Argentine Falklands War troops 'tortured by their own side'

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Argentine soldiers were subjected to abuse and torture by their own superiors during the 1982 Falklands War against Britain, files released by Argentina's armed forces reveal.

They are the first official documents from the conflict to be made public and contain testimonies from soldiers who say they were poorly equipped and cold.

They say they were severely beaten for leaving the trenches to look for food.

The conflict over the islands cost the lives of more than 900 soldiers.

For years, war veterans have complained about the terrible conditions during the conflict, including lack of proper boots and coats, says the BBC's Ignacio de los Reyes in Buenos Aires.


The previously secret files describe mock executions and soldiers being tied up inside empty graves.

A lieutenant describes how another officer tied his hands and legs to this back and left him face down on the wet sand of a cold Falklands beach for eight hours.

A sergeant says he had to be operated on after being kicked in the testicles.

"These documents lift the veil on facts that were hidden for so many years by the armed forces," said Ernesto Alonso, from a veterans group in La Plata.

'Exercise of colonialism'
The Falklands War began in April 1982, when Argentine troops invaded the British overseas territory which Argentina calls the Malvinas.

A British task force was sent to the area and regained control of the islands in June. Three Falklands civilians and 255 British servicemen died during the conflict.

The number of Argentine dead is estimated at about 650.

Argentine defeat precipitated the end of the country's brutal military government, which was already facing serious economic problems and lack of popular support.

Despite widespread criticism in Argentina of the 1982 invasion, most Argentines continue to claim the islands as theirs.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has previously described British presence as "a blatant exercise of 19th-Century colonialism".

The British government says it will defend the self-determination of the islanders.

An overwhelming majority of Falkland residents voted in March 2013 to remain a British territory. About 2,900 people live on the islands.
 
The physical and psychological punishment, lack of food and adequate clothing for the cold austral, as well as the poor armament and disorganization, the troops became cannon fodder of sophisticated british military.

And not only corporal punishment. Malvinas fighters had to endure from the beginning poor conditions to which they were subjected by the superiors in charge of the military government had still decided to give course to war.
Young people, students and workers, belonging to classes punished, were forced to take up arms and do battle in a context of major disadvantages compared to the british army.
 
Gentleman, I hope you forgive me coming to this thread rather late but I'm new here and wanted to comment on this.

The battle for the Falklands/Malvinas has always been of particular interest to me ever since watching it unfold on the news as a 13 year old and then attending the victory parade in London in support of our Armed Forces.

I recommend watching "An Ungentlemanly Act" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ungentlemanly-Act-DVD-Ian-Richardson/dp/B0000A1M2J
as well as reading "The Fight For The Malvinas" http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Fight-Malvinas-Martin-Middlebrook/dp/0140107673
if you have not already done so.
 
Also worth watching is Tumbledown on Youtube, a BBC tv play/film about Robert Lawrence, a lieutenant in the Scots Guards. He was shot in the head during the attack on Mount Tumbledown, but survived. This is a link to the final part of the film - the attack on Tumbledown
but all of the film is Youtube (unfortunately in 15 min sections) and it's worth watching it all in sequence.
 
Remember doing an undergrad essay on this back in my Uni days (from the British perspective) but one bit of pub trivia that took me by surprise was the number of British Soldiers that would discard their own weapons for the standard Argentine small arms (G3's?) which were seen as far superior upon landing on the islands.
 
From what I remember there were instances of British troops swapping their SLR's (FN FAL) for the Argentine version which although essentially being the same weapon it had the option of firing on full automatic which the British version could not, only being able to fire on semi-automatic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_FAL#Argentina

There were also instances of swapping their boots for the Argentine issue boot, they were simply better. The British Issue boot at the time was a basic ankle boot and completely unsuitable to the conditions.

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30101042
 
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