Whist I am on line I should mention that we celebrated Battle Day in London at The Cenotaph on 8th December 2012. Once again we were fortunate with the weather and the sun shone as we gathered at The Cenotaph to remember all who had given their lives in the many battles in the South Atlantic in both World Wars and the 1982 Conflict.

Rear Admiral Lambert, Naval Hydrographer, lays the wreath on behalf of the Armed Services

 

Zoran Zuvic laid a wreath for the Falkland Islands Defence Force

 

Following the ceremony members went to the Union Jack Club in Waterloo for the Annual General Meeting of the FIA. After the formal business was over the Hunter-Christie Memorial Prize for the Student of the Year was awarded to Sonia Arkhipkina by Mrs Merle Christe

Falkland Islands MLA Jan Cheek addressed the members with an update on the present situation in the Islands.

Andrew Rosindell MP, Secretary of the UK/FI All Party Parliamentary Group brought greetings from both Houses of Parliament and presented a picture of HM the Queen to the FIA to mark Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee.

Andrew Rosindell MP with members of the FIA Executive Committee



Haven't written anything for a while but must mention the new booklet published by Falkland Islands Government - Our Islands Our History. Not available yet in hardback but the pdf is available from the FIG website, to go to the website click here.

An attractive and informative booklet it is intended as a companion to the booklet Our Islands Our Home which was published last summer 2012 and which, if you haven't seen a copy, can be downloaded from the same FIG website.

Have just received an email from Ivan Milburn who has written an book entitled "Falklands War - Get STUFT" which is described as 'a sailor's diary from the Falklands War 1982, telling the truth with tongue-in-cheek humour and charts the voyage taken by the RMS St Helena (a ship taken up from trade hence STUFT in the title). She supported HMS Brecon and HMS Ledbury in minehunting/sweeping and other ordnance clearance, including diving on the wrecks of sunken warships.

My shelf of books from the 1982 Conflict is already groaning but this may be a worthy addition - available from Amazon and other booksellers. Paperback 248 pages. My copy has been ordered.

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A Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Paddy Vincent will be held at 11am on Thursday, October 18th, at St Margaret’s Church, Lothbury, London EC2R 7HH, and afterwards at the Furniture Makers’ Hall, 12 Austin Friars, London EC2N 2HE.

A recent letter from Annabelle Spencer (see earlier post) reports that she was sorry about the cancellation of the 2012 Falkland Islands Exhibition at Fairfield Halls, Croydon due to ill health.

She goes on to reminds us that the only Falkland Islands Shop outside the Islands can be found in Wells, Somerset at Falkland House, 3 Tucker Street. The shop, which was opened by Sir Rex Hunt CMG in 1987, has everything that would have been at the Croydon Exhibition. Phone Annabelle on 01749 672357 if you are going to visit. Her last comment was "ill health sounds so 'dead' to me and I am not!"

Pictured here is the late Captain Vincent CBE RN (retired) (see last post) with Robin Lee on Narrows Island, Port Howard (photo Jim McAdam)

I have just heard that Captain P.M.C. (Paddy) Vincent CBE, RN (Retired) passed away on August 23, 2012 at the age of 87. He was born in the Falkland Islands and his father died at sea as the family were travelling to the UK for home leave. After a lifetime in the Royal Navy he worked in London. A long time member of the Association he reguarly acted as Parade Marshall at the Battle Day Ceremony at the Cenotaph in London. He was also active in the UK Falkland Islands Trust as a Trustee from 1993 and served as its Chairman from 1997 to 2001. He was also one time Chairman of the Burma Star Association. A service of thanksgiving is planned for October but details are not confirmed as yet. A full obituary will appear in due course in Penguin News and in the FIA Newsletter. Unfortunately the October 2012 edition went to the printer before we heard this sad news.

I have just heard that the Falkland Islands Exhibition due to run at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon from 3rd to 8th September 2012 will not take place this year as Annabelle Spencer has been unwell and is not well enough to attend. We wish her a speedy recovery to full health.

 

Annabelle Spencer pictured here at the FIG Reception at Lincoln's Inn June 2011

51 Degrees South have published the latest in their series of videos on the people of the Falkland Islands. This episode features Samantha Brownlee, who was FIA Student of the Year in 2008. The FIA send their best wishes to Samantha and wish her well for the future. Find the video at http://vimeo.com/47459657

It has been some time since I turned to the blog - not a lot to say. Have been busy chasing up the non-payers and still a few trickling in although it looks as though a number of members have just disappeared - letters not sent back 'gone away' just, well, nothing! Perhaps when the Newsletter doesn't arrive in October I will hear something.

In my last post I mentioned the episode of 51 Degrees South featuring Samantha Brownlee was due on 6th August - it will now be published on August 13th.

I may have mentioned a request for a Falkland Islands Association tie - well, we now have them in stock - they were delivered yesterday. We will sell them to members at £9 + £2 post and packing.  Cheque to Falkland Islands Association and orders to me at 6 St Annes Road, Shrewsbury, SY3 6AU

Sorting out the lapsed subscribers has taken a lot of time and sadly over half of the responses have been from the next of kin advising the death of a spouse or parent.

Good news yesterday via Twitter that one of our Students of the Year, Samantha Brownlee (winner 2008) has won a Silver Medal at the Century Skill At Arms Combat Shooting competion at Bisley where she is part of the FIDF team taking part in the event. Samantha is also to feature in one of the profiles being broadcast on line by 51º South who have produced documentary series on the Falkland Islands with the title 51º South. Find them at  - http://www.51degreessouth.com Samantha's profile will be broadcast 6th August.

Now that the flow of incoming subscriptions for 2012/13 has eased I have made a start on a task long overdue - checking on members who did not pay their subscription last year and have discovered that several are long overdue. The Newsletters are not being returned so I assume they (or someone) are still getting their copy or there are piles of Newsletters in empty houses throught the world. A gentle letter will have to be sent but I have one problem in that some Bankers Order that appear on the bank statements have insufficient information to identify the subscriber so one or two of the unpaid on the list will be able to put me right - in a friendly way I hope.

Another task this summer, before I get down to Battle Day planning, is the review of subscription rates for the FIA. Our rates were first fixed in 1982 at £10 for members, £5 for Associate members (students and seniors). The £10 subscription was increased to £15 in March 1989, the associate rate staying the same. With ever rising postal costs the £5 rate just covers the costs of printing and mailing within the UK whilst copies going overseas cost more than the subscription a situation that cannot be allowed to continue - whilst we welcome support from our overseas members we cannot expect full price members to subsidise the associate member overseas. Our membership suscriptions should be set at a level to pay for the two Newsletters and postage charges with something left over to run the Association. The next Executive Committee meeting and the following AGM may be difficult if this subject gets a proper airing. This is a difficult time to suggest an increase but 30 years at the same rate!

Whilst I am bogged down with routine matters things move on on the political front with the announcement by the Falkland Islands Government that a referendum on their future will take place in early 2013. Some strange reactions in the press suggesting that it was the UK Government's idea and several saying this is the first time it has happened ignoring the November 1994 poll that rejected the idea of an Argentine buyout.

Off to London tomorrow for the FIG Reception at Lincoln's Inn - numbers are up this year following the increase publicity as it is the 30th anniversary of the liberation of the Islands. As we meet in London President Kirchner will be at the UN to berate the C24 Decolonisation Committee and the Falkland Island representatives on how she hopes to colonise the Falkland Islands. Interesting times.

Sold the last copy of Lisa Watson's 'Waking up to War' yesterday and one more order came in this morning! Still have plenty of 'Diddle Dee to Wire Gates' but just three copies of 'Rocky the Rockhopper'. Have sold half of the stock of lapel badges but still plenty left.

 

Must remember to take some stock of badges and 'Diddle Dee to Wire Gates' to the FIG Reception at Lincoln's Inn on 14th June.

The flood of subscription renewals has eased for the moment. Will have to get down to reviewing unpaid lists for last year.

The Newsletter is published at last and is landing on the doormats as I write. We apologise for the delay but Lisa has had a very busy summer with all the press and TV interest in the Islands for the 30th Anniversary of the conflict.

And still it goes on - the latest incident involves a film clip transmitted on many Argentine TV channels showing Fernando Zylberberg, captain of the Argentine men's national hockey team, running through the streets of Stanley (not an Islander in sight!). There is no commentary but the strap lines at the end say "To compete on English soil we train on Argentine soil" . Seems to me a clear breach of the International Olympic Committee rules which say“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas. The film clearly has Argentine Governnment blessing as it is also published on the Casa Rosada YouTube site. You can watch the film at

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSlyQp9NAoM&feature=youtu.be

It has also been suggested that the Argentine teams at the London Olympics will be wearing badges stating "Malvinas son Argentinas" also in clear breach of the IOC rules. It does seem possible that the politicisation of the Olympics in this way could lead to the teams being disqualified.

Argentine Ambassador to the UK, Alicia Castro, has arrived and wasted no time in upsetting readers of the Daily Telegraph with her attack on Britain in an article headed "Warmongering won't settle this old dispute". In the article she claims that she is 'facing a campaign that “celebrates” a war that took place 30 years ago and warmongering, disrespectful and aggressive language that obstructs dialogue'. I assume she means Britain by this remark which has commemorated, not celebrated, the 30th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict, war was never declared by either side. Or perhaps she means the celebrations that took place in Argentina, the violent attack on the British Embassy in Buenos Aires and the disrespectful and aggressive language of President Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner when talking about the Falkland Islanders and the British Government. Judging by the 500 plus on line comments on the article her readers are not impressed by her attempts to 'to rebuild and strengthen bilateral relations.'

Her biased and error ridden account of the history of the Falkland Islands is capped with the denial of self determination for the Falkland Islanders under the United Nations Charter.

The statement that ' We are not willing to take away the Britishness and the way of life of the 3,000 inhabitants of the islands.' sounds rather hollow. In the last 74 days of Argentine rule in the Islands in 1982 the official language became Spanish, residents were required to drive on the opposite side of the road, the laws administering the population were replaced with rules in Spanish. Falkland Islanders were rounded up, imprisoned and in many cases evicted from the Islands. Ambassador Castro blames the Military Junta that was in power at that time for the invasion and its effects but the Junta were the Government at that time and the crowds in front of the Casa Rosada seemed very happy with their actions.

Sadly any chance of negotiations to bring about peaceful relations between the peoples of the Falkland Islands and Argentina are pushed further into the background by this aggressive attack on the Falkland Islanders and the Great Britain which closely follows the party line of the present Argentine President.

Easter Monday and its raining! Nine days into the month and still no confirmation that all the material for the Newsletter is at the printers. It seems most unlikely that it will be out in time to pick up a few more guests for the trip to Kew on 25th.

Steve Hawkshaw has emailed to say that the British Forces weekend in SOUTHPORT will run on 30th June/1st July at Princes Park from 11:00 to 17:30 with free entry. Participants are as follows:

Saturday, 30th, Southport Veterans Day Carnival 13:00 Lead by the Royton ATC Band and RAF Woodvale University Squadron

Sunday 1st July Southport Falkland 30th Anniversary and BAFD Parade
10:30 Lead by the Welsh Guards Band (not confirmed)
RBL Riders Branch to take part.

Bar and Entertainment in the Town Hall Gardens
Royal Signals Motorbike Display on the park

In addition there will be a Falklands Display in Southport Town Hall From June 25th.

Press coverage is declining now that the anniversary of the invasion is over but I expect coverage will continue and then pick up again in June. 

One of our faithful US members has just renewed his subscription and ordered one of the new lapel badges - this will be the first badge to wing its way across the pond to the US. He will know that it is on its way as he tells me that he has been reading this blog which is reassuring as sometimes you wonder if anyone reads it although the statistics say that there are more hits from the US than the UK! So thank you - you will know who you are. The package was posted today.

It is good to know that we have supporters in both the USA and Canada. The visit to the Falkland Islands by US Congressman Jim Sessenbrenner a few weeks ago was encouraging - he thought he was the first sitting member of the US Congress to visit the Islands and hoped that he would not be the last. When he addressed the Legislative Council in Stanley he said that the United States has always stood for the principle of self determination saying "we let the British Crown know that about 230 years ago and we haven't changed our viewpoint that the people should be allowed to direct able to choose their system of government and make whatever alliances and determinations that are necessary" Let us hope he takes his experiences back to Congress and convinces a few other members of the importance of self determination to the Falkland Islanders.

Michael Probin brought ten copies of Lisa Watson's book back from the Falkland Islands. Lisa was just eleven years old when the Argentine troops invaded Stanley in 1982 and this 40 page booklet describes her evacuation from Stanley to her parents farm at Long Island Farm and the various adventures that followed. Initially written for young Falkland Islanders to learn something of what it was like to be a child during the conflict it will be of interest to children in the UK and elsewhere. 

Priced at £10, copies are available from me although it may be some time before we get any further copies - just seven left (19/3)



The Newsletter is going through the proof reading stage but has yet to go to the printer so it looks as if the publication date of 1st April will slip a bit this year. One problem is the visit to Kew which takes place on Wednesday 25th April but bookings have to be in by 3rd April so most members wont know about the event until too late. As it is a follow up to last years visit to Wakehust Place we have tried to contact all who came to that event and we have 18 booked so far.

Our meeting with MLA Barry Elsby went well and we had an interesting exchange of views. It was good to hear that the MLA's regard the FIA as a worthwhile organisation.

Several calls from the press all looking for a fresh angle on a relatively simple problem - Argentina wants to take over the Falkland Islands and the other South Atlantic Islands right down into Antarctica and the Falkland Islanders do not want to be part of Argentina but remain an Overseas Territory of the UK. The rest of the South Atlantic Islands are in possession of the UK with a good title so far as we can see.

Discussions would seem pointless for, although there are many aspects that could be discussed - fisheries, tourism, travel, even oil exploration, Argentina only wants to discuss one thing - when are we going to give the Islands back to them - end of.

Lots of new books coming out - mainly related to the 1982 conflict. The Silent Listener by D J Thorp is a good read about the role of electronic warfare units in the conflict.

It has been a busy time with all the fuss over the coming 30th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict. The arrival of Facebook and Twitter since the 25th Anniversary, especially the latter, has enabled anyone and everyone to offer their views and opinions on the situation with the result that if you get into the line of fire the twitter traffic becomes heavy, sometimes aggressive, often rude, often ill-informed and, just occasionally, amusing.

I feel sorry for Lisa, our Newsletter Editor and Editor of Penguin News in the Falkland Islands, who is having to cope with journalists and TV crews from around the world trying to say something original and often getting 'the wrong end of the stick'. As we have seen with the rioting in London last year the advent of the mobile phone has given fast and efficient communication to the masses, a double edged weapon for good and bad. Language can still be a barrier although Google Translate sometimes manages to make sense of some tweets.

Sales of 'Diddle Dee and Wire Gates' has been a trickle but, apart from a small ad in the Penguin News alerting UK readers that we had copies, hardly anybody knows we have got them to sell and the main ad will go out with the Spring Newsletter.

Whether we will get the Newsletter out early is anybody's guess as Lisa is overloaded with other duties so I am not too hopeful. Even if we got it out on time it will probably be too late to pick up many takers for the visit to Kew on 25 April - I have managed to gather 17 visitors so far so still have 8 places to fill.

At least I know that all my material for the Newsletter is with Lisa so it will not be my fault if we are late getting it out. We are adding to our number of proof readers this time which might help us to pick up any errors before it is published.

Taking a three day break to celebrate my sister's 70th birthday but I expect I will be watching twitter if nothing else! One good spin off of all the press coverage has been an increase in the number of new members joining us - all via the website which is proving its worth and on which we hope to increase the material we have on view, we are clearly not using it to its full potential.

Two items of note arose from my visit to the London Office on 25th January.

 

I found the boxes of the book 'Diddle Dee to Wire Gates' had arrived thanks to MLA's Roger Edwards and Sharon Halford who had brought them north on their way to meetings with the EU in Brussels. I was able to post off the first two copies to be ordered from us and managed to sell ten copies to members of ExCo and FIGO staff. I still have 118 copies left but a promotion in the Spring Newsletter may encourage sales. Full details are given below in an earlier post. 

The other item was news of our proposed visit to Kew to see their work in relation to plants from the Falkland Islands. The date has now been chosen as Wednesday 25th April 2012. The programme will commence at 2.00pm in the Jodrell Laboratory at Kew with a tour of the areas with Falkland plants. There will be a tea break from 4.00pm to 5.00pm followed by lectures on the Conservation of Falkland Plants. The visit will end about 7.00pm. There will be an opportunity to meet Rebecca Upson (Falklands Conservation Native Plants Project Officer), Richard Lewis (Falklands Conservation Invasive Plants Associate), Cynthia Williams (Stanley Growers Nursery Staff), Kit Strange (Kew Alpine Nursery Specialist), Tom Heller (Kew UKOT Seed Bank Officer), Martin Hamilton (Kew UKOT's Programme Co-ordinator), Sara Barrios (Kew UKOT's  Programme GSPC Officer), Marcella Corcoran (Kew UKOT's Programme Horticultural Officer) plus other staff and volunteers involved in the programme. Numbers are limited and priority will be given to those who attended our visit to the Millenium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place last year - this is a ticket only event.

At the Executive Meeting on 25th January we made a start on a review of what we are about, what we do and do not do and what we ought to be doing. As an opening discussion it was most interesting and it is taking ages to summarise for the minutes of the meeting. This blog even came into the discussion and I was ecouraged to make the address more widely available, at least to our members so that they could benefit from any pearls of wisdom that might accidentally stray into my comments. Such readers as there are will be aware that I have kept out of the political arguments that have crept into the papers and even on television with the approach of the 30th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict. In my last post I did mention some of the main items that appeared in the British press.

For an organisation that supports the Islanders we are, perhaps, a bit slow in responding with letters to the Editor where appropriate and it was a point that came up in the discussions mentioned above. There is always the option for any member, to make a personal response, to comment, especially in the on-line versions of the papers and the point was made that the articles by Simon Winchester and Héctor Timerman in The Times deserved a strong response and it came in the form of a full article by the Foreign Secretary. Enough said - must get back to the minutes of the meeting.

Last day of preparation for the Executive Committee meeting in London tomorrow (25th). There will be lots to talk about with all the political activity over the last six weeks or so. Quite a lot of misinformed comment in the papers and the myth of the expulsion of an Argentine population in 1833 has been trotted out again by several writers. Comparisons to Hong Kong haven't helped. The response from the bloggers and commentators on the online articles have been fairly supportive of the Islanders wish to remain independent of Argentina, a position they are entitled to hold under the UN Charter.

Articles by Simon Winchester and Hector Timerman, Argentine Minister for Foreign Relations, in The Times were balanced by a Times Leader entitled 'Consent v Colonialism' and a strong piece by Douglas Hague on 21st January entitled 'Islanders must be masters of their own fate'. January is supposed to be a quiet time down south when the politicians take their summer holiday so hopefully things will quieten down for a while but perhaps I am hoping for too much.

I can recommend a good online treatment of the history of the Falklands which you will find at Falklands Time Line

Plans for a members visit to Kew have hit a problem in that the date set is 25th April which is OK but they want numbers by the 2nd April. As the Newsletter, which will contain the booking form doesn't usually hit the streets until 2nd April will present a challenge. We may be able to push the publication date back into March but no decision has been made yet - watch this space.

I am looking forward to receiving copies of a new book "Diddle Dee to Wire Gates - A Dictionary of Falklands Vocabulary" compiled and written by the late Jane Cameron (Government Archivist), Sally Blake and Joan Spruce. Just published in the Falkland Islands it is a dictionary of Falklands words and expressions which are no longer used or are going rapidly out of use. Selling at £10, with all profits going to The Jane & Alastair Cameron Memorial Trust, (Stanley), copies should be available from the FIA office at 14 Broadway, Westminster, London (cheques to the Falkland Islands Association). If you are unable to call at the office they can be sent by post just add £2.50 p&p (UK) or £2.50 p&p (EU).

Already selling well in the Falkland Islands I should have copies by 25th January 2012.

Thanks to Doug Lapsley the website is up to date with a report on the AGM and Battle Day ceremony plus an album of photographs ( http://fiassociation.com/ ).

I have discovered 'The Falkland Islands - History & Timeline' website which gives an excellent if lengthy history of the Falkland Islands. Researched from internet sources by Roger Lorton it makes interesting reading and can be found at http://falklandstimeline.wordpress.com

Thinking about my piece in the next Newsletter due out in April. We are hoping to organise a visit to Kew this year as a follow up to last year's visit to the Millenium Seed Bank.