Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

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carlodinechi
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Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#1

Post by carlodinechi » 03 Feb 2017, 00:46

SONS & GRANDCHILDREN OF WW1/WW2 ITALIANS IN THE FALKLANDS WAR
One member of the British war cabinet was reported as wondering whether the Argentinians would actually go to war, given their half-Italian and half-Spanish ancestry. "There's no precedent", he said ... "if the Spanish half is uppermost, they'll fight, if the Italian is, they won't."
(Banal Nationalism, Michael Billig, p. 81, Sage Publications Ltd, 1995)

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Lieutenant-General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, Commander in Chief Argentinian Armed Forces, visiting the Elite 10th "Lieutenant-General Nicolás Levalle" Mechanized Infantry Brigade staff officers assembled at the ex-Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks outside Port Stanley

"General Galtieri, a son of Italian immigrants, served as president of Argentina from 1981 to 1982." (Encyclopedia of Modern Dictators: From Napoleon to the Present, Frank J. Coppa, p. 97, Peter Lang, 2006)

Lieutenant Fausto Gavazzi (KIA), Skyhawk pilot that crippled HMS Glasgow on 12 May 1982, forcing the British destroyer to limp back to Britain for repairs

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photo uploading ("Capitán (PM) Fausto Gavazzi, nació el 2 de marzo de 1952 en el seno de una familia de inmigrantes italianos, hijo de Guido J.Gavazzi y Anna Luzzi que se radicaron Campana, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina luego de la segunda guerra mundial." http://www.3040100.com.ar/el-dia-mas-tr ... a-gavazzi/)

"Gavazzi dropped a bomb that struck Glasgow in the side at the water line. The bomb passed through Glasgow without exploding within the ship but left Glasgow with two large hull holes on the water line."(http://www.hmsbrilliant.com/content/dsection4.html HMS Brilliant 1982 Reunion Association Website)

Ítalo Ángel Piaggi (with cuppa), Commanding Officer, 12th General "Juan Antonio Alvarez de Arenales" Infantry Regiment that derailed the British 2nd Parachute Battalion's nocturnal attack outiside Goose Green, forcing the British Paras to fight through the daylight hours .

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"Piaggi confounded Jones's theory 'Hit them really hard and they will fold', but he was forced to resign his commission. For the second time during the week Argentine troops had stood their ground and it was only when resistance was seen to be futile that withdrawal and surrender were contemplated."
(Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick van der Bijl, Leo Cooper, 2014)

Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella (KIA), Heavy Weapons Platoon Commander (4th "Monte Caseros" Infantry Regiment) during the Battle of Two Sisters, that pinned down two Royal Marine Commando companies for over 2 hours. Son of Major-General Luis Santiago Martella.

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click image upload http://www.archivoliterariochivilcoy.co ... s-martell/

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"Había hijos de muchos militares: el hijo del general Martella muñó en combate
en el monte Dos Hermanas arma en mano."
(Malvinas: Testimonio de Su Gobernador, Mario Benjamín Menéndez, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 116, Editorial Sudamericana, 1983)

Lieutenant Luciano Guadagnini (KIA) dropped the bomb that sank HMS Antelope on 23 May 1982

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"Guadagnini, though hit by 20mm fire, pressed home his attack and scored a direct hit six feet above the frigate's waterline ... his aircraft was also hit almost simultaneously by a Seawolf fired at Gomez and a Rapier ..." (The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 208, Pen and Sword, 1987)

Patrol Commanders Captain José Vercesi (Italo-Argentinian, left), Captain Tomás Fernández (Spanish-Argentinian, middle) & Captain Andres Ferrero (Italo-Argentinian, right) from the 602nd Commando Company that took on the M&AWC and SAS. Vercesi's 1st Assault Section, although outnumbered & outgunned fought for 45-minutes at the Top Malo House sheep farm. Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section overran Lieutenant Tony Hornby's Troop (Platoon) from 42 Commando on Mount Wall on the night of 5/6 June 1982, & took on Lieutenant David Stewart's Troop (Platoon) from 45 Commando in an ambush action on the night of 9/10 June near Murrell River .

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State-of-the-Art HAZE laser-target-marker from 42 Commando that Ferrero's men captured on Mount Wall, saving the 4th Regiment on Two Sisters Mountain & Mount Harriet from destruction by RAF Harriers

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"The most controversial clash occurred in the early morning of Malvinas Day (June 10). During a fierce action two Argentine Commandos were killed. Major Aldo Rico from Compañía de Comandos 602 was reported as having said that the battle was fought on the centre of Murrell River, and he claimed at least four Royal Marines were killed." https://www.amazon.com/review/R3NE5R6PS77XU6

Second Lieutenants Augusto Esteban La Madrid (Anglo-Argentinian, left) & Aldo Eugenio Franco (Italo-Argentinian, right), both Rifle Platoon Commanders from the Elite 6th "Juan José Viamonte" Mechanized Infantry Regiment's B Company that fought on Two Sisters & Tumbledown

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"On the eastern end of Two Sisters the 6th Regiment platoon of Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco engaged in holding 45 Commando's Yankee Company off along the eastern ridge. The Argentine platoon conducted a spectacularly successful delaying action employing the standard leap frog tactics; one section on the ground holding the Royal Marines off, one section setting up the next fall back position and one section in movement and caused the proposed attack on Mount Tumbledown by the 45 Commando battalion commander to be aborted!" https://www.amazon.com/review/R3NE5R6PS77XU6

PS. To be continued, plenty more Italo-Argentinian Malvinas War Heroes to be revealed
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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#2

Post by Ironmachine » 03 Feb 2017, 09:15

carlodinechi wrote:Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri was born in Argentina in 1926, so there is no way he could be the son of an Italian WW2 veteran.
Ítalo Ángel Piaggi was born in Argentina in 1935, so again there is no way he could be the son of an Italian WW2 veteran.
Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella was the son of general Luis Santiago Martella, who was born in Argentina in 1928, so again there is no way Luis Carlos Martella could be the son of an Italian WW2 veteran.
As for the rest, they may have been sons of Italian WW2 veterans or not. However, I can't see what significance that can have.


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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#3

Post by carlodinechi » 03 Feb 2017, 09:59

Skyhawk pilot Gavazzi was 100% the son of Italian immigrants, same as rifle platoon commander 2d Lt. Franco who was a fluent Italian-speaker & whose grandmother lost two military age brothers in WW2. Maybe I should have included "& sons & grandsons of the Italo-Turkish War, WWI & Spanish Civil War Veterans", but there is no denying the British shot themselves in the foot underestimating the will to fight on the part of Italo-Argentinians, losing the frigate HMS Antelope sunk & the destroyer HMS Glasgow crippled to attacks carried out by the proud sons or grandsons of Italian immigrants. I wouldn't be surprised if the decision of Galtieri & Piaggi to join the Argentinian military & rapidly rise through the ranks was because their fathers or uncles fought in the Italo-Turkish War &/or WW1. Hell I just found out that two of Argentina's former conscripts that survived the fighting & won top military awards have "Roman Blood" in them, Private Oscar Poltronieri (hero of the Battle of Two Sisters) & Private Leonardo Rondi (hero of the Battle of Mount Longdon).

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#4

Post by Ironmachine » 03 Feb 2017, 14:06

Skyhawk pilot Gavazzi was 100% the son of Italian immigrants, same as rifle platoon commander 2d Lt. Franco who was a fluent Italian-speaker & whose grandmother lost two military age brothers in WW2.
But still we don't know if they were sons of "Italian WW2 veterans". In fact, If Franco's grandmother had two brothers in the military in WW2 her own children would have been too young to serve, and so Franco was quite probably not the son of an "Italian WW2 veteran".
Maybe I should have included "& sons & grandsons of the Italo-Turkish War, WWI & Spanish Civil War Veterans",
Include what you want as long as it is accurate.
but there is no denying the British shot themselves in the foot underestimating the will to fight on the part of Italo-Argentinians,

You have provided only an unreliable "quote" of unknown origin to support your statement that the British underestimated the will to fight of the Argentinians (and not of the Italo-Argentinians, whatever that are). Anyway, the sheer size of the military forces sent by the British to recover the Falklands shows clearly that they did not in any way underestimated the Argentinians, despite what stupid remarks an individual could have made.
And what about the Italo-Argentinians (sic) underestimating the British will to fight over the Falklands even more, considering the lousy effort they made to defend the islands?
losing the frigate HMS Antelope sunk & the destroyer HMS Glasgow crippled to attacks carried out by the proud sons or grandsons of Italian immigrants.
Which has nothing to do with underestimating them, who, by the way, AFAIK were proud Argentinians as many others regardless of their origins. Given Argentinian nationalism, I doubt their Italian origins were something to be particularly proud of.

I wouldn't be surprised if the decision of Galtieri & Piaggi to join the Argentinian military & rapidly rise through the ranks was because their fathers or uncles fought in the Italo-Turkish War &/or WW1.
Well, I don't know if they rose up rapidly or slowly through the ranks, or whether their fathers or uncles fought in the Italo-Turkish War &/or WW1 or not (or if they great great great great grandfather served with Julius Caesar at Pharsalus), or if that had any influence in their decision to join the Argentinian military. I don't know if all this is supposed to have any significance, either.
Hell I just found out that two of Argentina's former conscripts that survived the fighting & won top military awards have "Roman Blood" in them, Private Oscar Poltronieri (hero of the Battle of Two Sisters) & Private (hero of the Battle of Mount Longdon).
Yes. And others don't. There were even concripts that had "British Blood" in them:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/you-n ... y-1-501332
So what?

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#5

Post by Sheldrake » 03 Feb 2017, 14:30

carlodinechi wrote:............but there is no denying the British shot themselves in the foot underestimating the will to fight on the part of Italo-Argentinians, losing the frigate HMS Antelope sunk & the destroyer HMS Glasgow crippled to attacks carried out by the proud sons or grandsons of Italian immigrants. I wouldn't be surprised if the decision of Galtieri & Piaggi to join the Argentinian military & rapidly rise through the ranks was because their fathers or uncles fought in the Italo-Turkish War &/or WW1. Hell I just found out that two of Argentina's former conscripts that survived the fighting & won top military awards have "Roman Blood" in them, Private Oscar Poltronieri (hero of the Battle of Two Sisters) & Private Leonardo Rondi (hero of the Battle of Mount Longdon).
Hmm well, as a former British soldier mobilized for the Falklands war I profoundly disagree with your comment. Those of us on the mobilization schedule to deploy had no misconceptions about the challenges of launching an opposed amphibious landing 8,000 miles away within range of land based air forces.

We were fortunate that the actual Argentinian fighting power was as limited as that of err....the Italians in the Western Desert in 1940. ;)

That does not decry the courage, individual skill or endurance of the conscripts in either latin army, nor the quality of some of their equipment. However, in neither army did the units have the same cohesion or tactical expertise as their British foes and in some areas the British had better equipment - in 1940 - tanks in 1982 electronics.

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#6

Post by carlodinechi » 03 Feb 2017, 16:01

Those of us on the mobilization schedule to deploy had no misconceptions about the challenges of launching an opposed amphibious landing 8,000 miles away within range of land based air forces.
And yet the Royal Navy went to war without Airborne Early Warning (AEW)?, very smart move on the part of the British Admiralty I suppose, when taking into account the comparatively large size of the Argentinian Air Force:

"An emergency development programme was set in motion to create the Sea King AEW ... but the type appeared just after the end of hostilities." (Air War in the Falklands 1982, Chris Chant, p. 95, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013)

The British 3rd Parachute Battalion even thought the advance to Mount Longdon & Wireless Ridge would be no battle, proof is the hastily organized stretcher parties & lack of ammunition during the start of the Battle of Longdon as revealed by Warrant Officer John Weeks:

"I only had one medic, so on the net to Major Patton I said that i needed more and I needed stretcher-bearers who could carry out my casualties to the RAP ... I then went back to see the casualties and although Corporal Probets was still doing a fantastic job, I was still getting no joy on the net trying to get somebody to help. I needed people to get the injured down to the RAP because they were losing blood ... The Second-in-Command had his problems, because he'd been ordered to bring ammunition up on the stretchers ... So some of my injured guys were there seven to eleven hours, which is a long time." (Above All, Courage, Max Arthur, pp. 303-304, Cassell Military Paperbacks, 2002)

Brigadier Julian Thompson admits the Paras failed to take the "Rough Diamond" strongpoint on the night of battle:

"A feature north-east of Longdon thought to be held by 3 Para seemed to be occupied by the enemy. A short altercation took place between 2 and 3 Para about who did hold the feature and was settled by 2 Para having it comprehensively shelled without complaint from 3 Para." (Julian Thompson, Ready for Anything: The Parachute Regiment at War, p. 452, George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited, 1989)

Sergeant Rolando Spizuocco on Longdon clearly had Roman Blood running through his veins, for he displayed great heroism by rescuing most of the wounded conscripts in the forward tents & carrying them back through a nightmare of shot & shell to a place of safety. He was awarded Argentina's second highest military medal.

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#7

Post by carlodinechi » 03 Feb 2017, 17:00

We were fortunate that the actual Argentinian fighting power was as limited as that of err....the Italians in the Western Desert in 1940.
Yes the Italian Army lost 100,000 POWs during Operation Compass & much equipment, but six months before the Italian disaster the much larger & Elite British Expeditionary Force (BEF) suffered an equally disastrous defeat during the Battle of France (May/June 1940), including the loss of 100,000 military age men captured with the Fall of Paris & English Channel Islands:

"BEF equipment abandoned in France included 120,000 vehicles, 600 tanks, 1,000 field guns, 500 antiaircraft guns, 850 antitank guns, 8,000 Bren guns, 90,000 rifles, and 500,000 tons of ammunition." (Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, Spencer Tucker, p. 460, ABC-CLIO, 2010)
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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#8

Post by carlodinechi » 03 Feb 2017, 17:27

"If Franco's grandmother had two brothers in the military in WW2 her own children would have been too young to serve, and so Franco was quite probably not the son of an "Italian WW2 veteran."


Wake up & smell the coffee, Franco spoke fluent Italian, his grandmother lost two brothers in the fighting of WW2 & Franco had two uncles in the Italian military: (http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajo ... 6?start=20 Subteniente - Aldo Franco - RI 6/Malvinas Banda de Hermanos)

Also if you read Héctor Simeoni's Malvinas. Contrahistoria (Editorial Inédita, 1984) you'll discover that the 12th Regiment Chaplain at Goose Green, Padre Santiago Mora had been an Italian Army military chaplain in WW2. And Padre José Fernández was also Italo-Argentinian & helped Major Carlos Carrizo Salvadores form a platoon of 7th Regiment conscripts that counterattacked Major Philip Neame's Paras on Wireless Ridge.

Mora, later wrote, “The conscripts of 25th Infantry wanted to fight and cover themselves in glory. The conscripts of 12th Infantry Regiment fought because they were told to do so. This did not make them any less brave. On the whole, they remained admirably calm.” http://www.doyle.com.au/Awen/summer2014/img/p04.htm
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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#9

Post by Ironmachine » 03 Feb 2017, 17:59

carlodinechi wrote:And yet the Royal Navy went to war without Airborne Early Warning (AEW)?, very smart move on the part of the British Admiralty I suppose, when taking into account the comparatively large size of the Argentinian Air Force:
And yet the Argentinian Air Force went to war with just five Exocet missiles, very Smart move on the part of the Argentinian Air Force command, when taking into account the comparatively large size of the Royal Navy.
carlodinechi wrote:Wake up & smell the coffee, Franco spoke fluent Italian, his grandmother lost two brothers in the fighting of WW2 & Franco had two uncles in the Italian military: (http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajo ... 6?start=20 Subteniente - Aldo Franco - RI 6/Malvinas Banda de Hermanos)
After waking up and smelling the coffee, everything stays the same. He may have spoken fluent Italian, his grandmother may have lost two brothers in the fighting of WW2, and he may have had two uncles in the Italian military, but you have not shown that Franco's father was an Italian WW2 veteran.
carlodinechi wrote:Also if you read Héctor Simeoni's Malvinas. Contrahistoria (Editorial Inédita, 1984) you'll discover that the 12th Regiment Chaplain at Goose Green, Padre Santiago Mora had been an Italian Army military chaplain in WW2
That makes him an Italian WW2 veteran, not the son of one.
carlodinechi wrote:And Padre José Fernández was also Italo-Argentinian & helped Major Carlos Carrizo Salvadores form a platoon of 7th Regiment conscripts that counterattacked Major Philip Neame's Paras on Wireless Ridge.
As I have never said that there were not Argentian soldiers with Italian ascendants in the Falklands, this does not bother me.
carlodinechi wrote:Mora, later wrote, “The conscripts of 25th Infantry wanted to fight and cover themselves in glory. The conscripts of 12th Infantry Regiment fought because they were told to do so. This did not make them any less brave. On the whole, they remained admirably calm.”
And? Where all the conscripts of 25th Infantry Italo-Argentinians? Where there no Italo-Argentinians in the 12th Regiment? What's your point?

Surely there were Argentinians with Italian forefathers in the Falklands. Some of them may have been sons of Italian WW2 veterans. And that's all. They did not perform, in average, any better or worse than other Argentinian soldiers, and saying they did better for they were of Italian origins would be as stupid as saying that the Argentinians lost and surrendered because there were Italo-Argentinians among them.
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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#10

Post by carlodinechi » 03 Feb 2017, 18:13

After waking up and smelling the coffee, everything stays the same. You have not shown that Franco's father was an Italian WW2 veteran.
Try again, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover he had male relatives that fought in WW2 & had a "Nonna" that kept his family calm & collected during the Malvinas War, that he spoke to her via the communications equipment aboard the hospital ship in which 2d. Lt Franco was evacuated to Argentina at the end of the fighting.

With regards to well-known Italo-Argentinian fallen conscripts, we have Private Ricardo Gurrieri (KIA on 25 May, Argentina's National Day) from the 601st Air Defence Artillery Regiment (GADA 601). His father José Gurrieri even wrote a book Del Africa a Las Malvinas.

In 2012, José Gurrieri (who escaped from British custody) still viewed the British as "Pirates" & part of the "New World Order" (NWO) & claimed to be proud his son died for the Fatherland:

“En 1940 durante la guerra en Europa, a la edad de 19 años, me toca luchar en Africa del Norte contra el imperio británico, cumpliendo mis funciones de mantenimiento aéreo en un aeropuerto de Libia, en la Quinta Escuadra Aérea ... El héroe, Ricardo Mario Gurrieri ha sido el primer soldado de la Batería Antiaérea 601 que dejó la vida en el campo de batalla defendiendo el suelo y la bandera patria y me siento orgulloso por ello." (http://juninhistoria.blogspot.com.au/20 ... -jose.html Malvinas treinta años después: José Gurrieri: "El imperio pirata me persigue" )

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#11

Post by Ironmachine » 03 Feb 2017, 18:34

Try again, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover he had male relatives that fought in WW2 & had a "Nonna" that kept his family calm & collected during the Malvinas War, that he spoke to her via the communications equipment aboard the hospital ship in which 2d. Lt Franco was evacuated to Argentina at the end of the fighting.
Why don't you try it yourself? I am not surprised that he had male relatives that fought in WW2 and that he had a "Nonna" that did that and that, even if it has nothing to do with this thread. You titled it "Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War" and you still had not shown us that Franco's father was a WW2 veteran.
carlodinechi wrote:In 2012, José Gurrieri (who escaped from British custody) still viewed the British as "Pirates" & part of the "New World Order" (NWO) & claimed to be proud his son died for the Fatherland:
I would prefer to know how he view the Argentinian generals that sent his son to his death for nothing.

Now I will repeat myself so maybe you can understand it. Surely there were Argentinians with Italian forefathers in the Falklands. Some of them may were sons of Italian WW2 veterans. And that's all. They did not perform, in average, any better or worse than other Argentinian soldiers, and saying they did better for they were of Italian origins would be as stupid as saying that the Argentinians lost and surrendered because there were Italo-Argentinians among them. In fact, I doubt very much that any mention of Italian ancestry as a differentiating factor would have been tolerated by the Argentinians in the Falklands. So I still can't see the point of this thread.

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#12

Post by Ironmachine » 03 Feb 2017, 18:46

carlodinechi wrote:Sergeant Rolando Spizuocco on Longdon clearly had Roman Blood running through his veins, for he displayed great heroism by rescuing most of the wounded conscripts in the forward tents & carrying them back through a nightmare of shot & shell to a place of safety. He was awarded Argentina's second highest military medal.
Yes, he clearly had "Roman Blood running through his veins" :roll: , because only those with "Roman Blood running through his veins" can display great heroism. Surely all the Argentininan héroes in the Falklands had "Roman Blood running through his veins", and those Argentinians that did not display great heroism clearly did not have "Roman Blood running through his veins" because surely those cowards were not of Italian ancestry. :o If only there had been some more Argentinian soldiers with "Roman Blood running through his veins" they would have not lost the Falklands War, because the Argentinian surrender was surely due to the presence of soldiers without "Roman Blood running through his veins". 8O
Of course, that would let us asking ourselves what kind of blood ran through the veins of the Italian soldiers that fought in so many battles through History in which they, as has happened with soldiers of all nationalities, underperformed?

Now seriously, do you realize how disgusting your argument is?

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#13

Post by carlodinechi » 04 Feb 2017, 05:13

Now seriously, do you realize how disgusting your argument is?
I think I've got a valid argument considering British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in her opinion thought it would be easy or was easy, considering many Argentinians were of Italian stock as she observes. I'm now in the process of finding the relevant book extract I think is from her book The Downing Street Years that I read years ago.
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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#14

Post by carlodinechi » 04 Feb 2017, 05:51

"A los pocos días del desembarco ... un coronel de la RAF declaraba a la televisión británica que si se “imponía la sangre italiana”, los argentinos “evacuarían el archipiélago, pero si prevalecía la española, habría guerra”.
(http://internacional.elpais.com/interna ... 41490.html La guerra que no tendrá lugar)

Even the Spanish newspaper EL PAÍS, in an article published on 3 April 2012, agrees that top British military experts were in agreement that italo-Argentinians were a joke & would offer little or no resistance in the Falklands/Malvinas War.

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Re: Sons of Italian WW2 Veterans in the Falklands War

#15

Post by Ironmachine » 04 Feb 2017, 09:42

carlodinechi wrote:I think I've got a valid argument considering British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in her opinion thought it would be easy or was easy, considering many Argentinians were of Italian stock as she observes. I'm now in the process of finding the relevant book extract I think is from her book The Downing Street Years that I read years ago.
AFAIK, making claims without evidence is not the way to go in this forum. You should first find the relevant book extract and then post it, if not your claim has not value at all. Anyway, even if Thatcher said that, her opinion would not be more disgusting than your statement that some soldier "clearly had Roman Blood running through his veins, for he displayed great heroism".
carlodinechi wrote:Even the Spanish newspaper EL PAÍS, in an article published on 3 April 2012, agrees that top British military experts were in agreement that italo-Argentinians were a joke & would offer little or no resistance in the Falklands/Malvinas War.
I know, surely better than you, the "quality" of El País and the work of that particular reporter, and I won't hold my breath waiting for confirmation. Also, the article states that was the particular opinion of a RAF colonel, which I would not call a "top British military expert", and there is nothing in the article that shows his opinion was shared by British military experts, so please don't make up your "facts".
In fact, almost exactly the same opinion was supposedly uttered, depending on the source, by an unindentified member of the British war cabinet (Banal Nationalism, Michael Billig, p. 81, Sage Publications Ltd, 1995), a RAF colonel (El País article) and even Mrs. Thatcher herself (you, unknown source at this moment). By the way, the British war cabinet was composed of Margaret Thatcher, Deputy Prime Minister Willie Whitelaw, Defence Secretary John Nott, Foreign Secretary Francis Pym, Tory party chairman Cecil Parkinson, Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Lewin and Attorney General Michael Havers, so in fact we have, a rather limited number of suspects, a total of eight. It is beginning to look like an urban myth, but even if that opinion was really stated, all the "sources" presented here claim that it was nothing more than the particular opinion of an individual, not a general perception of the British military or the British citizens. In fact, as I posted previously, the sheer size of the task force sent by the British clearly show that they expected a significant resistance.

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