Not salmon again! Troops go south on liner

The Falklands War provided scenes of stark contrast for Pat Carey, an armourer sergeant with 40 Commando Royal Marines.

He sailed to the South Atlantic on the requisitioned luxury liner Canberra, which had been hurriedly converted into a troop ship, but still offered some amenities more fitting for cruise passengers.

`There we were all in combat uniform but with desert boots on because of the carpets, and the P&O crew kept to the same menu and the same standards. We were treated like lords.

`I can remember marines moaning `Oh no not smoked salmon again, not fillet steak again' and the meals even included after dinner mints.'

  'When we came back onto Canberra after being ashore for 30 days without a wash it was quite overwhelming. There was a bed, with clean sheets and a pillow case - and on top were letters from my wife.'

This was to be a long cry from the ration packs issued before he settled into his beachhead `hotel' at San Carlos - a trench it took several days to build and in which he stayed for almost a month.

`Thanks to one of the locals we managed to persuade him to hand over two bales of straw to line the bottom and a couple of railway sleepers to support the roof. Then there was 18 inches of hard packed soil on top of sheets of galvanised iron - it was a luxurious trench!'

Because his trench was next to the jetty, Pat said he had several important people drop in to take cover during bombing raids, including SAS officers, padres and television crews.

`When we came back onto Canberra after being ashore for 30 days without a wash it was quite overwhelming. There was a bed, with clean sheets and a pillow case - and on top were letters from my wife.'

Pat added: `I can remember just taking all my kit off, dumping it in the corner of the cabin, having a hot shower and shedding tears of joy.'

It took a war to part them

Hard-nosed marines serving in the South Atlantic would have had a cast- iron excuse for not remembering their wedding anniversary, let alone commemorating it - but Pat Carey on SS Canberra was determined not to let the occasion slip by unnoticed.

He arranged for a signal to be sent by satellite and a bunch of red roses arrived for his wife Margaret to celebrate their seven years of marriage on July 5 1982.

The accompanying card read `I am sorry we are not together. It has taken a war to keep us apart. For the past seven years of my life, little one, I thank you with all my heart. Happy anniversary, love Pat.'

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