Questionnaire For All Towing Risks: Fill & Download for Free

Falklands secret: when France said enough to Margaret Thatcher"Alló, Monsieur President, "was Margaret Thatcher's greeting to François Mitterrand when answering his telephone call at nightfall on Saturday, April 3, 1982." I am calling you to express my solidarity. I do not want you to think that France, as a close friend and neighbor, is not with you, "the French president replied.After the British Prime Minister thanked her for the communication and commented on the difficult time her country was going through, Mitterrand said: "I want you to know that if there is anything we can do to help, we would like to do it. Of course, I know that Britain is big enough to find its own solutions to this problem. But it is important for you to know that others share its opposition to this type of aggression. "The French offer of help was like music to Thatcher's ears. This seemed to be a promising first step in the relationship between the two countries during the Malvinas conflict. France was a supplier of arms to the Argentine military regime, and military intelligence was eager to obtain as much information as possible.In her memoir The Downing Street Years, Margaret Thatcher recalled this conversation: "I was especially grateful to President Mitterrand who, along with the leaders of the Old Commonwealth, was among the stalwarts of our friends and who telephoned me personally on Saturday to pledge his support. . (…) I never forgot the debt we owed him for his personal support on this occasion and during the Falklands crisis. "A few years after the conflict ended, the then British Defense Minister, John Nott, described in his book Here Today, Gone Tomorrow how that support would materialize: "In many ways, Mitterrand and the French were our greatest In previous years we had equipped the Argentine Navy with destroyers, while the French had supplied them with Mirage and Super Etendard planes. The ships, especially the Belgrano, and the planes were equipped with modern Exocet missiles. " (Author's note: the cruiser ARA General Belgrano did not have Exocet missiles, but in a deception action in 1978 wooden drawers had been installed simulating the launchers of these missiles).In his June 30, 1982 report to the Foreign Office on France's attitude towards the Malvinas issue, the British ambassador in Paris, John Fretwell, noted: "The initial reaction of the French government was admirable. Mitterrand immediately ordered full support to Great Britain, an order that translated into French aid to establish the arms embargo and on trade from the European Community, and French support for Resolution 502. We received valuable practical information from the French armed forces related to the performance of French weapons systems in service with Argentine forces. Mitterrand deserves substantial credit for this reaction. I doubt if Giscard (or Chirac) would have responded so well. "President Mitterrand greeting Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on an official visit to FranceIt did not take long since the conversation between the leaders for the French Defense Minister, Charles Hernú, acting on Mitterrand's express instructions, got in touch with his British colleague to make a Super Etendard and a Mirage available, so that the Royal Air Force pilots could train and obtain valuable information while the Task Force ships headed towards the South Atlantic. The British eagerly awaited these trainings, as well as all the detailed technical information on the Exocet missile.On April 7 in the afternoon, one of the military attachés at the British Embassy in Paris was received in person by Hernú, who said that "we will do everything we can to help them with information since we are on their side", ratifying the commitment assumed by Mitterrand. Following this introduction, the British officer was taken to another office by two senior civil servants and invited to ask questions. Textually they were the following:A. Could the French give us the full list of military sales to Argentina and specify any modifications / limitations imposed on the systems?B. How many Super Etendards are modified to carry the AM-39; How many missiles do they have and what is their operational status?C. Do the Argentines have Crotale and / or Roland, and if so, how many systems and missiles?D. Radius of action of the Mirage 3 and 5, armament capacity, attack navigation system, probable index of operation, consumption of spare parts and known limitations, and aptitude of the Argentine pilots if they were trained by the French.At the end of the interview, the officials emphasized that their government supported "les Anglais" and that the answers would be ready for the following day at 7:00 p.m. The British officer stressed that all the information provided would be treated with the utmost discretion and that its source would not be revealed.Message of April 7, 1982 from the Defense Military Attaché at the British embassy in France, addressed to the Ministry of Defense, reporting the meeting where information was requested on weapons supplied to ArgentinaThat same day, the French Foreign Minister, Claude Cheysson, obtained the ratification and support of the Council of Ministers for the decision to impose an embargo on the supply of arms to Argentina, adopted immediately after the invasion and that was applied especially to contracts in execution course in relation to airplanes and missiles.On April 9, Cheysson telephoned his British counterpart, Francis Pym, to express his solidarity with the British and to let him know that he would be available at any time if they needed to call him. Pym appreciated the support received from the French, especially mentioning the Prime Minister's gratitude for the call she had received from President Mitterrand on April 3.On the basis of a coordinated exercise prior to the Argentine military operation over the Malvinas, but which was now taking on vital importance, the meeting was held between the aircraft of both countries. British crews of the 1st Fighter Squadron could train against the types of aircraft they would likely face in a few days. The Armée de l'Air sent two Mirage III BE aircraft to Coningsby Military Air Base from Dijon-Longvic on the morning of April 22. That day and the next, the two-seater Mirages carried out several missions against the GR3 Harriers, while three British Sea Harrier pilots from Naval Air Squadron 809 managed to fly, in turns, in the back seat of one of the Mirages. At least this gave them an opportunity to assess the Mirage's combat capabilities before coming face-to-face with it in the South Atlantic. Super Etendard planes from the French Aéronavale were also involved in the training, but they did not land in the UK, to avoid prying eyes noticing their presence.The relationship begins to strainEverything seemed to be in order between the two countries. Information flowed, exercises were carried out, trade and arms embargoes were maintained. However, a few minutes after 11 a.m. on May 4, an event would occur that would change the history and tactics of air-naval warfare. An Exocet missile struck the starboard side of the destroyer HMS Sheffield, causing it to sink a few days later as it was towed into safer waters.The French had assured the British that on April 2 their technicians received the instruction to suspend aid to Argentina, and that the Super Etendard-Exocet weapons system was not operational. In Great Britain, members of Parliament and some journalistic media began to raise doubts about the French attitude and loyalty, beginning the first resentments in the relationship.With that the inevitable happened. Information began to leak to newspapers on both sides of the English Channel.The French Defense Ministry's cabinet adviser, François Heisbourg, complained to the British naval attaché on the journalistic report of The Mail on Sunday of May 23, entitled "British pilots tested enemy aircraft", detailing French military aid to the United Kingdom. He insisted that the article cited that the information came from "a high-level source in the British Ministry of Defense", and that France was likely to have a storm with this.On the other hand, with the British actions in the South Georgia Islands at the end of April, it emerged that the frigate Lieutenant Alfredo Astiz had been taken prisoner. Immediately after the news was known, the French asked the British government for his extradition to make him appear in trials for his participation in the disappearance of the nuns Alice Domon and Lèonie Duquet. However, from the outset, the British assumed that they could not comply with the French request without violating the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war, so they decided to delay their response as long as possible.Cover of the Letter Rogatory delivered by Judge Philippe Texier to the British Government with the interrogation of Alfredo Astiz in relation to the illegal arrest and kidnapping of people with French nuns as victimsFrance insisted on requiring the delivery of the prisoner, so the delay in obtaining a concrete response only managed to further strain the relationship that was beginning to walk down a critical path. Finally, they had to settle for sending a questionnaire for the prisoner to be questioned by the British military police at the Sussex barracks.Peru enters the sceneAlthough the French had imposed an embargo on the delivery of Exocet missiles to Argentina, the British carried out an immense deployment of intelligence and espionage on a world scale aimed at preventing more missiles from reaching Argentine hands. Peru had a firm purchase order for AM 39 Exocet missiles pending delivery, and was now demanding their delivery from the factory.On May 13, the Defense Attaché at the British Embassy in Paris informed the Ministry of Defense, in response to a request the day before, that it had confirmed with Minister Hernú's cabinet that the Peruvian government had rented a plane to pick up at Chateauroux ordered four AM 39 missiles ready for delivery.Ministry officials confirmed that they had managed to stop the shipment, but asked how long the conflict was estimated to last, as they felt unable to delay delivery any longer or cancel it permanently. They argued that they would lose credibility as arms suppliers and that they risked a possible political tightening by showing that they did not trust Peru. Although the end-user certificates prevented the transfer of the missiles to other countries, these officials sought to justify that the Peruvian government knew well that if they did not know the conditions of the certificate they would risk a complete suspension of weapons delivery in the future. In addition, they ventured that with a Peruvian Secretary General in the United Nations, there would be no possibility for them to pass them on to the Argentines without compromising their person.In any case, they implied that the missiles would be sent by sea and that this would only be at the end of May, which clearly justified the question about the duration of the conflict.Meanwhile, on May 25, the Exocet would claim a new victory in the South Atlantic. Two missiles hit the container ship Atlantic Conveyor, causing the biggest logistical disaster of the campaign for the British. And the prospect of Argentina receiving more French missiles through Peru was unacceptable to Margaret Thatcher.A new call from MitterrandOn May 29, President Mitterrand telephoned the Prime Minister to discuss the problem of France's contract to supply Exocet missiles to Peru. He said that he had delayed the matter as long as he had promised and that a Peruvian ship had recently arrived in France to receive the missiles but had been fired empty. Now Peru was protesting to France for the breach of a signed contract, and anticipated that another ship would arrive next Tuesday.The Prime Minister asked if there was a condition in the contract that the missiles were not passed on to third countries. Mitterrand confirmed that this was the case and that naturally France would follow up. Thatcher replied that she had good reason to believe that Peru was offering extensive aid to Argentina and that it would be a very serious matter if the Exocets were delivered to Argentina via Peru. Mitterrand said he had little faith that Peru would observe the transfer ban.Mitterrand, for his part, went on to explain about the French problem with the breach of a contract and suggested that it would be several days before the missiles could be used against the British, assuming that the Peruvians transferred them to them. He insisted on having an idea of ​​how soon he could take Port Stanley, hoping that this would be the end of hostilities and that he wanted - if possible - to withhold delivery until then.It was then that the tone of the conversation changed. The Prime Minister expressed her great concern about the issue and that since they were speaking on an open line, she said that she preferred to send the President a message by other means.After the conversation, Margaret Thatcher discussed the issue with several of her cabinet colleagues and with the Chief of Defense Staff. All agreed that it was essential that the missiles be held for a longer period.It was then that it was decided to send a message to Paris to Ambassador Fretwell to deliver urgently to Pierre Bérégovoy, Secretary General of the Presidency, with the request that she immediately contact Mitterrand's knowledge. The Prime Minister had decided that her message should be strong in order to convince the president that the missiles should not leave France. The text was as follows:Dear Mr. President:1. You may have realized how seriously concerned I was about your phone call about the possible delivery of Exocet missiles to Peru. This afternoon I discussed the matter with my Cabinet colleagues most closely involved in the Falkland Islands dispute and with the Chief of Defense Staff.2. I must tell you that everyone was dismayed at the prospect of France delivering these missiles to Peru when, as you acknowledged, there can be no doubt that Peru will transfer them to Argentina. You will have seen since we talked about the resolution adopted in the Organization of American States, which specifically requires the States parties to provide the Argentine Republic with the support that each one considers appropriate to assist it in this serious situation. Peru would take it as a complete justification to pass the Exocets that you propose to deliver. They have already been employed with deadly effect against our ships.3. I understand the problem you are facing in relation to the contract with Peru, but I must ask you with all the emphasis and urgency within my reach, to find a means to delay the departure of these missiles from France for at least one month. Naturally, we would prefer that they not be delivered, but the next few weeks are going to be particularly crucial: we cannot be sure how fast operations to Port Stanley will be, or whether Argentina will accept a full ceasefire, even if they are forced to withdraw from the Falklands.4. I was very reassured when you told me in No. 10 that you had decided that the fulfillment of the Exocet contract would be delayed as long as necessary and, as you know, we have been very encouraged by the unconditional support of France both in public and in private. If this were known, as it surely will be, that now France is delivering weapons to Peru that will surely be passed on to Argentina to use against us, an ally of France, this would have a devastating effect on the relationship between our two countries. In truth, it would have a disastrous effect on the entire alliance. This is the last thing either of us would wish for. Consequently, I very much hope that for the moment you can find some way to keep these missiles in France.With best wishes, Margaret Thatcher.The message was delivered immediately, and Thatcher's harsh warning got Mitterrand to manage to delay the delivery of the missiles to Peru until July.Training for defense of the "Falklands"Produced the Argentine surrender in Argentine Port, the British accelerated the planning of the defense measures of the islands before the refusal of the formal declaration of the cessation of hostilities. Among these measures was the repair and extension of the air base runway to allow the operation of the F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers. These aircraft had been deployed to the island of Ascension, and now awaited the completion of the works in Malvinas to begin their deployment.The Argentine threat was still latent, and the Royal Air Force foresaw the need to reissue the training with French planes, this time for the Phantom pilots.On June 23, a request was raised to the Ministry of Defense with the idea of ​​qualifying a group of 16 pilots at Coningsby air base, with a minimum of 8 sorties, ideally 16, for each type of aircraft. The aircraft should be representative of those of the first line with the same radar signature and capabilities of the Argentine Air Force aircraft in the theater. In the Foreign Office consultation, the Defense Ministry requested "opinion on the political implications of these proposals, as the French could still be somewhat sensitive as a result of the note in The Mail on Sunday about their assistance in providing training for the Harriers. ".On July 3, the British Defense Attaché in Paris contacted General Bernard Capillon, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force to inquire "if it was possible to prepare an F4 detachment against Mirage / Super Etendard in the near future to air combat training ". The French general's response was encouraging, "but it should have political approval", and that he would have to apply to the Aéronavale for the Super Etendard, but that he considered there would be no problems to fix it.Perhaps by simple coincidence, or fulfilling Thatcher's omen that it would be publicly known if France delivered arms, while the delivery of the Exocet missiles to Peru was prepared, on July 25 the Sunday Times published a report by Isabel Hilton in It was stated that French experts continued to show Argentines how to use Exocet missiles even after the conflict began.The news hit public opinion hard and angered the French authorities. The report revealed that a team of nine French technicians from Dassault and Aérospatiale had assisted the Argentine Navy to prepare the Super Etendards for combat, collaborating and supervising the readiness of the Exocet missiles. More embarrassing was the mention that the president of Aérospatiale was General Jacques Mitterrand, brother of the president of France. "I am sure that Mr. Mitterrand will never have told Mrs. Thatcher, but in the bottom of her heart she must have been very, very happy," an Argentine naval officer told the British journalist."French team helped to adjust the killer Exocet", Report published by "The Sunday Times" on July 25, 1982, which provoked the fury of the FrenchIn a July 26 radio interview with Geoffrey Pattie, Under Secretary of State for Defense, about the Exocet controversy, journalist Chris Lowe posed a series of questions whose responses by the official compromised the French.Pattie said on the air that the French "sent planes for our Harriers to train against them before the Task Force left because we were not familiar, particularly with one of the two types of aircraft that the Argentines had. (...) Well, no. we were particularly familiar, in particular, with the Super Etendard, and the French Air Force was prepared to provide us with one of these aircraft to allow us to familiarize ourselves with the performance of that aircraft, so that our pilots knew exactly what to do and what not to do and, how I mean, that's the kind of activity one might expect from a friend and ally. " When asked if the French had worked for both sides, Pattie responded evasively, but without denying the information: "Well, those are… those are their words, not mine. I mean, I don't… ah… I repeat that the French government has stated its position. They refused to send any more weapons to Argentina or supply any personnel. If there were any people in Argentina who remained there, I am not in a position to say so. "It was then that Heisbourg, an adviser to the French defense minister, told one of the British military attachés in Paris that Hernú had been shocked by Mr. Pattie's recent remarks about French assistance to the Royal Air Force during the Malvinas crisis and considered it regrettable that a confidential topic had been mentioned publicly.Heisbourg said he hoped the Sunday Times affair would now be closed and that the investigation in France had now ended. Even though his government wanted to turn the page on the episode, French arms manufacturers had been singled out as the culprits, who felt they had been unfairly accused. The French official warned his interlocutor that the committed industrialists claimed to have elements that, if they were known, would divert the blame elsewhere.They privately alleged that during the conflict, an Italian firm that manufactured under license from a British company had supplied spare parts for the ejector seats of the Argentine Mirages; that a Rolls Royce team had already returned to Argentina to discuss the sale of aircraft turbines; and that the Argentine procurement mission posted from London had been established in Hamburg and was busy negotiating with German arms companies. There was considerable resentment in the French arms industry over what was seen as petty treatment by the British press after all the efforts made.The Sunday Times struck again. On August 1, it published a new report pointing out the omissions and doubts that remained after the denial of the French government, and that this did nothing more than confirm the original report. Under the title "Smokescreen in Paris" the newspaper editorial noted: "The official French statement on the report does not actually turn out to be a negative. Instead, it resorts to insults, using phrases such as 'wrong' and 'biased' , without indicating the supposed errors and prejudices. The French authorities should have acted with better elegance if they had admitted in them duplicity or incompetence. Those are the only two conclusions to draw ".But patience had a limit. The French Defense Minister had decided to postpone the training with planes from both countries without date.On August 4, the Deputy Chief of the French Defense General Staff, Air General Jean Paul Arbelet, personally visited the Defense Attaché at the embassy in Paris to explain the decision taken by Hernú. It was directly motivated by The Sunday Times saga of articles on French aid to Argentines and the failure of the British government to deny the claims contained therein.Arbelet explained that Hernu was very upset with Mr. Pattie's statements revealing that the Super Etendards had been available for training with the British Harriers prior to their departure to rejoin the Task Force. Hernú saw it as a breach of trust and a deliberate attempt to compromise France's arms trade with South America.Ambassador Fretwell sent his suggestion to the Foreign Office: "I'm not sure we can to persuade Hernú to change his mind after he has formally communicated his decision to us through the Defense Attaché, but you could consider with the Ministry of Defense if a ministerial message could be sent explaining again the context in which Mr. Pattie spoke and expressing the hope that air combat training can be re-established at an early date. "Air Commodore JMA Parker, Defense and Air Attaché at the British Embassy in Paris, sent a copy of the letter delivered by General Arbelet confirming the indefinite postponement of the exercise, noting that "the situation is sensitive at this time and I consider that it will not subside until it is too late to conduct this exercise before the squadron departs for the South Atlantic.In the Ministry of Defense, Secretary RJ Harding concluded on August 6 that "this is a peculiar French reaction to the situation and that nothing will be obtained by continuing the discussion of the matter. In these circumstances, disappointing as it turns out, I think we should stop let the subject rest for a while. "A special relationship about to breakIn his report on "France's Action on the Falklands", Ambassador John Fretwell noted that "the greatest pressure on the government to break ranks with the UK came from the arms industry lobby. There must have been pressure from other sectors as well. due to the importance of arms sales in France's balance of payments ", and that in order to assess France's attitude during the conflict" we must also take into account that at the time of greatest British concern during the crisis of the Falklands, Mitterrand chose to go against us somewhat ruthlessly in the Community, on the issue of farm prices and the budget; and he kept threatening us gratuitously with a crisis over the nature of British involvement. So without having to be rude, we should be on guard against the French taking undue advantage of our gratitude for the support they extended to us. "Perhaps of greater relevance, was his assessment of the French position on the sovereignty of the islands: "The French do not accept the British claim on the Falklands. It is likely that they will again ask us to negotiate with Argentina if a stable government arises there. Probably not They will be convinced by the arguments that we advance to justify our position on sovereignty, but it could respond to the warnings about the danger of undermining long-standing territorial agreements and the simple argument that we assume that the French do not expect us to tell them what to do with their overseas possessions. "The relationship between Great Britain and France during the conflict, although it seemed to be optimal in April, progressively deteriorated as the Super Etendard – Exocet pairing began to operate. With the sinking of the destroyer HMS Sheffield, the misgivings that persisted even after the conflict began, with the British pressuring the French government to suspend deliveries of missiles, first to Peru, and then to Argentina, after lifting the arms embargo. France ended up frustrating those wishes, complying - albeit belatedly - with the signed contracts.Despite British protests, nine Super Etendard aircraft were secretly embarked at the port of Saint-Nazaire, while a shipment of five Exocet missiles flew by air to its destination in Argentina on the night of 20/21 November 1982. .The French did so with great discretion in order to "avoid British interference."