New map commemorating Falklands War veterans to be unveiled at Memorial Chapel at Pangbourne College

A significant new installation will be unveiled in the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel at Pangbourne College next weekend.

On Sunday, June 11, a large map of the Falkland Islands will be unveiled at the chapel, where it will remain on permanent display.

A short ceremony will commence from 10.30am in the chapel, in which the bishop for the Falkland Islands, Jonathan Clark, will bless the new installation.

The bishop will be joined by two trustees of the chapel, Sara Jones, widow of Colonel H Jones, and Sukey Cameron, Falkland Islander and former representative of the Falkland Islands Government in the UK.

The installation is the result of a commemorative project for the 40th anniversary of the war in 2022 conceived by a team of three Falkland Islanders: Rosemarie King, Ken Passfield and Sally Poncet.

Over the course of two years, the team contacted 70 landowners and obtained permission from veterans’ families to commemorate the names of their loved ones.

The map was originally unveiled in Stanley, County Durham, on November 11 last year, in which relatives of those involved in the conflict received copies of the map, with a key to the features and names.

The 40th anniversary committee in the Falkland Islands, under the chairmanship of Phyl Rendell, has sponsored the cost of reproducing and installing a large version of the map in the chapel.

Mr Rendell said: “Committee members fully supported the project throughout the two years of preparation and were pleased to have played a part in the final production of the map with names spread over the entire Islands.”

Chairman of the chapel trustees, Major Jeff Mason, added: “We are honoured to be able to display this map in the chapel for the benefit of all the families and veterans who regularly visit it.

“To have special places in the Islands named after each of those who paid the ultimate price will be an everlasting tribute to them.”

The ceremony at Pangbourne College will be followed by the annual service of remembrance, always held on the nearest Sunday to June 14 to mark the British victory on the Islands.

The service expects to host some 570 people, including many next of kin of those who served and died in the conflict.