Signals from the Falklands

As John Winton, the best and most authoritative writer on currant naval matters, says in the foreword to this book 'The Navy has never been well known for its flair for publicity....Again and again during the Falklands War it seemed to me that the chances of giving the Navy a 'chuck-up' were being fumbled...so when the ships began to come home I let it be known that I was going to compile a book on the Navy's part in the Falklands'. The response was overwhelming and this, sadly, is is only a skimming from the cream of the response to his appeals Nevertheless it gives, without a doubt, as vivid an impression as we are likely to have of the feelings and experiences of those of all ranks and trades who served with the Royal Navy and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary on that brief but remarkably successful campaign. Some of the contributors, like the aptly named Sam Salt will be familiar to many; others are not well known. Individuals though it may seem to give pride of place to any one contribution on an anthology such as this, it must be said that the words of Reverend Charles Stewart do stand out. In trying to resolve the virtually insoluble dilemma between 'Love Thy Neighbour' and 'Justifiable War' he succeeds where more famous theologians have often failed. All who served on board any ship which 'went south' in that strange nut epic endeavour in 1982 must be grateful to John Winton for having compiled this lasting tribute to tier bravery, and perhaps more characteristics, their abiding sense of humour.