Mount Pleasant

Early in 1982, shortly before the Argentinean invasion, the Falkland Islands defensive capabilities could best be described as limited.

 

At government level, the threat from Argentina was under-estimated as much as the power of diplomacy was over-estimated, and prior to the invasion of the Islands in April 1982, there were around 60 Marines based at Stanley, a local volunteer force that numbered up to 40, and an ice patrol vessel, HMS Endurance, a ship that could eavesdrop on radio communications coming from South American countries whilst also supporting the British Antarctic survey bases.

 

On April 2, 1982, the marine and volunteer force where the first and last lines of defence, protecting Government House and Stanley against the advancing Argentinean force of 600 commandos. After Governor Rex Hunt initially refused to surrender, the sheer number of invading troops forced him to order the marines to lay down their arms to avoid unnecessary deaths and protect the civilian population.

                             

                             

              Operation Rosario, 1982 Falklands

A day later, a 22-strong detachment of marines on the neighbouring island of South Georgia were involved in a two-hour battle against overwhelming Argentinean forces until they were also forced to surrender due to the number of invading troops.

 

By April 25, 1982, British forces had retaken South Georgia and on June 14, an Argentinean surrender to the British was confirmed ending their 74-day occupation; a total of 255 British military personnel were killed during the fighting on land and aboard the ships of the Task Force, with a further 775 injured.

 

With the airfield at Stanley damaged during Operation Black Buck, a series of bombing missions undertaken by Vulcans flying from RAF Ascension Islands – at around 8,000 miles and a 16-hour round trip, the longest-range bombing missions in history at that time work to repair the runway began immediately.

 

Post conflict, air protection of the Falklands was maintained by the Sea Harriers aboard HMS Hermes, and then HMS Invincible, before the newly built HMS Illustrious arrived, the aircraft carrier being commissioned while enroute to the South Atlantic.

 

It was clear that the islands required a greater protective force, and a year after the Argentinean occupation had ended, work began on creating the Falklands own RAF station, Mount Pleasant. Today the station, known as MPA, is home to a Typhoon force able to provide QRA (quick reaction alert) response to any imminent threat, with support aircraft typically on site including an A330 MRTT (multirole tanker transport) for refuelling.

 

Alongside the RAF station there is an army force which, among other duties, operates a Sky Sabre ground-based air defence system, and the Royal Navy maintains a patrol vessel, HMS Forth, constantly monitoring the territorial waters of the area.

 

At any one time there is somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 military personnel based on the islands – comprising about 30 per cent of the Falklands’ population; there is also the Falkland Islands Defence Force, which is still around 40-strong, a reserve unit of local residents who undertake weekly military training.

 

The first line of defence, however, is from the islands’ air power based at the Mount Pleasant Complex, located around 30 miles South West of Port Stanley.

 

Work began on the site in the Autumn of 1983, the MoD purchasing 8,300 acres of farmland with a consortium of British construction and civil engineering firms involved in the development of an airfield and associated buildings, able to accommodate civilian as well as military aircraft.

 

With the shipping of materials and construction workers by air and sea, and the development of a road between Stanley and the new airfield, the overall cost for the project was around £215million.

 

Opening in 1985, three years after the war ended, Mount Pleasant became fully operational in April 1986 with the arrival of No. 23 Squadron’s Phantoms, which had initially operated from Port Stanley airfield following their transfer from RAF Wattisham in Suffolk. In May 1986, No. 78 Squadron was reformed on site with the merger of Nos. 1310 and 1564 Flights, operating Chinook and Sea King helicopters.

                           

                                                 Mount Pleasant badge                                           

In October 1988, No. 23 Squadron’s role at Mount Pleasant ended when they converted to Tornados, their mission and their Phantoms transferring to No. 1435 Flight, who remained operating the aircraft from the Islands until July 1992 when they converted to four Panavia Tornado F3s.

 

Due to the need to accommodate the majority of military personnel on the islands at Mount Pleasant, barracks, messes and recreational areas were all accessed via what became a half-mile long route, laying claim to be the world’s longest corridor.

 

The soubriquet of the ’Death Star Corridor’ was given to the site due to the drab nature of the decoration and its likeness to the interior of the Death Star of the Star Wars film, leading to a re-painting job and an attempt to rename it the ‘Millennium Corridor’.

 

In September 2009, the Islands’ Tornados were replaced by Typhoons, the jets that currently protect the Falklands from the threat of enemy aircraft approaching the islands, aircrews and ground staff on 24/7 alert to get the aircraft airborne in a matter of minutes after any threat is detected. Prior to transferring to Mount Pleasant, aircrews and ground staff are trained at the two QRA sites in Britain, Lossiemouth and Coningsby.

 

Alongside 1435 Flight, the station accommodates further Flights as and when required, maintaining Voyager and Atlas aircraft alongside helicopter forces, working with Army and Navy partners to ensure the Islands are protected at every hour of every day.

 

The station remains the newest permanent airfield of the RAF, bearing the motto ‘Defend the Right’, and with Argentina’s political leaders ever ready to comment on the Falklands, its role is crucial to the peace of mind of the islanders, many of whom remember the invasion of April 1982.