Squelching a revolt gently
It was the gentlest military strike in modern history. In three Puma helicopters and two Hercules C-130 transports, a combined force of 230 British marines and French paratroopers swooped down on the sleepy New Hebrides island of Espiritu Santo. They were armed and ready for combat. But the invading force was greeted with garlands of roses and the curious gaze of 1,000 of the island's anything-but-hostile inhabitants.
Thus ended, for the moment anyway, a bow-and-arrow rebellion that had nettled London and Paris during eight weeks of fruitless negotiations...
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