Nott will attend reburial

Press, 25 October 1982, Page 8

Nott will attend reburial

NZPA-Reuter Port Stanley The British Defence Secretary, Mr John Nott, started a three-day tour of the Falklands and their British garrison yesterday, during which he will attend the reburial of 14 of the soldiers who died recapturing the islands. He will see for the first time places like San Carlos Water and Mount Langdon where the crucial engagements of this year’s conflict with Argentina were fought. Mr Nott offered his resignation last April after Britain, suffered the humiliation of seeing its remote and

almost undefended South Atlantic colony seized by Argentina. Mrs Margaret Thatcher

asked him to stay, and he was one of the inner group of Cabinet Ministers who directed Britain’s successful campaign to recapture the islands. He has announced that he plans to retire from politics and return to private business when Britain’s next General Election is called within the next 18 months. Mr Nott is the first British Cabinet Minister to visit the Falklands. Mr Nott’s programme includes talks with the garrison commander and the civil commissioner, Sir Rex Hunt. Today he is due to go to

Port San Carlos, the beachhead from which British troops crossed east Falkland to recapture the capital, Port Stanley. A military cemetery overlooking San Carlos Water is to be the final burial place for 14 soldiers whose families have declined the Government’s offer to bring the bodies home to Britain. Raised in the past few weeks from battlefield graves, the 14 will be given final burial today. Britain’s forces still on the archipelago will be cut from 4000 to 3000 by the middle of next year. -