



The Falklands war
2nd April to 14th June 1982
Fred Bachofner
Author: Patrick Branly
Publisher: Valiant, UK
ISBN: 978-1-912932-29-0
Softcover, published: 2024
Pages: 80
Price: 17,95 euro.
Following a long-standing dispute over the sovereignty of the Malvinas / Falkland Islands, war officially broke out 42 years ago on 2nd April 1982 when Argentine forces invaded the Islands. In response the British sent a task force to counter the invasion and fight to recapture the territory. The battle that followed was a challenge for both sides. For the British, the challenge was deploying a force so far from home with limited land platforms to supply the effort. For the Argentineans, despite occupying the Islands, only one airfield out of the three (Stanley) was paved but it still wasn't long enough to operate the fast jets from, so they had to carry out their attacks from the Argentine mainland
The British only had 42 Harriers to counter the attacking aircraft which comprised approximately 50 air superiority fighters and 70 attack aircraft. Initial attacks on Stanley were carried out by Vulcan bombers in the historic Black Buck raids successfully completing 8000-mile round trip missions from the British airfield at Ascension. The war caught the world by surprise and indeed created some challenging political situations where some nations officially backed Britain's interests, but were none the less committed to supporting the Argentineans with the technology that they had supplied to them. Initial attacks on British ships were carried out by A-4 Skyhawks, Mirage III's, Canberra's as well is Israeli supplied Daggers. The initial Daggers fared well boosting pilot confidence in the aircrafts ability to survive modern combat but later a Canberra and a Dagger were lost to defending Sea Harriers. On a subsequent combat between Harriers and Mirage III's one Mirage was shot down and another was damaged. Short of fuel, it tried to land at the Argentinian occupied Stanley airfield but was shot down by friendly fire. Although night combat air patrols were performed by the Harriers, they were deemed too valuable during the day role to make a major commitment during the dark hours. Following the initial Canberra loss, subsequent missions for this type of aircraft were only performed by night. The A-4's and Daggers continued in the Strike Role whereas the Mirage was used as decoys to lure the Harriers away from the attack aircraft. Lack of A-A missiles and refuelling capabilities limited it's potential other than in this role. After a successful recapture of South Georgia by British forces, the full effort was turned to the Falklands. 74 days after the invasion by Argentinian forces, the islands were recaptured and the Argentinian forces surrendered. The conflict cost the lives of 649 Argentineans military personnel, 255 British and 3 civilian islanders.
I had just bought the first AZTEC aircraft decal set (D48048) about the "War for the Malvinas/Falklands part 1" when I was pleasantly surprised with this edition of Valiant. This 80-page book deals with the historical aspects of the fighting in the air and at sea in and above the Falklands between April 2 and June 14, 1982, although it should be noted that the book contains almost exclusively historical photos of British equipment and that the historical claims for the islands are only told from a British perspective. For the sake of completeness, it would have been interesting to see more historical photos of Argentine equipment and to also tell the history of the Argentine claims to the islands in order to improve historical research.
Contents include:
• Historical narrative by Patrick Branly
• Numerous period images
• Colour profiles by Richard J Caruana
• Specially commissioned kit builds:
- 1/72nd Douglas A-4B/P Skyhawk (Airfix) by Libor Jekl
- 1/72nd Westland Wessex HU.5 (Italeri) by Libor Jekl
- 1/72nd Dassault Mirage IIIEA (Modelsvit) by Libor Jekl
- 1/48th Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS.1 (Tamiya) by Steve A Evans
- 1/48th IA-58 Pucará (Kinetic) by Steve A Evans
- 1/48th Mirage IIIEBR/IIIEA/IAI M5 Dagger (Kinetic) by Steve A Evans
The great aircraft colour profiles by Richard J. Caruana are divided into two sections. A British and an Argentinian. A few small corrections and additions to these profiles are in order. One of the profiles shows an Argentine C-130 with a MER and bombs, but the caption does not describe that this FAA C-130 took part in hostilities as a bomber, targeting supply ships far out in the Atlantic Ocean on their way south. Great work by Richard Caruana regarding the profile (and about his research to capture the role of the C-130 bomber), but unfortunately the caption has left out one of the most interesting and unusual details of the profile. One minor flaw is the Argentine Army's CH-47 Chinook with the word "Ejertico" on the side, instead of "Ejercito" (i.e., the "c" and "t" are swapped).
Of the Argentine Skyhawks, there are two colour profiles that are historically questioned given the period of the war. One shows an FAA A-4C with a green/broken camouflage, the other is an Argentine Marine A-4Q with a green/light brown camouflage. Those camouflages are correct, because there is ample evidence that the planes had those schedules shortly after the end of the conflict. But it is not entirely clear whether the aircraft also had those camouflage schemes during the conflict. Despite the potential 'timing' issue – which as far as I know has somehow not been proven – they are fantastic profiles of Richard Caruana.
The next section, the model building descriptions contain great photos and instructions, cover the strengths and weaknesses of each model and highlight how problem areas can be avoided or solved, or how the model can be improved. The Modelsvit 1/72 Mirage only shows finished model photos, there is no story. All six descriptions are excellent and inspiring.
Conclusion
In summary, this book presents a large collection of photos from the time (mostly of British equipment), some photos of Argentinian equipment (mostly from after the conflict and clearly stated as such), a fantastic selection of colour profiles for both Argentinian and British aircraft plus 6 modelbuilding projects. It is a very good book about the Falklands War from a British point of view. The modeller is not neglected either.
The authors admit that from a British point of view, it was impossible to highlight all aspects of the conflict. This is especially true for the Argentine data. Highly recommended for the modeller and the history lover.
Thanks to Valiant Publications for the review copy
Click on the photos below to see originals.