Arrivals

By the end of May 1982, the QE2 liner had arrived in the South Atlantic and the 650 men of the 1st battalion of the 7th Gurkha Rifles transferred to the Norland ferry to approach the Falklands. Despite being held off by a terrible storm, the Gurkhas disembarked at San Carlos Bay on June 1st. Their arrival was described by an observing officer as ‘[arriving on the beach] like heat-seeking ferrets’.

Once disembarked, the Battalion spread out at the beachhead and awaited further orders until ‘D’ Company, under Major Mike Kefford, was ordered to remain at San Carlos whilst the rest of the Battalion was flown to Goose Green to relieve the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. Once at Goose Green the Gurkhas set to cleaning up the combat debris left behind by earlier fighting and guard some 500 Argentinian prisoners of war. These prisoners were initially terrified of their new guards, as earlier British press photographs of Gurkha soldiers had been used by the Argentinian military as anti-Gurkha propaganda.

© The Gurkha Museum Trust Winchester - Registered Charity Number 1169920 (formerly 272426)