An embossed postcard of southern South America showing the Republics of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, southern Paraguay and Brazil, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands, a British territory claimed by Argentina as Islas Malvinas and the site of the Battle of the Falkland Islands on December 8, 1914.
Rep. ArgentinaCabo de HornosIslas MalvinasRep. ArgentinaCape HornMalvinas Islands / Falkland Islands
"It must have been a very pretty picture. A blue cloudless sky, the atmosphere extraordinarily clear, the two battlecruisers forcing their way through a calm sea, white water boiling in their wakes, masses of black oily smoke from their funnels, against which the many white ensigns showed up in striking contrast. Ever and anon the roar from the forward turret guns and heaving masses of chocolate-coloured cordite smoke tumbling over the bows, a long wait, and tall white splashes growing out of the sea behind the distant enemy.""We got about fifty onboard. We were busy getting out clothes, etc for them, and by dinnertime we had several in the mess. Most of them could not sleep that first night, the scenes in their ships were so terrible. To see one's best friend rush on deck, one huge wound covered with blood, and just have time to send his love home, is terrible. But we were all good friends after the fight, and agreed that we did not want to fight at all, but had to. Over 2,000 of them must have been killed or drowned, but they fought magnificently, and their discipline must have been superb."
Two statements from officers of the British battlecruiser Inflexible, the first by the Gunnery Officer, describing the Battle of the Falkland Islands. In the summer of 1914, German Vice-Admiral von Spee's East Asiatic Squadron, had sailed from Tsingtao, China, and made its way across the Pacific Ocean. On November 1, it defeated a British squadron off the coast of Chile in the Battle of Coronel. By December, nearly 30 British warships were searching for von Spee. On December 8, 1914, the German squadron approached the Falkland Islands off the southeast coast of Argentina. Several of the ships in the British squadron were coaling, and the British were fortunate not to be taken at anchor. Under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee, the British squadron included Inflexible, Invincible, Canopus, and Glasgow, and outmatched the German ships. Between 4:00 PM and 9:30 PM, four of the five German ships and two colliers were sunk. Only Dresden escaped.
Naval Battles of the First World War by Geoffrey Bennett, pp. 102, 105, copyright © Geoffrey Bennett 1968, 1974, publisher: Pan Books, publication date: 1983
Argentina, Falkland Islands, South Atlantic, Battle of the Falkland Islands, Islas Malvinas, Malvinas, 1914, December, 1914-12-08
