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12 June 2021 There are important dates from before you are born which directly affect you. For me, the 12th June is one of them. Particularly in the year 1982. This was in the last couple of days of the Falklands War, a war which was started due to a need to distract a nation to save a government. My dad was completing his initial sea training as an artificer on HMS Glamorgan, a County class destroyer, when they got the signal that they were to head to the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. During the war, Glamorgan spent a lot of time darting in to provide shore side bombardment to support the Army and Marines on land. She spent the whole of May and first 12 days of June in combat. Unfortunately on the 12th June at 0637 UTC, she was hit on the port side by the hanger by a land launched Exocet missile. A hole was blown in the deck with the helicopter and a Seacat launcher destroyed. A fire raged which lead to the hanger and main galley being burnt out. It took until 1000 UTC for all fires to be put out. A remarkable effort by the crew. Serious flooding within the Magazine and several other compartments were a significant issue. It took great skill and dedication to keep the ship afloat and able to get out of danger. Sadly 13 died that day with 1 dying on the journey home. 13 of the wounded thankfully survived. The 13 who died that day were buried at sea at 1935 UTC that same day. It took until the 10th July for HMS Glamorgan to return to Portsmouth, battle scarred and yet still moving. The pictures are bizarre. Union flags waving galore while this ship with a large hole appears. You can almost see the relief amoungst the smiles. My dad has spoken a bit about his time on HMS Glamorgan. He said he was basically locked in a compartment with a chap who really did not cope with the stress of being shot at. Their job was to fix any weapon system which stopped working and so there was a lot of waiting around. I had a surreal experience while doing a basic sea survival course. Part of it involves being in a simulated back end of a ship which has been hit by a missile and you need to stop flooding. It hit me as the comm system announced "Missile launch detected. Incoming 10 miles. 5 miles. 2 miles. BRACE BRACE BRACE." This was what my dad experienced around the same age. He came back a changed person who has suffered night terrors, sweats and other such things which we recognise as PTSD now. He feels he is relatively lucky. The forced normality of the voyage home seemed to have helped him decompress. He feels there is a marked difference with those who were air lifted off ship and those who returned with the vessel. There was a return to the Falklands in 2011 to attend an unveiling and dedication of a memorial which sits on Hooks Point for those who lost their lives. He said it was odd to actually be at places which they bombarded and it reinforced the respect he had for those on the land. It is not a welcoming landscape and certainly hard to yomp over. I think he was glad to have seen what he fought for. The islanders certainly showed their appreciation and continue to do so. Jan Miller does a huge amount of work helping ensure that memorials are looked after and the sacrifices are remembered. I cannot comment on how my dad changed. Well I was a few years off being a twinkle in his eye so hardly able to comment. Instead I can say he is a kind, caring person who is dedicated and hard working. I had the luck of meeting some of the people who have served with him and it opened my eyes. They all mentioned ways he listened and helped them through hard times. He is a great role model and I hope to make the same impact on those people I meet. The impact on my mum is also hard to work out. I think it was another event that contributed to her live for today attitude. She was in the RAF at the time, handling comms signals. She was thankfully not on duty when the news came in but I cannot imagine handling all these signals worrying for HMS Glamorgan to appear. It did prepare her for 30 odd years of waiting to hear from him as he was on various submarines. Thankfully without conflict again. I certainly know that she did a remarkable job keeping dad's struggles away from my brother and myself. She is another great role model who tries to enjoy life while she can and find joy in near any situation. After all, you never know what is around the corner. Tonight I shall be raising a tot for those who left behind and another in thanks for all those who ensured HMS Glamorgan stayed afloat. After all, without them I would not be. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. - For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon