How British was Barry Melbourne Hussey, Argentine Navy translator, at the Argentine surrender in the Falklands War?

Question

I was flabbergasted to read about two Argentinian field officers with double-barrelled English names at the Argentine surrender! Both Barry Melbourne Hussey and Carlos Bloomer Reeve raise an appearance of bias and conflict of interest, because they descend from a country that they are warring against AND they are fluent in English. I wonder if Argentina distrusted them, or questioned their loyalty?

Anyways, how British was Hussey? I doubt Argentina would let him participate in the Falklands War, if he was a dual British and Argentinian citizen?

Google showed me just one relevant result, a 13 June 2012 interview by the Telegraph with Gen Sir Michael Rose.

The commanding officer of 22 Special Air Service Regiment had been tasked with contacting the headquarters of the Argentine garrison on the Falkland Islands in the hope of negotiating its surrender, and here he was, praying for a moderately bilingual opposite number. The crackling reply, when it came, was the most pleasant of surprises.

“Impeccable English,” remembers Sir Michael. “Eton or Harrow, I imagined.”

[. . .]

Hussey, of partly British ancestry [emphasis mine] and regarded by the islanders who knew him as a humane man, agreed to speak with Rose at 1pm every day, relaying the British officer’s observations to the military governor of the islands, Brigadier Mario Menéndez.

I quote from page 8, on Graham Bound's Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story.

Vice Comodoro Carlos Bloomer Reeve was an Argentine of Scottish and French descent who spoke fluent English and was something of an anglophile.

He and his wife are lovely people and spoke beautiful English. As you heard, it is an English double-barrelled name if you like, Bloomer-Reeve, so he is Anglo-Argentinian.

Answer 1

https://www.myheritage.com/names/barry_hussey

According to the above Barry Hussey was born to an Argentine father whose name is obviously quite British being Donald Melbourne Hussey. Barry's mother was English.

The usual form of Donald in Spanish is Donaldo but it's thin evidence to suggest the family has more British ancestry based on the lack of an 'o' in a name.

Carlos Bloomer Reeve had some Scottish ancestry somewhere but his family were from Argentina. He actually grew up in New York due to his father's work and didn't learn Spanish until the family returned to Argentina when he was 11.

https://www.diariopopular.com.ar/historias-vida/el-hombre-que-demostro-que-volar-no-es-solo-pajaros-n271193

To those who downvoted my answer, an explanation would be nice instead of just downvoting the question and my answer. This is StackExchange, not Quora.

Answer 2

Barry Melbourne Hussy was My cousin. His mother "May Olive Wood" Born May 25 1899 (From the Family bible), was my father's oldest sister. She being the third of 8 children.

She emmigrated to Argentina Date uncertain but before 1930. in service of some kind with a British family. There she married I have no knowledge of the gentleman's name other than the surname which I was told was "Ber Hussy" the "Ber" they later dropped.

I met Barry, his wife "Julia" and my other cousin Leonora in Buenos Aries Oct. 1980 while on a road trip through South America. Barry had previously served as Captain of the Argentine Flagship the "Veinticinco de Mayo" and had also been posted to Washington as Naval attaché. His sister Joy whom I met when my aunt was visiting in 1968 lived in Wimbledon had two children Andrew and Olivia. Olivia went on to a career in films keeping her mother's maiden name of "Hussy". I would say Barry was very Argentinian but with British connections.

Answer 3

My opposite number who doesn't often get mentioned, was ViceCommodoro Eugenio J Miari, so not an Anglo-Argentine, but fluent in heavily accented English.

My only dealing with Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was when I visited the Meat Factory at San Carlos, which was being used as a PW camp for the special category prisoners. Bloomer-Reeve was sitting on a flattened cardboard ration box, to give some insulation from the concrete floor, in reasonably smart uniform. He was approached by a RM guard who offered him 200 cigarettes for his smart No 1 Dress Cap. He smiled, gently, and shook his head!

There was a report on proposals to lengthen the Stanley Runway (which the UK did in 82/83) with a joint Anglo-Argentine investigation. It included a colour photograph of Bloomer-Reeve, in a well tailored green tweed suit, looking quite the country gentleman, and green gum-boots, standing in the middle of the pond, to show how shallow it was.