MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly pays tribute to 1982 British landing

The commemoration included on Thursday a ceremony at the symbolic San Carlos Cemetery

The Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly on Thursday issued an official statement commemorating Landing Day, the date that recalls the arrival of British forces at San Carlos Bay on 21 May 1982, during the war between the United Kingdom and Argentina over sovereignty of the archipelago. The institutional declaration pays tribute to “the courage and sacrifice of those who came to restore our freedom and right to self-determination” and emphasizes that “the service of all who supported the liberation of our Islands will never be forgotten.”

As part of the official ceremonies, the Falklands flag and the Union Flag flew together at Victory Green, in the capital Stanley, until 16:30 local time. Afterwards, the British flag was replaced with that of Saint Helena to also commemorate Saint Helena Day, a holiday that falls on the same date and which, according to the Assembly, constitutes “a reminder of the bonds we share with our fellow British Overseas Territories.” The gesture underscores the archipelago's belonging to the institutional family of fourteen British Overseas Territories, on a date deeply meaningful to the political identity of the Islanders.

 

 

 

 

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Una publicación compartida por Governor’s Office Falkland Islands (@ghfalklands)

The commemoration included on Thursday a ceremony at the symbolic San Carlos Cemetery —where the remains of some British soldiers fallen in the opening hours of the landing rest— with a brief religious service, military honours, a minute of silence, and floral tributes. The landing at San Carlos, executed by the Task Force dispatched from London three weeks after the Argentine invasion of 2 April 1982, marked the start of the land campaign that would culminate in the unconditional surrender of Argentine forces on 14 June.

The so-called “commemoration season” will extend over the coming weeks. On 29 May a ceremony is scheduled at Goose Green-Darwin, the second most important settlement in the archipelago, in remembrance of the liberation of around a hundred civilians —mostly women, children, and the elderly— who during the occupation had been confined to a single room of the settlement's social club. The Battle of Goose Green, fought on 28 and 29 May 1982, was one of the decisive actions of the land campaign: some 450 British paratroopers defeated the Argentine forces and took close to 1,600 prisoners, while securing the release of the detained civilians.

The cycle of events will close on 14 June with Liberation Day, the archipelago's main civic anniversary, in a year additionally marked by the leak of a Pentagon memorandum that referred to a possible review of US diplomatic support for British sovereignty over the Islands, a hypothesis disavowed by the United Kingdom government.