Tragedy During Transfer

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

On the 19th of May 1982 the people in the Falkland Islands, both the inhabitants and the occupiers, were feeling stressed out by two factors: 1. the stress generated by the occupation itself, and 2. the stress of knowing that when British Forces hit the beaches, death and destruction was highly probable. It should be emphasized that the homesickness felt by the occupiers was equally matched by the homesickness of the Falkland Islanders, whose homes were indeed "sick", now that they were all in a war zone. The fear of dying within the next few days or weeks was now on everyone's mind... Out at sea, where the Task Group and the Task Force (See Installment 118.) were merging into a single fighting juggernaut, death reared its ugly head on this very day in the form of a tragic accident: At the end of a busy day of transferring personnel and equipment among the various ships of the two merged forces, fatigue caused the two overworked pilots and one additional crew member of the Sea King helicopter they were operating to crash into the sea as it was ferrying 27 SAS commandos from HMS Hermes to HMS Intrepid. Of the 30 men aboard the Sea King, 21 were lost. This tragedy that befell the British Forces as they prepared to land troops in the Falklands did not, however, deter the British from going ahead with the work to which they had committed themselves. Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.