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Recently I saw a documentary on the Falklands Conflict and in particular Naval Party 8901 which saddened me. 

NAVAL PARTY 8901

At the time of the Argentine invasion the islands were defended by Naval Party 8901 (NP 8901) that consisted of a Royal Marine garrison of about troop strength. It just so happened that NP 8901 was in the process of its annual rotation, with one troop arriving and one troop returning to the UK (a fact that the Argentine intelligence did not know). Major Norman’s troop of Marines were being relieved by a troop commanded by Major Noott. This gave Rex Hunt a total of 67 Royal Marines to defend the Falklands. Major Norman, being the senior of the two Majors, was placed in over all command and Noott was made military adviser to the Governor. 12 of Major Noott’s troop had already sailed to South Georgia aboard H.M.S. Endurance under the command of Lt. Keith Mills. They had been sent to keep an eye on some Argentineans at Leith

Governor Rex Hunt was informed by the British Government of a possible Argentine invasion on 1 April 1982. At 3:30 pm that day he received a telegram from the Foreign Office stating:

“We have apparently reliable evidence that an Argentine task force could be assembling off Stanley at dawn tomorrow. You will wish to make your dispositions accordingly.”

Forces involved 

The Governor summoned the two senior Royal Marines of Naval Party 8901 to Government House in Stanley to discuss the options for defending the Falklands. He said during the meeting, "Sounds like the buggers mean it."

Major Mike Norman was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major Gary Noott became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors from the Antarctic patrol ship Endurance’s survey team, commanded by RN Lieutenant Chris Todhunter. That number was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over – both the replacements and the troops preparing to leave were in the Falklands at the time of the invasion.

This was decreased to 57 when 22 Royal Marines embarked aboard HMS Endurance to join the 13-man British Antarctic Survey (BAS) team under base commander Steve Martin to observe Argentine soldiers on South Georgia. The Royal Navy and author Russell Phillips state that a total of 85 marines were present at Stanley.

The brief, yet spirited NP-8091 defence of the Stanley area in early April 1982 features prominently in the second part of the book, followed by the Royal Marine surrender, which came from Sir Rex Hunt, the Islands governor, and not from the Royal Marines themselves who were ready to keep fighting even against great odds. Incoherent or missing directives from Whitehall’s diplomats and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) worsened the situation for Norman at a critical time. Unfortunately, the widely circulated Argentine media photos of Royal Marines laying down, as if surrendering without a shot fired, quickly lead to recrimination in London. The losses suffered by the Argentines were ignored by the press in the absence of Royal Marine casualties, disgusting Norman. The way NP-8901 were served up as sacrificial lambs in the absence of clear orders and the unwillingness of the British authorities to set things right were particularly galling.

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