Falklands commemorations

Dignitaries including Baroness Thatcher, the prime minister in 1982, joined Falklands War veterans at a service in Berkshire to mark 25 years since the end of the conflict

The Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel is a national memorial building designed to commemorate the lives of the 255 UK servicemen and three islanders who died in the conflict.

Former college student Rear Admiral Jeremy Sanders CB OBE, who served in the conflict, read the traditional act of remembrance.

Among the congregation was the widow of Lt Col "H" Jones, one of the best known heroes of the conflict, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

This week Baroness Thatcher addressed Falkland Islanders in a radio message saying "we should still rejoice" at the victory in 1982

Mr Blair has said going to war over the Falklands took "political courage" and was "the right thing to do".

Following the service the Queen laid the 255th stone on a memorial cairn. Each stone was brought from the Falklands - one for every member of the UK armed forces who died.

On 13/14 June 1982 British troops mounted their final assault on heavily-defended high ground around Stanley. The seizure of Mount Tumbledown by the Scots Guards saw the loss of nine from the battalion.

A rusting Argentine marine field kitchen is still perched in a sheltered spot on Mount Tumbledown. In the cave behind it, old blankets lie crumpled in a heap.

Pieces of a Harrier jet, hit on 27 May, lie where they fell. British pilot Squadron Leader Bob Iveson ejected before it impacted and survived. He was picked up by helicopter three days later, having evaded capture.

Near Goose Green lies 32-year-old Lt Nick Taylor, who died on 4 May 1982. His gravestone reads: “In proud memory of a dearly loved husband, son and brother, shot down while flying for the country he loved.” Farm workers from the settlement tend the grave.

Sheep sheds on the government-run farm at Goose Green were used to house Argentine prisoners after their surrender. Locals have repeatedly tried to paint over the signs but the letters P.O.W continue to shine through.

The Argentine cemetery near Darwin, East Falkland, has 234 graves, but more than half of those buried there are unidentified conscripts. Many crosses bear the simple message “Soldado Argentino. Solo conocido por dios” – Argentine soldier, known only to God.

Helicopters provided vital transport throughout the Falklands campaign, and their landing pads can still be found on the islands’ grassy slopes.

The British cemetery at San Carlos, the site of the British landings on the west of East Falkland, has just 14 headstones. Most of the 255 who died remained with their sunken ships or were returned to the UK.

Lt Colonel Herbert “H” Jones, of the Parachute Regiment, was killed on 28 May in fighting around Darwin and Goose Green. A memorial marks where he fell, although he was buried in San Carlos cemetery. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.

On 21 May 1982 Argentine pilot Major Carlos Tomba’s Pucara was shot down by a British Sea Harrier flown by Nigel ’Sharkey’ Ward of 801 Squadron. Major Tomba ejected from the aircraft at about 40ft above the ground, and survived.

An estimated 20,000 mines remain. Two officers were injured after the war but no one has been killed by mines since 1982. The UK is obliged under the Ottawa Convention to clear the mines by 2009, but locals have called for the money to be spent on developing countries.

The landscape of the Falkland Islands is peppered with reminders of the 1982 conflict with Argentina. The detritus left behind includes crashed aircraft, rusting field kitchens and thousands of land mines, but there are also many moving memorials to the dead.