The London Victory Parade of 1982 was a British victory parade held after the defeat of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in 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 ...

and organised by the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

as a salute to the task force. It took place in the United Kingdom capital of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, mainly encompassing a military parade with

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s through the

. The parade took place on 12 October 1982, almost four months after the Argentine surrender; it was the first time the City had celebrated a military event since it had entertained the crew of HMS Amethyst in 1949. The Parade began at Armoury House, off City Road near Finsbury Square and progressed via Finsbury pavement, Moorgate, Lothbury, Bartholomew Lane and Threadneedle Street past Mansion House, then continued along Poultry, Cheapside and King Street to Guildhall. Approximately 300,000 people lined the mile-long route of the parade. At Mansion House the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Christopher Leaver took the salute from the armed forces personnel as they marched past. He was accompanied by Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher, Admiral Sir Terence Lewin, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Field Marshal Sir Edwin Bramall. During the parade, there were several protests by peace campaigners opposed to the Falklands War and what they regarded as the militarism of the parade. Seventeen people were arrested while trying to block a road to stop the parade. One of them was reportedly knocked unconscious when being thrown into the back of a police van. A group of women from the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp staged a protest that involved turning their backs on the parade as it marched past. After the parade there was a ''Salute to the Task Force'' luncheon at the Guildhall in which Thatcher gave a speech, saying:

We, the British people, are proud of what has been done, proud of these heroic pages in our island story, proud to be here today to salute the task force. Proud to be British.Speech at the Salute to the Task Force lunch
(12 October 1982).

Notes

Falklands War 1982 in London 1982 in the United Kingdom Victory parades Parades in London October 1982 events in the United Kingdom Military parades in the United Kingdom {{UK-hist-stub