Slain officer ‘intended to sue B.B.C.’

Press, 7 June 1982, Page 1

Slain officer ‘intended to sue B.B.C.’

NZPA London Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Jones, the British officer killed in the recapture of Goose ‘ Green on May 28, intended to sue the British Broadcasting Corporation for manslaughter when he returned home from the Falkland Islands, according to a report by John Shirley, of the “Sunday Times.” The report, published in several British newspapers on Sunday, said that Colonel Jones made the statement to reporters minutes before he was killed. The report said Colonel Jones’s anger stemmed from a 8.8. C. item that the attack on Goose Green and nearby Port Darwin was imminent. Colonel Jones believed the report, broadcast on the 8.8. C. World Service, alerted Argentina to the attack. Colonel Jones and 16 other British troops were killed in the subsequent fighting. Shirley said that after the 8.8. C. report “considerable Argentinian reinforcements” were sent to the area from Fitzroy, near Port Stanley, resulting in a change of battle plan. The plan originally was to knock out Goose Green and Darwin airstrips and withdraw. But a big assault was launched on both positions when it was realised that there were more Argentinians than expected. Colonel Jones, commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, was killed leading a platoon against an Argentinian machine-gun position. "The 8.8. C. report has outraged everyone here,”

wrote Shirley, whose dispatch was subject to military censorship. The 8.8. C. yesterday denied that it had broadcast any material that could have given vital military intelligence to Argentina. A spokesman said that the 8.8. C. had not revealed any information which had not been readily available from sources in London, and which had also been available to other broadcasting organisations and other journalists in England. the world Service is acutely aware of the dangers of speculation,” the spokesman said.

The Falklands conflict has given rise to considerable controversy over the handling of news, the news media pressing for increased access to information and soldiers on the islands reported as expressing deep resentment at the amount revealed.