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The Invasion of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Invasión de las Islas Malvinas), code-named Operation Rosario (Operación Rosario), was a military operation launched by Argentine forces on 2 April 1982, to capture the Falkland Islands, and served as a catalyst for the subsequent Falklands War. The Argentines mounted amphibious landings and the invasion ended with the surrender of Falkland Government House. Defence Governor Rex Hunt was informed by the British Government of a possible Argentine invasion on 1 April 1982. At 3:30 pm that day he received a telegram from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office stating: We have apparently reliable evidence that an Argentine task force could be assembling off Stanley at dawn tomorrow. You will wish to make your dispositions accordingly. Forces involved The Governor summoned the two senior Royal Marines of Naval Party 8901 to Government House in Stanley to discuss the options for defending the Falklands. He said during the meeting, "Sounds like the buggers mean it." Major Mike Norman was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major Gary Noott became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors from the Antarctic patrol ship Endurance's survey team, commanded by RN Lieutenant Chris Todhunter. That number was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over—both the replacements and the troops preparing to leave were in the Falklands at the time of the invasion. This was decreased to 57 when 22 Royal Marines embarked aboard HMS Endurance to join the 13-man British Antarctic Survey (BAS) team under base commander Steve Martin to observe Argentine soldiers on South Georgia. The Royal Navy and author Russell Phillips state that a total of 85 marines were present at Stanley. Their numbers were reinforced by at least 25 Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) members. Graham Bound, an islander who lived through the Argentine occupation, reports in his book Invasion 1982: Falkland Islanders at War that the higher figure of 40 members (including 15 ex-FIDF members) of the FIDF reported for duty at their drill hall. Their commanding officer, Major Phil Summers, tasked the volunteer militiamen (including his son Brian Summers) with guarding such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station. Skipper Jack Sollis, on board the civilian coastal ship Forrest, operated his boat as an improvised radar screen station off Stanley. Four other civilians, former Royal Marines Jim Fairfield and Anthony Davies, a Canadian citizen, Bill Curtiss and Rex Hunt's chauffeur, Don Bonner also offered their services to the governor. Rex Hunt himself was armed with a Browning 9 mm pistol. Prior to the main Argentine landings, nine of the British sailors present were placed under the command of the Chief Secretary, Dick Baker, and rounded up 30 Argentine nationals living in Port Stanley and placed them in protective custody next to the Police Station. He recalls: There were a few local people to arrest, and I remember being terribly apologetic to them, and saying, 'Because you are Argentine or married to an Argentine, or work for LADE [an Argentinian airline], we have got to take you into custody.' We put them in the refreshment room of the Town Hall, which was near the Police Station. The nine sailors came back to Government House, where they established an information service, leaving the prisoners in custody of RN Lieutenant Richard Ball. Operation Rosario The Argentine amphibious operation began in the late evening of Thursday 1 April, when the destroyer ARA Santísima Trinidad disembarked special naval forces south of Stanley. The bulk of the Argentine force was to land some hours later from the amphibious warfare ship ARA Cabo San Antonio near the airport on a beach previously marked by frogmen from the submarine ARA Santa Fe. The operation had been called Azul (Blue) during the planning stage, but it was finally renamed Rosario. ARA Santa Fe Rosario began with the reconnaissance of Port William by the submarine ARA Santa Fe and the landing of 14 members of the Buzos Tácticos near Cape Pembroke, including the commander of this elite unit, Lieutenant-Commander Alfredo Raúl Cufré. The reconnaissance mission began as early as 31 March, when the trawler Forrest was spotted through the periscope at 10:00 p.m. off Port Stanley. The next day, Santa Fe learned that the authorities in Stanley were aware of the Argentine plans, so a change was necessary. Instead of landing right on Pembroke, the commandos would initially take a beach nearby. The commandos left Santa Fe at 1:40 p.m. and from the beach headed towards Pembroke peninsula in Zodiac boats. They reached Yorke Bay at 4:30 a.m. on 2 April. After planting beacons for the main landing, they took over the airfield and the lighthouse without encountering significant resistance. After the British surrender at Port Stanley, this team was given the task of gathering the Royal Marines and taking them into custody. Attack on Moody Brook barracks On the night of 1–2 April 1982, Santísima Trinidad halted 500 metres (1,600 ft) off Mullet Creek and lowered 21 Gemini assault craft into the water. They contained 84 special forces troopers of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots's 1st Amphibious Commandos Group and a small party under Lieutenant-Commander Pedro Giachino, who was second-in-command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion and had volunteered for the mission to capture Government House. Argentine Rear Admiral Jorge Allara, through a message radioed from Santisima Trinidad, had requested from Rex Hunt a peaceful surrender, but the request was rejected. Giachino's party had the shortest distance to go: two and a half miles due north. Moody Brook Barracks, the destination of the main party, was six miles (9.7 km) away over rough terrain. Sánchez-Sabarots, in the book The Argentine Fight for the Falklands, described the main party's progress in the dark: "It was a nice night, with a moon, but the cloud covered the moon for most of the time. It was very hard going with our heavy loads; it was hot work. We eventually became split up into three groups. We only had one night sight; the lead man, Lieutenant Arias had it. One of the groups became separated when a vehicle came along the track we had to cross. We thought it was a military patrol. Another group lost contact, and the third separation was caused by someone going too fast. This caused my second in command, Lieutenant Bardi, to fall. He suffered a hairline fracture of the ankle and had to be left behind with a man to help him. We were at Moody Brook by 5.30 a.m., just on the limits of the time planned, but with no time for the one hour's reconnaissance for which we had hoped." The main party of Argentine Marines assumed that the Moody Brook Barracks contained sleeping Royal Marines. The barrac.... Discover the Trinidad Giachino popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Trinidad Giachino books.