The unexpected invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentine forces on 2 April 1982 took both British politicians and the UK Armed Forces by surprise. In comparison with uninjured sailors who acted as controls ( n = 47), nerve conduction was impaired in 35% of those screened some months after returning to the UK, while the photoplethysmography and thermographic responses to a cold sensitivity test showed that most (including those classed by questionnaire as asymptomatic) had residual ‘cold sensitivity’. Whilst there was no significant relationship between past history and cold injury morbidity in the brigade as a whole, or within the infantry units alone, an association was identified in the collective infantry units (73%) and the support/headquarter units (59%) ( p < 0.05).
No evidence was found to support an influence of a number of factors, commonly believed to have an aetiological role in the production of cold injury. The morbidity in the infantry units was significantly greater than that in the support troops (1,051 (76%) vs 454 (46%), p < 0.05). Some 2,354 (78%) completed questionnaires were returned, revealing that 1,505 (64%) had experienced symptoms of non-freezing cold injury.
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