Royal Artillery veteran looks back at the Falklands War

Nigel Wright had no idea where the Falklands were when he was told by his commanding officer that they were being deployed there immediately. The invasion of the British colony by Argentinian forces thirty years ago was something they all thought would “blow over”.

He was a signal operator with 29 Commando Regiment, part of the Royal Artillery. His job was to relay the orders to fire the guns, to the paras and marines on the battlefield. He witnessed the sinking of HMS Antelope, and he and his regiment came under heavy fire as helicopters attempted to get them and their artillery equipment off the ship and onto land.

Nigel says most of the Argentine soldiers were very young conscripts. The battles were intense, with hand to hand combat, and bayonets. During the 6 weeks of the warm 255 British servicemen lost their lives. 655 Argentines also died.

It was the most vicious, hard fought conflict Britain had been involved in since the Second World War, and 30 years on, some politicians in Argentina are still saying they will reclaim the Islands as their own.

The full report by Jane Hesketh: