Falklands History Discovered in NZ

An important piece of Falklands War history has been discovered by New Zealander Neil Shaw on the eve of the conflict’s 25th anniversary. A former member of the British Antarctic Survey, Shaw discovered the message from Falklands governor Rex Hunt warning Argentina to cease their invasion while sorting through his old belongings. Shaw had himself transcribed the radioed message from Hunt and handed it to the Argentinean captain. “We had finished an Antarctic expedition and saw it as a bit of a holiday trip around the whaling stations on South Georgia. The base commander had told us to be aware of ‘unwanted visitors,'” said Shaw in the Guardian. “We arrived at Leith harbour and saw some smoke rising above the hill. We went over the hill and saw a ship in the docks, and realised there was more to this: it was a political situation.” The note will be displayed next month at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, in an exhibition dedicated to the conflict.