Falklands war hospital ship nurses were yesterday reunited in Southampton with some of the severely injured servicemen they treated over a quarter of a century ago.
More than 170 former RN medical personnel and veterans attended the first Hospital Ship Uganda reunion which was held on board the P&O Cruises superliner Aurora.
Some of the most severely injured servicemen from the 1982 Falklands conflict attended - and for many it was the first chance in 26 years to meet with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (Qarnns) personnel that cared for them.
The P&O educational cruise ship Uganda was requisitioned after the Argentinians invaded the Falkland Islands in the middle of a cruise in the Mediterranean.
More than 700 casualties were cared for on the Uganda, and more than 500 surgical operations were carried out in its operating theatres.
Nick Martin, a former RN leading stores accountant, suffered head injuries when the Atlantic Conveyor, a container ship requisitioned by the navy, was hit by two exocet missiles.
The 51-year-old from Newquay, Cornwall, said: "It has been quite an emotional event.
"It's been an opportunity to say a big thank you, not necessarily to any individual but to the team that I never got to know or meet properly."
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