28-year-old Chris Parry was an officer on a Wessex III helicopter on HMS Antrim during the Falklands War. Built in the 1960s, Antrim was primarily designed to deal with the threat from Soviet missiles. But in the early months of 1982 she found herself heading south to spearhead the operation to recover South Georgia from the Argentinians.
Within days Parry and his crew were trying to land SAS members on the formidable Fortuna Glacier in a near white-out. Buffeted by storm-force winds and driving snowstorms, they managed to disembark the men - only to be forced to return the following day when it was clear they couldn't survive the extremely hostile conditions. A few days later a sombre Parry was releasing the depth charges which disabled an Argentinian sub lurking in the freezing waters of South Georgia. He went on to take part in the landings at San Carlos and experience the intensity of Bomb Alley.
Chris Parry's diary, written every evening during the conflict immediately after the events described, has been lost for thirty years. It is published now for the first time on the anniversary of the war, a vivid and eloquent reminder of the dangers and hardships endured by our forces during the conflict.