Falklands War 30 years on: Goose Green heroes return to lay ghosts to rest

The Mirror's Alun Palmer joined veterans returning to the battlefield on the eve of today’s 30th ­anniversary of the end of the war IT has been 30 years since paratrooper Rick Cross smiled for a photo as some of the fiercest fighting of the ­Falklands War raged around him. Yesterday he returned to Goose Green for the first time, a very different man to that carefree 20-year-old corporal. “The battle came down to bayonets and bullets,” he said, struggling to describe the day which saw outnumbered, outpositioned and outgunned British forces overwhelm the Argentinean troops. Rick and fellow veterans returned to the battlefield on the eve of today’s 30th ­anniversary of the end of the war. Many admit they have struggled to come to terms with life after the conflict and returning is helping them find closure. Rick, 50, now a teacher in Lincoln, admitted just setting foot on the islands again brought a flood of emotion. “I honestly thought I could come down here, lay a few ghosts to rest,” he said. “I don’t consider myself to be an emotional person but what shocked me was that the second I stood off the plane I was emotional. "I thought possibly when I got to the battlefields, but actually taking a step off the plane set me off.” Veterans from the conflict will march in Stanley today to mark 30 years since ­Liberation Day. At Goose Green yesterday, they recalled the decisive battle which lasted a day and a night and swung the conflict in Britain’s favour. Rick paid his respects to his fallen comrades at a special memorial service at the cemetery at San Carlos where he landed during the invasion of the Falklands. Here lies the body of his commanding officer Lt Col Herbert “H” Jones, who was killed aged 42 leading a charge towards enemy lines and was later awarded a ­posthumous Victoria Cross. At least 655 Argentinians died defending the islands and the cemetery has more than 125 headstones for “unknown” soldiers.Read more HERE

STEVEN HANK HOOD R.I.P.

  Stephen Hood  R.I.P.

BATTLE OF DARWIN AND GOOSE GREEN

  Goose Green and its neighbour Darwin are settlements on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. They lie on Choiseul Sound on the east side of the island's central isthmus. They are about 13 miles south of the site of the major British amphibious landings in San Carlos Water (Operation Sutton). 17 British soldiers lost their lives in the battle and another 64 were wounded. Picture: Battle for Goose Green by Daniel Bechennec See following posts for photographs The bulk of the Argentine forces were in positions around Port Stanley about 50 miles (80 km) to the east of San Carlos. The position at Goose Green and Darwin was well defended by a force of combined units totalling about 1,200 (at the start of the battle the number was thought by the British to be less than half this), well equipped with artillery, mortars, 35 mm cannon and machine guns. However the force was fairly static and judged to present little threat to the beachhead. Consequently it had no strategic military value for the British in their campaign to recapture the islands, so early plans for land operations had called for Goose Green to be isolated and bypassed. Things changed in the days following the landings on 21 May. While the bridgehead was being consolidated no offensive ground operations of any size were feasible and yet Argentine air attacks caused significant loss of and damage to British ships in the sea area around the landing grounds. This led to a feeling among senior commanders and politicians in the UK that the momentum of the campaign was being lost. As a result British Joint Headquarters in the UK came under increasing pressure from the British Government for an early ground offensive. And so, on the 25th May Brigadier Julian Thompson, ground forces commander, commanding 3 Commando Brigade was ordered to mount an attack on Argentine positions around Goose Green and Darwin. BBC incident During the planning of the assault of both Darwin and Goose Green, the Battalion Headquarters were listening in to the BBC World Service. The newsreader announced that the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment were poised and ready to assault Darwin and Goose Green, causing great confusion with the commanding officers of the battalion. Lieutenant Colonel Jones became furious with the level of incompetence and told BBC representative Robert Fox he was going to sue the BBC, Whitehall and the War Cabinet.

THE BBC IS A NATIONAL ANTI BRITISH DISGRACE.

2ND PARA FALKLANDS WAR GOOSE GREEN

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

REMEMBERING STEPHEN HOOK

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Ex-Para Stephen Hood Took His Own Life

A Falklands War hero distressed by recent flare-ups in hostilities between Britain and Argentina has been found dead in his car.
Ex-Para Stephen Hood – who featured in iconic film footage celebrating victory at the battle of Goose Green – died just hours after Argentine president Cristina de Kirchner reignited the sovereignty row over the islands. Yesterday, his distraught widow Carol urged politicians to stop their sabre-rattling for the sake of traumatised veterans.
She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘What do the politicians achieve with their to-ing and fro-ing? Nothing. They should let it lie and leave it to the people of the Falkland Islands to determine their future. Read more HERE

When I first heard about the death of Stephen I was saddened , but today I learn that he like many of my fellow Falklands veterans took his own life due to his PTSD. I have been worried for some time that the 30th Anniversary of the War might lead to more untimely deaths and it seems that news coverage of the recent letter from Argentina may have contributed to this ex Para’s death. I myself suffer from PTSD and when I saw the News with pictures of the Galahad troop ship ablaze it also brought it all back to me and I felt terrible but never mentioned it to my Wife who has been fantastic in her support when I was in hospital. I now have the added problem of severe Tinnitus and I cannot honestly say that I wont take my own life at some point, although I don’t want to, unless you suffer from PTSD and  Tinnitus you cannot understand. I also fear that once this Government start to strip away the benefits of veterans with PTSD this will definitely lead to more suicides, as we might be ill but we are still very proud men and don’t like to be thought of as a burden on our Country.



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2 Para Darwin Goose Green FALKLAND ISLANDS

Battle of Goose Green anniversary 29.05.12