Q&A: The Falklands War of 1982

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#forgottenweapons #falklands #malvinas #bayonet #fal #history #war

[ForgottenWeapons]

Want a patch or t-shirt with our adorably heavily armed rockhopper penguin? Both are available from Varusteleka:

[andyleighton]

One thing is for certain, you never run out of bayonet.

[Stevarooni]

Last ditch weapons are awful, until they are actually the _last ditch_ at which point you would miss them terribly if you didn't have them.

[Rickinsf]

In Patton's memoir, "War As I Knew It, " he had a list of suggestions for young officers and one point was on the bayonet.
"On the modern battlefield, almost nobody is killed by the bayonet....but everyone is frightened by it. Remember this."

[bepisman]

It could never hurt to have a pointy sharp thing, perhaps on a stick of varying sorts or lengths, in any conflict of any scale at any point in history.

[marks_sparks]

Yes accidentally infiltrated into Argentine positions - a 3 Para vet said that is the Mount Longdon attack turned into a bar room brawl. The vet was wounded with a noticeable mark across his cheek.

[PaulKelly]

Most of an infantryman's weight carried is water and ammunition. You soon run out of both. I'd rather have a bayonet than not have one. Also there's the psychological effect. The order "Fix bayonets!" gets you in the right mindset to get stuck in there.

[finnl]

I'm a big fan of the theory that every time technology advances enough, it becomes inevitable to resort back to WW1 tactics until other forms of technology catch up to alleviate the condition back to maneuver warfare. At the end of the day, long pointy things (spear, bayonet, etc) will ALWAYS come back to warfare

[DUKE]

Bayonets were prevalent in Iraq as-well. Going house to house in dirty street fighting at point blank range or when breaching into somewhere, having a blade at the end of your rifle can come in handy often. Also, pointing a rifle with a bayonet at someone always carry’s the extra psychological threat, probably convincing your would be opponent that he may not like his odds trying to get at your weapon if your trying to take him as a POW

[stephengoodwin]

Got taught fighting with a bayonet when I served in the British Army. Served with many Falkland Islands Veterans during the 80’s & 90’s.

[kdavidsmith]

"HMS Platypus!?" *Puts on Fedora* "Perry the HMs Paltypus!?"
-Dr. Doof, probably.

[brentchambers]

Great video. I teach a short unit on the Falklands War in an elective level senior high school history course that focuses on 20th Century conflicts. This is great stuff I can use in class. Thanks!

[BigDW]

I was in the British army for 15 years, and did 2 stints in Afghanistan, and during my first Afghanistan tour we fixed bayonets there too.. In fact, our section commander got an MC for leading the bayonet assault.

[will_i_am_shakesman]

There will never be a war in which you regret bringing a knife

[caeserromero]

There's a time and place for it, certainly. Even in Iraq and Afghanistan, UK troops still had occasion to use bayonets in close quarter situations. Especially with tribal insurgent irregular fighters, a bayonet charge has incredible psychological impact, according to vets. Possibly less useful in Ukraine, even in trench warfare, with so many tanks and drones on the battlefield, but still well worth carrying a sharp pointy thing to stick on the end of a rifle if required.

[kemarisite]

The nice thing about the bayonet is that (once we got past the plug bayonet) it doesn't replace your rifle/musket in your hands. If you want to keep your entrenching tool ready in your hand for fighting, you'll be limited to one hand for your rifle, or probably a pistol.

[SprikSprak]

There was a big round of interviews done on the 40th anniversary of the Falkland War by the BBC. I was struck by one interview when a vet described how he jumped in a foxhole on top of an enemy soldier and then had to headbut him till he stopped moving, dead or knocked out he never knew.

[Mister_Kourkoutas]

The psychological effects of the bayonet in combat are not to be underestimated. For the men using them, the will to kill at close quarters can be a battle winning asset and for the enemy, the effect of the sight of a body of men charging at them with improvised spears and screaming for blood is *pants shittingly terrifying.*

As Suvorov once said: “The bullet is a fool but the bayonet is wise.”

[smileysatanson]

Trench weapons are very usefull when you accidentally get into the enemy trenches, and at that time, you'll happily grab a table leg if you dont have anything, i've looked at what they used in ww1 and its very interesting seeing basically medieval weaponry that they made on the spot, even just a table leg with 9 inch nails were used

[Noneofurbeeswax]

Trench fighting and the close in combat of urban areas necessitates the use of the bayonet and other weapons that until the recent full scale wars, were seen as obsolete by many.