MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Lady Thatcher becomes first Patron of Falklands Association
Baroness Thatcher has been appointed Patron of the Falkland Islands Association ? a unique honorary post never before offered in the history of the Association.
She has expressed delight at the Association's invitation, which comes twenty years after she was given the Freedom of the Falkland Islands, the only individual to be so honoured in appreciation of her leadership in 1982 which resulted in liberation of the South Atlantic Territory from invasion by Argentina. The decision to invite her to be Patron of the Association was conveyed to her by its Chairman, Sir Rex Hunt, who as Governor of the Falkland Islands in 1982 established a close personal rapport with the Prime Minister during that traumatic campaign. He told her: "In recognition of all you have done for the Falkland Islands in and since 1982, the Association has asked me to invite you to become our first and only Patron. I do so with the greatest of pleasure". She replied:" Although in the last year I have been reducing my commitments, I would be delighted to accept this very special honour. Please pass on my thanks and warmest regards to all the members of the Association". The Association exists to support the people of the Falkland Islands in their wish for self-determination, free from the threat of Argentina's claim to sovereignty. With membership climbing to almost 1,000, mainly in the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands, the Association recently launched a campaign for new members to strengthen its voice. It has an active Stanley Committee. Baroness Thatcher's honour is announced soon after the death of the Argentine President who ordered the invasion, General Leopoldo Galtieri.
Revered by Falkland Islanders Baroness Thatcher is revered by the Islanders for her courage and determined leadership which resulted in their liberation, and also for the post-war measures which laid the foundation for redevelopment and unprecedented prosperity. Paying tribute to her then, as he records in his memoirs, Sir Rex Hunt remarked: "Thank God for Maggie Thatcher". In 2002, she figured prominently in a series of events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Falklands War and remembering the 255 British servicemen who died. It was during these events that she expressed a wish to support the Falkland Islands Association, resulting in her becoming Patron. Lady Thatcher was particularly gratified that on the 20th anniversary of the Argentine surrender, June 14th, the freedom of the Falklands was bestowed on the armed forces as a whole.
Tribute to Task Force Though forbidden on medical advice to make public speeches, she paid tribute to the Task Force when she was guest of honour at a lunch on the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth Two, used as a troopship in 1982. She also spoke to many of the 1982 veterans at a Gosport reunion and service near the Royal Navy base, where she wrote in the programme: "This memorial reminds us of those who fought heroically so that others might regain their freedom, and also reminds us of those who sadly did not return. Though we gather here today to mark their achievements, we do not need physical monuments. In our hearts we shall never forget them". Lady Thatcher went to Gatwick Airport to convey personal good wishes to more than 200 veterans who returned to the Falklands on a mass pilgrimage in November, warmly welcomed by the Islanders. Much to Falkland Islanders' regret, she was unable to make the long journey herself with her husband, Sir Dennis Thatcher, as they had done for the tenth anniversary in 1992. But she was guest of honour at the annual Falkland Islands Government reception at Lincolns Inn in London, meeting several hundred Association members and other Falklands supporters. She always said that during her record three terms as Britain's first woman Prime Minister, in a period of great challenge and stress both in the United Kingdom and abroad, the hardest decision she ever had to make was to send Britain's servicemen to war, knowing that some of them would never return. Despite her public reputation as a tough leader, she is known in private as a person of compassion, and their deaths grieved her greatly. Baroness Thatcher's many honours include some of the highest that the United Kingdom can bestow, including the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter, and others from foreign countries, including the United States, South Africa, and the Czech Republic. But she has a special rapport with the Falkland Islands. She is on record as saying nothing remains more vividly in her mind than the 1982 Campaign.
Harold Briley, (MP) London
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