Major Mike Norman

Major Mike Norman was the commander of the British forces on April 2nd when the Argentines landed. He had only been in the colony for a few days in order to relieve Major Gary Noott and what should have been an outgoing 8901 detachment. Instead, the two forces were combined and Major Norman took command by dint of seniority. He was under the executive command of Rex Hunt the governor of the colony. His priority was to defend the seat of government - government house. He attempted to cover the expected landing beaches but had not been informed that the Argentines would probably be using amphibious AMTRAKs that required a different gradient to the anticipated landing craft, hence they were covering the wrong beach. Despite this fact and the extremely limited preparation time, the troops reacted to the invasion force and engaged the enemy forcefully. The majority of the fighting took place in and around Government House where the governor was ultimately in command. When word was received that armoured vehicles were approaching with 30mm canon it was decided by the governor to surrender having made the point of armed resistance clear. Mike Norman was portrayed by Bob Peck in: An Ungentlemanly Act