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.

Daphne Margaret Sybil Désirée Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth, joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) in 1943 and caught the attention of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) due to her cipher skills. Promoted to sergeant, she trained operatives for Operation Jedburgh, supporting the Resistance in Europe. Despite a demotion, Daphne served as a Briefing Officer, working with French soldiers before D-Day. Major-General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins ensured she became a commissioned officer. Post-war, she joined the Field Intelligence Agency Technical British Intelligence Objective Sub-Committee in Frankfurt and Berlin. Daphne recalls various incidents, including her time in a jail, using food for intelligence, and training challenges. She discusses the SOE hierarchy, the notable secret agent Dennis Rake, and colleagues like Leopold Marks and the Gamble sisters. Daphne's remarkable service continued with MI6. She passed away on March 24, 2010.

Sydney Adlam was a budding young sportsman when war broke out. It was at his local athletics club that he met a man by the name of Brady who introduced him to an altogether more explosive activity. Brady invited Sydney to join the Auxiliary Unit, a secret resistance network of highly trained volunteers, where he learnt how to assemble explosives, time pencils and switches, and to understand the workings of a hand grenade. Sydney recalls details of regular training sessions in Havant, Gosport and Aldershot, including a close encounter in a trench with a hand grenade dropped in error by his comrade but hurled to safety by the lightning-fast instructor nearby. Although the invasion never came, the Auxiliary Unit stood ever ready to disrupt and deter the enemy in defence of their homeland with the courage and bravery that came to define their generation.