MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Thatcher tribute to Falkland Islanders and military

Tribute has been paid by Baroness Thatcher to the people of the Falklands and to the men of the armed forces who liberated them. In a foreword to an updated version of Sir Rex Hunt's book “My Falkland Days”, she says she never thought she would have to order British forces into battle.

Because the life of her generation was coloured by Nazi Germany and the 1939-45 war, she "was acutely aware that aggressors should never be appeased...I was an unwavering believer in the need for strong defence... The Argentine invasion...reminded us yet again that aggression must never be allowed to triumph...I rapidly became an expert on every aspect of the Falklands -- their history, geography and the people's way of life".

Islanders' warm welcome
When she visited the Falklands a few months afterwards, she knew Sir Rex "was back where he wanted to be. "The months of exile were not easy for Rex or for Mavis, his steadfast wife. They had been forced to leave behind people they had come to love, not knowing what the future would bring. Their relief and pride to be on the islands again was self-evident". She immediately noticed "the warmth of welcome...the genuine hospitality of the Islanders towards all visitors shone through. Eight thousand miles from home, I could see that the spirit of Britain was alive and well". Her most vivid memory of that whirlwind visit was on Mount Tumbledown -- the Argentine last line of defence.

Forever at rest and not forgotten
"Far away from the trappings of Downing Street I began to see something of what it must have been like for our troops as they yomped and fought their way across this windswept terrain... I thought of those who had not returned but would be forever at rest on these islands or in the waters around them. They had fought to defend a way of life. They had fought so that freedom would prevail. Neither I, nor the people of the Falklands, will ever forget them". Thanking her, Sir Rex expresses "deep appreciation....for standing by the Falkland Islanders in 1982 and giving them her unwavering support ever since". He recalls that after invasion, Margaret Thatcher told the House of Commons: "They are few in number but they have the right to live in peace, to choose their own way of life and to determine their own allegiance". Sir Rex adds: "May it be forever thus". While many books have concentrated on the conflict, his is a "personal account" of how the war affected life in the Islands. "Despite all the publicity" he writes, "there are still many misconceptions and misunderstandings about the islands and their doughty inhabitants. If this book does even a little to clear these away, it will have been well worthwhile". Thanking his wife for her constant encouragement and support, Sir Rex says she not only typed the manuscript but also "had the patience to listen to me reading it aloud in bed and corrected me".

"My Falkland Days" by Sir Rex Hunt, CMG, paperback 420 pages, £14.99, published by Politico's, 8 Artillery Row, Westminster, London SW1P 1RZ,Telephone: 020 7931 0090; email: publishing@politicos.co.uk ISBN 1842750178

Harold Briley, (MP) London