Falklands War: Children of dead plan final goodbye

The daughter of a Welsh Guardsman who died in the Falklands War has said she needs to travel to the islands for a final goodbye and move on with her life.

Katie Gibby's dad, Mark, died aged 22 when the Sir Galahad ship was attacked by Argentine jets in 1982.

Katie, 40, and her friend Gareth Dale, 39, who also lost his father on the ship, want to visit the islands.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War.

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"He joined the guards to get a better life, because all that was left in the Rhondda and in the area was mining," said Katie, a nurse from Rhondda Cynon Taf.

She said her mother and grandparents were "petrified" that her father would "never come back".

"He could have got out of going, but he stuck with it because they were brothers, they were his army family and he had a job to do, and he did his job and it cost him his life. It cost me my father," she said.

'Born into grief'

The attack on the Sir Galahad ship saw 56 men lose their lives, the biggest single loss suffered by the British during the conflict

Mark Gibby was one of 32 Welsh Guards who were killed when the Sir Galahad troop ship was bombed by Argentine forces.

"We were born into grief, we've grieved all our lives," said Katie.

"Growing up I was very, very angry, but he sacrificed his life, and that's a very brave thing to do, and if it wasn't for them, the people of the Falkland Islands wouldn't have the lives that they live today, and that's something I'm very very proud of."

What was the Falklands War?

On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a remote UK colony in the South Atlantic.

Argentina said it had inherited the islands from Spain in the 1800s and wanted to reclaim sovereignty of them.

The UK, which had ruled the islands for 150 years, quickly chose to fight, leading to a brief, but bitter war, lasting 72 days.

In the fighting that followed, 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen lost their lives, as did three Falkland Islanders.

British forces regained the Falklands and ejected the Argentines on 14 June 1982.

Katie and Gareth said their health has suffered because of the grief of losing their fathers in such traumatic circumstances, and neither of them were offered any counselling or support growing up.

"We weren't offered any counselling, we had no support mental health wise growing up at all, which is something which needs to be sorted out," said Katie.

"If I had counselling growing up maybe my life would have been a little bit different."

She added: "I had counselling when I was 30, I've seen psychologists and I've seen counsellors and they've all said that until I go to the islands I'm never going to get closure.

"I'm 40 next week and I'm still waiting for closure, I need to go, my mind needs to go. I need to be there and I need to be able to say goodbye to him. I can't speak to a little plaque that I have next to my grandparents graveside and say goodbye to him, because he's not there.

"At least I can say 'goodbye dad, I'm proud of you and I wish you were here growing up'."

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We will forever be indebted to our brave personnel who fought and lost their lives in the Falklands War.

"Our welfare provision has greatly expanded over the years for veterans and their families. We would encourage Katie and Gareth to contact Veterans UK to discuss what support is available to them."

'They're all heroes'

Katie Gibby's father died in the Falklands War when she was a baby

Katie and Gareth lived near each other as children and have made a "pact" to travel to the Falklands together.

Guardsman Ian Dale was the youngest guardsman to die on the ship, at the age of 19.

Gareth said: "It was a big hole, a big gap, a big empty space with nothing there in my life. My father, I just would have liked to have met him that's all.

"I've always thought, from the age of 11, 12, I have got to go out there one day and I've got to see the site where my dad lost his life.

"It would give me a lot of closure, for me and Katie to go out there and actually just see the place and just say my goodbyes and be so proud of what they achieved.

"They're all heroes. In my eyes, they're all heroes," he said.

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