Join Mark Aston for a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat true story of one soldier's Special Forces operations in the Falklands War.
After passing the world's toughest Special Forces selection to get into D Squadron, 22 SAS, in 1979, Mark 'Splash' Aston thought he'd missed out on all the action. Too late to fight with the SAS in a decade-long secret war in Oman, when terrorists then seized the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980 Splash missed out again when responsibility for the counter-terror role was passed to their comrades in B Squadron just weeks earlier.
Then on April 2nd, 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.
Days later D Squadron were on their way south as the cutting edge of Britain's campaign to retake the islands. And over the next six weeks of fighting, as one extraordinary episode followed another, the action never let up.
From the 100 mph winds and minus 25-degree temperatures atop South Georgia's Fortuna Glacier to a foxhole on West Falkland operating under the noses of the enemy, Splash and the men of D Squadron fought in contact after contact. In doing so they burnished the legend of the SAS with the astonishing assault on the Argentine airfield on Pebble Island that decimated the enemy's ground attack capability and, in the dead of night, prevailed in their vicious close quarter battle with Argentine Special Forces defending Mount Kent.
But it was an event that was out of their control that came close to defining D Squadron's war: the night their Sea King helicopter crashed into the South Atlantic with 31 people on board. Splash was one of just seven survivors of a tragedy that caused the heaviest loss of life to the Regiment since World War II. Evacuated to a hospital ship to recover from his injuries, he defied orders and a suspected broken neck to escape back to his unit and rejoin the fight until it was won.
Join us for an unstoppable, edge-of-the-seat insight into still classified Special Forces operations during the Falklands War.
You will be able to buy a copy of Mark's book, 'SAS Sea King Down' on the night and get it signed.
If you are unable to attend in person, then you can buy an online pass to watch live and join in the Q&A, or watch on catch up at your convenience afterwards. Click on the Online Pass option below - you will be asked to select a session which is a requirement of our online booking system - please be aware, it doesn't matter which session you select because you will be able to view the talk at anytime after it has gone live from 7pm on Monday 13th April. You will be sent a link to view the lecture after booking.
The content of talks are based on the research and views of the guest speakers.
The Museum is an independent charity and all proceeds from this event go towards supporting the work we do in preserving the history of British Army aviation.
