Falklands veterans gather to remember conflict 40 years on

Veterans of the Falklands conflict have gathered in Maidstone to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of hostilities.

Fifty veterans gathered at the Invicta Barracks, along with 300 serving members of the Royal Engineers Regiment.

It was one of a number of events held across the country to mark the anniversary of the Argentinian surrender, on 14 June 1982.

They had invaded the islands on 2 April in a dispute over sovereignty.

Argentina had claimed it had inherited the South Atlantic islands from Spain in the 1800s.

Ocean liners SS Canberra and QE2 were requisitioned by the government and were sent to the South Atlantic as part of a British taskforce.

Phil Johns, a former corporal in the Royal Engineers, said: "We went down on the QE2, not really knowing what we were going to be faced with.

"At first we thought it was a bit of a jolly - a typical squaddie. After the first ships started to be sunk it really hit home.

"One of the biggest memories I have is how unprepared we were for the weather.

"We just had no idea how cold [it was]. I've never been so cold in all my life."

The job of the Royal Engineers was to clear minefields and rebuild roads and bridges.

Stuart Burnham, who was a 19-year-old sapper in the Royal Engineers at the time, described the Falklands as "very barren, cold and wet".

David Crabbe, a former lance corporal in the Royal Engineers, said: "You join the army but you don't think you're going to go to war. That day woke me up."

The 74-day war cost the lives of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen.

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