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'I never got off the Galahad - until now' Penguin News, April 2005 Two former Royal Engineers who were on board the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Sir Galahad when she was bombed at Fitzroy in 1982 have made a return visit to the Islands. Julian Ennis and Paul Sinclair served with 4 Troop 9 Parachute Regiment in 1982. They were together on Sir Galahad when she was hit and they also served together in the first Gulf War. Julian had left Paul and moved to the tank deck of Sir Galahad five minutes before she was hit. He said, "I just laid there and thought that was it. That wasn't to be and I found my way out, but I'd been badly burnt." He was lifted off the ship by helicopter and believes he may have been sent to the field hospital at Ajax Bay - "most of it is pretty confused". He was transferred to the hospital ship Uganda and a few days later travelled on to Montevideo on the ambulance ship Herald; he ended up in the Queen Elizabeth military hospital in Woolwich, where he stayed for a couple of months. "I had 24% burns and was in hospital with Simon Weston (Welsh Guards) and quite a number of engineers - there were about six of us, I think." Julian later married the sister in charge of his ward; he wryly commented, "…. The Falklands changed my life beyond recognition." After the Galahad was hit, Paul Sinclair escaped unhurt and ended up camped out at Fitzroy shearing shed before being moved to HMS Intrepid - "probably to get us out of the way; we were a burden because we had no kit as it had gone down on the Atlantic Conveyer" - where he stayed aboard until the end of the war. He was then part of the force which took the surrender of West Falkland. "We then spent a few days being flown around to settlements in small groups to collect telegrams to be sent to relatives and to find out what their immediate needs were; everywhere we went people needed toilet rolls and beer." He then headed to Stanley where he and his colleagues found their own accommodation in the old working men's club. "We stayed in Stanley until the end of July doing booby trap clearance, including at the Governor's House." Paul first returned to the Islands in 1984 and was based in Stanley aboard one of the Coastels. "We weren't allowed into Stanley - I think the Islanders had had a gutful of us by then and there would have been a lot of friction if we had been allowed in." Julian now works for a company of chartered surveyors, and Paul works with the charity Mind, "…. Which supports people coming to the end of mental health illnesses to return to work." The pair's decision to return to the Falklands was made after a reunion last year and they made the trip last week with sponsorship from the South Atlantic Medal Association (SAMA 82). Paul said he and Julian had been overwhelmed by their welcome in the Islands. "The people have been fantastic. Us young lad2 in 1982 never really got to speak to the adult Islanders - it was always the officers who got to, we just got to speak to the youngsters - so it has been really good this time to get to talk to more people." Julian said although he faces regular reminders of the war - "Because I spent time in hospital with Simon (Weston) it gets highlighted for me every time it's in the press" - he has not suffered from nightmares. However, he said when he came back from the first Gulf War he was "quite angry at the way some things had developed and, as a consequence, "I think I probably had issues from both wars. But it's always been compounded by the fact that I never got off the Galahad in my own mind." More happily, though, he added, "I didn't get off - until yesterday." This article first appeared in the Penguin News on 1 April 2005 and is reproduced by kind permission of the Editor
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Introduction, Brief
History, Timeline, 1982
Articles, 1982
Timeline, 1982 Documents, Articles,
Agreements, UN
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