LAMERTON ex-Royal Marine Yorkie Malone has returned home from a pilgrimage to the Falkland Islands earlier this month to take part in commemorations for Remembrance Day, 20 years on from the Falklands conflict.
Yorkie travelled with around 200 other Falklands veterans to be on the islands for Remembrance Sunday. The trip was organised by the South Atlantic Medal Association (SAMA), an organisation for anyone holding a Falklands Medal.
A remembrance service at Stanley?s Christ Church Cathedral was held in honour of those who lost their lives in the conflict, and was attended by the Duke of York.
He also visited the Stanley memorial to those soldiers who lost their lives, with an interesting West Devon connection.
The stone for the memorial came from Merrivale Quarry and was painstakingly worked on by Tavistock stonemason Doug Gee.
Yorkie also got the chance to catch up with Alastair and Robert Wilkinson who now live on the Falklands, but who went to school in Lamerton and whose sister Dorothy works as a police officer in Tavistock.
During the pilgrimage, he visited Two Sisters, the scene of a battle between the Argentinians and 45 Commando Royal Marines, of which he was a member.
The returning marines paid tribute to the two men in the company who died in the battle ? Cprl Spencer and Mne MacPherson. They were assisted in placing memorial crosses by a group of local scouts.
Yorkie said he was amazed at the items they found scattered around the inhospitable island which still remained from all those years ago ? including blankets, boots and old ammunition boxes.