Wreaths laid in front of the War Memorial in San Carlos to those killed in the Falklands War.

In the 1982 Falklands War, 255 British people were killed and 777 wounded. This includes three Falkland Islanders who were killed by shelling.

Three weeks after the surrender, the Argentine government estimated that its country’s losses amounted to 746 people killed, but it later revised this figure, confirming the number of dead to be 635. Estimates of the total Argentine wounded vary, but are generally put at just over 1,000. Numbers of Argentine prisoners were carefully recorded by the British Task Force, with 12,978 in total.

The heaviest losses on both sides were at sea. There were 197 British deaths at sea or on ships bombed in Falkland harbours; Argentine naval losses were 356, including 323 on the General Belgrano.

If you are interested in reading more about the Falklands War, click here for details of how to visit the Department of Printed Books.

Sources:

Signals of War: Falklands Conflict of 1982, by Lawrence Freedman and Virginia Gamba-Stonehouse (pub. Faber and Faber, London, 1990)

The Fight for the “Malvinas”: the Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, by Martin Middlebrook (pub. Viking, London, 1989)

Task Force: the Falklands War, 1982, by Martin Middlebrook (revised edition pub. Penguin, London, 1987)