Ajax Bay is a settlement on
East Falkland
East Falkland ( es, Isla Soledad) is the largest island of the Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as La ...
, in the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
. It is on the north west coast, on the shore of
San Carlos Water
San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound.
Name
Despite its Spanish-sounding name, there is a wide discrepancy with the Spanish usage, for in Spanish "Estrecho de San Carlos" refers ...
, a few miles from
Port San Carlos
Port San Carlos is located on the northern bank of the inlet known as Port San Carlos, off San Carlos Water on the Western coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands. It is sometimes nicknamed "KC" after former owner Keith Cameron.
The po ...
. It was mainly a refrigeration plant, and was developed by the
Colonial Development Corporation in the 1950s, which was also responsible for developing
Port Albemarle
Port Albemarle (Spanish: ''Puerto Santa Eufemia'') is a settlement on West Falkland, in the Falkland Islands. It is in the far south of the island, on the east side, at the southern end of Falkland Sound.
Owing to its large harbour, Albemarle be ...
. It was supposed to freeze Falkland
mutton
Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...
, but this was found to be economically unviable. Many of the pre-fabricated houses were moved to
Stanley.
During the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...
, the first British bridgehead was established on San Carlos Water on 21 May 1982. Ajax Bay was one of three landing points, and codenamed "Red Beach" as part of
Operation Sutton. The next day, the refrigeration plant became a
field hospital
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile Ar ...
, the Advanced Surgical Centre. It was run by Surgeon Commander
Rick Jolly and operated until 9 June.
Ajax Bay gallery
Image:Placa_conmemorativa_al_comando_logĂstico_británico.jpg,
Image:Remains of the British military field hospital in Ajax Bay, the Falklands (2008-01-13).jpg,
Image:The War Hospital (Falklands) Ajax Bay.jpg,
Image:Gentooajaxbay.jpg,
Image:ajaxbay1982.jpg,
References
Populated places on East Falkland
History of the Falkland Islands
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