The question from the Prime Minister was blunt and emphatic, and so was the answer from the First Sea Lord.
“How long would it take to assemble such a task force?” asked Margaret Thatcher on March 31 1982, as she learnt that Argentina was about to seize the Falkland Islands and only a naval armada could retake them.
“48 hours,” replied Admiral Sir Henry Leach, who proceeded to break the convention that military officers should steer clear of policy advice by telling the Prime Minister that “we could” regain the islands and “we should”, because otherwise “we shall be living in a different country whose word counts for little”.
