New Falklands war memorial unveiled

AFP/London

A woman lays a wreath after the dedication ceremony of the Falklands Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, central England, yesterday

A new memorial to the Britons who died in the Falklands war between Britain and Argentina in 1982 was unveiled yesterday, nearly 30 years since the landing of the task force on the islands.More than 600 veterans and their families attended the event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, central England.The service ended with a flypast of the last airworthy Vulcan in Britain, the giant bomber which played a key role in the war. It was flown by flight lieutenant Martin Withers, the pilot who led a strategically crucial raid codenamed Black Buck 1 on the runway in the Falklands’ capital, Port Stanley.The new cream-coloured stone tribute, which is designed to reflect the islands’ craggy landscape, is the first permanent memorial to the victims at the arboretum. Until now, only a bench and a flag pole honoured the British service personnel and merchant seamen who died in the war. The memorial is a partial replica of one in San Carlos Bay in the Falklands, where British troops began their assault on May 21, 1982. The Falklands War, which began with an invasion of the islands by Argentine forces, ended in their defeat and the deaths of 649 Argentine and 255 British servicemen.Kathryn Nutbeem, who was just five when her father Major Roger Nutbeem was one of the 48 members of the armed forces killed on board the British troop ship Sir Galahad, sang a folk song at the service.She said the memorial fulfilled an important role for the relatives of the victims. “It is incredibly important, because there are no graves for so many of the men who died in the conflict,” she told BBC TV. The 30th anniversary of the war has coincided with a rise in diplomatic tensions between Britain and Argentina, which continues to maintain that the islands are Argentinian territory.