"FROM the front window, we could see an awe-inspiring stream of tracer shells arcing from the harbour. Shouting, screaming and machine-gun fire permeated the crisp air."

The moment Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982, is forever etched into Dave Colville's memory.

Mr Colville, who later moved to Bournemouth and then Portsmouth, was then the editor of The Falklands Times.

He vividly recalls listening "in stunned silence" to British Governor Rex Hunt announce on the radio that the Argentine invasion force had set sail.

Similar memories are today being sparked - many much more harrowing - as Britain marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Falklands War.

The 11-week battle for the liberation of the occupied British territory killed almost 1,000 men - 655 Argentine and 236 British.

It saw the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, many from Poole's Hamworthy base, embark upon the biggest combined military action since the Second World War.

Argentina's subsequent ignominious defeat discredited the military government and led to the restoration of civilian rule in 1983.

When the Argentine Navy, with thousands of troops, first landed on the Falklands, a small detachment of Royal Marines put up a brave but futile resistance.

Governor Sir Rex Hunt remembered hiding under his desk at Government House.

"The noise was terrific. It numbed all the senses. People have asked were you frightened?' I wasn't frightened, but I wasn't anything. I was numbed by the noise."

After surrendering, Sir Rex and his family were flown to Uruguay before making their way back to England while Argentine troops seized the associated islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Group.

The first Royal Air Force transport aircraft were dep-loyed, and on April 5 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered the task force to set sail for the South Atlantic.

She said: "The islanders are few in number, but they have the right to live in peace, to choose their own way of life and to determine their own allegiance."

Over the coming weeks, mediation talks began and broke down, and British nationals in Argentina were advised to leave.

On May 2 British submarine HMS Conqueror sunk the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano, killing almost 400 crewmen, and two days later Argentine air attacks from Super Etendard fighter planes sank the British destroyer HMS Sheffield with 20 men on board.

On May 21 the British made an amphibious landing near Port San Carlos, advancing southward to capture the settlements of Darwin and Goose Green before turning towards Port Stanley.

The Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Poole-based Special Boat Service were to play a vital role in recapturing the islands.

When the push to Port Stanley began, it was the Marines in 3 Commando Brigade, including men from Poole-trained 40, 42 and 45 Commando and the Paras, who spearheaded the attack.

The SBS squadron took part in covert operations with the SAS, losing six men when a landing craft was attacked during the fighting. Those men are now commemorated on memorials at the Hamworthy base.

Two days after the amphibious landing, the British frigate HMS Antelope was sunk after a previously unexploded bomb detonated, and on May 25 HMS Coventry was hit by three 1,000lb air-bombs, killing 19 Brits.

Another 12 British servicemen died three days later when an Exocet missile hit the MV Atlantic Conveyor.

Air raids on Port Stanley continued and on May 31 British troops took Mount Kent and surrounded Port Stanley. Days later an Argentine air attack on British landing craft Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram at Port Pleasant, south of Bluff Cove, killed 53 British troops.

An assault on Mount Longdon by the British Para 3 followed on June 12 with the area and its surroundings finally taken after a tough, long battle. British casualties amounted to 23 men, with 47 more wounded, and the Argentine forces lost 50 men.

On June 14 the large Argentine garrison in Port Stanley was defeated, effectively ending the conflict. Argentine commander Mario Menendez agreed to "an un-negotiated cease-fire" and 9,800 Argentine troops put down their weapons.

The British re-occupied the South Sandwich Islands on June 20 with Britain formally declaring an end to the hostilities.

From start to finish the conflict lasted a total of 72 days, claming nearly 1,000 casualties and costing at least $2 billion.

From a political point of view, the war helped the re-election of Margaret Thatcher and brought down Leopoldo Galitieri who resigned shortly afterwards, paving the road for the restoration of demo-cracy in Argentina.