| After leaving IJLB Oswestry in 1972, John served with the Welsh
Guards. During 1975 he completed selection for 22 SAS and went on
to serve in Oman, Northern Ireland and was on the Pebble Island Raid
which destroyed 11 aircraft during The Falklands War.
He was big in stature and even bigger in spirit. “Lofty” was regarded as one of the best climbers with 22 SAS. He had completed the German Alpine Guides’ course and climbed in Nepal and China. During the Falklands War he was leading a patrol on the island of South Georgia that became trapped in bad weather on top of the Fortuna Glacier. His expertise is said to have saved the patrol, whose extraction cost two Wessex helecopters, both of which crashed due to bad weather. A third chopper, over-laden and in blind conditions, finally managed to lift them off. On 19th May 1982, John was one of the twenty men from the SAS and attached arms who died in the tragic helicopter crash while moving from Hermes to the assault ship Intrepid. |
 |
|
|
|