Falkland Islands’ Sabbatical

1982 War and Veterans' 20th Anniversary Visit



Flotsam of the '82 War

Over the hillsides, especially where the main battles took place, there is still a fair amount of rusted relics. These items are on the hills surrounding Stanley and where the final battles occurred.





Downed Argentinian helicopter

One of the many 'dead' Argentinian aircraft littering the landscape.







Ajax Bay 'OP Corporate' - entrance to the hospital

This is the entrance to what was the Military Hospital at Ajax Bay. Previously, this building had been a refrigeration plant for the meat industry but which had not been used for some years. 'Op Corporate' was the code name given to the operation to recover the Falkland Islands.










Lt Col H Jones VC monument                       Sgt I Mackay VC Monument

These are the monuments to the two posthumous VC recipients and are located at the spots where they fell. Lt Col H Jones’ is near Darwin and Sgt I Mackay’s is on Mt Longdon, near Stanley. On I Mackay's monument, the 'items' on the top left hand corner are 29 wrought iron roses, each to represent a year of his life.

Lt Col H Jones is buried in the cemetery at San Carlos but Sgt I Mackay was returned to UK.






                        The Liberation monument in Stanley

The names of all the military units and civilian organistaions which took part in the war are recorded on the monument and the names of all those killed are on the tablets on the surrounding wall.










8 Nov 2002 - SAMA Remembrance Service at San Carlos

This was a very emotional event as this was the first time the majority of the Veterans had been back to the Islands since the war.






Post-service refreshments

Following the Remembrance service, the residents of the San Carlos area hosted over 400 visitors to food and drinks. It was quite an undertaking, considering the food was prepared on normal household cookers, and was a resounding success. The mutton stew was the most popular as it brought back memories for the veterans!





           Prince Andrew at San Carlos Cemetery - 9 November 2002

The following day, Prince Andrew made a private visit to the cemetery to lay a wreath. He had asked to meet the local residents and invited them to attend his wreath laying. Prince Andrew had served as a helicopter pilot during the war.








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