“It was a damn close-run thing”
— Major-General Moore, commander of the British land forces in the South Atlantic
In 1982, the average Briton didn’t know the Falkland Islands existed, let alone their status as a disputed British territory just off the coast of Argentina. That changed when the Argentinians invaded the islands and overwhelmed the small defending force.
Both nations claimed the islands were theirs, but now Argentina thought the British would give them up without a fight.
They were wrong.