We just ate what we could – lots of tinned sausages, and you’d be armed with a fork in case someone tried to steal your sausage. You just basically stayed in your clothes. Graham said: “No one had a wash or a shower for weeks. Not a medical cure for trauma but in the initial onset it helps!” Daily routineĪt times supplies would run low on board, and there was little time for niceties such as washing or sitting down for meals. “We got the survivors off and got them back for tea and biscuits. Our Captain ordered full astern and broke free – if not, we would’ve been bombed. As Yarmouth broke away, Ardent’s anchor cable had entangled Yarmouth’s propeller. Her stern was on fire, so we reversed in to take off the crew as their Captain ordered abandon ship. “HMS Ardent got hit, and we went in to rescue the guys. We hit a few jets, and they exploded into bits. As they went overhead, we basically put a sheet of lead up in the sky for them to run into. The planes came in waves, and they were so close you could see the pilots. We had small arms in the Ops room, and then machine guns all around the upper deck. Graham said: “It was frightening when the Argentinians started advancing. Nicknamed “Bomb Alley”, the area was under frequent attack from the Argentinian air force. On May 20 th, they sailed into San Carlos, tasked with escorting ships carrying the Army and Royal Marines into the bay. Unfortunately, bad weather forced her to slip the tow, and the damaged ship slipped silently to the South Atlantic. They identified an Argentinian submarine lying in wait for other ships and attacked it with motor bombs, before towing the Sheffield to a safe area for salvage. There were a lot of burn injuries - the fuel from the Exocet had exploded, killing about 20 crew members.” Two days later, HMS Sheffield was hit and badly damaged by Argentinian air forces, and HMS Yarmouth, along with HMS Arrow, went in to assist survivors. Graham said: “They were distraught. That was when reality struck that approximately 360 fellow mariners had just died.” He remembers hearing news that the Belgrano, the Argentinian cruiser, had been sunk by the Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror on May 2nd, 1982. I think the older guys were quite worried but the younger crew members led the way with enthusiasm and courage which was infectious, and old and young worked together well as a team.” “We all tried to look out for each other. When we had a break from the action, some of us would lay down next to the radar displays as it was a warm area of the ship. Sometimes we folded newspapers between the layers just to keep warm. We wore our work gear and overalls, then any civvy jumpers we had. He said: “We were heading into the Antarctic winter, and we didn’t feel prepared. At “actions stations” here was no down time and cold, sleep deprivation, and being constantly alert became features of everyday life. We had everything switched off so they wouldn’t see us.”īased in the Operation “Op” Room, Graham’s schedule would be six hours on watch and then six hours off for most of the next 156 days. We could see the Argentinians in the distance. I remember that the kelp was so thick, we almost couldn’t go in at first because it was wrapped around the propeller. Graham said: “We were told to pick them up and then get the hell out. HMS Yarmouth headed south her sister ship, HMS Plymouth, HMS Glamorgan, HMS Broadsword, and supply ships, stopping at Ascension Island on the way.Īrriving on April 30 th, their first mission was to sail into San Salvador Creek, under cover of darkness, to pick up SAS members who had been dropped by helicopter on the island. So I joined the Royal Navy instead.” Sailing south “At first, I thought I’d join the Merchant Navy, but you had to pay to go to college and my family couldn’t afford it. Graham had joined the Royal Navy six years earlier, as a 15-year-old school leaver from Beamish, County Durham. Reality only hit home when we started preparing and restoring the ship,” he said. Like many others at the time, he knew little about the Falklands, but was “not very pleased” when their plans changed. In early April 1982, Graham and his crewmates aboard HMS Yarmouth had just completed a Royal Navy training exercise in Gibralter. Graham Walker, a young Leading Seaman (Radar), was looking forward to deployment in the Far East and Australia when his ship was ordered to turn around and head for the South Atlantic instead.Īboard the “Crazy Y”, Graham remembers freezing conditions and the constant threat of air attack, as well as “pummelling” Argentinian forces and going to the aid of ships in distress.
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