The original telex message to signify victory in the Falklands, signed by Mrs Thatcher – the original telex message from Major General Sir Jeremy Moore to London dated June 15th 1982 announcing the victory over Argentina and the retaking of the Falkland Islands. The document is signed by Moore, Margaret Thatcher, Sir Rex Hunt and Sir Julian Thompson. It reads : ‘Maj Gen Menendez surrendered to me all the Argentine armed forces in East and West Falkland together with their impedimenta. Arrangements are in hand to assemble the men return to Argentina, to gather in their arms and equipment and to mark and make safe their munitions. The Falkland Islands are once more under the government desired by their inhabitants. God Save the Queen. Signed J J Moore’ [comparison with this message and that relayed in the previous lot will show two or three slight differences, presumably caused by transcription differences in the islands themselves at the time]. The document is framed and glazed with an accompanying document (originally a brown paper backing sheet) which is signed by other major participants in the conflict, including Simon Weston, of the Welsh Guards who was so tragically injured but who has remained as a symbol of continuing courage ever since, and Admiral Sir Jock Slater, First Sea Lord during the conflict. This document was originally donated by Mrs Thatcher personally to a charity auction held in 1999 at an Inaugural Ball which launched the British Forces Foundation Charity. Our vendor was the successful bidder, winning the item against strong opposition from both celebrities and organisations. The signatures which are on the document and accompanying sheet were obtained by our vendor personally at that event, except for Jeremy Moore’s signature which was obtained personally at a private meeting two weeks later. Our vendor has told us : ‘Sir Jeremy gave me a very interesting account of the Surrender including the fact that he cleared the room of most of the personnel such that Major General Menendes was not embarrassed by a large ‘audience’ during the signing of the surrender....[he] also showed me in one of Sir Winston Churchill’s books part of the text he used in the signal. The Words were taken from a similar surrender signal sent to Sir Winston Churchill by Field Marshal Montgomery when Germany surrendered at the end of WWII.’ Note: there are several examples of photo copied versions of this document which have appeared on the market in recent years. These, too, bear the signature of Mrs Thatcher and Sir Jeremy Moore and were sold in other forces charity events in the years following the conflict. We are satisfied, however, that this is the original document, as evidenced by its donation at the 1999 Ball by Mrs Thatcher personally. This is, without question a most important document in the military history of Great Britain. The Falklands War was the only one fought by Britain on its own throughout the 20th c, and this dispatch takes its place alongside many other historic dispatches from other conflicts including those in WWI & WWII, and the Battles of Waterloo and Trafalgar, none of which are available on the market. This therefore provides perhaps the only available opportunity to obtain such a historic document. The document is accompanied by an original invitation card and programme for the Charity Ball, and an invitation card from the Prince of Wales to a related reception at St James’s Palace in 2001.