Julie came from a military family with her father, uncle and grandfather all having served. Julie and Melvin met in their 40s, both having had previous marriages and families. Melvin had retired from the army by then and rarely talks about it but Julie knows he suffered a back injury during Desert Storm One. Melvin was also in a military band which took him all over the world but also meant standing for hours in all weathers. Over the years, Melvin has had terrible problems with his back but now his knees are causing problems too. Help for Heroes have helped Melvin find physiotherapy while the Band of Brothers group has provided a lifeline through advice and camaraderie. Julie has joined Band of Sisters and finds herself being one of the oldest in the group and able to share her life experiences. She enjoys the respite weekends and has also taken part in a number of courses. She admires the younger generation and what they are going through and both she and Melvin volunteer as much as they can to give back to the charity, and people, that have helped them so much.

Andrew Cassels spent his entire career at British Petroleum (BP), joining at 17 and retiring at 60. He admits that a highlight of his time was during the Falklands Conflict when he served as 2nd Mate on the requisitioned Petroleum tanker, the British Avon. With his brother-in-law already involved in the conflict, Andrew happily volunteered. He describes preparing the ship for the journey south, highlighting the technical procedures for filling the tanks and the impressed Royal Fleet Auxiliary [RFA] crew who joined to assist with navigation. Refuelling at sea, particularly with the RFA Olna, was challenging and the stress on the ships' Captain ensured that Andrew had plenty of responsibility. He fondly recalls tuna fishing in Ascension and the Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA) navigational system on the Avon, though he still enjoyed using traditional star and sun sights with his sextant.

Peter was 18 when he started working for P&O on the SS Canberra. Having attended catering college, Peter first worked as a silver service waiter and was quickly promoted to running all the bars. The liner had just been on a world cruise and heading home from Hong Kong when they detoured to Gibraltar to pick up military personnel, rumours flew round about the Falklands and finally they heard the Canberra was being requisitioned. Peter volunteered to remain, in his words for “pride and love of the ship”, never thinking at that stage that anything serious would happen to them. Peter recalls the physical transformation to the ship including the incorporation of two helicopter pads. He also tells us that the first night running the bars and nightclub felt like a party and he worried they were going to run out of beer. They quickly brought in rationing after that. The rapport with the commandos was good and some are still friends to this day. They had to do lots of training for abandoning ship and it was very apparent that, if hit, there weren’t the resources to get everyone off. It became Peter’s responsibility to look after passenger mustering for evacuation. Peter recalls the incredible amount of ships at Ascension Island and the shocking news that, contrary to their contracts, they were being asked to go into the Falklands. Again, he chose to stay with the ship. It was a beautiful day when they arrived in the San Carlos waters and started offloading troops. For a time, Peter thinks they might just have succeeded without detection but all that quickly changes. He describes the chaos and confusion for those, like himself, with no military training when Argentinian aeroplanes start flying over. Peter also recalls his disbelief at seeing the QE2 as he couldn’t believe they would send a ship bearing the Queen’s name into conflict. Thankfully, they come through unscathed but a false report is issued that the Canberra was sunk which shocks family at home. Peter describes the amazing return they experienced with family and friends as well as the Royal Marine band on the quayside. Peter explains that it is difficult to talk about this time but he is proud of his involvement.