02 Apr 2022 – 14 Jun 2022
Open Tuesdays to Sundays and Bank Holidays from 10am-5pm
2022 marks 40 years since the Falklands War (2 April – 14 June 1982) and all those who sadly lost their lives. Plymouth played a significant role in the conflict. Here’s how The Box Plymouth are marking the anniversary:
Local History Bonanza Day
Come to our special event on Saturday 7 May which kicks off the 2022 Plymouth History Festival. The packed programme for the day includes special presentations relating to the Falklands conflict in our Simmons Learning Room, plus a display of materials in our Cottonian Research Room. Find out more.
Permanent Galleries
Media Lab
Watch a powerful new film on the three large-scale screens in our Media Lab. The film includes archive material from The Box’s collections alongside interviews with ex-service personnel and their families and footage from the Imperial War Museum, RAF Museum and ITV, some of which was shot on location in the Falklands during the conflict.
Port of Plymouth
Our Port of Plymouth gallery has recently had a refresh and now includes objects, information and new imagery relating to the Falklands War.
The pictures now on display include an image of a Landing Craft Utility and additional amphibious vehicles to show the terrain and conditions the UK’s armed forces were met with on arrival in the Falklands. Also included is an iconic image of a Royal Marine with the Union flag attached to his radio mast. The Marine in the photo is Plymouth-born Peter Robinson, while the photographer was Peter Holdgate, former picture editor for the Plymouth Herald.
Many thanks to the Royal Marines Historical Society for their funding support towards the development of our Media Lab film and our Port of Plymouth display.
Active Archives
From 7 May, a new case display in the Active Archives gallery will reflect the story of the ‘Red and Green Life Machine’, aka the Falklands Field Hospital, which treated both British and Argentinian service personnel in 1982. The case will include medical equipment and a life jacket brought back from the Falklands, as well as photographs and a history of the hospital. Huge thanks for Falklands veteran Chris Jones who has loaned the items for this display.
Oral histories
While the Falklands 40 anniversary is taking place we’re capturing a range of diverse perspectives as part of an oral history project. The recordings will be held in The Box’s archives to support future understanding of the conflict and help pave the way towards a larger, more significant commemoration in 2032. If you’d like to get involved in our oral history project, please email us and mark your message FAO: The Box Media Archivist.
Learning resource
A newly-developed Falklands 40 teacher’s resource for Key Stage 3-4 is available to use. The resource brings together images from the archives with information about the historical background that led to the conflict, its links with Plymouth’s dockyard and the involvement of the city’s Royal Marines.
Additional resources
- Watch a short video of archive clips relating to the Royal Navy and the Dockyard, which includes footage of HMS Penelope returning home from the Falklands.
- Read our blog article about the Falklands and see another image from our archives of a Falklands Islands Thanksgiving Service that took place on Plymouth Hoe in 1982.
- Discover more about Pete Holdgate’s iconic photograph.
Events in Plymouth
- 4 May, 7pm: Beyond the Battlefront: An online presentation by University of Plymouth historians
- 14 May, 11am: Walks With History – Mount Wise and Falklands 40, from Mutton Cove
- 25 May: Royal Fleet Auxiliary Memorial Day, The Hoe
- 14 June, 11am: Official Falklands Flag raising, The Hoe
- 15 June, 7.30pm: Royal Marines Band Concert, St Andrews Minster Church
- 19 June, 3pm: Falklands 40 Service of Commemoration, St Andrews Minster Church
- 25 June, 2pm: Veterans Parade for Armed Forces Day, Royal Citadel to the Hoe Promenade
