On 14 January 1980, as a final career posting, he was appointed as the
Governor of the Falkland Islands and High Commissioner of the
British Antarctic Territory. The UK's sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was contested by
the Government of Argentina, and with a
military dictatorship in place in
Buenos Aires, this claim was being asserted with more intent than ever before. Unbeknown to the British Government plans were underway to seize the Islands by force of arms, without a prior declaration of hostilities. In the meantime, Hunt had been dispatched to the Islands as their new Governor, with instructions from the Foreign Office to try, during his tenure administering them, to persuade the recalcitrant islanders that the Islands being moved into an Argentinian governmental sphere of influence, given its geographical proximity compared to that of the United Kingdom, was perhaps in their best long-term interest. Hunt soon discovered that the Falkland Islanders were adamantly opposed to any ceding of their sovereignty in this direction, and he relayed this information back to London; arguing that on consideration of the matter he personally agreed with their views. Hunt's seniors in London did not receive the news well, and concluded that Hunt had "gone native".
Falklands War On 2 April 1982, under cover of a night approach across the southern
Atlantic Ocean, the
Argentine Navy and
Argentine Army carried out a seaborne
invasion of the Falkland Islands. Hunt made his official residence,
Government House in
Port Stanley, the operational headquarters for the small
Royal Marines garrison on the islands, sending his family and domestic staff away to safer houses. His housekeeper took with her a portrait photograph of
the Queen and a bottle of gin. Government House quickly became the scene of a brief battle between the Royal Marines garrison and Argentine
commandos. With the British forces facing overwhelming military and logistical odds, Hunt, after an extended exchange of small arms fire, with a handful of casualties, gave the order to the Royal Marines to lay down their arms. He then went to Stanley Town Hall, wearing his
full dress uniform, complete with medals, gold braid, neck ribbons, sword, sash and plumed cocked hat to face the Argentine invasion force's Commandant,
Vice admiral Carlos Büsser, addressing him with: "You have landed unlawfully on British territory, and I order you to remove yourself and your troops forthwith". In response he was met with laughter, roughed up, his medals stolen and placed under confinement by the Argentines. Four hours later, under armed escort, he was flown out of the Falklands on a aeroplane to
Montevideo, in
Uruguay. He remained in this forced exile during the
occupation of the Falkland Islands, until they were militarily liberated on 14 June 1982 by a British seaborne taskforce dispatched by the British Government, after which he returned again in full dress uniform and re-established its self-governance. Victorious British forces paraded past in review while he was clad in full dress uniform. He continued to serve in the post of its Governor until 1985. ==Later life==