Admiral Sir Henry Leach

[Sanjuro]

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach died on Wednesday 26th April. He was First Sea Lord (operational head of the Royal Navy) in 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands; he sought out the Defence Secretary, John Nott, and found him in conference with the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
His advice to Mrs Thatcher was clear; the islands should be recaptured,
"Because if we do not, or if we pussyfoot in our actions and do not achieve complete success, in another few months we shall be living in a different country whose word counts for little."
His outline plan was greeted by the PM with relief and approval; the Task Force sailed 3 days later.
Leach has since been described as Margaret Thatcher's "knight in shining gold braid."
Living in Britain in the 1970s and early 1980s, the country seemed to be in a state of terminal decline. The Falklands War was the event that seemed to turn the country around; Leach's contribution to that turnaround cannot be underestimated.

[Fusilier]