"On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was determined that Argentina's seizure of British sovereign territory would not stand. A Task Force, led by the Royal Navy, was ordered south to recover the Falklands. The campaign that followed was a remarkable chapter of British military history. The Falklands were the last place on earth that the British armed forces had expected to mount a military operation and very little peacetime contingency planning had been done on such a remote possibility. The campaign that followed, while widely regarded as a huge success, was actually a much closer run thing than the jubilant British public realised when Argentine forces on the Falklands surrendered on 14 June 1982. Success on the part of the British servicemen involved was achieved by 'muddling through' and driven by necessity, calculated risk taking, boldness and a bloody-minded determination to get the job done. In this account, Giles Orpen-Smellie, describes how battlefield or tactical intelligence, relevant at battalion level during the battles ashore, was collected and assessed to develop a picture of the Argentine defenders. He explains what information was known the time, the gaps in that information and how that information influenced decisions. He then goes on to consider how the picture the British had of their Argentine opponents differed, sometimes significantly, from the reality, which was not identified until long after the campaign."

Subtitle on cover "Tactical intelligence in the Falklands campaign. List of maps : The Falklands campaign 1982 ; 3 PARA’S route south ; The Falkland Islands : potential landing sites ; Argentina ; The intelligence picture: 14 May 1982 ; The landing area : 21 May 1982 ; 3 PARA’S tab: 27-31 may 1982 ; The Mount Longdon area ; Argentine positions identified on Mount Longdon : 3 June 1982 ; Expected ‘Situation-Enemy’ picture : 11 June 1982 ; 3 Commando Brigade plan of attack : 12 June 1982 ; 3 PARA plan of attack : 12 June 1982 ; The attack continues : 13 June 1982 ; Argentine positions identified on Mount Longdon: 12 June 1982 ; Subsequently identified Situation-Enemy: 2022.

The call to arms -- Getting my act together -- Southbound -- Ascension Island -- Informed guesswork -- Operation SUTTON -- The tab -- Developing the intelligence picture -- The battle for Mount Longdon -- The morning after the night before -- Coming home -- Marking my own homework.