Twenty five years ago, a tin-pot dictator confronted an Iron Lady and they came to blows over islands in the South Atlantic. I leave it to the reader to make his or her own mind on the matter (if it hasn’t already been been made), but June 2007 marks the anniversary of the successful prosecution of Operation Corporate and the defeat of Argentine forces in the Falklands.

Not surprisingly, there is an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London focusing on the conflict. One of the exhibits is the camera that took surely the definitive image of the conflict; a Royal Marine yomping towards Sapper Hill and a final clash with Argentine Forces on the outskirts of Port Stanley. The marine’s green lid is also on display. The card in the display case reads, “Beret worn by Royal Marine Peter Robinson during the Falklands war. The Union Jack was attached to Robinson’s radio aerial. Lent by Peter Robinson. Peter Holdgate’s camera and iconic British photographic image of the Falklands. Lent by Peter Holdgate.”

The offical MoD version of this shot can be seen. You may notice that it’s slightly cropped compared to the print in the Imperial War Museum. I think Holdgate’s camera is a Nikon F2 with metered prism and 50mm lens attached.

For stacks more photos and information go to this thread at militaryphotos.net. An interesting fact quoted there is that some of the Argie officers were surprised that the inhabitants of Port Stanley didn’t welcome them as liberators

Flickr has a group for the Falklands and South Atlantic; there are several scans of photos of events from 1982 and also some more recent ones. Several photos also demonstrate the stark beauty of the islands and its flora and fauna.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2007 at 19:00 and is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.