No visit to Stanley can be made without reference to 1982. Under the orders of General Galtieri the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas to the Argentines) were occupied by the Argentine military for 2.5 months. The local leader discussed in Spanish, in a pub, killing all the islanders in the hope that the British wouldn't then try to regain control of the islands. This was overheard by a Spanish speaking islander. All sorts of instructions were issued to the islanders, such as to drive on the right, so everyone drove in the middle, claiming to be confused. Information was fed to the UK Government by a local radio ham, to another in Yorkshire.

The locals suffered bombardments, parts of the island were landmined and of course hungry soldiers looked for food. The Argentine forces publicly humiliated the Royal Marines in breach of the Geneva convention. This, combined with the islanders' determination to be liberated, was followed by a British landing on day 50. Bombardments and much fighting between the 2 forces continued until day 74, by day 75 the islanders were liberated.

These plucky people did everything they could to help the British forces and confound the Argentinians.

Today, the following photographs help confirm their feelings and we hope that the UK continues to give them the help they deserve.

We walked from Gypsy Cove to the town. Some areas were off limits due to the continued risk from landmines, but work is ongoing to get them cleared.

 us at a WW2 gun emplacement.

 Magellanic penguin in its burrow

 Turkey vultures rest on a local wreck

A pub lunch of fish and chips (just the GF chips for Caroline) helped make a perfect day.