Auction Catalogue

23 September 2011

Starting at 10:00 AM

.

Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Washington Mayfair Hotel  London  W1J 5HE

Download Images

Lot

№ 881

.

23 September 2011

Hammer Price:
£5,200

A rare Northern Ireland, South Atlantic pair awarded to Sergeant D. J. Armour, 42 Commando, Royal Marines, one of the original defenders of Port Stanley when the Falkland Islands were invaded on 2 April 1982, all of whom returned to the South Atlantic with the Task Force

General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (Cpl D J Armour PO33754R RM); South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (Cpl D J Armour PO33754R RM) mounted as worn, very fine (2) £2000-2500

Sold with copy discharge certificate, dated 21 November 1986, which gives the following testimonial: ‘Sergeant Armour has given good and loyal service to the Corps and in particular the way in which he conducted himself as one of the original R.M. Detachment on the Falkland Islands at the time of Argentinian Invasion, was exemplary. He is a cheerful energetic man who will be missed.’

Sergeant David John 'Lou' Armour was serving as a Corporal in the Falklands when the Islands were invaded on 2 April 1982. Naval Party 8901 at this time comprised just 42 men. He was captured, sent back to Britain and, with the rest of his comrades, returned to the South Atlantic to join up with the Task Force. His personal story of the invasion, his capture and his return to the Falklands, is told in
Speaking Out - Untold stories from the Falklands War, from which the following extract is taken:

‘We had been on the Islands for four days when the Argentines invaded. We had just moved into our accommodation [at Moody Brook] and were finding out where we were going to sleep, meeting the lads who were already there whom we were going to replace. We were 'sussing' out what we were going to do for a year, which didn't seem like verv much. I hadn't a chance to see all the Island but my first impression was that it was pretty barren. I went out there with positive thoughts, mainly because I am a weapon instructor and I was told that there was a big opportunity for a lot of field-firing. That was the sort of thing I was interested in. We were looking forward to what was going to be a fairly quiet year. Wrong.

Before they invaded there were hints of it all the time during the day. Then we had a briefing from our boss. We knew something was going to go on but we really believed it was going to be a show of strength. We thought the Argentines would land and then say: 'We can land here if we want.' We didn't really believe there was going to be a full-scale invasion. I was sat in the bar talking with the lads and we were called together and given our orders. We didn't know where they were going to come from and we didn't have the equipment to defend the Island. The armoury was opened about six hours before the invasion and we had the pick of the equipment. We took what we wanted.



I was sent to a place called The Isthmus - a strip of land near the airfield - about five miles from Stanley. If any Argentine troops
approached us we were to open fire, and when they went to ground we were to double back to the section behind us and then keep pepper-potting them like that. The other section behind us were half a mile away and it was flat ground, so it was going to have to be a running half-mile. We had seen Moody Brook being mortared about an hour after we’d got our last message over the radio. It said: 'Good luck. Good luck.' Actually I laughed at that message because it was ironic. 'Good luck. Good luck.' Wow Thanks! We dug our shell scrapes a bit faster. I told the lads in my section not to do anything stupid and to play it off the cuff. It might have been a bit easier for me because I had them to worry about. It was worse for the lads because they were just thinking about themselves.

When they mortared Moody Brook we could see the flashes and hear the guns. We heard a lot of chat over the radio. We stayed where we were, because we were told not to move until we were either called or actually engaged with somebody. Eventually we were told to move to Government House. We had a lot of ammunition with us which was quite heavy. We packed up the kit and started running back to Stanley. A Land-Rover pulled up. I couldn't believe it. Moody Brook had been bombed, over the radio we could hear: 'Stanley is under fire,' and some Marine casually pulls over in a Land-Rover and says: 'Get in.' On the way back to Stanley another corporal, Dave Carr, waved me down. I was half-in and half-hanging out of the Land-Rover and he told me Government House was being attacked by the Argentines. A lot of tracer started flying down the road and we just scattered, we jumped out of the Rover and dived into the gardens, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It was pitch-black, we didn't know exactly where they were around Government House - it was defining their exact position, how many there were. It was all a bit chaotic. Dave Carr began returning the fire and there was fire being exchanged down the road I had to go along. We skirmished our way along the road, firing at gun flashes. We got to the hospital wall and then we had no choice, we had to leap across the football field.

Getting into Government House was dodgy because we were frightened of getting shot at by our own guys. We were actually shot at and we ran forward shouting like crazy: 'Marines, Marines, Marines.' We didn't want to get killed by our own guys at that stage. I got into the kitchen and the first thing that struck me was that there was water everywhere from burst pipes that had been shot away. My boss, Major Norman, said: 'Well done,' and told me to put some of the lads upstairs. I was relieved to be among the crowd, there was some sniper fire going on. It was the first battle I had fought in. I was frightened. The scariest bit is before it all happens and you think: 'I'm going to be scared and run away.' You don't know what you are going to do. In training you're all
sort of 'gung-ho', leading the way, but that's with blanks.

Inside Government House, where we could have a rest, my mouth was all dry. I've never felt so knackered in my life. I felt tired and thirsty and all I wanted to do was drink. I drank my whole water bottle more or less straight off. It took the fear away, although I was still apprehensive. The Argies had some armoured vehicles moved up. At the time of the surrender, when Rex Hunt went out to talk with them, I was actually quite pleased we were stopping, I make no bones about it . . . I didn't fancy getting shot to bits. I was just glad it was finished. They made us lie down. Suddenly you're in their hands. There were two APCs [armoured personnel carriers] of theirs hit; they must have lost guys in them. There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up?

When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done. I liked him. We were put in the back of a Hercules to be taken to Argentina. I was worried about the prospect of that because I'm not daft. I'm not too bad on current affairs and I know that a favourite ploy during their own Dirty War was to toss people out of Hercules over the sea. But they treated us okay.; I think they were more nervous of us, they were continually searching us for knives. They had
this image of the Second World War commando, knives all over his body, so they were quite nervous of us. They didn't interrogate us and we were sent back to Britain fairly quickly via Uruguay. It was a relief to get back to the UK.’

Corporal Armour returned to the Falklands with his unit, “J” Company, 42 Commando, as part of the Task Force aboard the
Canberra. His company of marines were held in reserve after the initial landings at San Carlos but later they were moved forward to Goose Green to re-inforce a second-stage attack on the settlement by 2 Para. He was discharged from the Royal Marines with the rank of Sergeant on 21 November 1986. Sold with copied discharge certificate, a photograph of “J” Company in the Falklands, and copied extracts from various publication.