A new £10million ‘educational’ Falklands War Museum in Argentina sensationally claims the UK is covering up the number of British servicemen who died during the conflict.
Well-wishers wave Union flags as the Task Force sets sail for the South Atlantic (Image: Getty)
With Argentina now led by a right-wing government, which itself is led by a far-right outsider, it was only a matter of time before history was rewritten.
The Falklands War, which raged in the South Atlantic in 1982, ended with the unconditional surrender of all Argentine forces.
The British military campaign successfully achieved its primary objective: the liberation of the Falkland Islanders from Argentine occupation and the restoration of British administration.
For more than 43 years, save the occasional outburst from a South American halfwit, it has been case closed insofar as the future of Islas Malvinas is concerned.
And that is because the facts are incontrovertible: All major land, sea, and air battles were won by British forces, culminating in the capture of the capital Port Stanley; Argentina lost approximately 650 men (with around 11,400 taken as prisoners of war), while Britain lost 255 soldiers.
Victory was achieved by mounting a Task Force some 8,000 miles from home in what was Margaret Thatcher’s finest hour.
But almost inevitably in the debt-addled country, a new £10million Falklands War Museum in Argentina tells a very different story, even claiming the UK is covering up the number of British servicemen who died.
The state-run educational facility (or should that be correctional facility) has popped up in Bariloche, Patagonia, focused on pumping out propaganda relating to what officials in Buenos Aires describe as the Falklands Cause – namely the fanciful idea that Argentina will one day take the islands back.
Rather than the official figure of 255 British dead, it suggests up to 1,200 were killed.
Understandably, this has irked the rather muscular men of the Parachute Regiment and other units served with distinction, who accused Argentina (in a printable version of their agricultural language) of a “pathetic attempt to rewrite history”.
The museum suggests the Task Force set sail to conduct a brutally imperialist stage managed war.
Argentina claims the British Empire sold a lie to the world after initiating war by striking a group of civilians before lawful retaliation followed and the Argentine flag flew over the Falklands “after 149 years of British occupation”.
Captain (not very) Sensible: Argentinian President Javier Milei claims the Falklands will one day return (Image: Getty)
President Javier Milei this year led nationwide commemorations of the failed 74-day attempt to seize the Falklands.
And it’s hardly surprising. His basket case country – which has one the world’s highest inflation rates and a history of economic incompetence – has been forced to implement austerity measures to address long-term issues like public overspending and exchange rate volatility.
But never mind all that…
In Argentina’s backwards-looking and warped world view the museum’s version of events shows pictures of smiling Argentine soldiers professionally marshalling British prisoners-of-war with their hands in the air at the start of the war.
It suggests that the verified figures of 225 fallen and 775 wounded UK troops is false.
A caption reads: “It is estimated the real figure could be close to 1,200, given that British military reports remain secret and will not be revealed until 2072, 90 years after the conflict.”
Visitor Steve Douglas, 65, from Wokingham, Berkshire, said: “It’s full of revisionist nonsense. The Argentine surrender is glossed over, and it’s our forces who are portrayed as untrustworthy aggressors.
“Most offensive of all was their suggestion that we had distorted our casualty numbers in some sort of UK-government inspired cover-up.”
Lord West of Spithead, former head of the Royal Navy, who served in the war as the commander of HMS Ardent, said: “Britain is not a country which covers up the numbers of people killed fighting in war. This is clearly nonsense and these sorts of claims serve nobody.”
And Jeff Williams, a former Royal Marine sergeant major who also served, added: “You can’t make a loss out of a win no matter how hard you try. This is a pathetic attempt to rewrite history. To be honest, I’m not surprised the Argentinian government is trying to convince people that the war was not a catastrophic failure for their country.
“Most offensive of all was their suggestion that we had distorted our casualty numbers in some sort of UK-government inspired cover-up.”
So the unequivocal message from veterans and visitors alike is loud and clear. The Falkland Islands are and always will be British - and you can stick your fabricated propaganda up your junta.
