Adventure travel The Falklands War / Malvinas War Expedition
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The End of the Falkland War, Guerra de Malvinas       

El fin de las Islas Malvinas, la Guerra de Malvinas
Das Ende des Falkland-Inseln, Malvinas-Krieg
Slutten av Falklandsyene, Malvinas War...

AV-8B Harrier in the Falkland Islands
Pictures from the End of the Falklands - Malvinas War in 1982.
Fotos de la Final de las Malvinas - Guerra de Malvinas en 1982.
Bilder fra slutten av Falklandskrigen - Malvinas War I 1982.
Bilder aus dem Ende des Falkland - Malvinas-Krieg 1982.
フォークのエンドからの写真 - 1982年マルビナス戦争。

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Falklands Exhibit Index
Malvinas ndice Exposicin

 

 Click Here to see the making of the NEW Movie,
"Enemy Contact"

 

  The End of the War 

 


  Argentine Soldier Helmets 

Photo from Neil Wilkinson

 


  Signing of the Surrender onboard the HMS Plymouth 

Photo from Neil Wilkinson

 

  Cruise Ship Canberra 

 

Buy at Art.com
Mirrorpix
24x18 Photographic Print
   3

  Cruise Ship Canberra 

Falklands War Ends and the Converted Cruise Ship Canberra Returns to Southampton

Mirrorpix
24x18 Photographic Print
 

  Cruise Ship Canberra 

P&O Cruise Ship Canberra Returns to Southampton Water
after Service in the Falklands War, July 1982

 

24x8 Photographic Print

  In Memory of Those Who Liberated Us, 14 June 1982 

Close-Up of a War Memorial in Port Stanley on the Falkland Islands

 

Holger Leue
12x16 Photographic Print
 

  Union Jack British Flag, Falkland Islands 

 

7-6-2008
Hi Jeff,
Back in the Falklands and in every war your training and expertise takes you to another level.  Although you are an individual, you have a massive team around you, from medics to chefs, gunners to signal men.  My job onboard intrepid was to protect that team.  I lost sight of this fact and was reminded of it some years ago by an ex SAS member, thanks to him I started on my road to understanding me.
Thanks.  
Regards
Neil

 

John Rapkin
24x18 Giclee Print
 

  Falkland Islands and Patagonia, Series 

 

24x18 Photographic Print

  Map of Falkland Islands 

 

1st Lt. Mariano Velasco

 

A4 is C207,Mariano Velasco's plane
  Mariano Velasco's Airplane 

Photo from Neil Wilkinson

The A4 is C207, Mariano Velasco's plane! the picture is courtesy of
 Mariano Arribillaga and the aircraft is in the Museo Nacional do Aeronautica,
Moron, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

A-4 Skyhawk

 

 

  Photos taken Later aboard the HMS Brazen 

Queen Elizabeth on the HMS Brazen in 1986

  Queen Elizabeth on the HMS Brazen 1986 

Photo by Neil Wilkinson

Neil Wilkinson meeting Her Majesty the Queen
onboard HMS Brazen back in 1986,

The Brazen was my next draft after the Intrepid and while serving on her, we had the Queens's son, Prince Andrew onboard as our helicopter pilot, so we did a visit to London and the Queen and Princess Diana came onboard and I met her, she was charming and everything you would expect from a Queen.  In 2007 I was honored to be invited to Buckingham Palace, to the Queens garden party

A note from the Webmaster:  Please take a good look at this picture, Neil is talking and Queen Elizabeth is listening very intently.  She has a legitimate smile and she is enjoying what he is saying.  She is a good lady.  

 

HMS Brazen going under the Tower Bridge in London
  Queen Elizabeth on the HMS Brazen 1986 

Photo by Neil Wilkinson

Brazen going under Tower Bridge in London

We had the Queens's son, Prince Andrew onboard the HMS Intrepid as our helicopter pilot he was there and he played as much a part as we all did when we were ready for battle.

 

Buy at Art.com
16x12 Photographic Print
 
 

   Prince Andrew   

 

Prince Andrew in Naval Uniform Returns from the cruise aboard the Brazen, at Portsmouth Docks

The Brazen went out to the Gulf in 1983 and 1985, it is called Armilla patrol and it was getting tense even back in the 80's.

 

A Seawold Missile firing from the HMS Brazen
  Seawolf Missile HMS Brazen 1985 

Photo by Neil Wilkinson

 

A Seawold Missile firing from the HMS Brazen in 1985
  Seawolf Missile HMS Brazen 1985 

Photo by Neil Wilkinson

Forward and Aft Seawolf missiles systems firing a live missile
back in 1985 in the Gulf.

 

  The Final Resting Place for the Aircraft Carrier 
  HMS Intrepid 2008
 

HMS Intrepid crew 25 years later
  HMS Intrepid Crew, 2008 

Photo from HMS Intrepid Website

The veterans who attended the book launch, please note the exhibits in the background. Neil Wilkinson our starboard gunner in the conflict is 2nd from the right. I (Mike Quinn - that's me- is  on the 4th from the right at the back).

 

HMS Intrepid crew in Fareham Creek 25 years later
  HMS Intrepid in Liverpool, 2008 

Photo from HMS Intrepid Website

Pictured in Fareham Creek the next morning where we gathered to see our old ship Intrepid, many of us for the first time in 25 years. The veterans are from the left, Steve Dickinson, Rab Carrigan, Russell Morgan, George Heron, Neil Wilkinson and Mike Quinn.

 

HMS Intrepid in Liverpool
  HMS Intrepid in Liverpool, 2008 

Photo from HMS Intrepid Website

The Intrepid's final destination in Liverpool, in September 2008,  where she is being dismantled for recycling, and is contracted by the owners Leavesley International. The Leavesley company were very kind in allowing up 40 of our veterans to gather for a final goodbye to HMS Intrepid, our former home 25 years earlier. We had a fantastic day exploring our old ship whilst the memories came flooding back.

 

HMS Intrepid Crew in Liverpool
  HMS Intrepid Crew in Liverpool, 2008 

Photo from HMS Intrepid Website

The Leavesley company were very kind in allowing up 40 of our veterans to gather for a final goodbye to HMS Intrepid, our former home 25 years earlier. We had a fantastic day exploring our old ship whilst the memories came flooding back.

 

 

   About Neil Wilkinson  

Born in 1959 and lived in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.  I didn't have the happiest of childhoods, my mum divorced in the late sixties and got involved with another man, he was ok to start with, then things started taking a turn for the worse, my elder brother and myself took the full brunt of it and we got regular beatings, what for we didn't know.

It got even worse for my mum when the guy actually hospitalized her, he then went for me for the very last time, he made the mistake of giving me time to pick up a carving knife and as he made his move so did I, i didn't stab him and just warned him that if he came any closer what would happen to him, he knew I meant it.

I suppose I joined the Royal Navy to escape from this sort of thing, I wasn't getting on with the foreman at work and he treated me like a dog, whistling me and give me mundane jobs.

I eventually left home in 1979 and signed up, I was loving it, I was in training learning my radar course when my father died and I was automatically taken off the course, then because there wasn't another course starting for some time I was left with 3 options, Steward, Gunnery or leave the navy and re-enlist at some other date.

There was no way I could go back, so I opted for the Gunnery school in Plymouth.

I loved every minute of the course and eventually got my first ship, it was waiting for me in Plymouth sound, HMS Intrepid, she was what is classed as an LPD (landing platform dock) and it was a daunting experience for me as the biggest ship I had ever seen was just in pictures.

We sailed that night, we went straight to Norway with a full embarkation of Royal Marines, the trips abroad were endless and after we had being to the West Indies and Med I was coming to the end of my time onboard Intrepid.

I had options, either go to a shore establishment or get another ship, I fancied the thought of getting another ship and travelling some more, my next draft came through and it was to be HMS Sheffield, a type 42 destroyer.

All this changed though in early 1982 when Argentina decided they would invade British soil, although when they did at first we had not got a clue where the Falklands were!

It became apparent that I would be needed to stay onboard Intrepid and a lot of men came back to Intrepid who had previously left her because the ship was going into a standby role.

So my draft to Sheffield was cancelled and I set sail with the ship, fully loaded with ammunition, stores etc and all got ready in two weeks.

We joined the rest of the task force, having being one of the last to be made ready, our ship was a vital piece in the machinery, we were to land 3 para in San Carlos.

The night before we landed the para's I was coming out of my mess and stood in front of me was a guy who 2 years previous had being a barman in my local bar pulling me pints of beer and was now in the para's, we had a good chat before he went off and got all his ammunition ready for the landings the next morning.

We closed up at action stations through the night, it was bitterly cold and dark, entering into San Carlos was so strange, there was no gun fire from the enemy, just the sound of ships dropping anchors!

As daylight broke the silence was short-lived, we were then subjected to a constant wave of aircraft ducking and diving into the bay and then in a flash gone, the pilots were very brave and courageous.

After sitting in my gun for over 31 hours we were eventually allowed to rest, I found a quiet spot and decided to write a letter home to my mum, telling her ho w much I loved her and that I didn't think I would be coming home, at least not alive!

Then before I went to sleep I prayed and cried myself to sleep, the next few days were similar.

When it was all over and I got home, my mum knew there was something wrong, she told me I wasn't the same person that went away, which is quiet understandable.

I left the Royal Navy in 1989.  As the years rolled on I was having some major problems, my marriage was on the rocks and I was loosing it gradually, no money although I always worked.

I was eventually diagnosed with having PTSD, for people who have never had this or heard of it, it is one of the most horrendous things that could happen, it changes a person and you have to live with it forever. I relive the Falklands every day of my life, but I learnt how to control my problem, not by doctors or shrinks, by finding out how it all works, learning techniques and making myself aware when the problems are going to hit me, how to cope with it all and it works for me.

The Royal Navy like every branch in the armed forces taught me discipline and how to live, i can honestly say it was the best ten years of my life and I would join again if I had my time again.

I am now remarried and I have two children, plus two children from my previous marriage, my two boys are grown up are like brothers to me.

My life has recently become very interesting lately after discovering that one of the pilots I was credited with shooting down in the Falklands had survived, after 8 months of trying to locate the pilot I eventually found him in February 2008, we are in contact through the internet and I hope that one day we could meet.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Regards
Neil

 

  A Letter from Mike Quinn (HMS Intrepid)

1-7-2008

Dear Jeff,

I must congratulate you on your superb website.

I am a former shipmate of Neil Wilkinson who has been contributing to your site, regarding his experiences on our ship, HMS Intrepid during the 1982 Falklands war with Argentina.

Please find attached some photo's from our website, Photo no1 was taken in Aug' 2008 at Eastleigh Museum Hampshire, for veterans to reunite, and attend a book launch, of a photographic book on the Falklands ships remaining in Fareham Creek, Portsmouth, whilst awaiting their final destination, the "scrap yard".

The book is called "Ghosts of the Falklands" published by Hampshire County Council. It was put together by Tom de Witt and Trevor Evans. The Photo's are of veteran ships Intrepid/Fearless/Glasgow and Cardiff.

I would like to add further information for you and your readers.

I must say, that the HMS Intrepid veterans came together when veterans attended the Falklands 25 Remembrance Parade in London in 2007. As a result, the website WWW.hmsintrepid.com was formed. We now have over 320 members, and the new veterans association is flourishing. We have had several meets, including in November a remembrance parade in our commanding officers home town of Cowfold in Sussex. On that day we met our former C/O for the first time since we served on the Intrepid. His name is Rear Admiral (Ret'd) Peter Dingemans DSO.

I would like to add, that your site is very supportive of veterans from all conflicts. Our own experiences must mirror those of many of your readers. Many of us have gone on and had happy lives, with their ups and downs, and some of us have not been so fortunate since serving our country.

It's natural to compare notes with your comrades on a reunion, as you would if it was an old workplace or school reunion. It was a most positive experience for us all, and for some of us their was a little anxiety in meeting up and going over old ground. However, what became apparent, straight away was the close bond and mutual respect we had for each other, often unspoken, and often demonstrated, depending on the persona of each individual.

The individual who struck me most, was Neil Wilkinson. Why?, because he was not loudest, he wasn't the largest and not the first person you would notice in a crowd.

Neil has been there and "got the t-shirt", Neil has a unique place in modern Naval History, Neil shot down 2 Argentine planes during his Action Station in "Bomb Alley", San Carlos water, where we discharged and supported troops ashore and supporting other Naval units.

Neil shot down these modern jets, in a Naval situation, with an old fashioned 40/60 Boffor gun. I might add, that this gun, which fired shells packed and stored in the second world war, was working, where more modern missile systems either afloat or ashore were not always so reliable.

Not only did he shoot these planes down, but in doing so protected with his comrades up to 500 members of the ships company at any given time, and also any ad hoc embarked forces at the time.

In 2007/8, Neil was out of work, he applied for jobs, maybe a 100 jobs, often without reply, he has suffered PTSD, indeed, at out first reunion he was out of work, but, its a measure of this man, he did not mention this fact in the reunion.

On finding this out, his story struck a chord with me, I knew his story, our story on HMS Intrepid must be told, because there is something in Neil's story that is extra ordinary.

I decided, that I would write a PLAY, in tribute to guy's like Neil, it will be our story onboard a warship in a modern conflict. I have no experience, my day job is a Fork-Lift driver in a warehouse, but someone has got to do it. It's been over 25 years now!.

Thanks again for this site and good luck to you and your readers.

Mike Quinn (Ex HMS Intrepid).

 

  A Letter from Jeff Dyrek to Neil Wilkinson 

1-12-2009

Dear Neil,

 
Thank you again for all of your help and enthusiasm on this project.  It's interesting how a single letter can get so many people involved.  I am having brain storms again.
 
You mentioned that people may be offended.  Look at Simon Weston, he is glad to put his hand forward for the help on this project.  Look at Mariano's letter, he has graciously invited the very man who shot him down, and your family to come and visit him.  What a greater gesture of friendship and forgiveness can a man give.  This is what I am thinking about the entire project.  It's not to document you shooting Mariano down, or the fact that he sunk the HMS Coventry, it is to show that people are people and we must respect people and disrespect hate.  You didn't shoot him down because you hated him and he didn't sink the Coventry because he hated them.  But his letter and your attitude, both, show that hate was never a factor, you guys didn't even know each other, how could you hate each other.  With the world pushing harder into a third world war, we need to fight that push by showing that it's not hate that drives humanity, instead it is our love for our brothers, no matter where they should live that opens our hands to friendship and help.
 
The greatest threat to all of humanity is hate. This project is a veterans military operation to show that it's friendship, charity and friendship that we need to embrace.
 
Thanks again and have a nice day,
Your friend,
Jeff.

 

 

In Argentina, the number of suicides among Malvinas war veterans is higher than the number of casualties from the war itself

En la Argentina, el nmero de suicidios entre los veteranos de guerra de Malvinas es mayor que el nmero de vctimas de la guerra en s

 

   

War is bad, and that about sums up the message of Blessed by Fire (a.k.a. Illuminated by Fire), a well-meaning but thinly written drama that boasts some dynamic scenes of battlefront futility. To be fair, director Tristan Bauer's emotionally potent drama did win the Best Narrative Feature award at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, and it has the distinction of being the first Argentinean film to openly address the physical and psychological devastation that resulted from the brief 1982 war against British forces in the British-colonized Falkland Islands (or Malvinas, as they're known in Argentina). The legacy of that woefully imbalanced war is tragic beyond comprehension: In Argentina, the number of suicides among Malvinas war veterans is higher than the number of casualties from the war itself, and that sad statistic crucially informs Bauer's story (based on a novel by Engardo Esteban and Gustavo Romero Borri) about a present-day journalist named Esteban (Gaston Pauls) who served in the Malvinas war with Vargas (Pablo Ribba), who's now comatose and hospitalized after attempting suicide with a drug-overdose cocktail. The film flashes back-and-forth from the present to their experiences leading up to and including the decisive battle on Mount Longdon (re-created in a harrowing 20-minute sequence), and while Blessed by Fire is certainly no Saving Private Ryan, its chaotic battle scenes are impressively intense and painstakingly realistic, and Bauer is equally effective in showing the miserably cold battlefield conditions prior to the eruption of violence. As Esteban's memory takes him back to the horrors of battle, his friend's present-day suicide attempt resonates throughout the film, which is surely more powerful for Argentinean viewers than for anyone else. We learn very little about the central character, however, and Paul's performance is too passively blank to draw us deeply into his emotional turmoil. Still, this is one of the few films to deal with what has essentially become a forgotten war, and Bauer's noble reminder offers reassuring proof that Argentina's sacrifices will not be forgotten. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Acclaimed director Tristn Bauer presents the harrowing story of a band of Argentinean soldiers sent to fight an un-winnable war and left to bear the brutal scars of the past. After learning of a friend’s attempted suicide, a journalist goes back to relive his experiences in the Falklands.

 

2 Documentaries Global Technologies and Tactics 1 - Falklands War 2 - Lebanon Falklands War: Seamlessly documented on land and sea by frontline British News footage, the Argentinean junta invaded the UK-controlled islands. Thousands of Argentine troops descended on the island, and easily overtook the small detachment of British troops that were stationed there. The UN Security council call for the withdrawal of the Argentinean troops and fostered futile negotiations, as British troops advanced by sea en masse. British planes viciously attacked Port Stanley from the air, shooting down Argentinean aircraft. A British submarine sank an Argentine cruiser, killing close to 400 crewmen. More blood was shed as the advancing British troops reached their destination of Port Stanley to dismantle the Argentinean forces. Argentina surrendered the land, after nearly 1,000 casualties and a bloody battle over the remote island. Lebanon: British News cameras impressively documented the frontline clash in 1975, when the Palestinian Liberation Organization began infiltrating Israeli borders with attacks that brought Israeli reprisals. Israeli strikes and raids were unable to control the growth of the PLO army. In June 1982, a terrorist group attempted to assassinate an Israeli ambassador. Israeli Defense Forces attacked Lebanon again, moving in to the country in an effort to drive out the terrorists. The PLO responded with a massive artillery and mortar attack on the Israeli population of the Galilee. The operation's initial success led officials to broaden the objective to expel the PLO from Lebanon and induce leaders to sign a peace treaty. Most of the terrorist groups in Lebanon have not yet been disarmed, contributing to ongoing antagonism over border control.

 

The 1982 Falklands War witnessed the largest deployment of British Army Special Forces since WWII--the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Squadron, and the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre conducted several spectacular raids during the war. One of the most successful, the attack by the D Squadron SAS against an Argentinean airfield on Pebble Island, proved the SAS motto--Who Dares Wins. But the war cost heavily on both sides--255 British and over 1,000 Argentineans died.

 


An A-4 Skyhawk Story from the Webmaster

While I was stationed at NAS Lemoore, in Lemoore California, my friend, Dan Dove, and I took a break and walked around to the side of the hanger to watch flight ops at night.  It was almost instantly that we saw an A-4 Skyhawk coming in with its wheels up and at a higher approach angle than we expected.  The plane hit the ground and there was a huge flash of light.  We didn't actually see the plane hit because it hit the ground behind the hanger of VA-127 which was across from our hanger at VA-125.  However, we did see the flash coming from behind the hanger.  I can't actually remember what we did after this, but we must have ran across the street because I remember seeing the airplane on the ground and the pilot was opening the canopy.

These A-4 Skyhawks were real good at doing belly landings because of the low wing and the wing tanks that you can see in the picture above.  The tanks were ground down, in half, and the flash must have come from the residual fuel in them.  The next day we watched the plane being hauled past our hanger with a cherry picker truck.  It looked like that there was zero damage to the plane and it also looked like it was just a toy hanging from that huge crane.  

Read the Webmasters Story Here.

 

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