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CANBERRA IN THE FALKLANDS PAGE 1
CANBERRA IN THE FALKLANDS PAGE 2
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Into The War Zone
After refueling in Sierra Leone, CANBERRA sailed to Ascension Island where the invasion force was
forming. Upon sailing, the ship came entirely under military control. However, Lane's role grew rather
than diminished. "I went with the senior naval officer everywhere to all of the different planning meetings to
see how we were going to get the ship into these places. This planning took a lot of time flying around in
helicopters and a lot of meetings. Many decisions had to be taken that were completely contrary to what I
had been trained up to that point."
As the task force moved south toward the Falklands, the military made full use of CANBERRA's
facilities. "CANBERRA had two restaurants. The first class restaurant was kept open for the officers.
You had regular service and the food was better than you would normally have [and there was] wine. The
other restaurant was used for everybody else. They got all their meals on pressed trays. But, there were
no complaints about the food. Different bars became pubs for different levels. Where we were fortunate
was that we had a full military band onboard. It could play anything from a full march to pop or disco
things. [In addition to entertainment by the band], they had beer night, quiz night, tugs of war and different
games on decks between the different divisions. They were trying to maintain pretty high morale.”
"I can remember having a [formal] dinner. I had dinner with quite a few senior officers that were
going to be involved in the landings, some of whom didn't come back."
The British plan for re-taking the Falklands envisioned that there would be an initial assault by the
troops traveling in CANBERRA and then at a subsequent point, these troops would be reinforced by the
troops traveling in QE2. Thus, the entire strategy was dependent upon these two ocean liners.
"Somebody realized as we were approaching the Falklands, that now we were within range of enemy
aircraft. With 4,000 troops onboard had the ship been hit, that [would have been] the end of the game.
So, they decided in the middle of the South Atlantic that we were going to transfer half these troops to
other ships. Fortunately, we managed to get a day when that was possible to do it. We transferred many
of the troops over to different landing craft. [However, the landing craft could only carry the troops for a
short time] because they didn't have the accommodations."
With the task force no in the war zone, there was "a lot of navigation without radar. Of course, there
were no lights either. So, you have got to occasionally flick it on to get a position and turn it off again.
You couldn't manage with it totally off. You just wanted to not have it on long enough so that somebody
could actually track it."
The Falklands consist of two large islands separated by a channel. The Argentineans expected that
the British would land near Port Stanley, the islands' main settlement located on the eastern side of East
Falkland Island. Accordingly, they had deployed the majority of their 10,000 man force in that vicinity.
The British had no intention of making a frontal assault against a numerically superior enemy in
fortified positions. Therefore, the plan was to land the troops on the western side of East Falkland and
then approach Port Stanley overland from behind. However, to do this the invasion force would have to
enter the channel between the two islands and remain in confined waters while the landings took place.
To reduce the task force's vulnerability to air attacks, the planners looked for a fjord-like landing area
- - a narrow inlet with steep mountains on either side. Such a place would afford the Argentine pilots
relatively little time to pick their targets and drop their bombs. However, "that meant anchoring the
CANBERRA in a situation where if the stern had swung around, it would have hit the beach. If you hit the
stern on the beach and damaged the propellers, you would be there forever. So, you were totally
dependent on the wind and, of course, that was completely contrary to anything the captain of the ship
would have ever been used to. The idea was, if necessary, we would get a warship to push the stern [to
prevent it from swinging]."
The Landing
In the darkness of 21 May, CANBERRA, the landing ships, ships carrying tanks and other equipment and
their Royal Navy escorts entered the channel and then sailed into an inlet called San Carlos Water. The
escorts bombarded Fanning Head, a hill overlooking San Carlos Water, which was known to be occupied
by Argentinean troops.
While the bombardment was going on, CANBERRA anchored and lowered its lifeboats to put the
troops ashore in the same manner it would have landed vacationers during a call on a Caribbean island.
"We put 4,000 troops ashore. None of them were injured getting to the beach. Quite a lot of them were
injured subsequently but they all made it to the beach."
The South Atlantic winter was rapidly closing in on the Falklands and the weather had been mostly
gray and stormy since the task force had arrived in the war zone. However, on 21 May, the day dawned
clear and beautiful. It was perfect flying weather.
Plans called for installing a surface-to-air missile battery on the top of Fanning Head. Once the area
was taken, the Army brought Blowpipe missiles to the top of the hill. However, the planners had failed to
consider that some time would be needed to calibrate the missiles. As a result, the ships were on their own.
"You have to picture a fjord and you are looking out the bridge window, and around this head came
a solitary aircraft. As soon as it came around, the warships that were shielding us attacked it and shot it
down. So, I thought 'That's good, if they carry on like that we will be fine."
"About an hour later, eight or nine enemy aircraft came in for attack. I guess that is the first time I
realized 'now we are in trouble. Here we are, stuck here in the middle of these rocks, there is nowhere to
go and these guys are trying to kill you.' They were flying very, very low and you could actually see the
pilots. If they came in low and fast, the Sea Wolf missiles and [other antiaircraft defenses] could not get
them."
However, "they hadn't primed their bombs properly [for] flying low like that. The bomb had to drop
a certain distance before the bomb would actually explode. So, many of them were not actually
detonating. They were putting holes in ships but not actually going off. Others, however, were actually
going off. HMS ARDEN, for example, was very close to us and I saw it hit numerous times in the stern.
She sank soon afterwards. All her survivors came to us."
"Another ship was the ANTRIM. It was hit and the bomb didn't go off. But, then they sent a team
to take the charge out of the bomb and it went off while they were attempting to defuse it."
"The air attack went on all day. On the bridge, the senior naval officer would watch the aircraft
coming in and would broadcast over the ship: 'Take cover, take cover, take cover.' The planes would
come in and there would be a lot of loud banging. We would run from standing out on the bridge wings
keeping a lookout to trying to lay down on the deck to take some kind of cover. All around the ship, there
were masses of tracers and everything else these guys had."
"By this stage, troops that were being hurt on the shore were coming to us. It was the first time I had
seen a triage. The doctors were standing there as these poor kids were coming off the helicopters - - This
guy goes this way, this guy goes that way, this guy has got a chance. One of the main ballrooms was being
used as the main operating theater. Other parts were also used for surgery so they had nets hanging
between where the different surgeons were operating. And that was all there was, just curtains. There
were not [operating] rooms in the usual sense."
"The Argentineans could not fly at night. So, that night once it became dark, we took the ship out to
safe water out of enemy aircraft range. We thanked our lucky stars that we had survived."
However, this did not end CANBERRA's time under fire. After landing her troops,
CANBERRA was summoned to rendezvous with QE2 at South Georgia, which was once again in British
hands. Early in the conflict, a British submarine had sunk the Argentinean cruiser BELGRANO, which
was the pride of the Argentinean Navy. Argentina had threatened to get revenge by sinking the most
famous British ship, the QE2, and had leased long range aircraft to seek her. The large and not very
maneuverable ship would be particularly vulnerable in the confined waters surrounding the Falklands.
Therefore, it was decided to transfer the troops that had been brought south on QE2 over to
CANBERRA. In exchange, the wounded and the survivors of the ships that had been sunk would go to
QE2. Accordingly, the exchange was made using the two ships' boats in an icy bay.
This meant that CANBERRA would have to enter San Carlos Water again. "That wasn't pleasant
because having survived it once, you didn't feel like going back in there again - - risking your life again. By
that time, it was known as Bomb Alley."
Once again, CANBERRA managed to land her troops without incident. However, the large
container ship ATLANTIC CONVEYOR, located about half a mile from CANBERRA was not so
lucky. "An Exocet seeks out the largest target. There was not much difference in size between the
CANBERRA and the ATLANTIC CONVEYOR,. The ATLANTIC CONVEYOR sank pretty quickly
with helicopters, Harrier jets, tanks and equipment onboard. It was a big loss."
"Having landed all the troops, we were sent off into a holding area between the Falklands and South
Georgia, out of enemy aircraft range. Every so often ships would come by and drop off casualties but for
a long time we were just going around in a big box of water."
Meanwhile, the troops that had been landed by CANBERRA were proceeding across East Falkland
Island and after some fierce engagements, the Argentinean troops laid down their arms.
Although the islands had been liberated, the Argentinean junta on the mainland refused to
acknowledge that the war was over. This left the British with a serious problem. They now had thousands
of prisoners and no practical means of taking care of them for an extended time. Accordingly, it was
decided to attempt to return them to Argentina. "We were tasked to take them back to Argentina while
the war was still on, which again shows you how pathetic the whole thing was. We were playing a sort of
chess game over here in the Falklands and meanwhile we are going to take some of the players back to
their homeland. We loaded them all up, put them in nice cabins, gave them showers, fed them and
everything else."
"As we were approaching [the mainland], an Argentinean warship came out to escort us - - and we
are still at war. They escorted us into the harbor. They put a curfew on the town. No one was allowed to
see [the disembarkation] and then they discharged all the prisoners. Then, the question was whether they
were going to let us out, which they did. It was all a matter of honor."
After returning to the Falklands to re-embark some of the British troops, CANBERRA sailed for
home. "When we went ashore [on the Falklands] there were just piles of ammunition, just stacks and
stacks of it, just like bonfires made of guns. You could take whatever you wanted. You could pick up a
magnum here, something else there. We all had these mementos. As we are coming up the English
Channel, the Deputy Captain made an announcement that British Customs are quite aware that you have
picked up mementos and you might be taken to prison if you are found coming ashore with weapons. It
would be a very serious offense. Soon all down the side of the ship there were guns being tossed over."
"We came home to a fantastic reception. We had about three and a half thousand men on board.
The [Southampton] docks were totally open to the public and there were masses and masses. It was a
lovely summers day and there were boats all over the place, tugs with flowers. Prince Charles flew onto
the ship and so I met Prince Charles."
"As we were approaching the docks, we suddenly realized that the ship had such a list to it caused by
all the men looking for their wives and girlfriends that [the ship would collide with the cranes that lined the
docks]. So, they had to order these men to get back on the other side. Of course, nobody was too keen
to go to the other side because their wives and girlfriends are down there. So, the guns came out. The
poor guys had gone through all this and now the military police orders them back to the other side of the
ship or else."
"Once we got home, there were street parties, all kinds of celebrations. Once you've been home,
reality sets in about what you have done and seen. Then, the reaction is quite bad for awhile. You would
have a lightning storm and you would be pulling mattresses over you on the floor. It makes you wonder
even now, quite how much that affected all of us. It was very quick, very intense. It wasn't long and
drawn out. There was a lot of carnage in a short time on both sides."
"It was very intense, very grey, not too many highpoints, really. Having said that, it is one of those
things you are glad to have been on for the experience and even more glad to have come back."
After refueling in Sierra Leone, CANBERRA sailed to Ascension Island where the invasion force was
forming. Upon sailing, the ship came entirely under military control. However, Lane's role grew rather
than diminished. "I went with the senior naval officer everywhere to all of the different planning meetings to
see how we were going to get the ship into these places. This planning took a lot of time flying around in
helicopters and a lot of meetings. Many decisions had to be taken that were completely contrary to what I
had been trained up to that point."
As the task force moved south toward the Falklands, the military made full use of CANBERRA's
facilities. "CANBERRA had two restaurants. The first class restaurant was kept open for the officers.
You had regular service and the food was better than you would normally have [and there was] wine. The
other restaurant was used for everybody else. They got all their meals on pressed trays. But, there were
no complaints about the food. Different bars became pubs for different levels. Where we were fortunate
was that we had a full military band onboard. It could play anything from a full march to pop or disco
things. [In addition to entertainment by the band], they had beer night, quiz night, tugs of war and different
games on decks between the different divisions. They were trying to maintain pretty high morale.”
"I can remember having a [formal] dinner. I had dinner with quite a few senior officers that were
going to be involved in the landings, some of whom didn't come back."
The British plan for re-taking the Falklands envisioned that there would be an initial assault by the
troops traveling in CANBERRA and then at a subsequent point, these troops would be reinforced by the
troops traveling in QE2. Thus, the entire strategy was dependent upon these two ocean liners.
"Somebody realized as we were approaching the Falklands, that now we were within range of enemy
aircraft. With 4,000 troops onboard had the ship been hit, that [would have been] the end of the game.
So, they decided in the middle of the South Atlantic that we were going to transfer half these troops to
other ships. Fortunately, we managed to get a day when that was possible to do it. We transferred many
of the troops over to different landing craft. [However, the landing craft could only carry the troops for a
short time] because they didn't have the accommodations."
With the task force no in the war zone, there was "a lot of navigation without radar. Of course, there
were no lights either. So, you have got to occasionally flick it on to get a position and turn it off again.
You couldn't manage with it totally off. You just wanted to not have it on long enough so that somebody
could actually track it."
The Falklands consist of two large islands separated by a channel. The Argentineans expected that
the British would land near Port Stanley, the islands' main settlement located on the eastern side of East
Falkland Island. Accordingly, they had deployed the majority of their 10,000 man force in that vicinity.
The British had no intention of making a frontal assault against a numerically superior enemy in
fortified positions. Therefore, the plan was to land the troops on the western side of East Falkland and
then approach Port Stanley overland from behind. However, to do this the invasion force would have to
enter the channel between the two islands and remain in confined waters while the landings took place.
To reduce the task force's vulnerability to air attacks, the planners looked for a fjord-like landing area
- - a narrow inlet with steep mountains on either side. Such a place would afford the Argentine pilots
relatively little time to pick their targets and drop their bombs. However, "that meant anchoring the
CANBERRA in a situation where if the stern had swung around, it would have hit the beach. If you hit the
stern on the beach and damaged the propellers, you would be there forever. So, you were totally
dependent on the wind and, of course, that was completely contrary to anything the captain of the ship
would have ever been used to. The idea was, if necessary, we would get a warship to push the stern [to
prevent it from swinging]."
The Landing
In the darkness of 21 May, CANBERRA, the landing ships, ships carrying tanks and other equipment and
their Royal Navy escorts entered the channel and then sailed into an inlet called San Carlos Water. The
escorts bombarded Fanning Head, a hill overlooking San Carlos Water, which was known to be occupied
by Argentinean troops.
While the bombardment was going on, CANBERRA anchored and lowered its lifeboats to put the
troops ashore in the same manner it would have landed vacationers during a call on a Caribbean island.
"We put 4,000 troops ashore. None of them were injured getting to the beach. Quite a lot of them were
injured subsequently but they all made it to the beach."
The South Atlantic winter was rapidly closing in on the Falklands and the weather had been mostly
gray and stormy since the task force had arrived in the war zone. However, on 21 May, the day dawned
clear and beautiful. It was perfect flying weather.
Plans called for installing a surface-to-air missile battery on the top of Fanning Head. Once the area
was taken, the Army brought Blowpipe missiles to the top of the hill. However, the planners had failed to
consider that some time would be needed to calibrate the missiles. As a result, the ships were on their own.
"You have to picture a fjord and you are looking out the bridge window, and around this head came
a solitary aircraft. As soon as it came around, the warships that were shielding us attacked it and shot it
down. So, I thought 'That's good, if they carry on like that we will be fine."
"About an hour later, eight or nine enemy aircraft came in for attack. I guess that is the first time I
realized 'now we are in trouble. Here we are, stuck here in the middle of these rocks, there is nowhere to
go and these guys are trying to kill you.' They were flying very, very low and you could actually see the
pilots. If they came in low and fast, the Sea Wolf missiles and [other antiaircraft defenses] could not get
them."
However, "they hadn't primed their bombs properly [for] flying low like that. The bomb had to drop
a certain distance before the bomb would actually explode. So, many of them were not actually
detonating. They were putting holes in ships but not actually going off. Others, however, were actually
going off. HMS ARDEN, for example, was very close to us and I saw it hit numerous times in the stern.
She sank soon afterwards. All her survivors came to us."
"Another ship was the ANTRIM. It was hit and the bomb didn't go off. But, then they sent a team
to take the charge out of the bomb and it went off while they were attempting to defuse it."
"The air attack went on all day. On the bridge, the senior naval officer would watch the aircraft
coming in and would broadcast over the ship: 'Take cover, take cover, take cover.' The planes would
come in and there would be a lot of loud banging. We would run from standing out on the bridge wings
keeping a lookout to trying to lay down on the deck to take some kind of cover. All around the ship, there
were masses of tracers and everything else these guys had."
"By this stage, troops that were being hurt on the shore were coming to us. It was the first time I had
seen a triage. The doctors were standing there as these poor kids were coming off the helicopters - - This
guy goes this way, this guy goes that way, this guy has got a chance. One of the main ballrooms was being
used as the main operating theater. Other parts were also used for surgery so they had nets hanging
between where the different surgeons were operating. And that was all there was, just curtains. There
were not [operating] rooms in the usual sense."
"The Argentineans could not fly at night. So, that night once it became dark, we took the ship out to
safe water out of enemy aircraft range. We thanked our lucky stars that we had survived."
However, this did not end CANBERRA's time under fire. After landing her troops,
CANBERRA was summoned to rendezvous with QE2 at South Georgia, which was once again in British
hands. Early in the conflict, a British submarine had sunk the Argentinean cruiser BELGRANO, which
was the pride of the Argentinean Navy. Argentina had threatened to get revenge by sinking the most
famous British ship, the QE2, and had leased long range aircraft to seek her. The large and not very
maneuverable ship would be particularly vulnerable in the confined waters surrounding the Falklands.
Therefore, it was decided to transfer the troops that had been brought south on QE2 over to
CANBERRA. In exchange, the wounded and the survivors of the ships that had been sunk would go to
QE2. Accordingly, the exchange was made using the two ships' boats in an icy bay.
This meant that CANBERRA would have to enter San Carlos Water again. "That wasn't pleasant
because having survived it once, you didn't feel like going back in there again - - risking your life again. By
that time, it was known as Bomb Alley."
Once again, CANBERRA managed to land her troops without incident. However, the large
container ship ATLANTIC CONVEYOR, located about half a mile from CANBERRA was not so
lucky. "An Exocet seeks out the largest target. There was not much difference in size between the
CANBERRA and the ATLANTIC CONVEYOR,. The ATLANTIC CONVEYOR sank pretty quickly
with helicopters, Harrier jets, tanks and equipment onboard. It was a big loss."
"Having landed all the troops, we were sent off into a holding area between the Falklands and South
Georgia, out of enemy aircraft range. Every so often ships would come by and drop off casualties but for
a long time we were just going around in a big box of water."
Meanwhile, the troops that had been landed by CANBERRA were proceeding across East Falkland
Island and after some fierce engagements, the Argentinean troops laid down their arms.
Although the islands had been liberated, the Argentinean junta on the mainland refused to
acknowledge that the war was over. This left the British with a serious problem. They now had thousands
of prisoners and no practical means of taking care of them for an extended time. Accordingly, it was
decided to attempt to return them to Argentina. "We were tasked to take them back to Argentina while
the war was still on, which again shows you how pathetic the whole thing was. We were playing a sort of
chess game over here in the Falklands and meanwhile we are going to take some of the players back to
their homeland. We loaded them all up, put them in nice cabins, gave them showers, fed them and
everything else."
"As we were approaching [the mainland], an Argentinean warship came out to escort us - - and we
are still at war. They escorted us into the harbor. They put a curfew on the town. No one was allowed to
see [the disembarkation] and then they discharged all the prisoners. Then, the question was whether they
were going to let us out, which they did. It was all a matter of honor."
After returning to the Falklands to re-embark some of the British troops, CANBERRA sailed for
home. "When we went ashore [on the Falklands] there were just piles of ammunition, just stacks and
stacks of it, just like bonfires made of guns. You could take whatever you wanted. You could pick up a
magnum here, something else there. We all had these mementos. As we are coming up the English
Channel, the Deputy Captain made an announcement that British Customs are quite aware that you have
picked up mementos and you might be taken to prison if you are found coming ashore with weapons. It
would be a very serious offense. Soon all down the side of the ship there were guns being tossed over."
"We came home to a fantastic reception. We had about three and a half thousand men on board.
The [Southampton] docks were totally open to the public and there were masses and masses. It was a
lovely summers day and there were boats all over the place, tugs with flowers. Prince Charles flew onto
the ship and so I met Prince Charles."
"As we were approaching the docks, we suddenly realized that the ship had such a list to it caused by
all the men looking for their wives and girlfriends that [the ship would collide with the cranes that lined the
docks]. So, they had to order these men to get back on the other side. Of course, nobody was too keen
to go to the other side because their wives and girlfriends are down there. So, the guns came out. The
poor guys had gone through all this and now the military police orders them back to the other side of the
ship or else."
"Once we got home, there were street parties, all kinds of celebrations. Once you've been home,
reality sets in about what you have done and seen. Then, the reaction is quite bad for awhile. You would
have a lightning storm and you would be pulling mattresses over you on the floor. It makes you wonder
even now, quite how much that affected all of us. It was very quick, very intense. It wasn't long and
drawn out. There was a lot of carnage in a short time on both sides."
"It was very intense, very grey, not too many highpoints, really. Having said that, it is one of those
things you are glad to have been on for the experience and even more glad to have come back."
CANBERRA IN THE
FALKLANDS
(CONTINUED)
FALKLANDS
(CONTINUED)