*Dateline* Falkland Islands 6th June 1982 At 0230hrs HMS Intrepid hove to, 2 miles west of Lively Island. The decision had been made not to risk the ship any closer to the main island. Moving onto the ships 4x landing craft the whole battalion and all their equipment squeezed into craft, over 150 men in each, it was standing room only, for a journey to Bluff cove which was expected to take a couple of hours. In atrocious weather, heavy rain,sleet and rough seas the craft ploughed on through the darkness. The whole battalion were given the fright of their lives when star shells illuminated the 4 craft. Two Royal Navy ships the HMS Yarmouth and the HMS Cardiff, unaware of the Scots Guards presence had narrowly avoided a blue on blue incident, only the decision to put up illumination had averted this. Over 6 hrs later, soaked to the skin frozen and stiff just as daylight was breaking the landing craft finally approached Bluff Cove. The Guardsmen spent the next few hours drying out in sheep sheds before moving out to take up defensive positions in the hills above Bluff cove.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 04:12:28 +0000
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