The Second Battle of the Falklands

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Plaques honour efforts on the Rock and in Rosyth behind Falklands victory


Forty years to the day hospital ship Uganda left Gibraltar for the Falklands a memorial honouring those who made it possible was unveiled.
The Naval Base on the Rock became the latest dockyard to pay tribute not just to the men and women who sailed south in 1982, but the thousands of people in dockyards, bases and establishments who supported them – the liberation of the South Atlantic islands demanded a national effort.

Over the past couple of years, plaques have begun to appear at key sites – starting with Portsmouth Naval Base – thanks to a campaign spearheaded by former HMS Hermes sailor Andrew Cave who felt those who worked around the clock to prepare, fix, convert, load and store the Operation Corporate task force in rapid time.

Among them, employees of Gibraltar dockyard whose contribution to life-saving in the 1982 conflict has been acknowledged with a plaque at Ragged Staff Gates.

In just 65 hours, veteran cruise ship SS Uganda – which took groups of schoolchildren on educational holidays – was turned into a hospital ship.

Some 600 hospital beds were loaded, wards, operating theatres, an intensive care unit, X-ray facilities and laboratories were built and kitted out.

A flight deck for helicopters was added to the stern of the ship for ferrying casualties to land and satellite communication was installed to maintain contact with other ships in the task force.

The Gibraltar yard also converted survey ship HMS Hecla into a makeshift ‘floating ambulance’, ferrying casualties from the battlefield to Uganda for their longer-term care.

By the time Uganda’s hospital ship duties were over, some 700 personnel from both sides had been treated on board.

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FALKLANDS 40


Paying tribute to those who delivered liberation

In the spring of 1982, thousands of British forces travelled to the remote, bleak Falkland Islands off the east coast of South America in response to invasion by Argentine forces.

Carried by a mighty task force of Royal Navy vessels and Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships, and assisted by cruise liners, tankers, cargo vessels and even tugs, 27,000 women and men were mobilised.

As winter descended on the South Atlantic, a bitter war raged for six weeks, resulting in the liberation and ongoing guardianship of the archipelago.

The Falklands Timeline
Key episodes from the conflict ~ [Articles and photos]

Go to - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... lklands-40

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FALKLANDS 40 VETERANS

Paying tribute to those who delivered liberation

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Royal Navy

On this day in 1982, Royal Marines and Paras were landed at San Carlos Water by the Royal Navy, ready to begin the land campaign to liberate the Falklands.
The landings drew a powerful response from Argentine aircraft over the coming few days – San Carlos Water and Falkland Sound became known as ‘bomb alley’ – with HMS Ardent the first victim.
The Type 21 frigate was bombed repeatedly and left a blazing hulk, with the loss of 22 men.
Follow our Falklands 40 timeline and anniversary coverage at:

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... lklands-40

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HMS ARDENT

In 1982 Ken Enticknap was a 28-year-old Chief Petty Officer in frigate HMS Ardent, sent to the Falklands with the task force dispatched to the South Atlantic to liberate the islands.
On May 21 the ship succumbed to ferocious Argentine air attack while she protected soldiers and Royal Marines landing at San Carlos.
40 years later, the now-retired commander sat down with a Royal Navy photographer to share his moving story of survival and remember the 22 shipmates – one in eight of the ship’s company – who never returned.
Watch here: https://youtu.be/-5NSGLEcP3k

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HMS ARDENT

In 1982 Ken Enticknap was a 28-year-old Chief Petty Officer in frigate HMS Ardent, sent to the Falklands with the task force dispatched to the South Atlantic to liberate the islands.
On May 21 the ship succumbed to ferocious Argentine air attack while she protected soldiers and Royal Marines landing at San Carlos.
40 years later, the now-retired commander sat down with a Royal Navy photographer to share his moving story of survival and remember the 22 shipmates – one in eight of the ship’s company – who never returned.
Watch here: https://youtu.be/-5NSGLEcP3k

Keith Walton:
Respect paid yesterday evening in Guzz.

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HMS Forth

Pays her respects - steaming past the wrecks of HMS Ardent and HMS Antelope lost in San Carlos Water during the Falklands conflict 40 years ago.
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HMS Forth

Off Pebble Island in the Falklands. A wreath was laid by members of the ship's company at the memorial to remember the 19 lost when HMS Coventry was bombed on 25th May 1982.

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Yeovilton remember the ‘Falklands 1,400’ – and the 12 men who never returned


Serving personnel, Falklands’ veterans and relatives of those who were deployed to the South Atlantic attended a commemorative service at the home of naval aviation to mark the 40th anniversary of the conflict.
Four decades ago 126 aircraft and 1,400 personnel from Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in Somerset set off on the 8,000-mile voyage to the South Atlantic on Operation Corporate, to liberate the Falkland Islands.

All Yeovilton’s squadrons were brought to immediate readiness in the spring of 1982. The four resident Naval Air Squadrons, 800 & 801 NAS with Sea Harriers, 845 NAS with the Wessex 5 and 846 NAS with the Sea King Mk4, were joined by the newly-created 809 NAS (Sea Harrier) and 847 and 848 NAS (Wessex 5). Lynx helicopters from 815 NAS were already embarked in many of the surface ships, dispatched almost at once to the South Atlantic.

Twelve Sailors and Royal Marines from the Somerset base died in the conflict, and an avenue of 12 hornbeam trees and a Portland stone memorial commemorates their loss, alongside the sports pitches at the air station.

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