Veteran soldiers blamed for UK military's worst loss of life in the Falklands War accuse Royal Navy commanders of a 'cover up'
Veteran soldiers who were blamed for the UK military’s worst loss of life in the Falklands War have accused Royal Navy commanders of a ‘cover up’ after the release of top secret files cleared them of blame.
For decades, naval officers publicly accused Welsh Guards of refusing orders to leave the Sir Galahad in San Carlos Bay shorty before it was bombed by Argentine aircraft, killing 48 men.
An article on the Navy’s official website about the tragedy still states that ‘aboard Sir Galahad, the Welsh Guards refused to leave.’
However, newly-released files from a naval inquiry conducted shortly after the disaster in 1982 reveals ‘at no time was a direct order to disembark’ given to the Welsh Guards by a superior officer on the ship.
RFA Sir Galahad was destroyed by an Argentinian aircraft on June 8, 1982 after what campaigners have described as a series of appalling mistakes by UK commanders
The bombing of a British ship in the Falklands War claimed 38 lives, but the Sir Galahad should not have been at Port Pleasant when the attack took place in daylight hours
Simon Weston, 62, the most well-known of the injured survivors after suffering severe burns, said: ‘It’s the very stark and unfortunate truth that we were abandoned that day, and then for the next 42 years we were blamed for it'
The bombshell report, marked ‘confidential’ and ‘secret’, was declassified by the Government following a campaign by survivors, their families and MPs.
Last night, Simon Weston, 62, the most well-known of the injured survivors after suffering severe burns, said: ‘It’s the very stark and unfortunate truth that we were abandoned that day, and then for the next 42 years we were blamed for it.
We are still left asking why we were so abused and disparaged, why it happened in the first place, and why was there that cover up?’
Malvin Sayle, widow of commanding officer Guy Sayle, who died in 2022, said: ‘We were shunned by everyone – and now my husband has died without knowing he was exonerated.’
