The Passage South

The Task Force headed south for Ascension Island. Admiral Woodward and his staff moved to Glamorgan, and Antrim, Plymouth and RFA tanker Tidespring detached to retake South Georgia.

The operation, codenamed Paraquet, was secret - no-one in UK was told and the ships were 'removed' from all charts in Northwood Fleet HQ. While we speculated about whether diplomacy would succeed, our families knew nothing about our movements.

Those who had not crossed the Equator before were tried by King Neptune for trespassing and punished by being 'soaped' and 'shaved', then dunked energetically by his 'bears'.

At Ascension Island we spent 2 days embarking stores from an increasingly busy Wideawake airfield.

On 14 April we met the S Atlantic patrol ship HMS Endurance whose Royal Marines had contributed to the brave but forlorn defence of South Georgia. Antrim 'manned and cheered ship' as a mark of respect for her lonely, spirited defence.

For 16 hours on 17 April, we replenished stores, ammunition, and Special Forces from RFA Fort Austin. On passage they practised their boat drills.

The weather deteriorated. Gale force winds, rough seas, snow showers made it very cold for the upper deck lookouts and underway replenishment teams.