The World Cup tournament had just begun in Spain, petrol was expected to rise to £2-a-gallon and the railwaymen had voted to strike.

But all eyes in Britain were focused not on these events but on a war being fought 8,000 miles away over a group of little-known islands.

The date was June 14, 1982, and that evening the British people would hear news for which they had been hoping - Argentinian forces had surrendered and the battle for the Falklands Islands was over.

The speed of events had been breathtaking. Argentina had invaded this far-flung British colony only two and a half months before.

Since then a British task force of 28,000 men and more than 100 ships had been assembled and sailed 8,000 miles.

It had effectively neutralised the Argentinian navy and had fought off persistent air attacks from combat aircraft which outnumbered its own by more than six to one.

The task force had then put ashore 10,000 men on a hostile coast while under the threat of heavy air attack.

They had fought several pitched battles against an entrenched and well-supplied enemy and, despite also being outnumbered, had defeated the Argentinian forces within three-and-a-half weeks.

But the price had been high. Two hundred and fifty five British lives, six ships and 34 aircraft had been lost. On the Argentinian side 780 men had died and 117 aircraft had been destroyed.

In Portsmouth, The News reported on June 15, relief and rejoicing had swept through the city at the news of the surrender.

Portsmouth City Council leader John Marshall said: `My feelings are of relief that it is over, great sorrow at the loss of life ... and great pride in the whole achievement.'

It was a day when patriotism was no longer a dirty word. `Rule Britannia' said the front page of The News.

End of the war
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