On this day - Falklands

its now the 3rd day since the end of hostilities and we've been stuck o Mt Estancia as everyone converges on Port Stanley. Our boss finally managed to get a couple of Wessex allocated to bring us down and we ended up in the school billeted with the rest of the odds and sods in the "clearing system".

I made a sill mistake. Although we didn't have showers I managed to get a bowl full of hot water and had a strip wash and put on as many clean clothes as I could muster. The problem was that nobody else could and I found out how much squaddies who haven't had a good wash for 2 weeks or so really smell!

The one thing that struck me as I walked round Port Stanley was the compassion shown by the Paras and Marines to the Argentine conscripts. They were offering cigarettes and helping the injured as much as they could. There was even some friendly banter with those who could speak English.

This should be compared to the way the officer corp was treated. There was nothing but contempt for them. We had all seen the way that they were given special privileges over the conscripts and heard stories of how the conscripts had been left to their own devices when things got tight.