I’ve written about my ancestor Sir Anthony Standen’s role in defeating the Spanish Armada. Memorial plaques at the Kingswear ferry ramp reminded me of other armadas. Agatha Christie’s home Greenway was headquarters for the US coastguard and their role in the Normandy landings in World War 2. The 23rd Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla of the Free French Naval Forces were based in Kingswear from January 1943 to September 1944, as were significant other allied forces. My father landed in Normandy on D-Day +1. My father’s battle honours with 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade include Arrommanches, Villers-Bocage, Caen, Lillere, and Bethune in Northern France. Why D-Day+1 you may ask? He fought in the Italian campaign before that, which involved an opposed amphibious landing at Salerno and fierce fighting thereafter. Nancy Astor (the UK’s first female MP) called those fighting in Italy D-Day dodgers. End of rant, Gary Linaker made a very good documentary about his father’s role as a “D-Day dodger”.
On the ferry ramp there is also a plaque for Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones VC OBE who died at the battle of Goose Green leading 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment while liberating the Falkland Islands. Many of the shipmates I served with in the Royal Naval Reserve had been part of the armada sent there after the Argentinian invasion in 1982.
I’ve had many heated discussions with good friends about the Falklands War. Some say that Margaret Thatcher needed a war to shore up her position. Others deplore the sinking of the Belgrano. My own view is that the withdrawal of HMS Endurance from the area, proposed in the 1981 defence white paper, sent a signal to General Galtieri that the UK wouldn’t defend the islands. I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories, so my view is that it was short-sighted cost cutting, rather than luring Argentina into a conflict in which thatcher could become a new Churchill. I shall save the sinking of the Belgrano for another post. Writing this has reminded me that I must write a review of One Hundred Days for Readers Club. I’ll let Admiral Sandy Woodward explain.