Colourful diplomat defined by role in Falklands conflict

Rex Hunt: Sir Rex Hunt, who has died aged 86, was governor and commander-in-chief of the Falkland Islands during the Argentinian…

Rex Hunt:Sir Rex Hunt, who has died aged 86, was governor and commander-in-chief of the Falkland Islands during the Argentinian invasion of April 1982.

The ignominy that he felt in handing over authority to a foreign power – he refused to use the word “surrender” – was redeemed four months later, in the wake of a war that cost nearly 1,000 lives, when he returned to the islands in triumph as the colourful figurehead of re-established British rule.

Like most in the Falklands community, Hunt had half-expected the invasion; he had read the diplomatic runes and observed the naval manoeuvres. Definitive confirmation that an 11,000-strong Argentinian force was on its way came less than 24 hours before the event in a UK foreign office cable that concluded: “You will wish to make your dispositions accordingly.” With a detachment of 69 Royal Marines, supplemented volunteers, the outcome was never in doubt.

Hunt sent his family and domestic staff away with only their most valuable possessions (his housekeeper took a picture of the queen and a bottle of gin). He followed the progress of the invasion from his office at Government House, Stanley, but when Hunt realised the game was up, he took down a white net curtain, wrapped it round an umbrella as an improvised white flag and sent an aide out to discuss ceasefire terms.

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He was dispatched via the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo back to Britain, where he sat out the war, only to return after the British military victory in June. Initially, his job title was redefined as that of “civil commissioner”, but in the final year of his posting, 1985, a new Falklands constitution reinstated the position of “governor”.

His love affair with the Falklands might have seemed unusual given his numerous previous postings. But the Falklands offered promotion and a chance for Hunt to resume his hobby of flying (the job came with its own Cessna aircraft). So his wife, Mavis Underbank, set aside her doubts and they set off for the distant islands.

Hunt loved it from the start. He drove around Stanley in his official car, a red London taxi, and quickly became involved in the numerous activities that meld the small farm communities of the Falklands hinterland, or “camp”, beyond the capital.

To the islanders’ delight, and the irritation of Whitehall (the British government), Hunt also went native. He championed the Falklands Islands cause and opposed foreign office proposals to negotiate a leaseback solution to the islands problem with Argentina.

Hunt was born in Redcar, Yorkshire in northeast England and educated at the local Coatham school. He read law at St Peter’s College, Oxford, before joining the RAF as a cadet in 1941. He was commissioned as a pilot in 1944, and flew Spitfires with No 5 Squadron in India in 1946 before transferring to Germany with No 26 Squadron in 1947. He left active service in 1948.

Hunt was knighted in October 1982. His memoir, My Falkland Days, appeared in 1992.

He last visited the Falklands in June 2007 for the 25th anniversary of the conflict, and is survived by Mavis and his children, Antony and Diana.


Rex Hunt. Born June 29th, 1926, Died November 11th, 2012