The military is no doubt a dangerous place to be, in the sense that part of your sworn oath was that you’re basically agreeing to risk your life while performing your duties. At times, those who served had developed this kind of sense of humor that civilians might find disturbing. Calling deadly s-mines that could shred you into pieces as adorably as Bouncing Betty? Sure! Sing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Monty Python’s Life of Brian after your ship was hit by an enemy rocket? Why not? In fact, that’s exactly what the crew of HMS Sheffield did that time in 1982 during the Falklands War.

The Falklands War

Falklands War, also known as Malvinas War, was an undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 that lasted for about ten weeks. The conflict was about the two British-dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands.

It all started when Argentina decided to invade and occupy the Falkland Islands on April 2 and South Georgia just a day apart, with 10,000 Argentinian troops rushing into the islands. Their invasion was triggered when some Argentine laborers had a workers’ dispute and raised the Argentinian flag on South Georgia Island. The Falkland Islands is a series of small islands off the Argentine coast, and at that point, it had been held by Britain for about 150 years.

On April 5, the British government responded by sending out a naval task force to combat the Argentine Navy and Air Force before taking the battle to the islands. Argentina surrendered after 74 days on June 14 and returned the control of the islands to the British forces.