[Francisco Cancio, Enmienda: una revisión de la causa y el actuar argentino en la Guerra de las Malvinas (Náutica Robinsón: Madrid, 2020), 406 pp.]
review / Ignacio Cristóbal
This is an excellent book that analyzes some controversial issues of the Malvinas War (1982). The author, Francisco Cancio, is an expert in the subject and has made a conscientious search for information over the years in his visits to Argentina and the United Kingdom.
It is not a book on the history of the Malvinas War; there are other manuals that explain it very well, but here the author has intended something else. Whoever opens the book should have some knowledge of what happened then in the South Atlantic or else obtain it before delving into its pages.
In my case, it was not difficult to get "hooked" by reading the book. From the data that the author gives, he had similar experiences to mine. I was also watching the news in the spring of 1982 sitting next to my father, a military man; for our generation it was our first war. And like him, who on his trips to the United Kingdom, I imagine to practice his English language , would dive into British bookstores in search of documentation, I also learned about the Falklands when I was in those lands perfecting my English, going to museums and bookstores and to the barracks of Colchester, the city where I spent two summers, to talk to veterans of the conflict. You will therefore forgive me if, because of this involvement staff, I let my sympathy for the Argentine side go a little, while admiring the professionalism shown by the British troops.
The Malvinas War was a complete war from the military point of view. There was air and naval combat; submarine and satellite intervention; landing and ground operations by special operations units, as well as unit actions at battalion level. It is to be appreciated that the first chapter, graduate "Genesis", while introducing the conflict, begins to "prick balloons" about the real reason for going to war.
And the chapters go on and on with issues such as the "Super Etendart and the Exocet", where we imagine the Argentine naval pilots training in Brittany, France and leaving the flag very high, as it should have been. The interest increases when the author gets into the intelligence operations to "arm", without an "instruction book", the missiles that were already in Argentina. The French government played a complicated role in the conflict, but the diplomatic aspect (it was a member of NATO) took precedence over the commercial aspect. The French technicians sent to Argentina were the ones who gave the "do de pecho" by siding with Argentina and juggling to avoid creating more problems in the international balance.
The chapter on the land operations is excellent and breaks a lance in favor of the Argentine forces that had to deal with the enemy and the lack of logistic support from the continent. In those days there was a discussion in the public opinion about the dichotomy "conscript army" versus "professional army". It is clear in the chapter the damage that the Argentines inflicted on the reconquerors, but also their adverse status : the lack of basic means for resistance, counterattack and, why not to say it, hunger and cold.
The naval part is dealt with in two interesting chapters that tell the story of the submarine "San Luis", which was bothering the British fleet during the whole war. If there had been no war, that submarine would have stayed in port. This is the level of those brave submariners. The other chapter is about the failed meeting, due to the lack of wind, of the two fleets. It is possibly one of the most critical moments of the battle. Had there been wind, the A-4 Skyhawks of the Argentine Navy could have driven the British fleet back to their home ports.
A separate chapter is "La guerra en los cielos" (The war in the skies), which gathers some of the most courageous operations of the Argentine pilots in those days. The author puts us in the cockpits of the fighters whose images still make our hair stand on end. Without wanting to give anything away to the reader, the interview with the former head of the Argentine Air Force in those days is for me the best part of the book. We must not forget that he was a member of the military board and the data he reveals about the "Russianfinancial aid " are very interesting and unknown.
And finally the long-awaited chapter "The Attack on the Invincible", which deals with probably the most compromising war action of the entire conflict. The author scrupulously analyzes the operation of attacking one of the two British aircraft carriers, the Invincible, with a clarity that makes it evident that something happened.
"Amendment" is, therefore, a highly recommendable book for those who already have a certain knowledge of the Falklands War knowledge , but at the same time it can provoke curiosity in other people who, without being initiated in this conflict, can help themselves in the reading by consulting basic information available on the Internet. It was a singular conflict, in which a country in the south of the world put in check the second power of NATO, helped without limits by the first and by a neighboring country. As Admiral Woodward, commander of the British fleet, said in his memoirs: "people do not know how close Britain came to losing the war". A fine final epitaph from a military professional who surely recognized the professionalism, bravery and courage of the enemy.
* Expert in military affairs
