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Remembering all those who lost their lives during the Falkland conflict and saluting all those who took part and lived to tell the story.
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I was on exercise in Norway at the time, was more than happy they didn’t cancel it. I eventually served four months down there in 1986.
I was part of the Task Force in 82, albeit on Ascension Island with the Vulcans.
I was there on HM Ships – as was my younger brother (on a different ship, HMS Fearless).
I honestly don’t know where all these years have gone.
Thank you all for your service and keeping us safe.
I was just finishing school and remember as clear as day, teachers allowing us to take in radios. All the kids were huddled around listening to the reporting.? I will be remembered for nothing but had great fun doing it ?
Time flies virtually to the day 38yrs ago as a 17yr old bootneck woke up on the hospital ship Uganda having lost argument with anti personnel mine. Got more problems with ‘good’ leg etc now lol.
I was in the Merchant Navy at the time and went to the Falklands on the MV Cederbank carrying a cargo of JCB;s and equipment for the building of the Runway,there was a heavy presence of Military on board and we also stopped at Ascension Island on route.
I spent 12 weeks there in the end, some of it due to the crazy weather and not be able to leave Stanley.
I was asked to go again for a year on the Uganda but declined.
The only pic i ever found of the Cederbank and it just happened to have been taken in the falklands while i was on it.
The wife has been sorting out old photos for weeks now. She’s just handed me an old album of pictures I took when I was there. God, I was young.
I would like to say apart from my total respect for our armed forces it is great to hear of the memories of those that were involved in any way or were around when it took place I myself though having not served in the armed forces take my interest from my late father who served with the Scots guards for many years having taken part in both the Suez Canal and Korean War hence the admiration i have For you all ????
It was only years later that I spared a thought for my poor mum and what she must have gone through. At the time of the Falklands War, I had only just turned 21 when we were told that we were being sent there. I was on a Type-42 destroyer & must admit that losing HMS Sheffield & HMS Coventry, both sister ships, was a tad worrying. Anyway, my younger brother, 18 at the time, was also sent down South aboard the assault ship HMS Fearless. My poor mum was worried to death that 2 of her 3 sons were thousands of miles away in the South Atlantic for weeks on end. I saw it as a big adventure really. To me, I was with a great ships’ company & amongst good friends. At such a young age, you never truly believe that anything would happen to you – like you’re invincible.
I got married 4-years later and then had a son shortly after. It was only after I had him that I realised what my mum must have gone through back home in England during the conflict. At least we came home – which is more than a lot of the lads did. Bless my mum though. She’s alive & well at 82 and still worries about me even today… and I’m 60 this year!
Mum’s eh. 🙂
Solent60 it was great reading that and god bless your mum and as you say it must have been a worrying time for her..all the very best pal ????
Solent60 it was great reading that and god bless your mum and as you say it must have been a worrying time for her..all the very best pal
Thanks & you’re most welcome footloose.
Incidentally; I will never ever forgive Galtieri for invading the Falklands! My ship was due to spend the whole of Christmas & the New Year of 1982 alongside in Hong Kong… three weeks in Hong Kong!!! It doesn’t get any better than that! But no – along comes Galtieri who decides to invade the Falklands and thus scupper my ships’ programme for the rest of the year and indeed the following year (when I had to go back for another tour of 6-months patrol on the same ship because the Navy was short of ships – either sunk or in dock for war repairs). Twelve years at sea in total and I never did make it to Hong Kong. Still gutted to this day!
Solent60
if my lottery numbers come up I’ll get you to Hong Kong ?
bit like me solent60, 16 years in the army supposed to be based in germany for most of them but actually spent 10 years in n. ireland on various tours and even when i got a promotion course in the uk i got pulled off it to go to the falklands. a tour in cyprus got cancelled for gulf 1.then back to ireland and they wondered why i took redundancy.
i reckon someone at the records office had it in for me.
Solent60 if my lottery numbers come up I’ll get you to Hong Kong
I’m gonna hold you to that footloose! ;-0
bit like me solent60, 16 years in the army supposed to be based in germany for most of them but actually spent 10 years in n. ireland on various tours and even when i got a promotion course in the uk i got pulled off it to go to the falklands. a tour in cyprus got cancelled for gulf 1.then back to ireland and they wondered why i took redundancy. i reckon someone at the records office had it in for me.
I guess Mitch that it goes with the territory when you take the King’s shilling lol.
After two 6-month stints in the Falkland Islands in ’82 and ’83, I joined another Type-42 destroyer, HMS Cardiff, in 1984 and went straight to the Middle East for a 6-month deployment on Armilla Patrol during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988. Basically we would escort British & European oil tankers through the narrow Straits of Hormuz & into the huge oil terminals in Saudi, Bahrain, etc. We did that for 2-weeks on – two weeks off. Much preferred the hot climate of the Middle East to the barren, dismal Falkland Islands, that’s for sure! During the 2-week break when we handed over to a frigate that came with us, we would enjoy several days or a week or more alongside in such places as Karachi, Mombassa, Muscat (Oman), Bahrain, Saudi, Colombo in Sri Lanka… even a 5-day visit to The Seychelles! We were also the last British warship to visit Mogadishu, Somalia before it all kicked off there with the war against the rebels. I remember we had to leave a day early because things in town were getting pretty bad & the UK Admiralty didn’t want one of its warships taking fire from AK 47’s and RPG’s from rebels on the dockside!
Happy days though Mitch back then & I wouldn’t swap them for the world. I spent 5-weeks alongside in Mayport, Florida just weeks after my 19th birthday, while the Yank dockyard workers did some essential work on my ship because Portsmouth couldn’t fit the work in – so no complaining there! Two months later we had a huge boiler fire onboard whilst alongside in Philadelphia & ended up staying there an extra 6 days – no complaints from me on that one either! I think I’ve seen almost every country in Europe & the Mediterranean that you can get to by ship… and been through the Suez Canal several times – so it goes without saying that life on the ‘Grey Funnel Line’ was certainly varied & interesting and it’s a great life if you’re young & single – which I was.
Saying all that; I still haven’t – and never will – forgive bloody Galtieri for ruining those 3-weeks in Hong Kong that never were!!!
definately happy days solent60 i was married at 19 to a then wrac private i met at our the depot when i transferrred from the engineers. it was just sods law that each 2 year tour in germany involved 2 6 month tours of ireland or the such like. being pay corps it was interesting as you got to do whatever the regiment you were attached to did be it infantry,air corps,signals etc.
it just got a bit much when on a 6 month tour in NI from germany i learned that when i got back we had to pack up as i had been posted to NI for 2 years. half way through the 2 year tour options for change happened so i volunteered for redundancy as they were freezing our promotion and disbanding the pay corps.
so i actually got to spend some time with the wife, unfortunately 6 years later she died of a brain heomorage so after all the years she spent waiting for the knock on the door i ended up getting the knock.
but overall i wouldnt change owt they were good folks and mostly good times lol plenty of beer!
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