Falklands widow remembers hero husband

4 April 2022

A widow whose husband died fighting in the Falklands has said she always thought he would return home.

Sgt Ian McKay, from Rotherham, was killed in June 1982 while trying to save his fellow soldiers from enemy fire.

He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the UK's top military honour.

Almost 40 years on, his widow Marica McKay has described him as a "proud, friendly and loyal" man.

"The whole day I can remember," she said, talking about the time she was told her husband had been killed.

"There was a knock at the door and I knew something was wrong. I said 'how bad was it?' They said he passed away.

"You don't think about people dying, to be honest."

Sgt McKay was killed while trying to save his colleagues of the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment from enemy fire at Mount Longdon.

Despite being injured, he secured an enemy position alone but was killed in the assault.

Marica McKay was speaking 40 years after her husbands was called up to fight

Forty years after he was called up to fight, his widow said she had been "naive" to think he may not come home.

He had sat down for dinner one evening when the phone rang telling him to go back to his base.

"We'd only be married about five years, and you think it is for life.

"I never thought he'd never come back."

The couple had met at a house party in Berlin when Mrs McKay took a shine to him.

"[He was] very friendly to everybody, and being family-orientated.

"He didn't talk about himself a lot. He just liked to get on with life."

Mrs McKay said her husband was sporty and while sailing to the Falklands he ran fitness classes for those under his command.

After his death, letters would still arrive from her husband telling her he was determined to come home.

"You feel proud, but I'd rather have him here," she said.

"I'll never forget Ian. The last thing I ever wanted to do was lose him. He was the love of my life."

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