Amphibious Assault Falklands: The Battle of San Carlos Water: Amazon.co.uk: Michael Clapp, Ewen Southby-Tailyour: Books

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The book details the trip south, during the South Atlantic campaign of the Falklands War. A sound command structure was imposed upon a wide range of ships and men and San Carlos Water was chosen for the assault on the islands and subsequent inshore operations. Contained are firsthand accounts of the air-sea battles and landings that wrested the islands back the Argentine force.

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IN THE SPRING of 1982 the Royal Navy was reeling from yet another series of cuts which to many of us in the service made little sense. Read the first page

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A singularly credible account., 1 Jun 2007

By	Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Amphibious Assault, Falklands (Hardcover)

2007 sees the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War of 1982. In the UK at least, it seems as though everyone and each of our television channels is reliving that war in one way or another. Some authors and commentators are simply climbing onto the bandwagon with material which, to put it simply, is suspect. NOT SO!, with this book.

Michael Clapp was "Commodore Amphibious Warfare" during the Falklands War and co-author Ewen Southby-Tailyour was a serving Royal Marine Officer during that same conflict and whose knowledge of the waters of the Falklands was so invaluable before during and even after the landings. It was Southby-Tailyour who warned the officer in charge (Not!, the Commanding Officer I hasten to add) of the party of Welsh Guardsmen on board the "Sir Galahad" to get ashore before they were attacked and offered assistance to this end. That officer, incidentally, refused the request and the Sir Galahad was later attacked with great loss of life.

Those, then, are the credentials of the two men who have collaborated in the writing of this book. It is an important historic document.

The Captain of any ship is "Master" of that ship. He also commands all the ship's boats and is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safe embarkation and disembarkation of all on board. From ships lifeboats (even life-rafts) to assault craft, considerable training and expertise is required in getting passengers safely away and safely ashore. Never more so than when under fire from a belligerent enemy.

In early 1982, a hastily assembled Royal Navy Task Force was steaming towards the Falkland Islands which had been invaded by a foreign force. The British troops on board the various ships were tried and tested veterans of Northern Ireland but had no experience of what was to come. Worse still, apart from the Commandos, most had little or not experience in going to war by sea.

The responsibility for putting them safely ashore rested with their Royal Navy `chauffeurs' and that responsibility came down to Michael Clapp. In this book he reveals - with considerable honesty, the full story of the events that led to the resultant victory on land. In so doing he had to adopt old, forgotten methods in a bid to find common ground for all concerned. It upset some - but then nobody likes change foisted upon them, especially senior officers. Point is, it worked!

The reasons why San Carlos Water was chosen is fully explained and, with hindsight, is probably the one single factor - more than any other, that led to the eventual victory.

I can identify with a no-nonsense, straight-talking officer who cares not what feathers he may ruffle when given an important task. It says much for his style and the decisions he took that nobody - senior officer or below, has ever challenged his honesty or the importance of this book.

For those with an interest in the Falklands war of 1982, this is essential reading.

NM
(Retired British army major)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A singularly credible account., 1 Jun 2007

By	Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Amphibious Assault Falklands: The Battle of San Carlos Water (Paperback)

2007 sees the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War of 1982. In the UK at least, it seems as though everyone and each of our television channels is reliving that war in one way or another. Some authors and commentators are simply climbing onto the bandwagon with material which, to put it simply, is suspect. NOT SO!, with this book.

Michael Clapp was "Commodore Amphibious Warfare" during the Falklands War and co-author Ewen Southby-Tailyour was a serving Royal Marine Officer during that same conflict and whose knowledge of the waters of the Falklands was so invaluable before during and even after the landings. It was Southby-Tailyour who warned the officer in charge (Not!, the Commanding Officer I hasten to add) of the party of Welsh Guardsmen on board the "Sir Galahad" to get ashore before they were attacked and offered assistance to this end. That officer, incidentally, refused the request and the Sir Galahad was later attacked with great loss of life.

Those, then, are the credentials of the two men who have collaborated in the writing of this book. It is an important historic document.

The Captain of any ship is "Master" of that ship. He also commands all the ship's boats and is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safe embarkation and disembarkation of all on board. From ships lifeboats (even life-rafts) to assault craft, considerable training and expertise is required in getting passengers safely away and safely ashore. Never more so than when under fire from a belligerent enemy.

In early 1982, a hastily assembled Royal Navy Task Force was steaming towards the Falkland Islands which had been invaded by a foreign force. The British troops on board the various ships were tried and tested veterans of Northern Ireland but had no experience of what was to come. Worse still, apart from the Commandos, most had little or not experience in going to war by sea.

The responsibility for putting them safely ashore rested with their Royal Navy `chauffeurs' and that responsibility came down to Michael Clapp. In this book he reveals - with considerable honesty, the full story of the events that led to the resultant victory on land. In so doing he had to adopt old, forgotten methods in a bid to find common ground for all concerned. It upset some - but then nobody likes change foisted upon them, especially senior officers. Point is, it worked!

The reasons why San Carlos Water was chosen is fully explained and, with hindsight, is probably the one single factor - more than any other, that led to the eventual victory.

I can identify with a no-nonsense, straight-talking officer who cares not what feathers he may ruffle when given an important task. It says much for his style and the decisions he took that nobody - senior officer or below, has ever challenged his honesty or the importance of this book.

For those with an interest in the Falklands war of 1982, this is essential reading.

NM
(Retired British army major)

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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating should broaden any readers view of this war, 27 Feb 1999

By A Customer

Commodore Michael Clapp was an experienced naval aviator, an observer not a pilot, who with the end of the large aircraft carriers found himself transferred to amphibious operations as the senior naval officer, something with which he had little previous contact. It is implied in the text that this was winding down to retirement, instead he found himself commanding the troopships and various supply ships in shooting war. This book makes clear as many do not that although junior to Rear Admiral Woodward Commodore Clapp's duty was as an independent commander performing a difficult and thankless task with a high degree of sucess. This is a point often missed if the operation he commanded had failed the war would have been lost and quite possibly many hundreds of soldiers could have died. Southby-Tailyour was a RM major who had served inthe Falklands prior to the war and acted as an advisor on the conditions to the British forces and I suspect prompted Clapp to tell his story see also Southby-Tailyour's book "Reasons in Writing"

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5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed Account
This is a very detailed account of what was happening behind the scenes during the Falklands Conflict. Read more

Published 5 months ago by ACR

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Amphibious Assault Falklands: The Battle of San Carlos Water (Paperback)

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