§ Lord James Douglas Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether there were any other than military personnel on the island of Southern Thule when the island was repossessed; how many personnel there were; how many were members of the Argentine navy; and for how long they or other Argentine military personnel had maintained a presence there;
(2) when his Department first learnt or suspected that the Argentine personnel on the island of Southern Thule were military personnel;
(3) whether any British officials or personnel visited Southern Thule between November 1976 and the repossession of the island.
§ Mr. OnslowWhen Southern Thule was repossessed on 20 June 1982, the illegal Argentine station was found to comprise one air force and 10 naval personnel. The station was discovered by a helicopter from HMS "Endurance" in December 1976, and is understood to have been established by the Argentine navy earlier that year. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible about the other points he has raised.