IT has become the forgotten war for many but one Tenbury family can never forget the conflict in the south Atlantic 40 years ago.

On the April 2, 1982, Argentine forces invaded the British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands some 8,000 miles away in the south Atlantic, sparking one of the largest major conflicts since World War two.

Three days later, a significant naval task force of some 130 vessels set sail to recover the islands.

Lasting 74 days, the conflict was the first military action that utilised all elements of the Armed Forces since WW2.

The fighting was fierce and bloody and 255 British personnel lost their lives: 86 were Royal Navy, 124 Army, 27 Royal Marines, six Merchant Navy, four Royal Fleet Auxiliary and eight Hong Kong sailors. Seven ships were also lost to enemy action and nine aircraft shot down.

Some 2,500 people were wounded, many of them receiving life changing injuries. The conflict also led to the deaths of three Falkland islanders and 649 Argentine service personnel.

The Argentine forces surrendered at Port Stanley on June 14, 1982 and, 40 years on to the day, members of the Tenbury Wells Branch of the Royal British Legion and Tenbury Wells Branch of the Royal Naval Association gathered at St Mary’s church, for a wreath laying ceremony and a short service, taken by the Rev Mark Inglis.

On that long ago day, Richard and Pamela Jones from Tenbury had gone out to celebrate the end of the war.

When they got back home there was a car with two people from the forces waiting for them to tell them that their son Craig, a soldier, would not be coming back.

Private Craig Jones of 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment, was killed in Action on the day before the fighting stopped, in the fierce battle for Mount Longdon.

Craig’s father Richard Jones, a former Mayor of Tenbury, is a member of Tenbury Royal British Legion and he and his wife Pamela laid a wreath at the War Memorial, and two of Craig’s uncles, Chris and Trevor Jones, both members of the Royal Naval Association, laid a family wreath in memory of Craig.

Tenbury Royal British Legion Chairman, Chris St Clair, and Jeff Aston, Chairman of the Tenbury RNA laid the wreaths on behalf of their respective organisations.