Paul Dilks began his maritime career in 1970 with P&O as a navigating cadet and attended Nautical College at Warsash, later qualifying as a Deck Officer in 1974. In 1982, Paul was serving on Uganda, which was conducting educational cruises for school children when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence to serve as a hospital ship during the Falklands War. Uganda underwent significant modifications in Gibraltar to become a hospital ship, including the creation of hospital wards, an intensive care unit, and a helicopter platform. The crew faced numerous challenges, including water rationing, misunderstandings with Royal Navy colleagues, and the need to perform fresh water replenishments at sea under extreme conditions. Uganda operated alongside other vessels such as survey ships and ambulance ships, and there were amicable interactions with the Argentine hospital ship Bahia Paraiso. The crew learned of the Argentine surrender on June 14, 1982, and subsequently prepared for the journey home, including repainting the ship and discharging patients. Notable incidents included a visit from Prince Andrew, a tragic accident involving the Welsh Guards, and the emotional homecoming reception in Southampton. After the war, Uganda transported the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Gurkhas back to England, and Paul describes his revisiting the Falklands the following year. Paul ends with reflections on the lasting impact of the Falklands campaign on his life and possible challenges faced by the British government in requisitioning merchant ships in any future conflicts.

Douglas attended a naval school at age 10 and started training at sea aged 14 as a cadet. He became the youngest petty officer in the navy and at the start of WW2 he was serving on HMS Coventry, an anti-aircraft cruiser. He later served on the cruiser HMS Fiji and then the battleship King George V which was providing cover for Russian convoys. He was present when this ship and others sank the German battleship Bismarck in 1941. During this time he received news that his brother had been killed in North Africa. By June 1944 he was chief coxswain on board HMS Prince Charles, a ship carrying eight landing craft. He, and others, were given pills to help them stay awake for 24 hours. The ship picked up US Rangers, troops he describes as ‘brilliant soldiers’, at Southampton. They then sailed to Omaha beach, disembarking the Rangers from their landing craft at 7am on D-Day. Despite heavy Allied shelling and bombing the German defences took a heavy toll on the American troops. He remembers one landing craft hitting a mine and parts of bodies being hurled through the air. At one point, during the chaos of the fighting, he jumped into the sea and turned a landing craft around to enable the troops to disembark. He described this not as conscious bravery but something he did spontaneously under the stress of the situation. His only injury of the war was losing some teeth during a game of hockey!

18-year-old John Woodward followed in the footsteps of his father, uncle and grandfather by enlisting in the Royal Navy in 1942, keen to join the fight and do his bit for the war effort. His original intention was to become a signaller but when he was found to be colour blind, he was transferred to the minesweepers and based on the Isle of Sheppey at Queenborough Pier. John shares details of his early training and his role onboard the minesweeper, and recounts a particularly inspired yet risky manoeuvre ordered by the ship’s captain when the Germans’ mine-laying tactics had become a little too predictable. As well as providing details about the types of mines deployed by the Germans and how his minesweeper dislodged them, John also recalls both the build-up to D-Day and the actual event itself, before going on to talk about VE Day and his memories of the occasion. Like his peers, John shares his story with remarkable modesty, but it is easy to find behind his words the bravery, commitment and dedication with which he served, and which will form the heart of his legacy for many years to come.