Good morning, Whitewater.
Saturday will be mostly sunny with a high of seventy-seven.
On this day in 1982, Argentine forces surrender to Britain in the Falklands War. The New York Times reported the surrender the next day:
General Moore radioed from his command post on Mount Kent: ”Falkland Islands once more under Government desired by their inhabitants. God Save the Queen.” It had taken the British three weeks and four days of fighting on the ground to retake the islands following their landings at San Carlos Bay….
The dramatic moves Monday and today toward an end of the war came after British troops under General Moore stormed into the outskirts – and, unofficial reports said, into the streets – of the Falkland capital. Argentine defenses were reported to have crumbled under the onslaught of artillery, naval gunfire, air attacks and the charge of as many as 7,500 foot soldiers – paratroopers, marines, Gurkhas and Guards.
Sweeping forward from their positions on the high ground just west of Stanley, which they had taken on Friday and Saturday, the British forces overran the main Argentine defensive perimeter in three places – Tumbledown Mountain, Mount William and Wireless Ridge. The Argentines broke and ran, falling back into a promontory of only about seven square miles around the capital and its strategic airstrip, it was reported.
General Moore’s offensive plan had originally envisaged a pause there before the final assault, but as organized opposition collapsed he urged his men forward and they pushed to the edge of town.
It appeared that the defenders were short of food and water, and British correspondents in Chile, who have been monitoring the radio links between General Menendez and the mainland, reported that the circuit went dead after an officer said the power was failing.
On this day in 1885, it’s the first Flag Day in Wisconsin:
1885 – Birth of Flag Day
On this date the first recognized observance of Flag Day in Wisconsin occurred at the Stony Hill School near Waubeka. The event was led by Bernard J. Cigrand, a teacher. Flag Day did not become a national observance until 31 years later when Woodrow Wilson reconized it on June 14, 1916. [Source: History Just Ahead: A guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]