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Prince Andrew reveals Falklands’ conflict experiences and anxieties

The Duke of York as a member of a helicopter rescue team in the 1982 conflict

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who served with the Royal Navy as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot in the Falkland Islands conflict, said that in spite of confidence in recovering “British territory” there was anxiety on the air carrier whether “we were doing the right thing”.

The Duke of York spoke on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow program on a Sunday’s Remembrance Day special which was filmed in September at the National Memorial Arboretum, a monument to “fallen” military personnel, where the names are noted of those who have lost their lives in the line of duty, including those in the Falklands conflict.

In response to questioning from Fiona Bruce about how he felt about seeing those names, Prince Andrew says: “It brings back the sort of thoughts that one was going through at the time. There was huge anxiety at 'were we doing the right thing?'

”Of course we were going to recover British territory. It was 30 years next year and that’s an awfully long time ago, but it’s still very fresh as a memory and I always think about the people I was serving with“.

During the program Prince Andrew also spoke of coming under attack from a missile while aboard HMS Invincible.

”There are moments of hilarity that I remember,“ he said. ”We were under missile attack one day and a friend of mine and I were trying to finish a Rubik’s cube and just as the missile attack was taking place, we completed it and we were told to lie on the floor, take cover on the deck with this completed Rubik’s cube between us.

“I always thought: imagine what people would have thought if something ghastly happened and two bodies were found with a Rubik’s cube between them. It brought home to me how fragile we are as human beings”.

The Special hour long program was broadcasted Sunday 13 November, Remembrance Day. It was filmed at the UK National Memorial Arboretum in September and features amazing personal stories from different wars in which Britain and the Commonwealth were involved.

Paul Kennedy, Curator of the National Memorial Arboretum, said: “We feel incredibly honoured to be hosting this special Remembrance episode of the Antiques Roadshow. It will further confirm that we are the place 'Where our Nation remembers'.”

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Britain’s Commonwealth countries since the end of World War One to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty.

Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of the first great war in 1918; hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.

In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day, commemorates the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. (BBC, Telegraph, MP).