MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falklands' veterans involved in 'clean up' after the war receive campaign medals
PM Cameron in Downing Street hands the medals to the veterans (Pic PA) Falkland Islands veterans who arrived to 'clean up' after the war ended have finally been given their campaign medals after 32 years. David Cameron handed the servicemen the South Atlantic Medal in Downing Street on Wednesday after a long-awaited review found they should have been recognized for their service in 1982, according to a report from Dan Bloom for the MailOnline.
The men all arrived on the Falkland Islands more than a month after Argentine forces surrendered Port Stanley on June 14, 1982. And although the war was over, their work was not without its dangers.
They had to deal with landmines and the graves of the war dead, and one soldier, Gurkha Lance-Corporal Budhaparsad Limbu, died when his spade hit a grenade two weeks after the surrender.
For decades the only veterans who could claim the South Atlantic Medal were those who had been on the Islands up to July 12, 1982. But this year a long-awaited independent review ruled that time should be extended by three months to October 21, 1982.
It now covers veterans who served up to when an airfield at what is now RAF Mount Pleasant, opened in 1985, was completed as part of Britain's efforts to strengthen the Falklands against future attacks.
The review by the former British Ambassador to France, Sir John Holmes, was controversial with many other servicemen - because it left out veterans of conflicts including Aden, Suez and Korea.
It declared new medals would be awarded to those who served in Cyprus and the Berlin Airlift - when the Allies flew supplies to people in West Berlin in 1948 and 1949. Other conflicts were not mentioned in the review, whose aim was 'to draw a definitive line under issues which in some cases had been controversial for many years'.
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Read all commentsThey deserve their medals and should have had them when the others were awarded.
Oct 24th, 2014 - 10:46 am 0At least they EARNED their medals unlike the argie “Veterans” scum who ran away and got theirs for LOSING the war.
TDC: despical to the end, which is on the way and nearer than the idiots think.
All service personnel who served their country should deserve their medals
Oct 24th, 2014 - 12:48 pm 0@1 Chris R
Oct 24th, 2014 - 08:16 pm 0“unlike the argie “Veterans” scum who ran away and got theirs for LOSING the war.”
Give the Argy veterans some credit Chris-some of the Argy's who fought in the war were born in the 1990s and travelled back in time to fight in 1982.
Though as you say, despite being time travellers and having that advantage, they still got medals for running away.
Glad these Brits got their medals, including I hope the sailors of HMS Illustrious that took over from our carriers that were themselves sunk 5 times by the Argies.
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