Here for the first time in one volume is the background to the whole Falklands campaign of 1982. The determination of the British Government to support the rights of a small community of British stock against unprovoked aggression by sending a Task force to free them is one of the most difficult and outstanding feats of the late 20th Century. The Military Machine behind such a campaign had to be carefully planned and coordinated. That the first major elements of the Task Force sailed within five days of the call to arms is a remarkable and unparalleled achievement. Without the complete cooperation of servicemen and civilians alike, this force of more than 110 ships, including the pride of the British merchant fleet Queen Elizabeth II and Canberra, and 28,000 men, could never have sailed. Continual cuts in Government Defence spending since the withdrawal of British Forces from the Far and Middle East in the early 1970's had so depleted British resources that such a task was inconceivable except in the eyes of the most determined.
This book sets out to show how this mammoth Task Force was assembled and eventual victory was accomplished with such limited resources as well as how it was made possible with a skilled force of highly trained professional soldiers, sailors and airmen.