Falkland Islands soldier: 'I joined the Army to give something back'

"My motivation to join the Army was all about the history from 1982," says soldier Sara Halford.

The 40-year-old was born in the Falkland Islands three months before Argentina invaded the British overseas territory in April 1982.

She joined the Army aged 17 to repay a debt of gratitude she felt towards the soldiers who fought in the conflict.

The warrant officer, who serves with 16 Medical Regiment in Colchester, said islanders would be "forever grateful".

Growing up in the Falklands' capital of Port Stanley, WO1 Halford would play with friends on Mount Tumbledown, the scene of a key battle the day before the surrender of Argentinian forces on 14 June 1982.

"There was a real freedom growing up, we would just go off on our own to the hills and beaches," she said.

"It was a freedom which came from the sacrifices made for the islands by British troops.

"But we knew there were dangers too - there were minefields, with one on the other side of our fence at home, and children were taught to be careful with any bit of military kit we found."

Ms Halford left school at 16 and worked as a lifeguard at Port Stanley's swimming pool to save money to pay for a flight to Britain.

In March 1999, she made the journey to join the Army aged 17, training as a combat medical technician.

"In the Falklands, everyone learns from a young age about the sacrifices made by the soldiers that liberated us - by joining up I wanted to be able to give something back," she says.

"At the end of training you're given a choice of unit to go to and I wanted to go to 16 Air Assault Brigade, because I was brought up on the stories of 2 and 3 Para in 1982."

She has served 22 years and says she is "particularly proud" that 20 of those years were with airborne forces.

In 16 Medical Regiment, she has gone from private to regimental sergeant major, and she has been on operational tours of Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

WO Halford joined soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment to visit the Airborne Assault Museum at Duxford in Cambridgeshire to learn more about paratroopers' role in the fighting, and to meet Falklands veteran Clive Smith.

Mr Smith was a 23-year-old lance corporal in 2 Para's Signals Platoon.

He was the commanding officer's radio operator during the Falklands conflict and was involved in battles at Goose Green and Wireless Ridge.

Mr Smith, who left the Army in 1998, having gone on to serve in Northern Ireland and the Gulf War, said: "My major memory of the Falklands is the bleakness of the countryside - we experienced constant wind and rain with no shelter.

"My first interaction with local people was at Goose Green. We were welcomed into their homes, they gave us warm clothes, let us wash and fed us. They were so friendly and appreciative, and that relationship has stayed strong to this day," he said.

"I think Sara's story is fantastic. It's amazing to think that she was born at that time, developed this overwhelming urge to join the Army and has gone on to have such a great career."

WO1 Halford concluded: "Speaking as a Falkland Islander, the veterans will never be forgotten for what they did for us as a community in 1982 - we will be forever grateful."

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