Dan Snow's History Hit - Falklands40: Identifying the Unmarked Graves

Episode Date: June 13, 2022

Argentina surrendered to British forces in Port Stanley on the 14th of June 1982. The Falklands conflict was over. In the months after the fighting ended troops and their equipment shipped out, graves were dug and memorials were put up across the islands for those killed in battle. British military personnel were identified, most buried at sea or repatriated to the UK. But for 237 deceased Argentine soldiers, their hastily buried bodies remained unidentified for decades and their families were left unable to claim their loved ones who’d died fighting in the islands. Their memorials read simply: “Argentine Soldier Known Only By God”Then in 2012, a team embarked on a project to change that. The International Committee of the Red Cross began a mission to collect DNA samples from each of the unknown graves in the hope that they could give the Argentine soldiers back their names and provide answers to relatives. Reporter Beth Timmins went to the Falkland Islands for the 40th-anniversary commemorations earlier this year and tells this moving story on this final podcast of our Falklands40 series.If you want to find more episodes on the Falklands War, you can go back through the Dan Snow History Hit feed and look for episodes that begin with 'Falklands40'. This special season goes through all the key moments of the Falklands War, the tactics, the equipment, the challenges and of course the human stories of those tested by the extremes of war on a rocky island in the middle of the freezing Southern Atlantic. Find explainers and analyses from eminent historians and powerful testimonials from serving officers on both sides.Presented by Dan Snow and Beth TimminsProduced by Beth Timmins and Mariana Des ForgesMixed and Mastered by Dougal PatmoreIf you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.

This is History's Heroes. People with purpose, brave ideas, and the courage to stand alone. Including a pioneering surgeon who rebuilt the shattered faces of soldiers in the First World War. You know, he would look at these men and he would say, don't worry, Sonny, you'll have as good a face as any of us when I'm done with you. Join me, Alex von Tunzelman, for History's Heroes. Subscribe to History's Heroes wherever you get your podcasts. On the night of the 13th to the 14th of June, 1982, British forces launched their assault on Mount Tumbledown,

one of the highest points overlooking Port Stanley, which is the capital of the Falkland Islands. It was a tough, gruelling battle for both sides. It was also one of the last. In the early hours of the morning of the 14th of June, the British forces on Tumbledown and nearby hills had driven the Argentinian defenders out of those mountains and down into the town itself. Surrender was imminent. A ceasefire was agreed. The Prime Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, told the House of Commons that white flags were flying over the town and the Argentine defenders had thrown down their weapons. The town's inhabitants, British citizens, greeted the British troops

with a very warm welcome. As they went on, Port Stanley fell and Argentina officially surrendered. Argentina officially surrendered. General Jeremy Moore, Commander Land Forces, was interstanly soon after them to accept the surrender. And after four hours of what was loosely described as negotiations, the surrender document was signed by him and the Argentine garrison commander, General Mario Menendez. The surrender document read, In Port Stanley at 9pm on the 14th of June 1982, Major General Menendez surrendered to me all Argentine forces in East and West

Falklands together with their impedimentor. Arrangements are in hand to assemble them for their return to the Argentine, to gather their arms and equipment and to mark and make safe their munitions. The Falkland Islands are once more under government desired by their inhabitants. It ended with God save the Queen. In the days after, Argentine soldiers lined up to hand in their weapons to Royal Marines outside Port Stanley before their journey back to Argentina. lined up to hand in their weapons to Royal Marines outside Port Stanley before their journey back to Argentina. Meanwhile, British soldiers waited for vessels to transport them 8,000 miles across the globe home to the UK. The fighting was over, but the clean-up after, like with so many wars, lasted decades.

Fields peppered with mines and hasty burials made in battle. Islanders had to navigate their war-torn landscape. Sold soldiers on both sides had to process the trauma of war, and families began to search for answers about their dead relatives. This episode of Dan Snow's History Hit, released on the last day of the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War, explores what happened when the war finished and tells the story of an incredible project by the International Committee of the Red Cross

to identify the bodies of Argentine veterans whose remains lay unclaimed for decades on the windswept islands in the middle of Argentine veterans whose remains lay unclaimed for decades on the windswept islands in the middle of the South Atlantic. This is the last episode of our Falklands 40 series. If you go back to the Down Snow History Hit feed you can find episodes that take you through all the key moments of the war and the tactics, the decisions made, equipment challenges and of course the human stories of those tested by the extremes of war on a rocky set of islands in the middle of the freezing South Atlantic. Find explainers and analysis from eminent historians and powerful testimonials from serving officers on both sides. Just look for episodes that have Falklands 40 in the title.

Over the 10 weeks of the Falklands War, 257 British military personnel were killed in the fighting, three islanders and 649 Argentines. Both sides struggled with getting supplies to the lonely South Atlantic islands, while the harsh conditions, the desolate landscape, freezing temperatures, Harsh conditions, the desolate landscape, freezing temperatures, great empty swathes of grassland provided challenges for even the well-trained and prepared soldiers. The war was waged by the corrupt military junta governing Argentina, who staked a sovereignty claim over the islands for political reasons. But the Argentines who paid for it with their lives and mental health were mostly conscripts.

Men barely even old enough to buy a drink. At the end of the war, one newspaper reported an Argentine veteran as saying, when we were given jungle boots instead of winter boots, I knew we were in trouble. At the time, there were reports of serious shortages. Toilet paper was frequently mentioned and food was also in short supply. Argentine veterans have since come forward to say that when they ventured out of their trenches to find food to bolster their meagre rations they were met with beatings from their own officers. Numerous accounts of torture and abuse from their own side have come to light in recent years. As the war raged on it started

to become pretty clear that the Argentine army was unprepared to hold on to the Falklands. When the end came 11,000 Argentine soldiers were disarmed and repatriated back to Argentina where their treatment and experience would slowly be made public. The British began the clear-up operations on the Falkland Islands, attempting to demine where they could and dealing with their dead. Many British military personnel had sea burials. Of those on land, 16 remained buried on the island and 64 were repatriated back to the UK for burial. In the cold, rainy darkness before dawn,

the transport ship Sir Bedivere arrived to a lament played by a lone Scottish piper. It was a marked contrast to those on the Argentine side. Many who were killed in the Battle of Falkland Islands were not repatriated back to Argentina. In fact, many of them were left unidentified. In the months after the war, the bodies of those buried on the islands were exhumed by the British from their battlefield graves and moved to military cemeteries under headstones marked Argentinian soldier known by God alone. For years after, Argentine families desperately searched for answers about the fate of their loved ones

who'd never returned home from the Falkland Islands. They called hospitals, army offices, even travelling to the islands to find them, usually to no avail. 123 Argentine soldiers were unidentified, all with families left wondering. In 2012, a decision was made to change that. Beth Timmins is an archaeologist and journalist

who recently travelled to the Falkland Islands for the 40th anniversary commemorations. She's going to take the story on from here. I'm at the Argentine Military Cemetery near Darwin on East Falkland. As you can hear there's a fierce wind coursing across this broad open landscape. White crosses line the cemetery and many of the named graves have rosary beads and flowers and soldiers' dog tags hung around them. There's a plaque that reads in Spanish and English, this Argentine military cemetery has been built by and is a property of the Commission of Relatives of the Fallen during the South Atlantic War, 1982.

A local company has been hired for its maintenance. There's also a blue figure of the Virgin Mary, or the Virgin of Luan, the patron saint of Argentina, in a glass stand. She looks across the graves of 236 Argentine combatants killed here during the 1982 Falklands War. Argentine combatants killed here during the 1982 Falklands War. 40 years since the conflict, this cemetery feels like a testament of mutual respect, showing with dignity how warring sides can both remember those who lost their lives. In the months after the war ended here in the Falklands, the troops and their equipment shipped out, graves were dug and memorials put up across the islands for those killed in battle. British soldiers were identified

and mostly repatriated to the UK and for the 237 deceased Argentine soldiers their buried bodies remained unidentified for decades and their families unable to claim their loved ones who died fighting in the islands. Then, in 2012, a team embarked on a project to change that. The International Committee of the Red Cross began a mission to collect DNA samples from each of the unknown graves, in the hope that they could give the Argentine soldiers back their names and provide answers to relatives. provide answers to relatives. In the summer of 1982, the now-retired British Army Colonel Geoffrey Cardozo was responsible for the clear-up operation after the surrender. Part of his job was to ensure that the remains of Argentine soldiers were buried before the British forces

left the islands. I met him in the grand and stately-looking Cavalry and Guards Club in London's Mayfair where he explained to me how he organised the burial of the enemy's fallen. The radio cracked into life and said, hi, and these were the engineers, our engineers in the battlefield, and they were demining or looking for bombs which hadn't gone off and they said look we've just found a dead body I said okay are we talking about an Argentine yeah yeah an RG sir I said okay fine quickly tell me where it is so I took down the red reference coordinates where they found this guy

and as soon as my chums came back from lunch I rushed outside and there's always a take-up to that and we flew to the place which is a minefield and I went down on a rope into the minefield to find this guy and when I got down to the ground on this rope prodded around my foot to make sure that I wasn't putting it anywhere I shouldn't be, and there I was standing next to not just a body but a person. And I think that underlies everything during the identification process and the collection of those bodies. They were people people and i looked into his

face it'd be very cold he was incredibly well preserved he was 18 probably 19 a young guy conscript and seeing this um this person young guy made me, instinctively think of my mum and about his mum. He obviously had a mum who held him in her arms and that was my first reaction. This included unnamed soldiers. All had to be buried within the Geneva Convention that states that each party to the conflict must take all possible measures to prevent the dead from being despoiled. This was no small feat and required a team with a very specific set of skills. They had to be funeral directors over the age of 30 and fit enough to jump out of a helicopter.

Colonel Cardozo also created an incredibly detailed report of the recovery operation in order to map and mark where the remains had been identified. Across the desolate battlefield, there were remains strewn, either unburied on the ground or in crude graves, hastily dug by comrades in the heat of battle. It was Colonel Cardozo's team's job to collect them and lay them to rest. More and more guys were discovered by our engineers and other people patrolling helicopters over flying crevasses and mountains. And it almost became routine. And my aim was to simply try and find out who the guy was and the sad thing was that a lot of these youngsters certainly not the pilots or the professionals but the large majority of conscripts didn't have identification

discs they've been sent out very quickly after the islands maybe with dog tags or identification discs which didn't have anything written on them and the boys were told to scratch their name and military number or blood group on them, but a lot of them didn't. A soldier going into battle never ever thinks he's going to die. And that was my first problem, was to identify. And I rummaged around their pockets to see whether I could find a letter with their name on it, a driving license, any ID. But in 50% of the cases, we could not find the identity. Our aim at that stage was to bury temporarily so that the climate would not type of deteriorate him. Also nature in as much as rats and animals wouldn't damage the body as well.

So it was just a question of wrapping the guy up in a poncho or whatever and put him in you know a foot or two down no more than that in the hope or certainly with the intention a few months later or weeks later to bring him back up and put him in a proper cemetery. A cemetery was chosen and the unnamed soldiers had an official military burial. We were rather hoping at the time that Whitehall could convince the Argentine government to come across and bring the bodies back to their villages, cemeteries where their grandparents or parents were. When I was there burying a body, the thought of burying a guy whom I couldn't identify

was deeply troubling to me. How do you put a human being into a hole not knowing who he is? After the war, the UK and Argentinian governments didn't have diplomatic relations, making the process of dealing with the bodies of fallen soldiers particularly complicated. While the British and many islanders wanted the soldiers repatriated back to Argentina, the Argentinians, still laying claim to the Falkland Islands, believed they were already in their homeland. they enclaimed the Falkland Islands believed they were already in their homeland. The government was very aware that if the families suddenly were told that their son had been discovered, identified, they would want him walked back to Argentina in the family

cemetery. That's what families want, their kids next to them. And the thought of that cemetery suddenly emptying and there being no longer an Argentine footprint on the islands any longer meant that the government was staunchly, at that time, against any project to identify. While the bodies of British soldiers were repatriated back to the UK for the most part, for decades unidentified Argentine soldiers lay in their graves, buried by Colonel Cardozo

and his team. Argentine families yearn to know what happened to their loved ones and lay them properly to rest. families yearn to know what happened to their loved ones and lay them properly to rest. A mixture of no DNA capabilities back then, the expense of repatriating remains, and the some of the key events that shaped the medieval period and the modern world, then Gone Medieval from History Hit is the podcast for you. From this. The king ordered all the Danish men who were in England to be killed because he'd heard a rumour that they were trying to topple him.

They seem to have been beheaded one by one in some kind of systematic manner. To this. The stakes are so high. Even when she first appears on the scene, Joan says, I've got one year to do this. So she knows that this is going to come to a sticky end. With a whole lot of this in between. The knightly class is a group of people who have been chosen by God.

Armour is a physical proof that that's literally true. With guests lined up at the drawbridge, it's time to let them in and begin the feast for your ears that is Gone Medieval, the podcast from History Hit. Together, my co-host, Dr. Kat Jarman and I, Matt Lewis. We've gone medieval and we're waiting for you to join us. This is history's heroes, people with purpose, brave ideas and the courage to stand alone, including a pioneering surgeon who rebuilt the shattered faces of soldiers in the First World War.

You know, he would look at these men and he would say, don't worry, Sonny, you'll have as good a face as any of us when I'm done with you. Join me, Alex von Tunzelman, for History's Heroes. Subscribe to History's Heroes wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to Down to Knows History. More from our reporter Beth Timmins in the Falkland Islands about an incredible project to identify the remains of unknown Argentine soldiers killed in battle during the Falklands War.

Years later in 2007, Cardozo met an Argentine veteran, Julio Arro, who pored over his map and report on the unidentified Argentine soldiers and said the report was gold. Julio took it to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the families searching for loved ones in the hope they might kick-start a process of identification of the remains. Still, both the Argentinian and British governments had to agree to the project. Then, in a strange turn of events, Colonel Cardozo told me the final approval was secured in an unlikely way. Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters was contacted by an Argentinian journalist and Julio.

Roger Waters, was contacted by an Argentinian journalist and Julio. Roger had lost his grandfather and dad in the world wars and his dad's remains were never found. He happened to be performing in Buenos Aires and met the Argentinian president, Cristina Fernandez de Kuchner, after a concert. He mentioned the project's plans to the president and a few days later the decision was taken to begin the identification project. That moment the key, the political key to unlock the whole project which was stumbling was turned, the door was thrown open. So in 2012 the International Committee of the Red Cross stepped in with a project to exhume the graves of the unnamed Argentine soldiers buried by Colonel Cardozo's team in 1982. They planned to identify the remains

and inform the families of the whereabouts of their deceased loved ones. Luis Fonda Brida was the president of the Argentine forensic anthropology team in the ICRC group identifying the bodies. Interestingly, in 1997, he also headed the forensic team commissioned by the Cuban government to retrieve the body of Che Guevara in Bolivia. In 2017, ICRC put together a team of 12 forensic scientists. As part of the agreement, Argentina and UK had the right to include two forensic colleagues. So I was part of the Argentine group

and we recovered 122 bodies from 121 graves. Today, we were able to identify 115 graves with the name of the soldier. So the Argentine families traveled to the islands twice. After that, I was able to see the grave with a new plaque with the name of the soldiers. I was present to provide technical explanation because families always want to talk with the people who touch the bodies, in this case was me. After carefully pulling out the crosses, the forensic team used a small excavator to remove the earth above the coffins, and then small trowels to delicately unearth the bodies, which Colonel Cardozo's team had wrapped in white bags. After so many years in the damp soil,

the wood of the coffins had totally disintegrated. This work continued in autopsy with technology unavailable at the time of burial in the 1980s. Remains were analysed for details such as fractured bones and dental traits to assist in the identification. The specialists also collected small samples of skeletal material of teeth and bones for later DNA testing by genetics laboratories. The international team have worked on two phases of the identification process over the last 10 years. Every family received a written report and also in some cases we were able to provide to them some personal belongings that were attached to the body. Letters, rings, IDs we found with the bodies.

As always in this case, the process is very specific, very sensitive, and it was done individually. So we were able to notify at that stage in December 2017 almost 90 families of the Rosales. And in terms of explaining the work back in Argentina when it had concluded what was the kind of reaction from the families and then also the wider Argentinian community each family reaction is different in these cases depends also who is a member of the family of receiving the. Sometimes are their parents, sometimes are their sister and brother,

sometimes is their wife. Some people start reading the report, others didn't ask any question. So diverse reaction, but all of them expressed gratitude. Something was closing inside them for the family. I would say it was a moment of closure for all of them after almost 40 years. And the reaction in the broader national Argentinian community? For Argentina, Malvinas was always something very present in our history. And I think for Argentina, it was seen as a relief. So it was taken with a lot of interest, respect and a collective

mourning process for Argentina. And for the families of those lost? While some said it was painful for their loss to resurface during the project, others also said it had provided an answer to those who had held on to the hope that their sons may still be alive somewhere. Everyone I spoke to who had been involved with the project spoke of the magnanimity of the Falkland Islanders, who to this day are British citizens. It's unusual to allow an invading power to establish a cemetery. However, in doing so, the islanders made the project possible. And for the Argentine families who are now able to travel to the cemetery

to finally pay respects and feel close to their lost loved ones, a phrase I've heard Colonel Cardozo say seems apt. He says the management of memory has power to provide solace after conflict. This was a post-war cemetery and post-war problem. Some families had been there before, but just didn't know where to look because there were so many crosses with soldier known unto God. Now they knew that they were going back and they could see where their kid was and lay a little rose and spend a bit of time just next to him.

The flight was absolutely cramped, packed with families. We left Buenos Aires and nobody could sleep. Mothers had grown old. Children were now aged 30, could hardly remember their dad. They'd invited me to come with them. I saw them heading towards that cemetery along a little gravel path. I saw their heads bowed. I saw their footsteps heavy. And they went into the cemetery and we helped them to find the place where their son was, or husband. And they, rather than standing, a lot of them just sat down where he was, put their hands on the ground. Tactile, very incredibly touching is literally the word. Then there's a ceremony and then it's time to go. The sight of seeing these families almost torn away from the graves

was very difficult to bear. The sight of the same families returning along the same pebbled path, the very same families, heads held up high, a lighter step, a pride, a deep happiness which has nothing to do with a fiesta and the joy but just a deep tranquility. Looking into the face of a mother who suddenly grips you and embraces you and you see tears coming out of her eyes

and you put up your hand and your hand key to drive them and you look into her eyes and there's sudden glint of a modest fleeting smile. Does that say something to you? That's what it means to me. And I'm Guy, I'm a soldier, but you can't not feel the emotion I have just thinking of it. For islanders, it is something that is particularly emotionally and politically charged. There are some complicated responses and feelings around the Argentine cemetery, with some seeing it as a symbol of the conflict that haunts many to this day. One sign I'd seen in a house window in the sleepy capital Stanley read, to the Argentine nation and its people, you will be welcome in our country when you drop your sovereignty claim and recognize our right to self-determination.

There have been two acts of vandalism in the cemetery, which caused damage to the figure of Argentina's patron saint, the Virgin of Luan, in 2012 and 2017. These were both dealt with locally by the Royal Falkland Islands Police. One of the islanders I met also said he'd seen some Argentine visitors sing their national anthem and wave flags in the cemetery, which he found disrespectful. Generally speaking though, I was told people seldomly fail to act respectfully in the cemetery. The anniversary of the conflict brings deep emotions for islanders. One I spoke to still has nightmares at this time of year. Another said she would prefer the soldiers to be repatriated back to Argentina,

while another younger islander said she thought the cemetery showed the power of respect in remembrance. I wondered whether you could explain a bit more about whether you thought the impact of time was a healer here. The passage of time is a critical element. When the families of the disappeared or families of the soldiers remain without concrete answers from the state about how the loved ones died, where are the buried, always there is a need to know what happened. The passes of time somehow. But I have to say that in any case, it was like the person who died yesterday. There is a frozen process of mourning.

There is a frozen moment where the people don't have a grave to visit, don't have a place where to take a flower. Some families told us, I heard stories they could be alive. So somehow it's some closure for the family, which is what they told us is a relief for them. It's not a closure of the goons because the goons never

close, but at least it's some peace and relief for the families. The fact that now the graves have a name, those 121 graves have a name, makes a huge difference because there is an acknowledgement of the person buried in that place. At least they know where are the remains of the loved ones.

I also wondered if you could explain what the impact of this project would be for future conflict. I have worked for 37 years in this kind of project. And this one is unique because First Adol is under the humanitarian umbrella and also has diplomatic, political, humanitarian, and scientific components that are unique. Many people and many organizations left on the side all the politics involved into the conflict, and they work in cooperation for the well of the families of the missing. And really it was a lot of work,

but it shows very well how it's possible to reach basic agreement for humanitarian reasons when there are families waiting for answers from the States. The cemetery now, 40 years since those involved lost their lives, The cemetery now, 40 years since those involved lost their lives, seems a place in which the humane gesture of compassion after conflict is crystallised, its legacy holding valuable lessons for the aftermath of wars to come. That was Beth Timmons reporting from the Falkland Islands for History hit. Thank you very much to her.

That's all from our Falklands 40 series. If you enjoyed it, please write us a review. Remember, you can find out more about the Falklands War on History Hit TV. We've got a series of programmes going out on the world's best history channel, interviews with historians, veterans, and lots and lots of archive and pictures from the islands themselves on the battlefields. Head over by following the link to the notes in this podcast. See you next time. This is History's Heroes.

People with purpose, brave ideas, and the courage to stand alone. Including a pioneering surgeon who rebuilt the shattered faces of soldiers in the First World War. You know, he would look at these men and he would say, don't worry, Sonny, you'll have as good a face as any of us when I'm done with you. Join me, Alex von Tunzelman, for History's Heroes. Subscribe to History's Heroes wherever you get your podcasts.