MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands: RM veteran 'test case' for special flights

Bryan and Mark Sibley at MPA.<br> (Picture: Media Ops)

BRYAN SIBLEY, a Corporal in the Royal Marines during the Falklands War, has become the first SAMA82 veteran to be awarded an indulgence flight to visit the Islands.

The request was authorised by the Chief of Staff at Mount Pleasant (MPA), Group Captain Peter Jones, as a test case for September when all British veterans of the conflict will be able to apply for the concessions. Bryan's early visit was exceptionally authorized due to the fact his son, Corporal Mark Sibley RAF, is currently serving at MPA. Mark works with the police dog section and is coming to the end of his second four month deployment to the Islands. He was just two years old when his father landed at San Carlos on May 21, 1982 with 6 Assault Squadron from HMS Intrepid. Bryan said he never envisaged returning 26 years later to visit his own son serving in the same operational theatre. During the war Bryan was a radio operator on a large landing craft, responsible for ferrying troops and stores ashore to San Carlos, Fitzroy and Bluff Cove whilst under heavy bombardment from Argentine positions and the air. He returned to San Carlos during his visit and was able to stand on the jetty from which he ha conducted the original landings all those years ago. The father and son duo spent five days exploring the Islands and managed to cover most of the battlefields and monuments in the process and visited the Royal Marine Association in Stanley. Bryan and Mark were both overwhelmed by the hospitality of all the people they met during the visit and all the efforts by residents to ensure the visit was as fulfilling as possible. At the end of his father's stay Mark commented: "The way my father was treated like a returning hero, made it a very emotional visit for him and me, but also a very enjoyable and important thing to have done together." . Penguin News