Falklands Feedback

As the twenty fifth anniversary of the Falklands war approaches, I would just like to congratulate you and thank you for creating this website and putting these pages together.

How wonderful to have on record a fascinating insight into daily life on board, and below decks in the engine room, of this great, and greatly missed, ocean liner during this momentous period in her long career.

Thank goodness you kept everything! It is items like the printed menu (looks like that was a good dinner that night) and the Standing Orders, the newspaper clippings and your own comments which all bring this website to life with such a lovely personal feel to it all.

I love the story of “What kind of bombs do you think they are throwing at us now?" Jack replied "I don't know "First" - bloody big ones.” and also the touching “Lest we forget” section with the sailor’s prayer.

As a twelve year old I was privileged to be at her launch in Belfast in 1960 and followed her career to the end. She was the last ocean liner to be built by Harland and Wolff and enjoyed a considerable loyalty amongst the many passengers who sailed on her and returned time and time again.
Following her engagement in the Falklands campaign she became virtually a National Treasure!

Thousands were saddened when P&O sold her and thousands more in Northern Ireland were saddened this legendry liner was never brought up the waters of Belfast Lough to the city of her birth one more time.

Now she is but history. Thanks to you this period of her history has been wonderfully documented and recorded in a very personal way. It is a fabulous tribute to great lady of the seas as well as a memorable record of your own time as a “civvie” at war.

Heart congratulations.

Geoffrey McNab

Thank you for publishing your website detailing your experiences in the South Atlantic in 1982. You have related a truly fascinating account.

No person that goes to battle for God and country should ever be forgotten. Your account pays homage to all that sacrificed. Some sacrificed their lives, others sacrificed time and precious moments with family and friends.

From San Antonio, Texas, USA

Yours,

Billy Calzada

Just a short note to say 'well done' for your Canberra website. My personal links with the ship are that a group of school friends went on a cruise 1979 or maybe 1980 to Morocco/Med. Two years later another group of my friends 2nd Batt Scots Guards also get a cruise with Canberra - but to a much colder climate!

The Falklands War is totally forgotten these days and, whilst I was back in sunny London, many of my friends underwent some terrifying experiences which have, totally, escaped public view.

I believe that your website links the shock of war from both the British and the Argentinian view - all those photographs of young men now dead?

I do wish it were enough to say enough.

Enjoy Oz matey

Graeme

I write this mail to tell you my impressions about the page.
I came across your page while looking for material in English to work with my students (I`m an english teacher) and I`m argentinean,from buenos aires.In addition, my husband (then 19 years old) was soldier during the war and served in the ARA Gral Belgrano, and now he`s a veteran of 45 . (ironic?)...To add contradictions I work in a bilingual school where the students learn english as a foreign language...
I was very glad to see the great respect you show for the argentinean forces and let you know that after 25th years, all the people involved (veterans and families) in the war have the same respect for the dead people from both sides.
I know politicians will never come to an agreement about the possession of that desolate plot of land, but what is true is that many people have died for them, so respect and memory are essential.
I send you my best regards, I´ll tell about your site to a veteran I know who was prisioner at the Canberra, and told me & my husband stories about the exchanges of little gifts(cigarettes,etc) between the two sides
Many thanks again,

Marcela Gil

Just visited your website for the first time. Terrific job. I'm a Scot now living in Brisbane (I see your email address is Australian) and the Falklands conflict was what led me to join the Australian Army. As a result, it has also had a profound effect on my life, although I humbly hasten to add, nowhere near those blokes who were directly involved, such as yourself. I have read countless books, visited many websites and I've also seen just about every TV production on the conflict but still read and watch with great interest anything new I come across. Like you said, 20 years has just flown. Ever been back or any plans for some sort of reunion with your crew or mates?

Anyway, your website is great and I'll be back now and again for any updates.

Regards,
Tom Symon.

I just saw your website on the Canberra.......good job

I sailed on her from Southampton on that night in April 1982 after many delays!......filled with excitment and a good deal of bravado.....was a fun cruise till we got to Ascension Island and the news came in that Sheffield
had been sunk......

I was with one of the Naval medical teams on board.......but sadly never got to come home on the Canberra......was shipped off to a tiny survey ship and then arrived back in UK in the dark and unexpected......by an RAF plane that
flew us from Ascension...I always regretted missing that part......

I have fond memories of "The Great White Whale" and to this day still don't know how we managed to get through that first day of air attacks without a scratch.....

Your site was great......I have quite a lot of pictures taken at the time......one particularly poingnant one is of HMS Ardent (who was our guardship after we sailed from Ascension) firing her Guns and then powering up to go gliding past us.....a short time later she was gone together with 20+ of her crew.....at that time they were showing off on a beautiful day with deep blue sea....

I have pics taken at Freetown also and of course various ones of life on board........

Your site is great........shows a real personal side to things......although we didn't really have to much to do with the "civvy crew" without you guys we would not have been able to achieve what we did!......although twenty
years late.....well done and I hope life has treated you well since then!

all the best

Kieran McCarry

Thank you for a wonderful site.

I am a teacher in England, teaching history to a bunch of teenagers who have been chucked out of mainstream school because of their behaviour and they have little interest in history.

Because the 20th anniversary is coming up, I decided to embark on a project about the war and then I found your site.

What is special about your site is that it has kept alive so many of the tiny details which otherwise could only be found in specialist books and would not be available to ordinary people. The internet is powerful but people are more powerful still and I have been gripped by your story.

I remember the war (I was 21 at the time) as a student at University in the midlands. At the time, we all thought it was fantastic and we watched the news and cheered. That all changed with Sheffield, Coventry and Sir Galahad, I suppose. There was a sudden dawning realisation that we had been enjoying the war while others were living and dying in it. We grew up pretty fast then.

Good luck.

Barney

Hi! My name is Amy and i am from Australia, my family and i used to live in England. My father was in the RAF and spent some time in the Falklands. He dealt mostly with the Artillery side of things i think. He was away from home for Christmas and my Birthday when i was little,(of course i was angry at him.) I just wanted to say thankyou for this websight and helping me to realise that he was away for all the right reasons, keep up the good work, Kind Regards Amy

well done on a very good site, it may be an idea to let us know what the engineers are upto now. i have a bit of info about three of them, norman pound you probabaly know retired from his job as cadet manager around 7 years ago. dougie beveradge last i heard had just left airtours where he was staff chief i think. david barraclough retired when canberra went, he was chief for the scrapping run.
i worked on canberra as 4eo for her last two years.
on all the web sites books etc about ships very little if anything is mentioned about the engineers, congrats on a very good site

I came across your web page and found it interesting. I served in the Falklands War in RFA SIR GALAHAD as purser. While at Ascension Island I visited Canberra with a landing craft full of ships bedding to be laundered. Our laundry was out of action (no spares - engineers again ! - only joking). I have many memories of our time in the South Atlantic and as you would imagine some traumatic ones given Sir Galahads fate. I was lucky enough to bring the new Sir Galahad into service from build at Swan Hunter. On the RFA engineering front most of the steamies have gone. We only have two steam ships left : OLMEDA and OLNA the are due to go in 2001. The ship refuelling Canberra in your photo is TIDESPRING long since gone to the scrap yard. I served in her in 1974 on station in the far east. We spent a long period in Sydney (not broken down for a change) and we saw a lot of Canberra in and out of circular quay. One minor correction. Your photo of Sir Galahad with the argie jet overhead is in fact Sir Bedivere. She was used to bring back the war dead at the end of the conflict. She has recently undergone re-build and will be in service for many years to come. Her class of RFAs was originally owned and operated by British India in the early 70s, were painted white and had yellow funnels. Quite a number of RFA engineers and deck officers have migrated to P&O in recent years. Are you still with them ? Regards John Hood

Just visited your website, I had the fortune to visit Canberra at San Carlos, I was a member of the Ardent ships company, I will never forget the kindness and support shown to us by everyone on Canberra and especially the tot of Four Bells when I first ar Keep up the good work, Iain

Dear Sir, My name is Stephen Callister, I am a year 11 student at Penryn College in Cornwall. I'm really interested in the Falklands conflict and am surprised at the small amount of sites on the web. My Dad was an Aircraft Handler and went to the Falklands with 814 NAS, he served on H.M.S. Hermies and Fort Austin. My Uncle who was only seventeen at the time fought in 42 Commando RM. I think that far to few people no about the Falklands war, I mean 2000 people died and hardly any body of my age knows about them. I think you're site is really good and I would be really pleased if you could give me the e-mail addresses of any other Falklands veterans you have. Hope to hear from you soon, Stephen Callister

I, too, sailed to the Falklands aboard Canberra. I was a Daily Mirror reporter at the time. My name is Alastair McQueen. I have read your brief account. It is too brief. This is not a criticism. In all the stories and history of the Falklands - YET TO BE WRITTEN - the concentration will be on the troops and RN ships with the Merchant Navy relegated to a support role. I feel that people like yourself and your comrades in the MN at the time owe it to history to get your experiences written down NOW and in greater detail. The Falklands operation was a unique one in modern times. Every facet of it should be available for future historians to study. By the way do you know about SAMA82? Have you joined? We need more merchantmen! Best wishes, Alastair McQueen.

HI,Phil ; Thank you very much for your very prompt reply . you have settled a point of discussion amongst friends . Does the name Captain Ian Bell-Irving DSO,DFC, RCNR , ring any bells for you? I must admit during this period I was newly retired from the Canadian Forces, and courageously commanding my wife and I ,in our 41foot ketch in the Bahamas .(the underlined statement made in jest) .Whenever we went into a port with TV., we avidly soaked up all and any info we could collect . I served from 1954 till 1982 , RCN,RCEME . We sailed our ketch for 10 years and then the "ADMIRAL" informed me she wanted to go home and see the kids so we did .,she had only agreed to sail with me for one year anyhow so I felt I couldn't complain too loudly. Again thank you from our British Columbia rain forest home. Regards Bill McGILL

The Captain was Dennis Scott Masson CBE RD, RNR and the Senior Naval Officer, Naval Party 1710 was Captain CPO Burne, CBE Royal Navy.

I am a 13 year old boy and i sailed on canberra durring her farewell season and i thoroughly enjoyed it . I am very interested in the war side of Canberra and i hope more sites are set up.

I was wondering if you would be able to tell me what happened to the wrecks of the Galahad, Sheffield, Antelope, Coventry etc. Were they all left where they sank or were they salvaged at all? And would you know if they have since been documented? Thanks for your time, Daniel Whitticase.

What a great up and coming site! Well done and keep up the good work. I have so many fond memories of the old 'White Whale'. Having travelled down south on her in 82 I was very sad when they sold her for scrap, it seems a poor ending for such a grand old Duchess as Canberra. I will send some pics to you of the troops onboard when I get the chance to scan some negatives I have, I need a special scanner first which I hope to obtain soon. The pics are mostly of 3 Para and some of the RM's. Best wishes and please identify your name as I have not been able to trace it within your site. Yours Aye Denzil Connick Secretary SAMA 82

Hi! I am glad to have found your site. I am an argentinian student of History. I know that many a good TV program about the 1982 conflict has been broadcasted in the UK by the BBC, ITV, etc during the last ten years or so. I would like to get in touch with people who might have recorded these TV programs on video, so that I too could have a copy to further my own notes. I would be very grateful if either yourself or people you may know get in touch with me about this. I wouldn't like to cause any inconvenience to anybody, and would of course be ready to put up with all the expenses involved. I thank you in advance for your part in helping us understand why we got involved in such a crazy enterprise which caused so much misery and grief to so many...

You site about the Falklands war is truly amazing, I am a 24 years old computer technician living in Paraguay (South America), and I think I was too little when the war took over to remember much of it, but I have to say your page almost make me feel like I was onboard, I really admire how brave you where, to be honest I can´t imagine myself in one of those situations, at least no without totally panicking. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know I really apreciate the time you spend to share all this with the rest of Us. Thanks, aw BTW feel free to shoot me some lines whenever you get the page updated!!!. Joesys Jose Teixido

Hi. My name is Pablo Turnes and I live in Mar del Plata, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I think your site is very interesting because I think it's very important to see the other side's story. I would like to know what do you think about argentinians (at least the soldiers you met) and what was your relationship with them. Thanks for all. Pablo Turnes

Thank you so much for your site. It had helped me a lot for the understanding of the Falkland war. I'm a danish naval officer (LT) and presently writing an essay of the war on the danish naval academy. Keep up the good work Klaus Rehkopff

Hello, my name is Rodrigo Blanco. I am an Argentinian living in Brasil and studying in an American school. I have chosen to do a paper on history about the Falklands since its part of my country's past and also because I am very patriotic when it comes into the war. Therefore, I wanted to clarify and fully study the war's purpouse and results in order to clarify some of the feelings I hold of the war, and also all that anti-england material I've been spoonfed by Argentinian schools since I was 6. I am now 18 years old, and I wish to hold an objctive look over the war, so I can leave as much bias as I can out of my paper. I currently believe that the war was a conflict of interests between the Argentine military and Margaret Thatcher, being that whoever won the islands would get the support of the people for their next elections. Could you answer a couple of question if you have enough time please? Thanks a lot, I really apreciate the help. Sincerely Rodrigo Blanco 1. How did you feel about the war? Did you think it was necesary? 2. What made you go to the war? Patriotism or just the need of an adventure? 3. Did you hold any feelings towards the Argentinians at any time of the war? 4. Did you think the outcome of the war was fair or just innevitable? Thanks again.

Well done, this is an excellent site and their shouold be a lot more of these sites around. Altho not as famous as previous wars in our history it is a very important one and gives me a sense of national pride. Nick Lomas

hello phil,just checked out your website, very interesting,and thank you and your friends for your efforts during the confict,forever gratefull.ken flynn

Dear Sir: As a young naval officer I was proud to serve my nation fighting for the Malvinas during the 1982 war. Your statement that Argentine pilots were offered a bonus if the sunk the Canberra is incorrect and just another fantasy created during the war; trust me, I know. Out of respect for the some of my classmates that perished while carrying out their duty, please correct this information in your records. Thank you and best regards R.Quesada

I wanted you to know that you are not alone in your thinking. Your description of being home on leave and getting the call, could have been written by myself. I have never got over the excitement either, although it has to be said you saw more than me. I had been waiting all my life for something like the event to happen. You know as I, that what makes your contrtibutions even more startling is that we M.N types are normally so cynical about uniforms and patriotism, especially us Engineers. Well I was proud to march in support again with SAMA 82 and hope that one day we might speak together on the subject in person. Yours Aye Andrew Champion 3/E M.V Anco Charger 1982.

Hi, thanks for the website. At last someone from the MN has done a falklands website, well done. You don't say what your rank was, are you still at sea ? I was on the RFA Regent, a deck cadet. I left in 1983 and worked foreign flag for a few years but I am ashore now. I saw the Canberra at ascension but not again. TRALA means the transfer and lightering area. I witnessed the destruction of the Atlantic Conveyor I think it was during the afternoon 12 to 4. If you had been on her station you would have been unlucky as the exocet attack from astern may have presented you as a larger target than ourselves and the Hermes. Luckily for us the large stern ramp and accomadation of the conveyor presented a large radar target so she got it, twice if I remember right. I remember she was on our port beam and the missile hit in the ER there was a big hole a few metres above the WL with flames coming out. My regret is that i did not try to gather more info at the time looking back I can remember very little of the operational side. I worked for the Saudi Government on product tankers during the Iran Iraq war and although I saw other ships destroyed it was a lot different from the falklands as the odds were much better but my experience during the falklands stood me in good stead. Best Regards Charles Mortlock Atlantic Instruments www.atlanticuk.com

Not Much of an offering in the Merchant Navy Section of the SAMA is there? I remember we were the Tanker (M.V. British Trent) that Shadowed the Canberra down to the South atlantic and later caught up with her when we were transferred to the M.V. British Dart down in the Canaries I think. do you remeber the tanker on the way down there? I would like to see if anyone has any memories Kind Regards damian Sheerin

I'd just like to say how touched I was by your account of your time on board the Canberra. I'm a part time music student at the moment, and I chose to write an essay on Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding", which is about the war. I was only seven or eight at the time of the war, so I remember the glory but was not exposed to the reality. I'm currently searching sites relating to the war, in a bid to understand the differing feelings at the time of the war, and to help understand the song itself. Thank you very much, Heather Johnson

Dear Sir, Thank you for all you did during the war, you did Britain and her citizens all over the world proud. Once again thanks. Yours Truly, Steve Norris

I would like to thank you on your good web page. It has been most informative. I did not serve in the Falklands but am a interested youth in the War. For this reason i have made a webpage on the falklands war, and i would be grateful if you could add it too your links list. It is a basic view of the war, with details of land battles, VC's, events of the war, and weapons systems etccc Check it out, it is soon to be redesigned. Thanks again,

Phil I realised i forgot to include my web page address, for you to add to your links page if you wanted. It is at:- www.falklandswar.co.uk Thanks