Report of the meeting of 9 June 2007 25th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Falkland Islands Alistair Kennedy started out by providing some historical facts: · 1594 Islands discovered · 1690 Named Falkland after Lord Falkland · 1764 There was a French settlement on the Islands · 1765 There was a British settlement and base on the Islands · 1767 The French ceded their settlement to the Spanish (who abandoned it in 1806) · 1770 There was a Spanish expedition to take the British fort · 1771 Britain regained possession · 1820 There was an Argentine settlement (destroyed by the Americans in 1831) · 1832 Britain took possession again · 1833 The Argentines were expelled and a permanent British settlement began · 1892 Became a Crown Colony Alistair continued and showed various historical items, including the Edinburgh Advertiser of 2-5 Oct 1770 which gave an account of the Spanish expedition and the sending of a force of 15,000 men from Buenos Aires to re-take the Fort from the English (the full report was reproduced in Newsletter 172 - Summer 1982); covers from HMS Exeter and Ajax in 1938 posted at Montevideo and La Plata respectively. He also showed the only known WW1 item with the censor label "OPENED BY THE CENSOR" (my underlining) - and this item was simply a scrap of envelope ! Finally he showed a number of items after WW2 up until the 1982 invasion, including covers from HMS Protector (1955-70) and HMS Endurance (from 1968) as the South Atlantic Guard Ship, mail from Naval Party 8901 (the RM detachment on the Falklands) and from Naval Party 8902 (the RN Hovercraft Squadron that operated an SRN6 hovercraft 1967-72). Edmund Hall showed a selection of covers during the Argentine occupation - showing use of Argentine stamps and postmarks used in the Falklands. Peter High told the story of hospital ships in the war - the Uganda was the British hospital ship and she was on a school cruise at the time of her requisition. He showed a cover from an adult on the school cruise given to the purser to post (which a ships dated cachet) which had been annotated with the comment that the ship had been taken over by the Government and a further dated cachet applied. He showed photos of the Uganda and commented that this was the last time the British used a hospital ship pained white with a red cross. He also showed photos of the two Argentine hospital ships (ARA Almirante Irizar and ARA Bahia Paraiso) as well as the British ambulance ships HMS Hydra / Herald / Hecla which were used to take wounded to the mainland. Peter commented that the Uganda co-ordinated its movements with those of the Argentine hospital ships to ensure both sides did not accidentally attack them. Peter Burrows showed POW cards printed on HMS Hermes, but the POWs were repatriated so quickly that we don't think any were actually used. Peter O'Keeffe had a special cover from the Cunard Countess which had been chartered in 1983 to take families to the Falklands to visit the graves of those killed during the war; postmarked 5 SEP 1983. A guest John Gray showed items relating to the Battle of the Falklands on 8 December 1914. The German Asiatic Squadron had the intention of taking coal at the Falklands then destroying the port facilities before setting off to join the German Atlantic fleet. The story of the battle was told through mainly postcards - there were photos of Vice Admiral Graf von Spay (Commander of the German Fleet). There was a fascinating display of picture postcards of both British and German vessels that took part in the conflict. Michael Dobbs brought along the standard work on the Falklands "The Forces Postal History of the Falklands Islands & The Task Force" by John Daynes (1983) as well as the original A3 sheets setting out the Land Forces, Naval Air Service and RAF Orders of Battle. He also showed photographs and commemorative covers of the mv Norland, including a photograph showing the sinking of HMS Antelope in the background, and the official programme of "The City of London's Salute to the Task Force". Alistair Kennedy showed Argentine military mail to/from the forces, including one cover that had an Argentine naval censor marking. He also showed the only known censored item of civilian mail sent to the Falklands - the cover was postmarked Leeds on 5 April 1982 and was addressed to Port Stanley, The Malvinas and was eventually returned to sender in November the same year. It had a postmark of the Argentine Falklands (Malvinas) of 16 APR 82. A small (A)/CENSOR cachet had been applied on the front and it had been sealed by use of staples - no further details are known (where or when censored). He also showed mail from the British garrison in the Falklands after the war, including mail from the new post office opened at Mount Pleasant (BFPO 655), as well as mail from South Georgia.