Hugh McManners - Falklands Commando

Light Gun105-mm artillery gun used by Commando, parachute and ‘light’ field artillery

LPDLanding Platform Dock (HMS Fearless and Intrepid )

LRORN rank, Leading Radio Operator

LS(helicopter) Landing Site

Lynxnaval helicopter

MASHUS army term for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (also name of comedy film about Korean War)

MDSMain Dressing Station, field hospital with rudimentary surgical facilities

MTMotor Transport

Nav BagNavigation bag; carried by aviators

NCONon-Commissioned Officer

NGSNaval Gunfire Support

NimrodLong-range RAF reconnaissance aircraft based on the old Comet jet aircraft

NODNight Observation Device

NP8901Naval Party number 8901, garrisoned in the Falklands before the Argentine invasion

NuttyConfectionery (as in nutty locker)

OCOfficer Commanding

OGsOlive Green lightweight trousers

Once-only SuitBright orange immersion suits to keep dry after abandoning ship (hopefully used once and discarded)

OPObservation Post; Observation Position

Oppo partnerEveryone is paired up with a partner, and on operations they always stay close to each other (See Brick)

OrbatOrder of Battle

P CompanyParachute selection company; four gruelling weeks of long marches, assault courses and runs carrying heavy equipment and loads, to select soldiers for service with airborne forces

PipeTannoy announcement on a ship

Pluto waveExercise to strengthen arms, shoulders and back; peculiar movements required, reminiscent of canine olfactory investigation

PNGPassive Night Goggles

PORoyal Navy Petty Officer

POLPetrol, Oil and Lubricants

PonchoRectangular waterproof poncho, with hood for use as a raincoat; more commonly used as lightweight overhead shelter, stretched tightly over a trench or a hide

PoWs or PWsPrisoners of War

PTPhysical Training

Proximity fusesSee VT

Puri tabsWater purifying tablets

PusserPurser, term for anything official, e.g. pusser’s issue rum – also known as the ‘tot’

PWOPrincipal Warfare Officer

RALONGSRoyal Artillery Liason Officer Naval Gunfire Support (Lt.-Colonel Eve)

RapierShort Range Air Defence Missile System (SHORADS)

Rat Pack, ratsRations

RFARoyal Fleet Auxiliary

RIBRigid Inflatable Boat

Rigid RaiderFlat-bottomed fibreglass assault dory, very fast, bumpy and you get very wet

RO1RN rank, Radio Operator Class 1

RolandFrench-made anti-aircraft missile system used by the Argentinians

RSRN rank, Radio Supervisor

RTU’dReturned to Unit (from a course)

RVRendezvous

SACCSupporting Arms Co-ordinating Centre

SalvoRound of Naval Gunfire Support

SASSpecial Air Service

SBSSpecial Boat Squadron Royal Marines (as in 1982, but later expanded into the Special Boat Service); also SB, SB Squadron and The Squadron

SchoolieRoyal Navy Education Officer

ScoutLight helicopter

SDSSea King Delivery Service, also HDS (Helicopter Delivery Service) when RM or Army Gazelle helicopters were doing it

SectionThe smallest group of infantry, of 6 to 10 men

SHARSea Harrier

SIGINTSignals Intelligence

SLRBritish 7.62-mm Self-Loading Rifle

Small armsHand weapons, rifles, SMGs, pistols and GPMGs

SMGSub-Machine-Gun

SnakeSee Commando Snake

SpoofJoke

StickiesCakes eaten at tea-time in large quantities, by soldiers embarked on ships

Stick OrbatList of names of people to travel in each helicopter, or to parachute, jumping together (see Orbat)

StroppyAdjective meaning un-cooperative and argumentative (can lead to bites and even goffa’s )

STUFTShips taken up from trade: merchant ships on charter

TabbingParachute equivalent of ‘yomping’, i.e. head down, gun in hand, bergen as high as possible and you cover the ground steadily without pause

Tail-end CharlieCould be a rear gunner in an aircraft; for commando purposes, the last man in a Commando Snake, or patrol

Tank-deckLower deck on any LPD

ThunderboxPortable lavatory

TIThermal Imager

UHFUltra-high Frequency

VC10Passenger-carrying RAF jet aircraft

VHFVery-High Frequency, used in military radios for medium range communications

VTVariable Time naval shell fuses (similar to artillery proximity fuses); operated by a sensor that explodes the shell a set height from the ground

WatchesRoyal Navy term for working shift

Webbing(equipment) worn around the waist, with shoulder straps and pouches (pronounced ‘pooches’ by Royal Marines), for ammunition, food and medical kit (also belt order and fighting order)

WessexOldest but tried and trusted RN troop-carrying helicopter

WetDrink (a wet of tea; as in “I’ve just made us a wet”)

I owe a great deal to many people who helped me in the writing of this book, and I am glad to have the opportunity of expressing my thanks to them.

My father the late Rev Prof John McManners FBA reflected over the initial version with the jaundiced eye of a professional historian and the perceptions of a World War II soldier, and gave me counsel and the faith to persevere. My mother drew the original maps and compiled the index. I owe a lot to her painstaking toil. Lord David Ramsbotham’s participation in both the publication of this book and subsequent activities was invaluable. The late Dr Richard Fargher, a World War II gunner and Oxford don, and Mary his wife, proof read the first version. My close friend and comrade-in-arms Dennis Marshall-Hasdell, a commando who uniquely is also a Buccaneer navigator, gave detailed and invaluable copy-editing advice, as well as the support I have described in my narrative. The late General Sir Thomas Morony, KCB, OBE, the Master Gunner St James’s Park, read my first draft, giving vital encouragement and advice. Many others helped with the various versions of this book, including Roger Opie, Patrick Mason, Lt-Colonel Keith Eve, Lieutenant General Chris Brown, Colonel David Heaver, Mickey Warrender, Dr Mark Ironmonger and Mike Sims. I have profited from a great deal of advice, I am deeply grateful for it, but I have not always followed it, so any errors are my responsibility.

A final word of gratitude should go to my colleagues in 148 Commando Forward Observation Battery, with whom I spent five very happy years culminating in Operation Corporate. After operational tours in Gulf War One (1991) including Special Forces’ Scud-hunting missions inside Iraq, a decade of Op Herrick tours in Afghanistan from 2002, the 2003 Iraq invasion, and subsequent ops in Iraq as part of Op Telic, 148 FO Battery is now getting back to their normal war role – advance force operations, as we did in the Falklands, working closely with the Royal Navy and Special Boat Service.