“Things had completely deteriorated,” he said. “The 3rd
Artillery Group, for example, had very little ammunition – just eight pieces
of heavy weaponry. They didn’t even have projectiles left for the rockets.”
Before Maj Gen Moore’s arrival at Stanley, Gen Menéndez had spoken on the
phone with Galtieri, who wanted his troops to continue fighting, despite
successive defeats at the Battles of Mount Longdon, Wireless Ridge and Mount
Tumbledown.
“I had to repeat to him what our situation was,” Gen Menéndez said. “But
he didn’t want to understand. Galtieri put forward some interesting battle
theory, but the number of men didn’t matter. Tactically it was an
unsustainable war.”
When Galtieri explained that he could not offer Gen Menéndez – who he had made
governor of the Falklands after Argentina’s invasion on April 2 – any more
aerial or infantry support, the general’s decision was made.
“I ended the call,” Gen Menéndez said. “I was the
commander on the ground and I made myself responsible.” Argentine naval
captain Barry Hussey then swiftly informed Gen Menéndez that contact had
been made with the British, who offered a ceasefire in accordance with UN
Resolution 502.
Gen Menéndez told Gen Osvaldo García, the commander of operations based in
Argentine Patagonia, that he had accepted the offer, even though it would
likely anger Galtieri. García approved and Gen Menéndez set up a 4pm meeting
with the British.
“I wanted to meet at the Royal Marines’ Moody Brook barracks [to the
Northwest of Stanley] so the British wouldn’t enter the city: a final
precaution in case we decided to continue the war,” he said.
But the barracks had been destroyed by artillery fire and it was decided the
meeting place would be the Interior Ministry.
On returning to his residence to prepare, a moment of panic ensued when
Menéndez encountered two British military personnel.
“I didn’t know if they were officers or soldiers,” he said. “The
first reaction of my men was to engage their weapons. But, before a shot was
fired, we reminded them of the ceasefire.” Prior to making his way to
the ministry, where he would meet with British Colonel Michael Rose, Gen
Menéndez washed and shaved.
“I hadn’t slept for 36 hours,” he said. “I was so tired. I made
myself presentable, like a German general would.” When Col Rose arrived
for the encounter, he immediately proposed to Gen Menéndez that an agreement
be reached for the terms of surrender.
“I thought: ‘This is the end,'” he said. “I didn’t argue since
I knew my troops couldn’t give any more.” Around four hours later,
Major General Moore arrived at the ministry.
“We met in a corridor,” Gen Menéndez recalled. “Moore on
one side and me on the other. He said we had fought with great bravery and
that the surrender was necessary to avoid more unnecessary deaths.
“I told him the British had fought a good war. Then he instructed me to
sign the surrender document.” Gen Menéndez read the document, but was
strongly opposed to the word ‘unconditional’.
He told Moore that he had not agreed to an unconditional surrender. “The
terms have changed,” he told the general. “I won’t accept. If you
insist on this, Argentina will keep fighting.” The word was promptly
struck out.
Remembering the immediate aftermath of the surrender, Argentine war veteran
Miguel Savage said he was “marching like a cow to the abattoir” to
a final battle before officers told his regiment to return to Stanley.
“We saw soldiers hugging and crying in the harbour. At that moment I knew
it was all over.” “I had to do it for the troops,” Gen
Menéndez said. “But as a military officer, surrendering is
something you never want to think about. The other generals passed on the
hot potato. They left me there until the end.” Maj Gen Moore then
instructed Gen Menéndez to send his troops to the POW zone at the airport,
but the Argentine general requested they be allowed to remain in Stanley.
“They were in such a bad way,” he said. “So we marked an
imaginary line through the city.” The Argentines’ movements were
restricted to the east of the line while the British had to remain to the
west. “We set up military police barriers so the soldiers couldn’t mix.”
Maj Gen Moore also told Gen Menéndez he would have to sleep aboard HMS
Fearless, an order which he refused.
“I told him I couldn’t,” he said. “I wanted to stay with my
troops. But then the interpreter, a British naval captain, said I had no
choice. The command had come from London.” Gen Menéndez did, however,
negotiate for Argentine officers to keep their arms until the moment they
departed the Falklands, despite the fact his soldiers were obliged to hand
over theirs under the terms of surrender at assembly points in Stanley.
“It was a symbol of rank,” he said. “They were prisoners of
war, but they would carry their weapons in their hands.
“The British also accepted my request to allow all Argentine army units
to keep their flags.” In the years after the surrender, Menéndez was
branded a traitor by sections of the Argentine press, to which he reacted by
sending a letter to Maj Gen Moore – who passed away in 2007 – the only
exchange between the two after 1982.
“Moore was a gentleman, but I told him I was unhappy with what he had
said about me in certain publications,” Menéndez told The Daily
Telegraph this week.
“He responded to say things had obviously been distorted and that he
would stop talking to mendacious Argentine journalists.” Today, Gen
Menéndez – who faces long-standing accusations of mistreating Argentine
conscripts – believes Britain’s claim to the Falklands is an “invention”
and denies the islanders have the right to self-determination.
“In 1833, the British forcibly expelled an Argentine population and
declared the Malvinas their own,” he told this paper. “What right
do they have?”
Cristina Kirchner’s government has persistently asked the Coalition to respect
a 1965 UN resolution that calls for Argentina and Britain to negotiate
sovereignty of the islands. Last week, foreign office minister Jeremy Browne
– who will attend a ceremony today in the Falklands – rejected an invitation
to go to Buenos Aires.
“The British stance is a weak one and that’s why they refuse to talk,”
Gen Menéndez said.
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