The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Falklands war veteran flying flag 40 years on
It is a journey which has taken Bill Muir four decades to complete. But the 74-year-old retired Royal Marines Commando is preparing to make the 8,000-mile trip back to the Falklands where, in 1982, he returned the island flag to its capital after the UK repelled Argentina’s invasion of the remote archipelago.
And the former green beret says he expects emotions to swell like the towering South Atlantic waves when the “full circle” is joined on Stanley’s craggy landscape early next month.
Bill, from Letham in Angus, is leading a party of 20 veterans on the trip to the far south at the invitation of the Falkland Islands government.
He was a leader, too, in April 1982 as a Sergeant Major in Naval Party 8901, having left 45 Commando at Condor in Arbroath to sign up for a 12-month tour of duty on the islands.
“I had always wanted to go there and thought it would be like an outward bounds course,” he said.
The then 34-year-old was well aware of the simmering territorial tensions.
But little did he and his comrades realise the situation about to unfold as they landed just four days before the Argentine invasion of April 2.
In darkness, the South American forces came ashore in numbers.
“There were just 79 of us across two detachments and the Argentines brought around 700 men,” said Bill.
“We were tasked with defending Government House, but it was obvious we were vastly outnumbered.”
And for the first time since joining the elite force as a junior marine a month after his 16th birthday, Bill found himself caught in a deadly firefight.
“I’d been involved in skirmishes in Aden, but this was the first real battle,” he said.
“At 2am we all left our barracks at Moody Brook and the invasion started from about 4am.
“They started coming ashore in the most easterly part of the island and, at 6am, from the westerly part. I heard the explosions at the barracks, which were empty.
“That’s when we knew they were coming from both the east and west.
“Government House is right on the edge of Stanley and the decision was taken to protect the civilians in the town.
“We were tactically surrounded.”
But the consequential inevitability of the size of the rival forces led to the order that the British servicemen should lay down their arms.
It came without loss of life, against the first 17 Argentinian casualties in a toll which would climb to almost 650 before their surrender on June 14.
And he recalls: “The Argentinian flag was prepared for hoisting on top of Stanley House but the rope snapped in the breeze, which was cheered by the British troops.
“We were allowed to collect some things from our barracks and then taken as prisoners of war to Montevideo.
“We were kept there for three days under house arrest in a hotel until the RAF came to collect us.
“They treated us with respect and then I came back home, had a week here and joined the task force with 42 Commando.”
Its Royal Marines were involved in battles including Goose Green, Mount Harriet and the taking of Stanley before the war came to an end.
Then Bill found himself with the honour of returning the island standard to the flagpole of Government House.
“Major General Moore, the commander of land forces, gave our detachment the honour of replacing the Falkland Islands flag as we were the ones there when it was taken down.
“Major Mike Norman, who was our commander when we landed, said ‘over to you, Sergeant Major’ and I raised the flag.”
The 40th anniversary of the conflict may have passed, but Bill and his fellow veterans are making the 10-day trip to be part of the annual Falkland Islands battle day on December 8.