The Right Honourable The Baroness Thatcher LG OM PC FRS

October 13, 1925 - April 8, 2013

Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG OM PC FRS was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990.

 

Northern Ireland

In 1980 and 1981, Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners in Northern Ireland's Maze Prison carried out hunger strikes in an effort to regain the status of political prisoners that had been removed in 1976 by the preceding Labour government.[128] Bobby Sands began the 1981 strike, saying that he would fast until death unless prison inmates won concessions over their living conditions.

Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for the prisoners, declaring "Crime is crime is crime; it is not political".

Falkland Islands

When the Argentine dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri ordered his forces to invade the Falkland Islands the following month, he did so believing that Britain neither had the strength nor the will-power to defend the interests of a remote collection of sparsely-populated islands located eight thousand miles away in the South Atlantic.

Roll of Honour

But he had not reckoned on Margaret Thatcher’s steely determination who, despite the reservations expressed by senior military commanders and the Foreign Office – not to mention her own Cabinet – insisted on assembling a naval Task Force to rescue the beleaguered 1,800 islanders.

Two great quotes from a great woman and leader.

The Parachute Regiment 17th Anniversary of the Falklands War. Wizened with age and looking frail, she took to the stage, paused and looked us all in the eye. She seem to grow a hundred feet tall as she uttered these immortal words:

1. "When God created the world, he did not make GREAT Britain an island of the coast of Europe for nothing!"

2. "The Parachute Regiment, should be locked up and only be let out in time of war!"

To us that was the highest compliment anyone could pay us. We lived for the fight, it was part of our ethos. We trained hard so war we easy; we sweated more, so we would bleed less on the battlefield. We sent the highest standards, none could follow. We have the most battle honours and awards for outstanding bravery than any other Regiment in the British Army, since we were formed at the bequest of Sir Winston Churchill.
We were born in battle.

Here's to you Great Lady "Maggie," Tonight I will raise a glass and a toast to your passing. You did a great job and we are proud of you."

Lance Corporal James Steel 3 Para (in photo)
Corporal Carl Spence 9 Parachute Squadron RE (in photo)
Corporal Peter Williams 2 Para (at rear of gun carriage)

Britain bids farewell to Baroness Thatcher:

After stunning send-off which united friends and political foes and saw thousands cheer procession along streets of London, family say a private goodbye, More than 250,000 lined the streets of London, clapping and cheering as her coffin processed through London.

Others threw white roses in the path of the gun carriage that carried Lady Thatcher to St Paul's Chancellor George Osborne seen sobbing as the service went on, while other high-profile figures were also moved Richard Chartres said in address that Lady Thatcher was just an ordinary woman and mentioned Tolpuddle Martyrs

David Cameron says in his speech Iron Lady's 'difficult decisions, led to less division, less strife at the end of it' Lady Thatcher's only granddaughter Amanda delivers reading after flying in from America with brother Michael More than 2,300 people from 170 countries attend the former Conservative prime minister's funeral

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