Falklands hero honoured by both sides
SURGEON CAPTAIN Rick “Doc” Jolly saved the lives of hundreds of British and Argentine troops during the Falklands War and was the only person to have been decorated for distinguished conduct by both Britain and Argentina.
The Royal Navy surgeon, the senior medical officer of 3 Commando Brigade, ran the field hospital at Ajax Bay where 1,000 troops, including around 300 Argentines, were treated in freezing and basic surroundings as war raged outside for three weeks.
Two unexploded bombs remained lodged in the roof as surgical operations went on below.
When HMS Ardent was devastated by Argentine fighter bombers on May 21, 1982, Dr Jolly was lowered from a helicopter to pluck a drowning sailor from the sea. “I tapped my crewman on the arm, leant across and shouted ‘Me – down’,” he said
Plumes of smoke poured from the frigate as he was lowered into the near-freezing water and bearhugged the sailor as they were winched to safety. Moments later he saved a second man.
Every British soldier whom he treated at his improvised hospital in an old refrigeration plant, nicknamed the Red and Green Life Machine, survived, including veteran Simon Weston who called him an “incredible man”. Weston said: “Without his organisational skills the surgeons and medics would never have functioned. I can only thank him for saving my life and many others.”
Following the conflict, Jolly was appointed an OBE by the Queen and in 1999 received the Orden de Mayo, one of Argentina’s highest honours, to reflect “the nation’s gratitude”.
Born in Hong Kong, Jolly was educated at Stonyhurst College before studying medicine at St Bart’s, London. He qualified as a physician in 1969 and joined the Royal Navy, serving in Belfast with the 3rd Parachute Regiment.
He retired from the Navy in 1996 and launched a campaign to highlight the problems of posttraumatic stress disorder among Falklands survivors. His memoir published in 1983 was the first book written by a serving participant in the UK Task Force.
In 1999 he accompanied Prince Charles on an official visit to Argentina, taking with him a list of 79 Argentinian wounded operated on at Ajax Bay.
In 2002 he led 250 former British personnel on a visit to the islands to mark the 20th anniversary of the conflict and five years later he stood outside the Imperial War Museum in London to welcome former Argentinian pilots to the opening of a major exhibition on the war.
He died of complications of a heart condition and is survived by his wife Susie, whom he married in 1970. Their son James predeceased him.