Nora’s tale continue’s.
♠
1982 was not a good year for Dick.
The 19th of March, 1982 saw a civil incursion into the Falkland Island. Some few weeks later, precisely the 2nd of April, Argentinian amphibious forces landed. The Falkland War had just begun.
The then British Prime Minister, Margret Thatcher, struck back as hard as she possibly could. Sadly lacking a contingency plan, as such an occurrence had never been considered prior; combined with the tyranny of distance, Britain’s retaliation was slowed. After a short period of time, ships, submarines, planes, and land forces arrived. Among them was the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment; a battalion of incredibly hard fighting men.
By May, troops were making hard won inroads in land warfare. The 27th through to the 28th of May saw heavy fighting at Goose Green and Darwin in East Falkland; and it was at Goose Green that Dick’s younger brother, Lieutenant James ‘Jim’ St. John of 2 Para, was killed in action. Dick was floored at the news.
The second tragedy to strike the St. John household was Dick’s now elderly mother passing away in her nursing home flat six weeks after the death of James. Her grief being too much for her to bear. This left Dick without any remaining family, neither immediate nor known distant. He now severed all ties with the UK.
This, whilst sad, meant little to Nora. She had no memory of her Grandmother, and had only fleetingly met her Uncle Jim twice. Yet, she felt sorrow for her father in his dual loss. It was many months before Dick returned to his former self, but return he did.
♠
Click the groovy chick in the pic.! Nina Simone at her best.
Hamish
The World Turned Upside Down 
Leave a Reply