WESTON: ‘I STILL MISS MY MATES EVERY DAY’
Falklands War veteran Simon Weston has talked about how every day he still misses the three close friends he lost, 35 years on from the start of the conflict
FORMER Welsh Guard Simon Weston has spoken of his memories of his friends Neil Hughes, Gareth Hughes and Andrew “Yorkie” Walker, with whom he sailed on the QE2 to the islands.
Simon was the only one of them to come home.
The now 55-year-old was aboard the RFA Sir Galahad when it was struck by Argentine Skyhawk fighters during the Bluff Cove air attacks on June 8, 1982.
“I’m thrilled I’m still here 35 years on,” Simon said.
“I miss my mates every single day. A lot of them, you were probably with them for a while, and they were your friends.
“You earn friends, you get them because you deserve them.”
Speaking about his comrades, Simon said: “Yorkie Walker was my best friend in the Welsh Guards at the time.
“And Neil Hughes, I was very close to him, and I was very close to ‘58’ as well.”
Neil was called ‘11’ and Gareth ‘58’ to differentiate between them since they shared the same surname. The digits were taken from the end of their Army numbers.
“They were both from north Wales and Yorkie was from Acombe, in York,” Simon said.
“Yorkie I played rugby with. He was a typical young man, as vain as they come. He was very fit, a back row forward, a tough boy. He was loyal and very funny. They were all very funny in their own ways.”
In April 1982 the QE2 was still operating as a luxury liner. A month later it was a vital part of the Falklands armada, and the four men were among thousands of soldiers on board.
“Neil was a very good guy, he was like a bottle of pop,” Simon said.
“He never stopped, man. He’d drive you insane, but he was a really nice guy. They were all really nice guys – unless you gave them cause not to be!”
He went on: “‘11’ Hughes could try the patience of a saint, but those types of guys always do – they are always full of energy and always want to do something else. He always had something to add in a conversation, he was a great guy.”
Of Simon’s 30-strong platoon, 22 were killed. The Welsh Guards lost 48 men and 97 were wounded. Simon survived with 46% burns.
When the Sir Galahad was struck by bombs from the plane of Argentine pilot Carlos Cachon it was carrying ammunition, phosphorus bombs and thousands of gallons of diesel and petrol. “Some parts of your memory dim because why would you want to remember with exact clarity some of the things that you saw?” he said.
“There were 48 men on board my ship who would love my injuries and their families would love them to be here.
“Whatever problems I have, the reality is that every one of them would rather have my problems.”
The war started when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it claimed over them.
“Those who died were my friends,” Simon said. “Some of them were colleagues, some were prior acquaintances. You always miss them.
“There is something about the finality of life and being able to say goodbye. “I never had that choice.” Simon, from Caerphilly, said that when his friends were killed, they “never had a chance to say anything”.
“They were important people. All those people that remember them still talk about them. We talk about their toughness and silliness, the drinking and womanising.
“And I will always miss them until the day I die and then I will meet them again.
“But I’ll be very old and they will be very young. I believe something like that is going to happen.”
Simon, who joined the Welsh Guards at 16, still believes going to war was the right thing to do.
“Each and every person is entitled to their opinion,” he said.
The conflict lasted 74 days. It ended with the Argentine surrender on June 14, 1982, returning the islands to British control.
A total of 649 Argentinians, 255 Britons and three Falkland Islanders died in the course of hostilities.
“It should be remembered in the same way we remember the First and Second World Wars – scale does not matter,” Simon said.
“To each soldier, war is 100 yards to your left and right and 100 yards in front of you.”