On this day - Falklands

In 1982, it was Good Friday and after a hectic day's packing it was off to join the Marines in Lympstone. It was a strange feeling as I remember – a cross between a jolly jape and a sense of foreboding that this really would turn in to a real war. The task force had set off, rather hastily, to a great deal of fanfare and jingoism and we felt like some sort of afterthought.

The journey was rather dull: car to Gutersloh, crab air to Brize Norton and mini-bus to Lympstone. It was early evening when we got there and met up with the rest of what was to become known as Yankee Troop. We were a motley crew of Royal Signals, Intelligence Corp and Marines. They were all good Marines wer good guys with specialist but, with the exception of Marines, that didn't really include soldering.

We were given an introduction to Navy life, the place was a "ship", and how a task force was organised. It was all good stuff and I remember being impressed when they told how good Sea Wolf and Sea Dart were, they forgot to add that this was the marketing video and not reality. We wrapped up the day with a bit of team building – aka as a good pissup.