MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ veteran emotional return to the Islands in support of traumatised soldiers

Left to right: Jim Foster, Tony Banks and Wayne Rees at Liberation Memorial in Stanley

The campaign by millionaire Scots businessman and ex-Para Tony Banks to raise funds for British soldiers traumatised by their wartime experiences will receive a shot in the arm, with the screening in April of a documentary charting his emotional return to the Falkland Islands.

Tony has just returned from the Falklands and visited a number of the battlefields where he fought as a 20-year-old during the conflict in 1982.

As founder and chairman of Forfar-based Balhousie Care Group, Tony took part in Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire program last year and lived undercover in Liverpool. There, he met Iraq war veteran Lee Sanger, who suffered from PTSD.

This experience prompted him to become involved with Combat Stress and provided the impetus for his return to the Falklands.

Channel 4 will screen the film of his four day, 50-plus mile trek to Port Stanley in April and Tony hopes the documentary will both raise awareness of, and much needed funds for, Combat Stress, the leading charity for those veterans suffering from service-related mental illness, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety.

Combat Stress has bases in Ayr, Surrey and Shropshire. Fellow Falklands’ veterans Jim Foster and Wayne Rees also joined Tony on his fundraising trek for the charity.
And their return to the site of battles such as Goose Green and Wireless Ridge made a devastating impact on Tony (48).

He said: “I was just a boy when I was there last and it was a very emotional experience to return again. The sheer size of the place was a shock. All of the battles were fought at night, so it was hard to get an appreciation of just how big the Islands are.

“But once we visited the graves – not just of the British soldiers, but of those on the Argentine side too – and the places where friends of mine died, the memories came flooding back and it became quite overwhelming.”

The welcome he and his colleagues received from the Islanders also took Tony by surprise. He said: “We talked to some of the people who were kicked out of their houses or captured at Goose Green and who still feel they are under threat of invasion.

“Every one of them told us about how tremendous it felt to be liberated and how grateful they were to the armed forces for helping give them their freedom back.

“When we walked into Port Stanley, there were around 70 people who had come out into the street to meet us.
“We gave a talk to a group of 14-year-olds at Port Stanley School. The teacher there was on a secondment from the UK and his father was actually killed at Mount Longdon.

“As we talked about our experiences, we could see him getting quite emotional too. Once we started talking to the youngsters, we found more and more of them telling us about how their parents and grandparents fought in the conflict. It really was something that touched everyone on the Islands and we were grateful to have had the opportunity to share our experiences with them.”

Tony also admitted returning to the Islands had also confirmed his own beliefs on the conflict itself.

He said: “We visited Liberty Lodge, which is a fantastic facility originally devised by the Falklands Veteran's Foundation for the benefit of veterans visiting the Islands.
“There, I was giving a talk to the Governor of the Islands, the Commander of the British Forces and local dignitaries about the servicemen who died on both sides and about how several times since the end of the conflict I had questioned whether the war was worth it.

“But having gone back again, spoken to the Islanders, seen the transformation in places like Port Stanley, it was clear to me that it was a just cause and that the sacrifice of the 255 British servicemen who died was not in vain.

“I was incredibly humbled by this realisation and had to leave the room as I found myself completely overwhelmed.”
“I was both surprised and saddened to learn that a number of the Islanders still suffer from PTSD as a consequence of the conflict,” he said.

“Combat Stress does some incredibly important work and I very much hope people will feel moved to support our campaign to raise £10,000 for the charity once they see the film of our return to the island next month.”

For more information on Tony’s trek to the Falklands, please visit: www.justgiving.com/Tony-Banks