Falklands War: My House was Searched at Gun Point

Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed Forces

“They…took my husband through our house at gunpoint searching for 'the enemy', as they called them.” Falkland Islander, Carol Phillips, had 3 small children in 1982, “My first thought was…'Are they going to…machine gun us all down?’” The task force had 8,000 miles to sail, “Perhaps we would all be dead by the time they got here?…My Dad…kept saying, 'Don't let them see you're scared…The British Bulldogs are on their way.'”

Fighting started, “…to lose all those young men…it really was a nightmare.” But locals were courageous, “…we made a list of places around us…named them after…places in Britain like Cardiff, Liverpool…put our little antenna onto my broomstick and set up the CB…we were threatened we'd be imprisoned if we used radios…if we saw Argentine helicopters…we’d poke the broom out the window and say, 'Visitors at Liverpool.’”

Liberation was bitter-sweet, “We were relieved…lost too many people for celebrations” and danger remained, “…ammunition…no water, electricity…On the radio, ‘…Argentines left upturned cups on top of saucers…call the EOD some have hand grenades under, some human excrement…'”

255 British Servicemen and 3 female Falkland Islanders died, “That's what I can't forgive. Never will…I feel so guilty for all the people who died for us…We'll be forever grateful for what they’ve done…I just cannot thank them enough.”
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