Customer Reviews

Falklands Commando

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has to be the definitive work on soldiering in the falklands war, by a rather unusual soldier.

"Falklands Commando" is Captain Hugh McManners' well-written memoire of his service as a commando forward observer with the British Army in the short, fiercely contested 1982 war with Argentina over the remote Falkland Islands.

The sudden Argentine invasion of the Falklands took Britain by surprise. McManners captures the controlled chaos of the departure of an expeditionary force to the South Atlantic to retake the islands. At sea, his small party had limited opportunities to train and prepare aboard over-crowded ships. Once off the Falklands, horrendous weather, difficult terrain, and the Argentine military itself created additional challenges to getting ashore and coming to grips with the enemy.

With more than a little understated humor and much fascinating personal detail, McManners describes the operations ashore, as his team leap-frogged across the islands, calling in naval gunfire in support of special operations forces. His narrative columinates with the British Army in command of the heights above Port Stanley and the Argentine military hopelessly trapped.

The Falkslands War is a long way back in the rear view mirror, but "Falklands Commando" has plenty to offer in the way of lessons learned for war on an austere budget in a remote location. It is highly recommended to students of expeditionary warfare.