Operation Paraquat
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- For the weedkiller, see paraquat.
Paraquat was the unofficial name given to Operation Paraquet, the code-word for the British military operation to recapture the Island of South Georgia from Argentine military control in April 1982. This operation, a subsidiary of the main Operation Corporate (recapture of the Falkland Islands from Argentina) was successful, leading to the island being restored to British rule on April 25, 1982.
Paraquat was substituted for Paraquet (an alternative spelling of Parakeet) by troops in the South Atlantic who feared the operation would prove as lethal to them as the weedkiller. This view prompted the exclamation "kill Paraquat before it kills us."
The operation was originally supposed to involve both Special Air Service and Special Boat Service forces being infiltrated onto South Georgia by helicopters from the Tidespring and Antrim, but the plan had to be changed when two of the helicopters transporting the troops crashed on Fortuna Glacier; the troops and aircrew were rescued in atrocious weather conditions by Antrim's Wessex helicopter. On 25 April, after the Argentinian submarine Santa Fe was intercepted and disabled by depth charges from Antrim's Wessex and subsequent attacks by task force helicopters, an immediate assault by an improvised group of Special Forces and Antrim's Royal Marines personnel took place, with two Royal Navy vessels (Antrim and Plymouth) conducting a naval bombardment demonstration on the low hills opposite Grytviken. The garrison at Grytviken and the crew of the Santa Fe surrendered to M Company, 42 Commando, Royal Marines, after fifteen minutes, although the garrison at Leith surrendered the following day.
One of the most famous and legendary signals of the entire Falklands War was made by the British forces' commander after the surrender at Grytviken:
[edit] External links
- Naval-History.Net - "Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982" by Gordon Smith
- The RAF - "The Falkland Islands - A history of the 1982 conflict"
| Falklands War |  |
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|---|---|---|
| Military forces | Argentine ground forces | British ground forces | Argentine air forces | British air forces | Argentine naval forces | British naval forces | ||
| Timeline | Background | Invasion | Falklands War | ||
| Battles | Goose Green | Mount Harriet | Two Sisters | Mount Longdon | Mount Tumbledown | Wireless Ridge | ||
| Operations | Algeciras | Canbelow | Corporate | Black Buck | Keyhole | Paraquat | Purple Warrior | Azul (also Rosario) | Sutton | ||
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