The Falklands honours list was the first in a long time as a post-operations list. The RN (and I expect all three Services) had a limited number of non-gallantry awards and there was no possibility of increasing the numbers given out, even if highly deserving cases could be made.
A case in point was my father, who was a candidate for a Falklands award, and got nothing. But in the next list (NY 83) he got a CBE, and it was clear that it was for his South Atlantic contribution, which had in fact been immense, though he hadn't left London.
Things may have changed for the better, but I wouldn't be surprised if some NY/Birthday honours have some relevance to the op sit.