.

Parry briefly thinks about the men he may be about to kill, but Ian Stanley is already counting down the range to the target. As he calls "on top, now, now, now!" Parry sees the submarine's fin pass under his aircraft, and releases both charges.

Stanley brings the Wessex sharply around to starboard to see the results. Two large explosions detonate either side of the sub, shooting plumes of water into the air.

The badly-damaged Argentine vessel, unable to dive, is now attacked by air to surface missile and machine gun fire from Wasp helicopters from Endurance and Plymouth, but limps back to beach at Grytviken harbour, where her crew hastily scramble ashore.

The main invasion force of Royal Marines intended to recapture South Georgia is still two hundred miles away. But Major Guy Sheridan, in charge of land forces for the operation, senses that the initiative is now with the British and improvises a composite company of seventy-six Royal Marines, SBS and SAS men on Antrim to press home the advantage while the enemy is in disarray. They hastily arm and equip themselves in the confined space of the destroyer's mess-decks, as an SAS group ashore secures a landing site for the men to be inserted by helicopter.

Antrim and Plymouth now provide for the Argentine garrison a demonstration of the naval firepower available to their opposition. Directed by a naval gunfire officer in a Wasp, they bombard the low hills opposite the garrison at Grytviken. Only a minor adjustment would bring punishing, heavy fire on their positions.

The Argentine garrison capitulates quickly. A radio message is received on Antrim in broken English: "Surrender... we have injured... es terminado". In the background can be heard the sound of men singing in Spanish: the defenders are singing their national anthem. The assault force from Antrim approaches the main buildings at Grytviken to find two white flags fluttering
in the sea breeze.

In Britain, TV programmes are interrupted by a newsflash carrying the news "British Forces are reported to be ashore on South Georgia".

Lieutenant Commander Lagos, in charge of Argentine forces on South Georgia, signs the formal surrender in the British Antarctic Survey base at King Edward Point. South Georgia has been reclaimed without a shot being fired by ground forces, and without a fatality on either side. Additionally, Argentina's submarine force has been halved.

Captain Alfredo Astiz, in charge of the smaller garrison of fifteen Argentine marines at Leith twelve miles away, is instructed to lay down his arms before the arrival of British forces, or face the consequences.

The Royal Navy embarks one hundred and fifty dejected Argentine prisoners aboard its ships. The scrap metal dealers who had arrived on 19th March and whose activities precipitated the conflict are also taken into custody.

Major Sheridan sends the following signal:

Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God save the Queen.

The news is received in London with euphoria. John Nott announces the news to the press from the steps of 10 Downing Street, accompanied by the Prime Minister. Of this episode she will later write:

A remark of mine was misinterpreted, sometimes wilfully. After John Nott had made his statement journalists tried to ask questions. "What happens next, Mr Nott? Are we going to declare war on Argentina, Mrs Thatcher?" It seemed as if they preferred to press us on these issues rather than to report news that would raise the nation's spirits and give the Falklanders new heart. I was irritated. 'Just rejoice at that news and congratulate our forces and the Marines.. Rejoice'. I meant that they should rejoice in the bloodless capture of South Georgia, not in the war itself. To me war is not a matter for rejoicing. But some pretended otherwise.

The United States expresses "grave concern" over the news, saying it will remain committed to a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Argentine Foreign Minister Costa Méndez angrily warns that the British action will have "very grave consequences for peace". As he arrives in New York for a meeting of the Organisation of American States and talks with Secretary of State Haig, he tells reporters that Argentina is now "technically in a state of war" with Britain.

[Slim]

26th April, 1982

The Organisation of American States meets in Washington. Argentine Foreign Minister Costa Méndez, warning that British forces may be about to land on "Argentine territory" as he imagines it, proposes a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the British Task Force. US Secretary of State Al Haig also speaks. Clearly irritated by what he sees as interference in his diplomatic effort, he says that the 1947 Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance treaty has no application to the conflict, and attacks Argentina's aggression. An OAS official will later say of Haig's contribution that "it was as if he could see the Nobel Peace Prize alreadywithin his grasp".

On South Georgia, British forces decide to move the crippled Argentine submarine Santa Fe to a safer location. She is in a dangerous condition, still armed with torpedoes and at risk of sinking, which would obstruct the harbour. Five members of her own crew are enlisted for this task, under Royal Marine guard. Tragically, during the short passage, Argentine crewman Felix Artuso attempts to operate one of the submarine systems and is shot dead by a Royal Marine who mistakenly believes that he is trying to open the main vents and scuttle the submarine, killing everyone aboard. Artuso had been warned not to touch the controls, but did not understand.

A detachment of Royal Marines arrives at Leith, 12 miles from Grytviken, to take the surrender of the Argentine marines under the command of Captain Alfredo Astiz.  Astiz has a couple of tricks up his sleeve. He encourages the party of Royal Marines across a minefield to accept his surrender. Fortunately the mines' trigger mechanisms are frozen solid in the sub-zero conditions. He also attempts to lure British helicopters onto a helipad that he has previously mined, but the pilots are suspicious, and land elsewhere.

Astiz is something of an embarrassing prisoner of war, as he is wanted by the French and Swedish governments for crimes against their citizens. He is a member of the infamous Task Force 332, involved in the disappearance, torture and deaths of a large number of dissidents in Argentina.  Although the Argentine commander at Grtyviken has already surrendered all Argentine forces on South Georgia, Astiz insists on signing a separate surrender document, and is granted his wish.

The Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano puts to sea from Tierra del Fuego accompanied by two destroyers, the ARA Piedra Buena and the Bouchard. All three are ex-US Navy vessels.

The Prime Minister makes a statement to Parliament on the recapture of South Georgia.

A survey conducted by the Daily Star shows that 80% of adult Britons support the use of military force to regain the Falkland Islands.

As the Carrier Battle Group of the Task Force nears the Falklands, the British Government declares a "defence area" around the fleet. The hunter-killer submarine HMS Splendid reports a sighting of an Argentine task group composed of two Type 42 destroyers and Exocet frigates moving south along the coast at ten knots. She is ordered to continue shadowing the destroyer group.

The hunter-killer submarine HMS Conqueror is moved from her northern holding position south- west of the Falklands, outside the exclusion zone.  BBC Radio News reports on the capture of South Georgia.

The veteran Labour politician Tony Benn, a vocal opponent of the war, also offers his opinion, for what it's worth. He describes the recapture of the island as "insignificant", and asserts that the retasking of Vulcan bombers for a conventional role "can only mean a bombing of the mainland".

[Slim]

Missed a few of these, will have to catch up:

1st May, 1982

The carrier battle group, thirteen ships strong, slips into the Total Exclusion Zone in the early morning darkness.

Meanwhile, an RAF Vulcan bomber from Ascension Island, captained by Flight Lieutenant Martin Withers, approaches the Falkland Islands at a height above the sea of 300 feet, beneath radar height. He locks his attack radar onto offset targets on the coast.

Following a climb to 10,000 feet for his bombing run, the Vulcan's attack control system releases a stick of twenty-one bombs at predetermined intervals over five seconds, three miles from the air strip at Port Stanley. As the last bomb is released, he turns northward for base, nearly 4,000 miles away. T
he Vulcan is fourteen miles away and climbing as the first bomb arrives. The bombs are aimed to strike in a line, angled across the runway. One hits the runway at its mid point, cratering the concrete. Others cause serious damage to airfield installations, Argentine aircraft and stores. Two Argentine Air Force personnel are killed.

It is, as of May 1982, the longest bombing mission ever attempted, enabled by a total of eight mid-flight refuellings. The intention is two-fold: to deny the airstrip at Stanley to high-speed combat aircraft, and to help the Junta and the Argentine people understand that their mainland is within the reach of British retribution.

As the strategic bomber heads homeward powered by four Rolls-Royce Olympus engines, twelve Sea Harriers from Hermes launch a further attack, guarded by a combat air patrol mission from Invincible.

Four of the Harriers attack anti-aircraft gun positions to the north and south of Stanley airfield with 750 pound bombs. A second group of five Harriers then attacks the airfield itself, dropping 600 pound cluster bombs on parked aircraft and stores, setting fire to buildings and destroying
an Argentine aircraft.

The other three Harriers streak in low over Falkland Sound to attack the airfield at Goose Green. They find an Argentinian Pucará ground attack aircraft taxiing to take off and blow it up, killing the pilot and several ground crew.

One Harrier is damaged in the raid when a 20mm shell punches a hole in its tail fin. The Argentines will claim that several of the Harriers were shot down. But all of the Sea Harriers return safely to Hermes, or as the BBC's reporter Brian Hanrahan famously puts it, "I counted them all out, and I counted them all back".

Early in the afternoon, Glamorgan, Alacrity and Arrow, their battle ensigns raised, close to within twelve miles of the Falklands coastline, from where they commence a punishing naval bombardment of reported Argentine positions near Port Stanley.

The Argentine Air Force attempts to retaliate. Two Mirage III fighter aircraft from an airbase on the mainland are detected on an inbound course to the Task Force, but are ambushed by a pair of Invincible's 801 Naval Air Squadron Sea Harriers on combat air patrol.

Flight Lieutenant Paul Barton pulls into a tight turn, undetected behind the two Argentine Mirages as they make their approach. Very quickly, the trailing Mirage is in his sights and Barton's Sidewinder missile locks on to its target. The Mirage attempts to climb away, but explodes in a vivid ball of flame as the missile makes contact.

Barton's wingman, Lieutenant Steve Thomas, pulls sharply round into a descending turn as the other Mirage passes him. He locks a Sidewinder missile onto the exhaust of the enemy aircraft, and fires. The missile explodes close to the tail of the Argentine fighter as it descends into cloud, damaging it severely. The Argentine pilot attempts to bring his crippled aircraft down onto Stanley airfield. This leads Argentine gunners on the ground to believe that they are under
attack again. They open fire on their own aircraft, destroying it completely and killing the pilot.

A few minutes later another force of Argentine aircraft arrives, including two formations of Dagger fighters and a group of Canberra bombers. A group of three Daggers finds Glamorgan, Alacrity and Arrow. Two bombs fall either side of Glamorgan and two just astern Alacrity. Arrow is hit by cannon fire and one sailor is injured. Two Sea Harriers from 800 Squadron are attacked by the second group of Dagger fighters. The Harriers destroy one of them. The other Argentine
aircraft withdraw and run for home.

A force of six Argentine Canberra bombers then approaches, detected by HMS Glamorgan. Lieutenant Commander Mike Broadwater and Lieutenant Alan Curtis of 801 Squadron are vectored to intercept, 150 miles out. Curtis engages one of the Canberras with a Sidewinder. It explodes into a dozen pieces. The other bombers disappear into cloud to escape, and turn back.

SBS and SAS reconnaissance teams are inserted by helicopter onto the Falkland Islands. They are tasked to hide up and report on Argentine troop positions, movements and morale.

After nightfall, Glamorgan, Alacrity and Arrow move back in toward the coast and continue to bombard enemy positions, to demonstrate that the Task Force has not been deterred by the attention of the Argentine air force.