HEROES PAY TRIBUTE TO 1ST MAN IN
SPECIAL forces veterans will today honour a commando who landed in the Falklands ahead of the 1982 mission to liberate the islands.
Sergeant Ian “Kiwi” Hunt died in a “friendly fire” incident a few weeks later when two British units shot at each other by mistake.
Kiwi and a hand-picked team of Special Boat Service soldiers had parachuted into the South Atlantic to join the nuclear submarine HMS Spartan. It dropped them off near the islands in a dinghy 12 days later.
They were the first British troops to step ashore following the Argentine invasion 40 years ago this weekend.
Their mission was to monitor enemy patrols and use signal lights to let British forces know if it was safe to attempt a landing.
The SBS unit was the “eyes and ears” of Brigadier Julian Thompson of 3 Commando Brigade who led the operation. Brig Thompson personally thanked them before they were ordered to carry out further patrols.
But in a tragic accident, SBS and SAS soldiers walked into each others’ area of operation, leaving the soldiers to believe they had stumbled over Argentine special forces.
Sgt Hunt was mortally wounded in an exchange of fire – the only SBS member killed in the war.
He was just 28 when he died on June 2, 1982. There is a memorial to him in the Falklands and he was buried at St Michael’s Parish Church in Poole, Dorset.
Kiwi will today be remembered at a 40th anniversary service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. A Falklands dinner is due to take place at the headquarters of 3 Commando Brigade in May.
Other SBS veterans are due to make a private vigil to the Falklands and visit the spot where Kiwi died.
A special forces source told us: “He was fundamentally a Royal Marine and he will be remembered in numerous church services in the next few months.”