10 facts everyone should know about the Falklands War

Research we have carried out shows that there is a big knowledge gap among the Great British public around the details of the Falklands War. Below are 10 key facts that give essential insight to what happened all those years ago, and the long term impact it still has on many of those who fought there.

How did it begin?

1. The Falklands War began on 2 April 1982.

That was the date when the Argentine armed forces invaded the Falkland Islands. A few weeks prior to that, on 19 March, ongoing tension over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was heightened when a group of Argentine scrap metal merchants raised the Argentine flag at South Georgia Island.

This followed the collapse of long-running negotiations between Great Britain and Argentina over the ownership of the islands. 

How Britain reacted

2. Great Britain sent a task force of 127 ships and 25,948 British troops.

Under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, Britain put together a task force of 127 ships to sail to the Falkland Islands. This included warships, rapidly refitted merchant ships and cruise liners including the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2).

Length of the war

3. The Falklands War lasted 74 days.

4. It ended with the surrender of Argentine Forces on 14 June.

British casualties

5. A total of 255 British Armed Forces personnel were killed during the conflict, and a further 777 were injured. Three British civilians were also killed as a result of the fighting.

Argentine casualties

6. During the conflict, 649 Argentine military personnel were lost.

Where are the Falklands?

7. The Falkland Islands are 8,000 miles away in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Age of troops

8. The average age of the British troops on the task force was 25.

One member of the Navy, David Cruickshanks, was only 17 years old when he went to the Falklands War. A sailor became ill a few weeks earlier whilst onboard HMS Fearless, and David became the sailor's replacement. 

Lost ships

9. Britain lost seven ships during the conflict.

The first ship that Britain lost was the HMS Sheffield, which was the first British warship to be lost in 37 years. As for Argentina, they lost their only cruiser, the General Belgrano.

Medical treatment

10. The conflict drove advancements in medicine, introducing the Red and Green Life Machine

Support for mental and physical wounds was much more basic and harder to access for those who returned from the Falklands War compared to what is available today through the support of charities like Help for Heroes.

However, medical learnings from the war drove advancements in military medicine for subsequent conflicts. For instance, it introduced the Red and Green Life Machine, which was a mobile A&E brought on shore so that treatment could be given directly to casualties where they were, rather than having to transport them miles which was standard practice before.

The Falklands Legacy

At Help for Heroes we support Falklands veterans with long-term health issues as diverse as trench foot and PTSD. We believe that there are many Falklands veterans out there who are likely to need support for physical or mental injuries sustained during the conflict.

We would urge any veteran, whenever or wherever they served, to visit our Get help pages to get in touch and find out more about the different ways we can support them and their family. It is never too late to take the first step in asking for help.

If you want to find out more about the Falklands War in detail, Forces.net have created an excellent day-by-day timeline.