P&O Aurora - Falklands War nurses reunited with servicemen from HS Uganda

**Ally** · 03-24-2008, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Hospital ship nurses who served in the Falklands war are to be reunited in Southampton with some of the severely injured servicemen they treated more than a quarter of a century ago.

The first Hospital Ship Uganda reunion will be held on board the P&O Cruises superliner Aurora on April 20.

Some of the most severely injured servicemen from the 1982 Falklands conflict will be there - and for many it will be the first chance in 26 years to meet members of the RN Medical and Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service teams who cared for them.
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Her Majesty's Hospital Ship Uganda left Gibraltar for the South Atlantic in April 1982 and took the first casualties on May 11.

The medical teams aboard the vessel treated and cared for severely injured servicemen from all the combat zones until long after cessation of hostilities.

More than 700 casualties were cared for on the Uganda, while more than 500 surgical operations were carried out in its operating theatres.

The Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service personnel were the only military females working within the combat zone during the Falklands War and became the first female Royal Naval junior ratings in history to serve at sea.

The Hospital Ship Uganda was featured in The Imperial War Museum Falklands 25th Anniversary Exhibition in London last year.

More than 170 people from the UK and abroad have already confirmed they will be attending the reunion.

Falklands War Nurses Reunited With Servicemen (from Daily Echo)

**Ally** · 04-20-2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Falklands war hospital ship nurses have been reunited with some of the badly injured servicemen they treated more than 26 years ago.

More than 170 Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service (Qarnns) former personnel attended the first Hospital Ship Uganda reunion.

The event took place on board P&O Cruises liner, Aurora, in Southampton.

More than 900 people died during the 1982 war, among them 255 UK servicemen and 655 Argentines.

The Qarnns medics were the only military females working within the combat zone during the conflict and they were also the first female Royal Naval junior ratings in history to serve at sea.

Liz Ormerod, a senior nursing officer on board Uganda, said: "It stirs up a lot of emotions.

"But I think it is important as it shows the degree of solidarity that we had between the nursing staff and haven't forgotten and that we haven't forgotten those that we cared for."

The 53-year-old, from East Hagbourne, Oxfordshire, still works as a nurse.

Falklands veteran John Jones, a former lance-sergeant in the Welsh Guards, had both his legs amputated below the knee onboard the Uganda after he was injured in the conflict.

The 51-year-old, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, said: "I just wanted to shake the surgeon by the hand and thank the whole team for their dedication, sheer courage and care which meant that so many of us did come back alive."

'Head injuries'

Nicci Pugh, from Dartmouth, Devon, a sister in Uganda's operating roof, told BBC News: "We saw harrowing and saddening situations, but we had to help each other through the bad times and we had to be strong for our patients."

Nick Martin, a naval stores accountant from Newquay, Cornwall, suffered head injuries when two Exocet missiles hit the Atlantic Conveyor.

The 51-year-old said: "We were treated by an amazing team of people and I never got the chance to say 'thank you' for getting me back together again," he said.

The P&O educational cruise ship Uganda was requisitioned in the middle of a cruise in the Mediterranean after the Argentineans invaded the Falkland Islands

More than 700 casualties were cared for on the Uganda, and more than 500 surgical operations were carried out in its operating theatres.

BBC NEWS | England | Falklands Veterans' ship reunion

Decommissioned and on her way to the breakers, Uganda left Falmouth, UK for the last time in May 1986. A far cry from her days as a B+I liner and school ship, her last voyage as a school ship interupted when she was requistioned for hospital ship duty in the Falklands Conflict. She was in that role from May 11 thru July 10th 1982. She brought home Ghurkas of the Fifth Infantry Brigade on July 18th, arriving in Southampton on August 9th.

When I visited Port Stanley in 2005, there is a special part of the small museum of island life dedicated to the Conflict and more especially Uganda, whose photo looks over everything else on display there.

If you ever get the chance to visit Port Stanley, you should definately get off the ship and take a look around, its a lovely place with truly wonderful people.

The celebration & reunion aboard Aurora would have been extremely emotional for everyone involved.

aliq · 04-22-2008, 04:37 PM

My first cruise was a school cruise on the SS Uganda in 1972, and we went to Amsterdam, La Rochelle and Oporto. It was wonderful even though we slept in bunk beds in dormitories and the food was served in metal trays like prisoners have. We learned all things nautical as well as all about the ports of call. It was a fantastic adventure for all of us and we got to meet loads of children from other schools. I don't know if they still do school cruises - shame if they don't as they were truly educational in all ways.

**Ally** · 04-23-2008, 04:27 AM

There are a couple of ships that do educational type cruises..Mona Lisa is on her world cruise with several teenagers from colleges from all over the world, including the UK.

However the likes of Uganda and the other shcool ships of her time were probably the last of their type unfortunately.