Gesture The Argentine colonel who recovered his sword 37 years after the Malvinas war

"This sword has no material value, but a high symbolic value, which is the symbol of the command with which we enlist the officers when we leave, but this one, in particular, has been charged with another meaning: solidarity, honor, chivalry … Having sought the other side of the Atlantic to recover this sword means that the people who intervened have a big heart On the other side of the ocean, I have new friends unthinkable "We have a lot to learn, listen to and interact with," says Ricardo Jaureguiberry, a retired colonel, after receiving the hands of British Ambbadador Mark Kent in his own home in Recoleta, the sword that is the only one in the world. he had to surrender as part of the surrender at the end of the year

the Malvinas war.

This afternoon, the British government, at the request of the widow of the English Admiral who received it in June 1982 and kept it all that time, returned it. It was like the counterpart to the history of the Malvinas pilot helmet, Miguel Navarro, which was auctioned through the internet. On the contrary, it was a story of loyalty from one soldier to another, beyond the flags that faced them so many years ago.

"This action is an example of what we need to do in these cases, where the honor and the duty to do what is right are above any commercial factor," said Kent himself at the time. 39, a moving ceremony involving family members. from Jaureguiberry, veterans and embbady officials.

"Fate has brought this sword back into my hands, after 37 years in the house of Admiral White, in the

United Kingdom,

and 42 years later I received it for the first time. This saber, a symbol of command, has another meaning today, as it represents good will and generosity, breaking down barriers and accomplishing what seemed impossible some time ago, "said Jaureguiberry. with enthusiasm.

The history of the sword

The story of this sword is as singular as the fact of having found it. He received him on December 16, 1977, when he became an officer of the Argentinean army. Jaureguiberry was married to Susana Schwarz and had just become a father. Nicolás was barely a year old when his father was badigned to a move to the Malvinas Islands as part of a diplomatic military exercise. That's why, when he was traveling, no one in his house thought of going to war. In addition, he was instructed to wear his ceremonial and ceremonial uniform. He traveled with the first delegation that arrived on the islands. And for this reason, he brought the sword with him. It is not usual to carry the sword to war, as it is a ceremonial weapon, but it is not used for combat. But when he was installed in Gran Malvina and the exercise became a declaration of war, the officers who went to the islands no longer carried their swords with them. We know that during a surrender, all weapons must be surrendered, even the most symbolic ones. And the sword is not something that an officer will receive a second time. Once lost, in combat, it is not replaced by another. In fact, when he returned from the Malvinas, Jaureguiberry no longer had his ceremonial weapon. "My husband, also retired colonel, now deceased, also called Ricardo Jaureguiberry.
, and gave him his, which bore the same name and was used from that time, "says the mother, Silvia Fonticelli.

About ten months ago, one of Jaureguiberry's children started searching the internet, hoping it was part of an auction. But he was not lucky. However, on the other side of the ocean, Lady Josephine Mary Lorimer White, widow of Admiral Sir Hugo, had begun the same research.

Jaureguiberry, now retired, is responsible for the safety of an oil pipeline in Neuquén. During the war, he occupied a tactical position in Great Malvina. He was not directly in the battle, but his function was coordination. He had to, among other missions, install several minefields and then fold them. According to him, the day of the war was one of those who had to coordinate the surrender and delivery of weapons. "We were all so sad for the loss of life, because the war had been lost, for our dead comrades, that putting back my sword was the least important of that day, I left it in a shed, with the rest the weapons we delivered, "said the retired colonel.

It was in Fox Bay, shortly before returning to Buenos Aires. Jaureguiberry was informed that Captain White, who is in charge of the HMS Avenger frigate, was going to contact them to coordinate the withdrawal of the Argentine position there. The sword fell into the hands of a British captain who handed it over to White, who kept it for many years, hoping to return it to his owner.

White was governor of Gibraltar and, between 1992 and 1995, commander-in-chief of the British fleet, becoming number two in the Royal Navy. He died in 2014 and it was then that his widow began a crusade to find the owner of this sword hanging at her husband's office. That was his will. "I think he did not keep it as a war trophy, but as a souvenir in the hope of honoring another soldier," Jaureguiberry said.

Lady White went to the Malvinas less than a year ago with this goal. It was there that she contacted Richard Cockwell, MP in the islands and administrator of the estancia in which was settled the Argentine encampment. Fox Bay. It was Cockwell who discovered the inscription that the whites had not noticed until now: "Second Lieutenant Ricardo Martín Jaureguiberry", December 16, 1977. Cockwell jumped because he remembered the Argentine Jaureguiberry , with whom he always had a good deal He contacted the reporter Nicholas Tozer, who had worked at the Buenos Aires Herald and had often visited the islands. And the coincidences made Tozer and Jaureguiberry met in 2003, when the reporter coordinated the Tango National Institute.

Last December, Jaureguiberry received the call from the British Embbady. White's widow had left the sword in the Falklands and had asked the ambbadador to hand her over to her original owner, as part of her husband's wishes and as a gesture of peace and blessing. ;honor. When he cut off the call, he could barely speak. A miracle occurred, he explained to his wife, Susana: 41 years later, this sword would be in his hands, not as a symbol of command but loyalty between two soldiers.