A Falklands War veteran from Merseyside has shared his experience of the conflict 40 years later.
Terry Bates was born in Wallasey and joined the armed forces at the age of just 16.
He served in the Royal Navy and was attached to a Royal Marine unit for around five years.
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Much of Terry's time in the Falklands was spent of the HMS Hermes, flagship of the fleet sent to defend the Falkland Islands from Argentinian forces following the invasion in 1982.
The 63-year-old told the ECHO: "I was actually due to leave the ship about two days before we sailed, but obviously we were all recalled following the information we received, so off I went.
"My role was based at sea, I was continually at sea for around 130 days, looking after communications for the Harrier Aircraft while they engaged the Argentine forces."
With many holding the view that the United Kingdom should not have gone to war over the Falklands, Terry believes it was important we protected the people living on the islands who wanted to remain under British rule.
He said: "You've got to appreciate that the Falkland Islands are of British descent, so we had to defend our own people. It was seen as an invasion against British territory.
"There's all sorts of opinions and there always will be but when someone makes aggressive moves against our people we have to do what we have to do, no one ever wants to go to war.
"I lost a lot of friends down there, a lot of people didn't come back from down there, there was quite of a lot of lives lost when you put it into perspective.
"There were some really scary times over there, when we were at action stations and there were missiles flying everywhere, and aircrafts in the air. No one really knew what would happen.
Soon after returning from the war, Terry got married and had children, now living in Rainford.
He added: "Once my dad passed away I tried to get a job in the area, so I get the St Helens career office job and settled down in the Rainford area, we've been living in the area for 20 years now."
Terry now has four grandchildren, soon to be five, with the whole family relocating to Rainford.
The navy veteran is now championing a St Helens based project to bring together veterans.
Supported by St Helens Borough Council, the St Helens Veterans’ Forum – which brings all local veterans’ associations and clubs together – aims to gather the memories, letters and photographs of local Armed Forces and Merchant Navy veterans who served in the Task Force, producing a permanent historical archive of their experiences.
Terry said: “We want to produce a special historical archive of local Task Force veterans, recording the history of the campaign through our eyes; how we got there, what we experienced, how we returned and what it meant for our families.
“We aim to generate greater awareness to the service that you and your colleagues provided during the South Atlantic campaign, and we value any contribution you are able to make to allow us to commemorate its 40th anniversary.”
St Helens Borough Council’s Armed Forces Champion, Councillor Lynn Clarke added: “The council is honoured to once again have an opportunity to support our veteran community. This project will enable members of the Armed Forces Community to share their personal histories and family experiences to be recorded for future generations.”
If you can support the archive project with physical documents like letters, photographs, newspaper cuttings, then there is a Falklands War section on the St Helens Community Archive, where digital copies of documents can be uploaded.
Access and upload here.
If you would like to share your memories and stories please contact Simon Cousins, Armed Forces Covenant Officer by emailing contactcentre@sthelens.gov.uk or call 01744 676789.
