March/April May June

May 1 Haig peace mission ends in failure. United States comes off the fence to back Britain with economic sanctions and offer of military supplies. RAF Vulcan bombers and Royal Navy Sea Harriers pound the runways at Port Stanley and Goose Green, plus surrounding installations. Two Argentinian Mirage aircraft and a Canberra bomber shot down during the air raids. Cunard's flagship, QE 2 is requisitioned as a troop ship.

May 2 Argentinian cruiser, the General Belgrano, sunk by a torpedo fired by a British submarine 36 miles outside the `total exclusion' zone.

May 4 Britain's 4,100-ton guided missile destroyer, HMS Sheffield, is hit by an Exocet missile fired by an Argentinian aircraft. Twenty officers and men are killed, but the first British death in the conflict is the pilot of a Sea Harrier shot down over Goose Green.

May 6 Two Royal Navy Sea Harriers are lost over the South Atlantic after mid-air collision in bad visibility. Peace efforts led by Peru end in failure.

May 7 Britain widens war zone to within 12 nautical miles of Argentina's coast. New peace initiative is launched by United Nations secretary-general, Javier Perez de Cuellar.

May 9 Narwal, an Argentinian fishing vessel said to have been used as spy ship, is bombed and strafed by two Royal Navy Sea Harriers. One member of the crew is killed and 13 injured. An Argentinian helicopter is shot down by a missile from a British warship. Military positions around Port Stanley bombarded by British warships.

May 10 HMS Sheffield sinks while under tow to safe anchorage in South Georgia.

May 11 Argentinian supply ship shelled and blown up by Royal Navy frigate operating for first time inside the Falkland Sound between the two main disputed islands.

May 12 United Nations peace talks reported to be making progress. QE 2 sails from Southampton for the war zone. Two Argentinian Skyhawk fighter bombers escorting flights into the falklands are shot down. A third Argentinian aircraft holes a British destroyer with a bomb which does not explode.

May 14 Sir Anthony Parsons, Britain's envoy at the United Nations, and Sir Nicholas Henderson, Britain's ambassador to the United States, fly home from UN peace negotiations for urgent talks with Mrs Thatcher.

May 15 Special Forces land by helicopter in Pebble Island off the northern tip of West Falkland to destroy 11 aircraft on a grass landing strip and an ammunition store.

May 16 Bombardment of military installations in the Falklands by British warships continues. Two Argentinian supply vessels damaged by Sea Harriers in the Falkland Sound. A third Argentinian merchant ship, the Rio Carcarana, is bombed and strafed in Port King Bay and a supply vessel moored close to Fox Bay settlement is strafed.

May 17 Argentinian Air Force commander Brigadier Basilico Lami Dozo warns that British task force will receive massive attack if it sails within range of Argentinian weapons.

May 18 Hopes fade for a successful outcome to United Nations peace negotiations.

May 19 British troop-carrying helicopter ditches between ships in the task force and 21 soldiers are killed. Substantial bombardment of military targets south of Port Stanley and in East Falkland by British warships and Sea Harriers.

May 20 Royal Navy Sea King helicopter crashes in mysterious circumstances on a beach near Punta Arenas in Chile. Crew of three burn their machine and go into hiding.

May 21 Britain lands several thousand troops near Port San Carlos, 50 miles west of Port Stanley. During fierce Argentinian air attack on British invasion force in Falkland Sound, a Devonport-based frigate, HMS Ardent, is sunk with loss of 22 men. Four other warships are damaged, but 17 Argentinian aircraft and four helicopters are shot down. British flag is raised again in Falklands as troops establish bridgehead.

May 23 British frigate, HMS Antelope, badly damaged and set on fire during air attack in Falkland Sound - one man killed and five injured. Two unexploded Argentinian bombs lodge in engine room of destroyer, HMS Antrim. Eight Argentinian planes are destroyed but British Sea Harrier also lost. One Argentinian helicopter shot down in Falkland Sound and another crashes on fire. Britain consolidates her bridgehead with 5,000 troops reported dug in with anti-aircraft weapons.

May 24 Bomb disposal expert killed while attempting to defuse bomb in crippled Antelope. Ship blazes white hot and is abandoned by her 175 crew, seven of them injured. Nine more Argentinian aircraft shot down.

May 25 Britain loses destroyer HMS Coventry (19 men killed) and the Cunard container ship, Atlantic Conveyor (12 dead), during intensive air attacks as Argentina celebrates her independence day.

May 27 263 survivors from HMS Sheffield fly home to be greeted by joyous families.

May 28 Port Darwin settlement and Goose Green airstrip captured by British paratroopers after fierce fighting. Lt-Col H Jones, commander of the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, among 17 British troops killed. About 250 Argentinian soldiers believed killed and 1,400 taken prisoner.

May 30 The men who died freeing Port Darwin and Goose Green are buried together in a mass grave on a hillside above the anchorage at San Carlos Water - but some of their families call for the dead to be returned to Britain. Royal Marines advancing towards Port Stanley capture Douglas Settlement and Teal Inlet.

May 31 Task force troops reach Mount Kent, 12 miles west of Port Stanley. Argentinian aircraft attack British ships with bombs and missiles but are beaten off without damage or casualties. Two Skyhawk aircraft shot down. Merchant ship Atlantic Conveyor, devastated by Exocet missile on May 25, sinks.

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