Arboretum Falklands War event during cycle ride

A dedication service was held for the Falklands Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in May 2012

An event marking the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War is to be held at the National Memorial Arboretum during an eight-day national bike ride.

The families of war veterans are due to be commemorated at Alrewas, Staffordshire, after cyclists arrive at the site from 11:30 BST on Thursday.

The ride involving Falklands War veterans started at a memorial in Cardiff and is to finish in Aldershot.

It aims to foster comradeship through cycling.

Those riding will be led into the arboretum to Falklands monuments and the event will include speeches and poems.

On 14 June, the date when the Argentine force surrendered, Falklands War veterans are to be presented with the freedom of the islands at an event at the arboretum.

Last month at the arboretum, a memorial to mark the 40th anniversary of the deadly attack on a Royal Navy destroyer during the war was unveiled.

HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentine missile on 4 May 1982, killing 20 crew members and injuring many more.

A woman laid a wreath after the dedication ceremony of the Falklands Memorial in May 2012

Hundreds of veterans attended a service in May 2012, when a memorial to the 255 British servicemen killed in the war was unveiled at the arboretum.

Three Falkland civilians and 649 Argentine troops also died in the conflict.