Falklands war graves visited by relatives
NZPA Port Stanley Widows, children, and parents of the 255 Britons killed in last year’s retaking of the Falkland Islands from Argentina began a four-day tour of battlefields and war graves on Sunday. The liner Cunard Countess, escorted by two warships, brought 541 kin of the dead into Falkland Islands waters from Montevideo at the end of a four-day air and sea journey from Britain. The ship dropped anchor in San Carlos water, off beaches where British troops landed to mount a three-week land battle that ended with the Argentinian surrender. Chief of the British Defence Staff, Field Marshall Sir Edwin Bramall, welcomed the relatives and read a personal message from the British Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher. “A lot of inspiration for the visit has come from the Prime Minister,” Sir Edwin told reporteres before flying by helicopter to the liner. “She feels it is a debt the country owes.” A wreath was thrown overboard at the spot where Argentinian bombs sank the destroyer Coventry on May 25 last year with the loss of 19 British lives. Relatives were to go by launch to visit the official British war cemetery at San
Carlos, where 14 British dead lie. A 2.6-metre stone memorial bearing all 255 names will be dedicated at a service at the cemetery today. Only 17 of the 255 dead are buried on the Falklands — 14 in the cemetery and three, at the request of families, left in battlefield graves. Sixty-four bodies were taken to Britain and the rest were buried at sea. The British Government is meeting the costs of the visit and the relatives were
flown free to Uruguay by British Airways. With them went 5000 fresh flowers to make wreaths. Using the liner as a floating hotel, the relatives will arrive at Port Stanley tomorrow. Women in the tiny capital are baking cakes as part of a warm welcome planned by the 1800 islanders. “We will try to make this sad occasion as memorable as possible for them,” said Mrs Velma Malcolm, a member of the welcoming committee.
Falklands war graves visited by relatives
Press, 12 April 1983, Page 22
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