Falklands War dead remembered on 30th anniversary

There have been memorial services in Britain and Argentina to mark the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War.

In the UK, at the Millenium Chapel National Memorial Arboretum, families of those killed and veterans of the conflict lit candles.

Two hundred and fifty-five British servicemen were killed. The widow of one of them lit a candle that will burn for 74 days, the length of the conflict.

Margaret Allen had only been married for two weeks when her husband was killed on HMS Argonaut. “It’s a special day,” she said. “It’s a special day to remember and reflect. Firstly on my husband first and foremost, and really all those who took part in that conflict.”

Bomb-disposal officer John Phillips lost an arm when an unexploded bomb detonated on HMS Antelope, killing his colleague.

“Well every morning when I look in the mirror to shave I’m reminded of the Falklands Islands because I lost my arm,” he said. “I’m on a bonus now. I’ve had 30 years of life which others did not have.”

Far more Argentinians lost their lives in the war – around 650 died.

President Cristina Fernandez attended a memorial in the southern city of Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra del Fuego, around 700 kilometres across the south Atlantic from the Falklands – or Malvinas as they’re known in Argentina.

Fernandez used the occasion to call once more for the international community to support Buenos Aires’ insistence on talks, mandated by a UN resolution in 1965.

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