MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Copy of telex with Argentine surrender and end of Falklands conflict June 1982, to be auctioned

“The Falkland Islands are once more under the government desired by their inhabitants. God save the Queen” said the telex sent by Major General Jeremy Moore

One of three copies of the telex signaling the end of the conflict between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands and other South Atlantic islands will be auctioned by Bonhams on the conflict’s 30th anniversary.

Sent by Major General Jeremy Moore on June 14, 1982, the document announced the Argentine surrender on the archipelago following a 74-day conflict that cost the lives of 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers. The British victory helped bring down Argentina’s military dictatorship while bolstering the government of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

“In Port Stanley at 9 o’clock pm Falkland Islands time tonight the 14th June 1982, Major General Menendes surrendered to me all the Argentine Forces in East and West Falkland,” the telex reads. “The Falkland Islands are once more under the government desired by their inhabitants. God save the Queen.”

Tensions over the Falklands have risen over the past month, with Argentina filing a complaint to the United Nations over the “militarization” of the Falklands and South Atlantic, citing Britain’s decision to dispatch one of its newest destroyers, HMS Dauntless, and the arrival of Prince William at the archipelago for a tour of duty as a military pilot.

“We’re not militarizing the South Atlantic,” Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokeswoman, Vickie Sheriff, told reporters in London earlier this month. “Our defense posture remains unchanged.”

The Royal Navy also pointed out that sending HMS Dauntless had long been decided and is normal procedure, taking over from HMS Montrose currently on the South Atlantic patrol service.

The US State Department this week disregarded any “militarization” of the South Atlantic, in spite of Argentina’s claims, and said that “the UK has made clear to us and to the Argentines that what they are engaged in, in a naval capacity is normal and is typical for this time of year. So we don’t have any reason to question that”.

The sale by Bonhams will take place on April 3, one day after the 30th anniversary of Argentina’s invasion of the islands, and is expected to fetch as much as 3,000 pounds according to Leonora Oldfield, a press official for the company.