Cunard’s QE2 Hosts Falklands Reunion

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 will host 100 Southampton veterans at a special lunch, in conjunction with the City of Southampton, to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Falklands Campaign on June 10 while QE2 is berthed in her homeport.

The QE2 joined the ranks of other famous Cunarders, including Mauretania, Aquitania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, when called upon to serve its country. The QE2 underwent a nine-day conversion to a troopship –the public lounges were turned into dormitories, fuel pipes were taken through the ship down to the engine room so it could be refueled at sea, helipads were constructed fore and aft, and the carpets were covered with 2,000 sheets of hardboard.

Over 650 crewmembers volunteered for the voyage to look after the 3,000 members of the Fifth Infantry Brigade which the ship transported to South Georgia. During the voyage south, in order to avoid detection the ship was blacked out and the radar switched off and Capt. Jackson and his fellow officers on the bridge steamed on without modern aids, through an ice field in the dark.

The QM2’s welcome home with the warship survivors on June 11, 1982, was a national event and The Queen Mother welcomed QE2 home from the decks of the Royal Yacht Britannia. Its return to Southampton was followed by a nine-week period of refitting and restoring the liner.