The Falklands War (in Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur), was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom (UK) over the disputed Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The Falkland Islands consist of two large and many small islands in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina; their name and sovereignty over them have long been disputed.
The Falklands War started on Friday, 2 April 1982, with the Argentine invasion and occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. Britain launched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Argentine Air Force, and retake the islands by amphibious assault – “Operation Corporate.” The conflict ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, and the islands remained under British control. The war lasted 74 days. It resulted in the deaths of 257 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors, and airmen, and the deaths of 3 civilian Falkland Islanders. It is the most recent external conflict to be fought by the UK without any allied states and the only external Argentine war since the 1880s.
The conflict was the result of a protracted diplomatic confrontation regarding the sovereignty of the islands. Neither country officially declared war nor the fighting was largely limited to the territories under dispute and the South Atlantic. The initial invasion was characterised by Argentina as the re-occupation of its own territory, and by the UK as an invasion of a British dependent territory. Currently and as it has since the 19th century, Argentina shows no sign of relinquishing its claim. The claim remained in the Argentine constitution after its reformation in 1994.
Relations between Argentina and UK were restored in 1989 under the umbrella formula which states that the islands' sovereignty dispute would remain aside.
“Operation Corporate” was, in reality, a number of separate operations involving various branches of the British military forces: - the RFA being used together with STUFT ships as necessary to support these forces where ever they were needed.
A total of twenty two RFA ships were deployed during Operation Corporate together with approximately forty STUFT ships some of which had RFA and STO(N) department members of their crews to advise on Replenishment at Sea, radio communications and other activities.
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