For the Falkland islanders, the war in Ukraine brings back haunting memories of their own trauma four decades ago. Having themselves experienced a barbaric invasion by a big bully next door, they understand all too well what the people of Ukraine are going through.
‘I still feel that gun in my back,’ one islander told me recently, describing the day Argentine troops landed on Pebble Island and brutally rounded up the locals. Much has changed in the Falklands since 1982, nearly all of it for the better, yet the war remains seared in the memory.
This year’s 2 April is, therefore, hugely significant – the 40th anniversary of the invasion. After two months of conflict and the loss of 907 lives, mostly Argentine, the Falklands were liberated and the aggressor sent packing.