The First Casualty Dissected

Inspired by Andrew Hill's article on the Argentine Landing , I decided to compile a small photographic collection of the Argentine LVTP-7s in action in Stanley. As published in Admiral Büsser's book Operación Rosario , the landing formation included 20 LVTP-7 amphibious APCs, and 1 LARC-V amphibious wheeled truck, designated VAR 15.

 The Lost Argentine Lynx: a misinformed post. In attempt to inform about the daily actions during the Falklands conflict, Phillips incurred in a mistake, asseverating that an Argentine Lynx naval helicopter was lost on May 2nd , and her crew was lost: However, there's a conflicting account in this article by Retired Argentine Navy Captain Miguel Fajre, who was a Lieutenant pilot of Sea Lynx in 1982:

In his latest book, Tied With Wires: The Incredible Argentine Inventions & Weapons of the Falklands War, Phillips incurs again in the mistake of including unsubstantiated assertions, maybe not so sensationalist this time, but with serious implications nonetheless: that Argentine forces smuggled Exocet missiles into the Falklands aboard of a Hospital Ship. The incident in question is mentioned on page 80:

  British armour expert Andrew Hills has had a lifelong interest in tanks, armoured vehicles, and military technology. He served in both the British Territorial Army for several years and over a decade in the Police. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Coventry University, England and currently lives with his family in the United States where he is working on further books on tanks and military matters, including The Tanks of TOG , British Zimmerit , and An Unnecessary Burden: Sherman Tank vs Tellermin. 

Estoy traduciendo los artículos al Castellano para los lectores en Argentina y otros países de habla hispana, voy a actualizar esta entrada a medida de que vaya completando cada artículo. Por el momento, están disponibles:

Ricardo Sigal Fogliani is the author of Blindados Argentinos, de Uruguay y Paraguay ( Ayer y Hoy Ediciones, 1997), one of the books cited by Phillips in his attempt to prove that VAO #17 was present in the Argentine Landing. His new book, Blindados en Malvinas ( Grupo Argentinidad, 2021), provides a comprehensive account of the role of armored vehicles on both sides of the conflict.

Zona Militar is the most important military forum in Argentina, where many veterans, researchers and personnel in service of Argentine military share their knowledge with enthusiasts from al Latin America. I've published in Spanish most of my findings in this thread , and a few days ago I was surprised to see that an Argentine Navy officer that was in charge of the Amtrack Battallion stated the real cause of the damage on VAO 17's nose . This officer is Retired Ship Captain of Marine Infantry Armando Vittorangelli , and he commented about this picture published by Ricky Phillips in his Twitter account. Here's his declaration:

A previously unseen picture of the LCVP surfaced in this Facebook group (picture is the 38th of that large collection) called 'Falklands History, The Facts', showing two British soldiers posing next to it. It is undoubtedly our LCVP in question, showing the 'double panel' distinctive feature discussed in the main article. [The picture disappeared from the collection, coincidentally, Ricky D. Phillips is one of the administrators of that group] Click on pictures to enlarge

Cpn. Hugo Santillán is one of the Argentine Navy officers involved in the shooting against the Royal Marines in White City, he was onboard of VAO #05, and his portrayal of the incident is one of the main testimonies included in The First Casualty. As we'll see, he has serious objections over the conclusions reached on the book.

There's a few sites that have discussed about this theory of hidden Argentine casualties that are interesting to read and have more context:  

 Welcome, this site will not work as a typical blog, I intent to publish several articles that will be linked in the upper menu, and relegate the blog entries as a secondary information place holder. I'm currently working on another article with miscellaneous tidbits not encompassed by the main articles, I think that it will be published as a blog entry. I welcome criticism as long as is grounded in reliable sources, I'm open to debate my findings and correct any mistake I surely made. I want to thank all the people that helped and guided me through this puzzling maze. Hope this site will help to clarify many misconceptions about these fateful days, thanks for stopping by. Cheers!