Kelly's Garden was a site used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

. Situated near to

Port San Carlos Port San Carlos is located on the northern bank of the inlet known as Port San Carlos, off San Carlos Water on the Western coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands. It is sometimes nicknamed "KC" after former owner Keith Cameron. The po ...

, on the North-West Coast of East Falkland. The site is close to where the British Task Force landed to retake the

from the invading Argentine Forces on 21 May 1982. Following the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, Chinook helicopters from

No. 7 Squadron RAF No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook (UK variants), Boeing Chinook HC6 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire. History Formation and early years No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squa ...

and

No. 18 Squadron RAF No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook (UK variants), Boeing Chinook from RAF Odiham. Owing to its heritage as a bomber squadron, it is also known as No. 18 (B) Squadron. History First World War The squadron was fo ...

flew from Kelly's Garden as ' ChinDet Falkland Islands', later renamed as

No. 1310 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

(1310 Flt). Later 1310 Flt was amalgamated with

No. 1564 Flight RAF No. 1564 Flight RAF was an independent flight of the British Royal Air Force which was created on five separate occasions between 1943 and 2016 in a variety of roles. 1564 (Meteorological) Flight in World War II No. 1564 (Meteorological) Flight ...

(1564 Flt) to form

No. 78 Squadron RAF No. 78 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, is the squadron number plate of RAF (Unit) Swanwick based at London Area Control Centre, Swanwick, Hampshire, Swanwick, Hampshire. The squadron was allocated the role in early 2021. Between January 2008 and ...

(78 Sqn) at

RAF Mount Pleasant RAF Mount Pleasant (also known as Mount Pleasant Airport, Mount Pleasant Complex or MPA) is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right" (while the m ...

, moving from Kelly's Garden, RAF Navy Point and

RAF Stanley Port Stanley Airport is an airport in the Falkland Islands, outside the capital, Stanley, Falkland Islands, Stanley. The airport is the only civilian airport in the islands with a paved runway. However, RAF Mount Pleasant, located to the w ...

. Air defence of Port San Carlos and Kelly's Garden was provided by 30 Battery (Rogers's Company) a

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

detachment of

Rapier A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Impor ...

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s. The origin of the name Kelly's Garden is not known, but may have been named by

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has parti ...

resident at the site.

References

Airports in the Falkland Islands Military of the Falkland Islands Royal Air Force stations 1980s establishments in the Falkland Islands 1980s disestablishments in the Falkland Islands {{Falklands-stub

See also

References