Bombardment of Port Stanley Airstrip

This painting by Charles David Cobb shows a scene from the first British attempt to provoke a response from the Argentinians and see how they would retaliate. The British flew a Vulcan bomber some 8,000 miles using mid-air refuelling, used Harriers and a flotilla of ships to try and put Port Stanley airfield out of use to the Argentines and so cut them off from reinforcements from the mainland. It achieved its mission by creating a huge crater in the centre of the airfield.