Military History - Guardsman Peter Edwards - 1st Battalion Welsh Guards 💂 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 - Falkland Islands War 1982. 🌺Lest we forget🌺 Reposted from another platform. At just 19 years old, Guardsman Peter Edwards was among 32 Welsh Guards killed when Argentine aircraft attacked RFA Sir Galahad during the Falklands War. His life ended aboard the ship off Fitzroy, just six days before the islands were liberated. Born on 3 September 1962 at Denbigh Infirmary, Peter grew up in Llandyrnog, North Wales, with his parents, Gordon and Evelyn, and three siblings. He attended Llandyrnog Primary School and Denbigh High School. A keen cyclist with a love of music and science, Peter was also a member of St John Ambulance. Military service ran in his family, with his father having served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and his uncle in the Welsh Guards. On 1 November 1980, aged 18, Peter joined the Welsh Guards. After completing his training at Pirbright, he served with Prince of Wales Company, 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards. He also joined the regimental choir. Following the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in April 1982, his battalion deployed with 5 Infantry Brigade as part of the British operation to retake the islands. On 7 June, Peter's company embarked aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship RFA Sir Galahad, which was transporting troops and equipment towards Bluff Cove. The following day, Sir Galahad lay anchored in Port Pleasant, off Fitzroy. Delays in unloading meant that many soldiers remained aboard as the afternoon progressed. At approximately 17:10 UTC on 8 June 1982, Argentine A-4 Skyhawk aircraft attacked the ship. Bomb strikes ignited devastating fires, engulfing parts of the vessel in flames and thick smoke. Guardsman Edwards was killed in the attack, alongside 47 others, including 31 of his fellow Welsh Guards. He was just 19 years old. Peter's body was never recovered. He is remembered at his former school in Llandyrnog, while Edwards Harbour on West Falkland was named in his honour in 2022. A young Welsh soldier who had served for less than two years, Peter lost his life thousands of miles from home. His name lives on in the community where he grew up and on the islands where he made the ultimate sacrifice. Remembering: Guardsman Peter Edwards 24584832 Prince of Wales Company 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards Falklands War Killed in action 8 June 1982, aged 19 Lest We Forget. #FalklandsWar #WelshGuards #RFASirGalahad #MilitaryHistory #LestWeForget

Military History - OTD 26th October 1989 - West Germany - Corporal Maheshkumar 'Mick' Islania and baby daughter Nivruti Islania 😢 🌺Lest we forget🌺 Nivruti Islania was just six months old when she was shot in the head by the IRA while in her father's car in West Germany in 1989. She died instantly alongside her father, 34-year-old RAF communications operative Corporal Maheshkumar 'Mick' Islania in the October 26 attack. It has been described as a "particularly heinous" crime. Witnesses at the time recalled Corporal Islania's wife Smita cradling her dead daughter in her arms following the attack close to RAF Wildenrath, near the border with Holland. Smita had been driving the couple's British registered Volkswagen Jetta car, which had stopped outside a snack bar attached to a petrol station. As the vehicle drove off two men walked up and opened fire with automatic weapons and the gunmen kept firing through the rear window. Corporal Islania and his daughter died instantly, the baby killed by a single gunshot. Corporal Islania's wife escaped uninjured. The two gunmen then ran to a waiting Ford camper van driven by a third man and they drove off in the direction of the Dutch border. 36 years on it is important that wider society has an understanding of the brutality of that crime," he added. "A baby was murdered whilst being nursed by her mother. Her dad was a member of the RAF, seeking to provide for his young family. "The Provisional IRA were not fighting any noble cause. This was the action of terrorists with the objective of overthrowing the Northern Ireland state." No one was ever charged with the murders, which were carried out during a three-year period when the IRA escalated attacks on soft target military personnel stationed in mainland Europe. The main suspect, Desmond Grew, was one of two IRA members killed by the SAS in Armagh a year later while he was wanted for questioning over the murders. At his funeral Gerry Adams pronounced Grew "a freedom fighter, a patriot and a decent upstanding Irish citizen". Smita was seen by rescuers sitting by the car, cradling her dead baby in her arms. At the time a German bystander said: "She refused to let it go. She sat on a chair, wrapped in a blanket, clutching the little child; it was horrific."