The new Falklands Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum will be unveiled in the presence of over 600 veterans and family members at a special service of dedication on 20th May at 12.00hrs. The event will also commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Task Force Landings on the Falkland Islands.

Initiated by The South Atlantic Medal Association 1982 (SAMA82), the Falklands Memorial has been built to honour the Task Force, remember the 255 UK servicemen and merchant seamen who gave their lives in the Falklands Conflict and to inform visitors of this important event in history.

Centrally located in Staffordshire, the Arboretum is part of The Royal British Legion family of charities and is home to more than 200 memorials devoted to those who have served, sacrificed or suffered.

Timings:

10.00 onwards

Media on site

12.00

Service of dedication commences at the Falklands Memorial, with welcome by The Reverend David Cooper, Chaplain SAMA82

12.30

Pipe Lament by former Scots Guards Peter McInnes, Steven Duffy and Ian Davidson

Solo by Kathryn Nutbeem, Somewhere Along the Road, in memory of her father Major R Nutbeem RAMC

Reading by Mrs Sara Jones, widow of Colonel H Jones

12.45

Vulcan fly past

12.50

March off of Standards accompanied by The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, Portsmouth.

The Falklands Memorial

The distinctive Memorial, located on the corner of Millennium and Yeomanry Avenues, reflects the Falklands’ landscape and echoes the commemorative wall in San Carlos cemetery. It is intended to create a restful space for contemplation by visitors and it incorporates a seven foot high curved wall of rugged Cotswold stone facing a rock from the Falklands. It also features two granite benches and a number of granite plaques, including one on which the names of three Falkland Islanders who lost their lives are engraved.

Vulcan Fly Past

Following the Memorial dedication service, Flight Lieutenant Martin Withers DFC, the pilot who led the famous Black Buck 1 raid on Port Stanley’s runway, will fly the last airworthy Vulcan plane - The Spirit of Great Britain - to commemorate all those involved in the conflict. The aircraft, now owned by the Sky Trust, will be making its first public flight of 2012, beginning a spectacular season that also commemorates the 60th anniversary of the first flight of the Vulcan prototype.

Commemorative Plaque

A brass plaque donated by the Newport Parachute Regiment Association to commemorate the Soldiers of 22 SAS and supporting Special Forces Personnel who lost their lives in the Falklands Conflict, will be unveiled in the Sun Room at the Allied Special Forces Grove at the Arboretum on Saturday 19th May.

Spokespeople:

Colonel (Ret'd) Mike Bowles

Colonel Mike Bowles served in the Royal Navy for two years and in the British Army for 34 years, where he specialised in Port and Maritime Operations and retired with the rank of Colonel. Since retiring he has worked as a consultant in management and security in the marine field and more recently he worked for Sail Training International in a voluntary capacity for the Tall Ships Races organisation and as part time Race Director. Mike is Trustee of two other charities - Falklands Conservation and the South Atlantic Medal Association (SAMA). He is also chairman of SAMA and part of the team that has been instrumental in bringing the Falklands Memorial project to fruition.

Major General Julian Thompson CB OBE

Major General Julian Thompson is a military historian and former Royal Marines officer who, as a brigadier, commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War. In that role he was British Land Commander on the islands during the first phase of the conflict ashore. He retired in 1986 and has since written extensively on the Falklands conflict and other aspects of British military history, including the Iraq War. He is also a visiting professor at the department of War Studies, King's College, at the University of London.

Commodore Michael Clapp CB

Commodore Michael Clapp joined the Royal Navy in 1950 from Marlborough College. In 1981 he was appointed Commodore Amphibious Warfare, commanding the landings and inshore operations in the Falklands Conflict in 1982. During the Conflict both he and Major General Thompson served on board HMS Fearless, which was the first purpose built LPD used by the Royal Navy. Commodore Clapp is author of ‘Amphibious Assault Falklands: The Battle of San Carlos’, first published in 1996.

Kathryn Nutbeem, Soloist

Kathryn Nutbeem was five years old when her father, Major Roger Nutbeem, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in the Falklands War. He was one of 56 men who perished when the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, Sir Galahad, was hit by Argentine fighter jets. While Kathryn knew her father for only a short time, she inherited his love of music and trained at the Royal Academy of Music. She wrote the song Somewhere Along the Road in memory of her father, first performing it for the 25th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict in 2007.