The Week That Was. June 14 - 20, 1982

More than 900 people had died since the first British warships reached the South Atlantic UK territory on April 20 - 20 days after Argentina invaded South Georgia.

White flags were now flying over Post Stanley after land forces commander Major-General Jeremy Moore decided to press on to the city following a series of successful clashes with enemy troops.

Negotiations for the surrender of the junta’s army on the islands were now being conducted between their commander General Mario Melendez and British second-in-command Brigadier John Waters.

Argentine President General Leopoldo Galtieri remained bullish, announcing that “sooner or later” his country would regain control of the islands.

There was grim news for drivers, with petrol prices set to rise by 10p a gallon, reaching a record level of around £1.77 as oil companies argued that they needed a substantial price hike to guarantee them reasonable profits.

Meanwhile, fresh proposals to increase Britain’s share of the fish catch in Common Market waters were expected to be made in Luxembourg, in an attempt to break the 10-year-old deadlock on settling a new EEC fisheries policy.

The world seemed capable of supporting warfare but not welfare, Bishop of Ripon the Rt Rev David Young told colleagues.

In an address to the diocesan synod in Harrogate he said there was a strong link between provision of arms and failure of aid.

As developing nations got their hands on increasingly sophisticated weapons, the world’s stability was increasingly threatened, and a government which spent money on arms had much less available for food, housing, medical needs and education, said Bishop Young.

Manager of Leeds United Allan Clarke refused to speak to the media after a confrontation with club directors. Rumours of a sacking had been rife following Clarke’s 21 troubled months at the club, which culminated in Leeds being relegated to Division Two.

Clarke had been part of the Leeds United team that lifted the FA Cup in 1972, and he was the club’s fifth manager since Don Revie’s departure in 1974.

He still had 27 months of his contract left to run – which would present the board with a hefty compensation deal if he was dismissed. Despite this, Clarke finally fell on his sword on June 25.

The Yorkshire Post also reported that honesty paid off three times for unemployed 33-year-old Gerald Simpson, who found £200 blowing along a street in Sheffield.

Even though he was struggling to make ends meet, he handed the bundle of £20 notes in to police. It turned out that the cash belonged to a travel company and had been lost by one of its couriers.

The company decided that such honesty could not go unrewarded and Mr Simpson, his wife Elizabeth and their two children of Crookes, Sheffield, were given a two-week holiday in Corfu. An anonymous pensioner added £100 spending money.

On their return a local firm which had heard about Mr Simpson’s deed gave him a job as a lorry driver. He said: “When I handed the money in, I never expected all these things to happen. It never occurred to me to keep it. It certainly proves honesty is the best policy.”