Malvinas war: the Argentineans deceived the English with PVC pipes claiming to be guns

37 years after the surrender of Argentine troops to the Falklands, after 74 days of fighting, the stories of the war continue to emerge, such as the Argentineans who deceived the English during the conflict using PVC pipes simulated guns, strategy that has not occurred losses in a regiment of more than 200 soldiers.

The story is told by retired Colonel Oscar Minorini Lima, head of the Company of Engineers 9, initially integrated with about 130 men, including chiefs, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, landed on April 2, 1982 at Bahia. Fox, on the island of Gran Malvina.

"The date of today is painful, but I remain with the fact that for 37 years, members of my company have an honorary appointment every month of October, when we met somewhere in the country to celebrate We all came back alive from the Malvinas ", says Minorini Lima, author of the book"Falklands, honor and unforgettable memories", in dialogue with Telam.

The veteran, master of remote sensing and specialist in the interpretation of images, had an idea during the war that protected his subordinates from the English fire.

"Every morning, a British photographic plane photographed us and, as a photojournalist, I knew what they were looking for." In the room where we were, there was a warehouse filled with black PVC sewer pipes and it appeared to me to use them to simulate guns and which did not have any artillery ", remembers the retired military officer.

They set up a defensive position with simulated artillery pieces that are bombed by the British every night, while the company's members are in the safe haven away from this place.

Every morning they repaired the damage of the night, replaced the artillery pieces, filled the drums with fuel to blow them up before the English bombs, changed the position of the PVC pipes and covered them with masking networks. "It saved our lives," he says with conviction.

"According to British data, we received more than 3,000 guns and, thanks to the simulated targets, we returned without casualties, with only two wounded," said proud of his regiment, which initially had 130 men, but it has increased to more than 200, survivors coming from other positions.

On the day of capitulation, he recalls: "They phoned me from Puerto Argentino and told me that the next day I had to go on an English frigate to coordinate the return to the mainland, with all our equipment and weapons. "

When he appeared before the English army, they asked him if he had been injured in his ranks to send him sanitary support. "When I said no, they were surprised and said," We bombed them every night and they are not injured? They could not believe it, "he recalls.

Minorini Lima continues the story: "Then the English soldier asks me: but at least I destroyed the weapons?" When I told him that he had no artillery and that it was a simulated weapon, he had a staggering face and immediately called the officer. the artillery in charge of bombing every night to prevent it. "

"What did the queen cost to these guns!", Said the officer, laughing and surprising the British army for the harm done to the Argentines.

The members of the Company of Engineers 9 meet each year, on the occasion of the October 12th holiday, in certain parts of the country, under the name of "rendez-vous de honor". This year he plays in Paraná. They have a WhatsApp group with the name of the company and they are almost daily in contact.

Among the members are also retired Colonel Ricardo Jaureguibery, who recently recovered his sword left in Fox Bay after the capitulation of Argentina on June 14, 1982 and which was guarded by an English officer for 37 years.

"They were iron soldiers, they endured 3000 firearms and have lost none," notes Minorini Lima, on the occasion of a "painful and special" birthday, while reviewing the pictures of the days on the islands that marked it forever.