The Falkland Islands War of 1982 was an unusual 74-day
conflict fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina
over possession of a small group of islands in the South
Atlantic. The Falklands Conflict claimed over 900 British
and Argentine lives, and contributed to the toppling of
the Argentine dictatorship, while cementing the status of
the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, as a
significant player in international relations.
April 2: Argentine forces invade the
Falkland Islands.
April 3: Argentine forces occupy South
Georgia Island.
April 4: ‘HMS Conqueror’ sailed
from Faslane.
April 5: ‘HMS Invincible’ and
‘HMS Hermes’ sailed from Portsmouth.
April 9: ‘Canberra’ sailed from
Southampton with 3 Para, 40, 42 and 45 Royal Marine
Commandos on board.
April 11: The submarines‘HMS
Spartan’ and ‘HMS Splendid’ arrive off
the Falkland Islands.
April 12: Britain announces a 200-mile
Exclusion Zone around the Falkland Islands. The
destroyer ‘Antrim’, the frigate
‘Plymouth’ with M Company, 42 Commando, sail
from Ascension to recapture South Georgia.
April 14: The South Georgia Task Force
rendezvous with ‘Endurance’ already in the
vicinity.
April 18: Task Force sails from Ascension
Island.
April 21/22: Troops from the SAS are
inserted and then extracted from South Georgia.
April 25: The Royal Marines and SAS retake
South Georgia.
April 26: The formal surrender of Argentine
forces on South Georgia Island. 2 Para sailed from
Hull on the ‘Norland’.
May 1: Task Force entered the Exclusion
Zone. Vulcan bomber ‘Black Buck’ attacked
the runway at Port Stanley. First air attacks by
Harriers on Argentine positions on the Falklands. SAS
and SBS landed on the islands.
May 2: The Argentine ship, ‘General
Belgrano’ sunk by ‘HMS Conqueror’.
May 4: The destroyer ‘HMS
Sheffield’ was hit by an Exocet missile. 20 men
were killed. First Harrier lost over Goose Green.
May 12: Fifth Army Brigade sailed from
Southampton on the QE2. ‘HMS Glasgow’
disabled by an Argentine bomb.
May 14: The SAS raid Pebble Island.
May 19: 21 men from the SAS are killed when
their helicopter crashes into the sea.
May 21: The first British landings at San
Carlos Bay begin. Men from the Royal Marines and Paras
land along with commando artillery and engineer units.
The ‘HMS Ardent’is lost to Argentine
counter-attacks.
May 23: The British ship, ‘HMS
Antelope’ lost.
May 24: ‘Sir Lancelot’ and
‘Sir Galahad’ are hit but the bombs fail to
explode.
May 25: ‘HMS Coventry’ lost;
‘HMS Broadsword’ damaged; ‘Atlantic
Conveyor’ hit by an Exocet missile.
May 27: Battle for Goose Green/Darwin
begins.
May 28: Argentine forces at Goose Green
surrendered to 2 Para. ‘Atlantic Conveyor’
sank.
May 30: 3 Para and 45 Commando reached
Estancia House and Teal Inlet. Mount Kent captured by
42 Commando and SAS.
June 2: 2 Para airlifted to Fitzroy.
June 8: ‘Sir Galahad’ destroyed at
Bluff Cove with many killed and wounded, primarily
from the Welsh Guards.
June 11/12: Co-ordinated attacks on Mount
Longdon, Two Sisters and Mount Harriet by British
troops.
June 13/14: Attacks made on Mount Tumbledown
and Wireless Ridge.
June 14: Argentine forces on the Falkland
Islands surrendered.
July 13: Argentine government agrees to end
hostilities with Britain.