In his youth, Martyn was an army cadet and in the territorials but didn’t land a commission. Instead he went into hotel work which then led to cruise ships. He started out as assistant purser and in the 1980s was onboard the SS Uganda which Martyn calls the “naughty boys ship” because it was full of rogues! They were being used by schools as an educational ship and were at Egypt when they were requisitioned for the Falklands. It was a nerve wracking journey to Naples at night and avoiding the wrecks from the Six Day War. There the children and passengers disembarked, military personnel boarded and the ship was kitted out as a floating hospital. Martyn recalls in detail the total transformation the ship underwent. To start with, the journey south felt like an adventure and morale was high, they had the Royal Marine Band onboard who helped meld together the Merchant and Royal Navy, but reality hit home when they heard about the sinking of HMS Sheffield and the General Belgrano. One of the biggest challenges they faced was ensuring water supply and their priority upon arrival became engineering this. Meanwhile, Martyn became a stretcher bearer on top of his other responsibilities as well as volunteering to help in the hospital wards. He recalls some of the casualties who came his way, including three men he knew from his days in the TA. Of all the casualties who came on board, only three died. Martyn also vividly recalls coming incredibly close to two Phantom jets and their ship unwittingly sailing through a minefield, thankfully without damage. Upon return, it was Martyn’s responsibility to look after the supply of souvenirs. He was based on his own in the Matron’s office which meant he couldn’t see the welcome home fanfare. Eventually, sure he was missing out, he abandoned the souvenirs to find his family! Martyn says he wouldn’t wear his medal for a long time because he didn’t directly experience the war but a captain told him to wear it with pride, if it hadn’t been for the support of vessels like the Uganda they would not have succeeded.

Mildred Schultz recalls how she grew up on a farm and went to school in Walton-on-Thames. She attended a business college in Kingston and from there worked at a shipping company in Cobham. Even though her job was protected, she volunteered and joined the Inter-Services Research Bureau. She explains how she went to work at S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive) headquarters in Baker Street London, realising she was working for the resistance movement, reading and destroying reports. Asked if she would travel abroad, Mildred said ‘yes’ and undertook FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) training at Chicheley Hall in Bedfordshire. From here she was sent to Italy for further training on a boat and describes how they were pursued by U-boats, bombed and machine gunned. In Italy she became the PA to the man in charge of maps and equipment, and then worked as an assistant to the Admin Captain Amos. She recalls spending a snowy Christmas in Monopoli and then onto Siena to the Headquarters of Number 1 Special Force, taking a perilous jeep journey up a mountain road with boulders near the front-line with guns aimed at them. On a lighter note, Mildred remembers a makeshift Christmas service under a derelict chapel with many nationalities, some of whom had escaped from Prisoner of War camps, and also Germans who had escaped and given up, all singing carols together.