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Photo Index
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A Pictorial Diary of My Falklands
War
Introduction At the start of the year the brigade had consisted of two battalions of paratroopers (2nd and 3rd Battalions, Parachute Regiment), the 1st Battalion, 7th Ghurkha Rifles, 4th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, an airborne squadron (Royal Engineers), plus the usual collection of minor attached units. The two Parachute battalions went off to the Falklands in April, earlier than the rest of the brigade, and were replaced by two battalions of Scots and Welsh Guards. The Brigade Headquarters consisted of the HQ itself and a supporting Signal Squadron (Royal Signals) who provided the communications and administration for the HQ staff. Included in the headquarters was the necessary clerical support, an engineer cell (including draughtsmen) and, of course, the Intelligence Section. The job of the intelligence section was varied, and included collecting and analysing intelligence material from the battlefield and fighting units, and forwarding it on to the higher command. We also briefed the units in the brigade on the Argentinean positions, weapons and equipment. We were also responsible for keeping the Brigade staff up to date on enemy positions and capabilities and, in the later stages of the campaign, we briefed helicopter pilots on which areas were safe to fly in, and which areas were covered by Argentine AAA fire. In addition to this we had all the usual jobs involved in a war zone – digging trenches, trying to stay warm and fed, and keeping our weapons and ourselves clean. At the time of the Falklands campaign I was 25 years old, married with one child, and had served for five and a half years, mostly as an infantry soldier. I had also served two tours of duty in Northern Ireland, where I had been introduced to the sound of live bullets flying past. All of the troops who went south with the Task Force were carrying a lot of kit. We had been issued with extra clothing to help us cope with the winter conditions in the South Atlantic but the penalty was an increased weight to be carried on our backs. On top of this we added weapons, ammunition and food plus the maps and paperwork that we needed to do our jobs. My load, including rucksack, webbing, weapon and my share of the section equipment came to over 100lbs in weight. Despite the load we were carrying I always felt sorry for the infantry soldiers, whether Para, Marine or Guardsman, who were carrying even more, including a tremendous weight of weapons and ammunition. As a member of the Headquarters I was relatively lucky – unlike the infantry I rarely had to walk anywhere and most of my moves were made by helicopter. While I was packing my kit back in the UK I had managed to make room in my webbing for a 110 Instamatic camera and half a dozen films. The camera was a cheap plastic one, which wouldn’t cause me to lose any sleep if it got lost or broken. In the event the campaign the camera worked just fine, coping with mud and an accidental immersion in ice cold water when I dropped it in a stream. My only regret was that I didn’t take more film with me. The webmasters have been kind enough to put some of my photographs on this site. The pictures show life in the Brigade Intelligence Section during the trip south and during the war itself. In many respects the pictures are similar to photographs of peacetime exercises. There are no photographs of any of the fighting or of any casualties – mostly I was either too busy, or it was too dark, to take photos or the action was too far away for the cheap lens on the camera. Most of the pictures simply show my friends and comrades, captured Argentine kit or the terrain and conditions we lived in. The photos are nearly twenty years old now so the colours have faded a little, along with some of the memories. For the members of the Task Force who fought in those cold, muddy islands I hope they will raise a smile or two without bringing back too many unpleasant memories. For those who want to see what the Falklands War looked like, I hope these pictures will give you some idea.
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