Lasting tribute to the Welsh Falklands heroes
By Timothy Wakefield - 12/10/2007
On September 30th, 25 years since the Falklands war, the Welsh National Falklands Memorial was consecrated at a Drum-Head service in Alexander Gardens, Cardiff, to commemorate the 258 members of the Task Force and three Falklanders’ who died in the campaign.
The memorial, a huge Portland stone plinth with a five-ton granite rock, was the brainchild of some four hundred veterans of SAMA Wales/Cymru (South Atlantic Medal Association) and their families, who carried out most of the building work and spent three years fundraising for the project. The final stage won the wholehearted support of the Welsh Assembly and Cardiff Council.
It all started when Welsh Guards veteran Andy ‘Curly’ Jones, from Libanus, near Brecon, found the rock at the base of the mountain where the Welsh Guards secured the ‘start line’ for an attack by 42 Commando, Royal Marines. He then returned to the Falklands Islands in 2005 "to revisit places that had so many memories for me," said Andy. “I also had this dream of bringing back a rock of some sort. It wasn’t until the last day that I saw it, and it was as if the clouds had parted and there was the perfect shape. Bit bigger than I imagined! The idea sort of spiralled out of that, with all the members joining in with wonderful enthusiasm.”
In February 2006 the five-ton granite rock - some seven feet high and almost as wide - was shipped by service people stationed in the Falklands. Over seventy veterans gathered in the Brecon Beacons when the stone was brought to its temporary resting place from Southampton by soldiers in the Royal Logistics Corps Territorials, based at Maindy Barracks in Cardiff. Until recently it had, rather poetically, been resting in the Brecon Beacons, absorbing the ‘Hiraeth’ of Wales in a lay-by under the brow of Pen-y-Fan, the highest mountain in Southern Britain.
Veterans then mixed the 20 tons of concrete and made the six-foot high plinth and steps at the “Brecon & Hay Farmers Ltd” yard on the outskirts of Brecon.
Fundraising included a sponsored walk by some 190 veterans, Naval, Marines, Army, families and friends up the steep slopes of Pen-y-Fan. Among them Welsh Guards veterans John Jones who, though he lost both his lower legs, easily did the climb unaided on his prosthetic legs, and David Lewis from Market Drayton who was severely burnt. Also making the climb were two retired Welsh Guardsmen - one 67, the other 70.
On the 28th August the completion of laying the ‘foundations’, by SAMA veterans, was marked by Rhodri Morgan, First Minister for Wales, Councillor Judith Woodham, Deputy Leader Cardiff Council and David Pickering Chairman, with The Welsh Rugby Union laying the final engraved bricks. One laid by David said: “Laid on behalf of the Welsh Falklands Veterans who built the memorial and have never forgotten their friends.”
Said Andy Jones: “Emotions within Wales have run high during this special 25th commemorative year, as Wales, more than any other home nation, suffered a disproportionate percentage of casualties during the conflict.
“All major battles and ship losses had dead and injured from Wales. The largest loss of life during the operation was the Sir Galahad tragedy at Fitzroy on 8th June 1982, with the loss of 48 people - mostly young Welsh Guardsmen.”
SAMA Wales/Cymru was founded in 2003 and provides Welsh Falklands veterans with really helpful links to each other. Service life can forge wonderful lifelong bonds between friends, especially so for those who experienced the horror and reality of a campaign. The British regimental system means that most soldiers serve with people from their own region, and so understand the nuances of dialect, custom and history - a system that is the envy of the world.
Although Wales has many small Falklands memorials, this new memorial will help all those who have been troubled with personal demons they have never forgotten, and those ‘mates’- or ‘butties’ as they say in Wales - who made the final sacrifice.
Said Andy: “This National Memorial will have all 258 names on it, and will be there for years to come.” Stephen (Hoppy) Hopkins from Maesycymmer added: “It’s somewhere where veterans, wives, children - some who never knew their fathers - parents, grandparents and grandchildren can come and remember, and feel just that bit closer. Of course it’s also a place where the people of Wales can come to say a prayer in remembrance of all those who died.
“Since SAMA Wales was formed we have also referred veterans in need to Combat Stress, the ex-services mental welfare society, where expert help is at hand for Post Traumatic Stress disorders.”
Unfortunately it is a sad fact that more servicemen have taken their own lives since the conflict that actually died during the campaign - something which SAMA and Combat Stress are desperately trying to stem.