APR 5: BUENOS AIRES: Argentine military forces have occupied the Falkland (Malvinas) islands in an operation which began with the landing of marines near the capital of Port Stanley at 1 p.m. (New Zealand time) yesterday, the official Argentine news agency Telam reported.
The occupation was confirmed by the ruling Military Junta.
President Leopoldo Galtieri began a Cabinet meeting early yesterday, and preparations were being made in the presidency for a nationwide radio and television broadcast.
In London, the British Government said it had no confirmation on the reported Argentine invasion.
A Foreign Office spokesman said at 11.40 p.m. (New Zealand time) the Government had no word from the Falklands of an Argentine landing.
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the islands off the tip of South America, ruled by Britain since 1833.
The Telam agency said in an unsourced report that the marines landed from a large fleet of navy ships which had taken up position off the windswept islands on Thursday night.
A vanguard force was sent ashore to capture key objectives, the agency said, including the small capital of Port Stanley, the airfield and the barracks of about 80 British marines stationed on the island.
It said that after beachheads had been established more marines were brought in by helicopter and landing craft.
The first Argentine forces landed on the Falklands at 1 p.m. (New Zealand time) and all the initial phases of the operation had been successfully accomplished, Telam said.
LONDON: British forces have landed in the Falklands, and the Ministry of Defence announced that 21 soldiers were killed before they could get into action.
The ministry said a number of raiding parties from the task force landed on the islands during the night, and early indications were that they were achieving their objectives.
The soldiers were killed when their helicopter ditched during the transfer of personnel before the action.
One body was recovered, 20 men are missing, presumed dead and nine were rescued.
BombardedWhile the landings went on, warships from the task force bombarded the islands around the capital, Port Stanley, as well as other areas.
The Ministry of Defence spokesman, Ian McDonald, also revealed that Harrier jets from the task force attacked the Fox Bay area of West Falkland during the night.
Fox Bay ... is the Argentine strongpoint on West Falkland, which is believed to be garrisoned by 1,500 conscripts.
There are no roads on West Falkland, but tracks from Fox Bay reach out to the southern, eastern and northern extremities of the island, making it the obvious point for the Argentinians to concentrate their forces.
Before the action a senior British Government source said Britain's armed forces were given authority to launch hit-and-run raids and small landings on the Falklands.
Britain's decision to exercise the military option, as the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, calls it, followed clear indications the Government had lost patience with Argentina's rulers after seven weeks of attempts to reach a peaceful settlement.
In Parliament, Mrs Thatcher accused the Argentine military junta of "obduracy and delay, deception and bad faith."
MAY 31: Goose Green (East Falkland). At one end of the Goose Green settlement a Union Jack now flies high above a school, and at the other end the flag of the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, Robert Fox, of the British Broadcasting Corporation, writes in an eyewitness report.
After a whole day's bitter fighting and a morning's delicate surrender negotiation, the cheer of liberation came in the early afternoon.
Women handed round cups of tea in Royal Wedding mugs, children carried round tins of sweets and biscuits to the young paras, their faces still camouflaged and their eyes bleary with exhaustion.
For nearly a month, 114 people had been shut up by the Argentinians in a community hall.
Their houses had been raided, with furniture smashed and excrement left on the floor. The store had been looted.
The surrender came after a 14-hour battle the previous day. It began before dawn, a full battalion assault on an enemy twice as numerous as expected, almost 1,500 in all and very well dug in.
JUNE 16: London. The battle for the Falklands has ended with the surrender of thousands of Argentine troops after three days of heavy fighting around the capital, Port Stanley.
The end of the 74-day conflict was signalled officially in a message to the Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, from Major-general Jeremy Moore, the British land force commander.
The Argentine High Command admitted that conditions had been established for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the Falklands, but did not mention the word "surrender."
Correspondents with the British task force described how the Argentine troops defending Port Stanley broke and fled as marines, guards and paratroops closed to within mortar range of the Argentine headquarters.
An estimated 14,800 Argentine prisoners were involved in the Falklands Islands surrender - nearly 6,000 more than total British forces, authoritative Whitehall sources said.