My Secret Falklands War: When Britain's Military Took To The Airwaves 

21:29 That was me riding that bike I was a 23 year old Para. I was lucky I returned home. 3 of my mate's are buried in Blue Cemetery San Carlos.

I enjoyed this documentary very much. 1982 I was living in Madrid, Spain, and once the Falllands war had started I never ever heard a single voice in favour of UK. So my refuge as a supporter of UK was the shortwave and I followed the war mainly through the BBC but being a shortwave listener, and understanding Spanish, I also tuned in to Radio Atlántico del Sur. Not so much for the information but rather to get the flavour of this new "clandestine" radio station. We all knew the transmission came through the Ascension relay but nobody knew where the studio was located. Now 42 years later I just got the information I always wondered about. And to see the chaps who run the broadcasts was really fantastic. Great stuff, thanks so much for the documentary!

40 yrs on and you learn something new about the Falklands well done to the team

Hi Great Documentary it reminderd me of when I was in me teens and My Father who was then the Commander of the Royal Naval Reserve unit in Gibraltar HMS Calpe .He told me he had volunteered his services to go to South Atlantic to help with the language differences as being from Gibraltar he was fluent in Spanish with out any hint of an English accent but thank god the war was short and his services were not needed..

There was another project, possibly equally successful, where false information and orders were transmitted on Argentine military frequencies. The correct codes and where required the correct CTCSS tones were used. This resulted in supplies being delivered to the wrong location, troops being directed to the same. Sometimes we played "Dont cry for me Argentina", over the military frequencies. Several at one time. The Americans kindly lent us a satellite that had VHF / UHF transmitters. So we could play on those frequencies also!

The British have the best Intelligence in the world. Nothing in Russia moves without the British already in the know.

What a fantastic story!

Awesome documentary…… slightly concerned how Mr Ffrench-Blake was able to keep all those Secret documents in his French apartment though.

I'm impressed with this little team. They did what they could in a huge hurry at a critical time. I hope it saved lives on both sides.

Thank you so much for this most interesting documentary. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. It was touching to see some of the 'old team' back together again ad enjoying a pint. I'm sure they had a great reunion. Thanks again. Yet another afternoon well spent!

Excellent documentary about a side of the war that I hadn’t heard about before , thank you for your service chaps, even if it wasn’t directly on the front lines you still played an important role.

Radio 210...I remember that well, living in Berkshire at the time. But, I never knew anything about this amazing story. Thanks for posting.

Wonderful….. Lest we Forget…

The station was heard loud and clear in NewZealand in 1984 - From memory it signed at 0915gmt on 9710 khz

Argentina had a similar station known as "Liberty" with a female announcer and aimed at British troops. Whether anyone in the target audience heard it is debatable as it had a rather poor frequency that would not have been well received in the South Atlantic. I was working at BBC Monitoring Service at the time, and both these stations were of interest. Liberty was difficult to receive, and not of great interest (I believe she was an announcer on a TV station in Buenos Aires). Atlantico del Sur was of greater interest, as listening to it off air was the only way we know what was being said with OUR transmitter!

Fantastic piece of history, well presented.

A excellent insight to the hush,hush work of the Falkland’s war 👌👏👏👏👏🍺🍺🍺🍺🇬🇧

A very interesting and well documented video. I've read, watched and listened to a few things about the history of the Falklands war but never knew surprisingly that the British army created a radio station to persuade or talk the Argentinians out of fighting our boys is absolutely brilliant and thank you sharing it. Also thank you to the men who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country and for the innocent population on the Falklands & the United Kingdom, may you rest in peace, you will not be forgotten. 🇬🇧 🇬🇧

What a story. Brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant. Thank you for the memories.

How very British: we were at war but didn’t want to go “too far”. The sort of sentiment only available to those who direct warfare from thousands of miles behind the front line

When will documentary makers ever learn! Loud music detracts from the content, not enhances it.

What a fascinating story. Well done too all involved.

Amazing story and excellent viewing, well done

There is something about the British . The whole thing was rushed and did in hast yet it worked perfectly . My Father who was Austrian . Worked radio intelligence during the second world war listen in on the enemy in France . Of course he spoke German fluently . What amazed him was the British would make something up quickly and it would work as intended . The Germans had nearly 4 years to get a radio system ready for the invasion . They know the French resistance would blow up the phone lines, making them inoperable . But when the invasion took place , they emergency network never came up on the air ! Something that may be of interest , is a operation carried out the same year by HMS Conqueror . The submarine that sunk the Belgrano. Operation Barmaid ,its well worth looking up .

Terrific documentary!

Fantastic story, thanks you so much for putting it together.

Brilliant and a big thank you.

Nice to see you getting into your stride again..... Good Show.

Something I really didn't know. A good watch 👌

You learn something new everyday, and if the radio station saved one British service mans live it was money very well spent.

Fantastic documentary

Excellent. Thank You

I was in high school and I remember watching the news updates on the progress of the British ships headed to the region. Probably the first "live" TV war when reporters with the fleet provided news in real time (such as it was then). What a neat historical find this is!!!!!

Brilliant 👏

Great job!

I wonder what the Falkland Islanders under occupation thought of this.

Love her or hate her, Margaret Thatcher had strength and integrity. I don’t think any other politician has had her gumption.

Great documentary. Should've told them Millwall fans were coming too.

These brave chaps fought under a red, white and blue Union Jack so why are the British Police allowed to disrespect this flag of honour.

Thatcher had ball from 🇬🇧

This documentry is such a harkening back to the old days of the British stiff upper lip and the culture we are known for worldwide, posh accents, secret spies and stoicism

I don't think I'll ever forget my time in the Falklands...!

What an interesting documentary! I can't help but wonder how these same ideals are being prosecuted in today's war... Unfortunately we'll have to wait another 40 years to learn the true details EDIT: And begin to wonder if this is all some cynical joke on behalf of Forces News

They invented Soccer Saturday without knowing it!

The same thing was done during WW2 from Crowborough. I think that was on medium wave.

Is there a version with no music?

Strange that no mention is made that the studios used were actually those of BFBS, given this is produced by Forces News.

I wonder how many I these broadcasts were relayed through the Signy Island B A S transmitter based in South Orkney ..? Anyone know ??

Correction - The date should read 1982

Radio210 amazing. How knew

The only effective psychological warfare in that war was when the Gurkhas turned up at the battle for the mountains outside Stanley, and the Argies broke and ran when they realised who they were facing, without a shot being fired. All the rest is bunk.

24:10 the gurkhas about time. even argentina made cartoon about Gurkha to motivate their people. gurkhas where portrayed as blood thirsty, cannibalistic and wild yet when a British reporter asked Gurkha at Falkland Island about how they feel . Gurkha just said we didn't lose a men so we are happy. despite how the propaganda portrayed. Gurkha did not care how other thought of them. but how everyone was alive. so I have to say radio propaganda was not bad at all. but rather an attempt to save lives. of both argentina and British soilders.

What’s with the music ???

Greggs isn’t good if you eat it everyday

Radio Warfare, love it! 😉 Chilean speakers trying to do Argentine accents, too funny 😂, they where so bad even I thought them weird! But if the music is good and the sheep, shepherded, then hey hoy, well done folks! There is no media with the power of radio!

I suspect French's real name is an MI6 officer by the name of Frank Steele whom at that time sadly passed away his work in Ulster during the Troubles was instrumental in bringing the Troubles to a close. If I'm wrong they do look very similar from the photos. I'm shocked that he was able to keep and hide top secret documents in his French apartment.

The falklands are and always will be British 🇬🇧

Even though they were at war, they still kept an eye on decency. The Argentine families were not the enemy.

10:20 not fluent in the River Plate spanish... not at all.

The musik is so loud and bad I canot watch your post

As an a argie ,i can tell that they sound like british speacking spanish

Our current news also gives selective truth

Try repeat it on Ukraine, ladeys))

Not sure how convincing this turned out to be, the accents are not convincing as South American accents and these would know that

It's not over yet🤓

👍👍👍

Afaicr, the Gurkhas really were reputed to take ears as trophies.

Maggie's "umm....how do I stay in power?" war

Boring repetition of footages, couldn't watch 'til the end. Interesting topic but must do better for the viewers.

I think I might well have a natural aptitude for psychological warfare; sans the fluent Spanish

A good documentary well presented yet the British still don’t use the true psy warfare of the troops they took into battle. I was hoping they would bring this topic out but no the brits had taken the heathens of southeast Asian the Gurkhas and their stories of how when the enemy was captured they would be eaten alive. The pamphlets that were circulated onto the enemy and why they so willingly gave up in the end!

Have to understand how it was seen from the perspective of Spaniards about Argentina.

H 982 FKL on a porsche 928 🤣🤣🤣

How poor their spanish was ! They should have hired gibraltarians for the broadcasts 🤣🤣🤣

Correccion son las islas malvinas

I'm afraid that Bernard Ingham was entirely right in his assessment of the effectiveness of Operation Moonshine. The MoD spokesman during the Falklands war was about as inspiring as a cold half eaten fish supper and his delivery was about as uplifting as watching paint dry. The British forces in the Falklands had all of one officer who could speak fluent Spanish, which turned out to be something of a disadvantage when it came to interrogating prisoners and getting live intel from Argentinian coms. The personnel and resources deployed in Moonshine could certainly have been deployed to far greater effect elsewhere in the Falklands conflict.

Realmente alguien cree que esta radio afectó algo a los soldados argentinos? .. entiendan que no hay un británico que sepa ni siquiera donde están ubicadas. Son colonialistas. Please learn spanish and Know the truth

Argentina invasion umm, I not sure about that. It’s the other way around.

britain's revolting greedy hands strike again

Long live the colonies. These islands should be given to Argentina. Take home the planters that you put there sorry indigenous population not.

Las islas malvinas son de los argentinos

Pirates go home. Return to The North Atlántic.

Malvinas argentinas y no soy argentino

Extremely doubtful documentary the Spanish spoken by the ex Chilean Brit doesnst come close to Argentine accent. Any argentine would have immediately copped on that it was a British radio. Sorry.

Brilliant documentary!