Endurance record
Sir: In Correlli Bamett's review of Captain Barker's book Beyond 'Endurance' (Books, 17 May), he seems to go out of his way to highlight the author's attack on my late father, who served as ambassador in Buenos Aires at the time of the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.
The casual reader finds in his review the unchallenged repetition of a cheap, superfi- cial and scurrilous character assassination, while claims that Captain Barker knew best and deserved promotion go largely unchal- lenged. The late and gallant captain (and gal- lant he surely was in exercising command of his ship) is entitled to his views. One does look, however, to a writer of Mr Bamett's stature for a hint or suggestion of balance.
Even a cursory reading of the official inquiry, the Franks report of 1983, reveals my father's views. For confirmation of this see the Franks report (paragraph 303) regarding my father's communication of 3 March 1982, the urgency of which meant that it ended up on Mrs Thatcher's desk. As a result of this communication, she called for contingency plans to be made and asked John Nott at the Ministry of Defence about possible warship movements to the South Atlantic. Although we shall have to wait some years to see the full text, we can be assured that it was not suggesting the peace- ful intentions of the Galtieri junta.
My father did receive a 'IC', albeit some years later. The citation stated that it was for his work on human rights, in which he was engaged in the mid-1980s.
Benedict Williams
10 Ladbroke Road, London W11
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