The defeat of Argentina's
Falkland Islands invaders on June 14 1982 marked both the summit and the greatest trauma of Margaret Thatcher's premiership and helped get her re-elected the following year.
Voters - all British citizens over the age of 18 out of the population of 2,563 - will be asked: "Do you wish the
Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?" The two-day referendum started yesterday.
According to the BBC, a referendum on the
Falkland Islands political status will be held in March.
Asked if Britain would fight to keep the islands, he replied, "Of course we would and we have strong defenses in place on the
Falkland islands, that is absolutely key, that we have fast jets stationed there, we have troops stationed on the Falklands".
He also served as chairman of the
Falkland Islands Association and as president of the UK
Falkland Islands Trust and was granted the freedom of the island capital, Stanley, in 1985.
The decision to hold such a vote was taken by the
Falkland Islands Government, not the UK Government, and Cameron has stated that it is up to the Falkland Islanders "themselves" to choose whether they want to remain British and "the world should listen to their views".
But the
Falkland Islands government said yesterday it hopes a referendum will send a firm message to Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner that islanders want to remain British.
The
Falkland Islands have been under British control since 1833 - apart from the brief but bitter 74 days of occupation in 1982.
Mr Melding, pictured, will make the 8,000-mile visit to the South Atlantic as an official guest of the
Falkland Islands Government.
* SETTING SAIL: HMS Dauntless, bound for the
Falkland Islands * GLOWING MEMORIAL: Margaret Allen, widow of Able Seaman Iain Boldy, who was killed in the attack on HMS Argonaut in the Falklands on May 21, 1982, after lighting a candle at Staffordshire''s National Memorial Arboretum in memory of the 255 UK servicemen who were killed in the conflict, and below, HMS Dauntless, which is to set sail for the
Falkland Islands