I had a walk-on part in the aftermath of the Falklands conflict, Letters April 5.

After a decade in the armed forces, I read law and have become much wiser than when I was naive and still in my 20s.

Despite the hype from the UK government in the mid 1980s, I have yet to learn of any oil or minerals extracted from the Falkland islands.

For those who have not been to the Falklands, the terrain is largely peat soil.

History shows that the invasion of the Falklands was in part a disaster and we came close to failure.

Primarily we had no air cover to protect our navy from the Argentine air force and hence we lost vital ships, including the Atlantic Conveyor, which was carrying much needed helicopters .

RP Lambeth records that other countries were unwilling to help the British task force recapture the Falklands from the Argentinians.

So clearly others thought it was an unnecessary war.

For my part, once the UK task force arrived near the Ascension islands, there ought to have been more negotiation.

We had called their bluff.

The sinking of the Belgrano was premature and led to bloodshed on all sides.

But, would the Argentinians have withdrawn? Could there have been a compromise? I am not sure.

The Argentinians were not killing civilian Falkland islanders so this cannot be compared to Ukraine.

S Zapello

Address supplied