Ivar Hellberg recounts Falklands War logistics role

Lieutenant Colonel Ivar Hellberg OBE, a former commanding officer of the Commando Logistics Regiment, is sharing his personal account of the 1982 Falklands War. Based in Plymouth at the time of the Argentine invasion, Hellberg’s regiment had only 72 hours to prepare for deployment.

The regiment managed the loading of approximately 12,500 tons of War Maintenance Reserve supplies onto 18 ships before the task force traveled 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic. During the conflict, the regiment served as the hub for the operation’s beach support area, managing fuel, ammunition, landing craft, and medical facilities, including a field hospital at Ajax Bay.

Hellberg noted the logistical difficulties posed by the islands' terrain and weather, which required supplies to be moved via helicopter or landing craft. He also remarked on the strategic luck of the British forces, suggesting that if Argentine tactics had better anticipated landing sites, casualty rates could have been significantly higher.