40th Anniversary today.

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DuncaninFrance
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40th Anniversary today.

Post by DuncaninFrance » Tue Jun 14, 2022 3:00 am

FALKLANDS 40 AN web.jpg
FALKLANDS 40 AN web.jpg (334.4 KiB) Viewed 443 times
PETER ROBINSON – CORPORAL IN MILAN TROOP, 40 COMMANDO. THE PHOTOGRAPH OF HIM AS 'THE YOMPER' WITH THE BRITISH FLAG ON HIS BACKPACK BECAME A NATIONAL SYMBOL OF THE FALKLANDS WAR[/color]

A Corporal in Milan Troop, 40 Commando, the photograph of him as “The Yomper” with the British flag on his backpack became a national symbol of the Falklands War

Shortly after his arrival in the Falklands, Robinson found himself and his four-man team assigned to 45 Commando, to provide them with missile capability, joining them for their “Yomp”, a Marine term for a march, from Teal Inlet to Mount Kent.

“We did a night yomp to the start line at the base of the Two Sisters feature, which was over horrendous terrain,” says Robinson. There was a delay in getting into position for the attack and as soon as the Marines began to advance, they came under heavy fire.

“On the high ground where I was,” he says, “we could see a couple of Argentine machine guns; I got on to the radio net and said we can take them out, we’re within range and they said ‘do it’.”

The Milan uses a flare system for tracking and aiming which was problematic in low light. “My aimer couldn’t see, because he was blinded by the flare so I literally jumped on his back going ‘up a bit, left a bit, right a bit’. The missile struck on target, knocking out an Argentine machine gun. The marines had never seen the system in action before and a voice came over the radio, saying ‘I don’t know what that was but can we have another one please?’”

Once Two Sisters fell, they could see Port Stanley from the top and, for a while, 45 Commando were held as a reserve in case they were needed for Tumbledown. But their next objective was to be Wireless Ridge to provide cover for the force that would take the capital.

“We knew they had light armoured cars here,” says Robinson, “but we didn’t know if they were going to use them and the whole idea was we were going to come down on to Wireless Ridge to give coverage for going into Stanley. If it was going to be necessary, we’d do street to street fighting.”

On their way, news came in that the Argentines had just surrendered; at this point, the Marine in front of Robinson, Willy Evans, tried to attach his Union flag to the barrel of his rifle but it was too big. He decided to stick it to Robinson’s radio aerial with black masking tape.

“The first time it flew off when we were traversing mine fields. Someone retrieved it, it wasn’t me!”

Peter Holgate, the Chief Naval photographer attached to 3rd Commando to cover the conflict, later said he’d followed Peter and the flag for about two hours waiting for the wind to pick up. The photo that Holgate took then became one of the most iconic of the war and threw Robinson rather reluctantly into the limelight.

“We were lucky enough to come back on the Canberra,” he says. “It was quite a fast passage. We were told that there was going to be a little bit of a reception when we got into Southampton waters.” But as the Canberra came up towards Land's End, its captain, Dennis Scott-Masson, purposely brought the ship as close to shore as he could because there were so many cars, flashing their headlights and tooting their horns all the way through to Southampton. “We came along, starboard side, and there were just so many people there to greet us plus all the small boats, and the tugs with their plumes of water.

“It was an emotional day. I think it brought home to us how much we were appreciated and what we actually did.”

Ten years later, a twice-lifesize bronze statue was created by sculptor Phillip Jackson replicating the famous photograph of Robinson with the flag. Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher attended the unveiling in Eastney Esplanade, Portsmouth, in July 1992, 10 years on from the war. “She said to me: ‘All these people here, they haven’t only come to see me, they've come to see you as well.’ So she said: ‘Should we go and do a walkabout? Come on.’ She grabbed my hand and off we went!”

Robinson will be taking part in various events for the 40th anniversary including a ceremony in Portsmouth on June 14 with the South Atlantic Medal Association. Over the years though, he has tried to avoid the spotlight, slightly embarrassed by it all: “Possibly because of the photograph, you know, because there were a lot more guys that did a lot more than I did. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time carrying a flag.”

:GBR:
Duncan

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