A Falklands Family at War

A first responder eyewitness account from a family living in the occupied war zone during the Falklands War. Many military accounts of the British side of the Falklands War have been published, as well as memoirs written by servicemen who took part. But little attention has been paid to what the Falkland islanders endured during the Argentine occupation and British liberation of the remote territory in the South Atlantic. The previously unpublished diaries of Neville Bennett and his wife Valerie, a fireman and a nurse who lived with their two daughters in Port Stanley throughout the war, provide the first vivid and revealing account. As chief fireman, Neville was frequently called to deal with fires and other incidents during the occupation, and each day he recorded his experiences in his sharp and forthright way. Valerie saw a different side of the occupation through her work at the Stanley hospital where she had to handle the Argentines soldiers and commanders while dealing with daily accidents and emergencies. This engrossing joint record of the exceptional circumstances in the Falklands in April, May and June 1982 offers a fascinating insider view of family life during the occupation.