SOUTH GEORGIA, 1982 “WE ALL DIE HERE”

South Georgia is one of the most remote islands in the world. At 104 miles long and 23 wide, it is a mountainous drop in the southern Atlantic Ocean. To its south lies only the icy desolation of Antarctica and its nearest inhabited neighbours are the Falkland Islands – almost 800 nautical miles away.

In 1982, South Georgia was the temporary home to a handful of scientists and workers of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) but it was to be an accidental catalyst of a bloody conflict. Like the Falklands, the island is a British Overseas Territory but Argentine forces invaded it in April 1982. The defence was overseen by a hastily assembled detachment of only 22 Royal Marine commandos led by Lieutenant Keith Mills. Despite their small number, they were determined to defend this far-flung outpost to the death.

One of these men was Lance Corporal George Thomsen. Then a 24-year-old section commander, Thomsen vividly describes how the Marines outfought the Argentineans at the frozen ends of the earth.

“Beyond your worst nightmare”

A native of Sunderland, Thomsen defied his father to join the armed forces, “I always wanted to be a Royal Marine. I wanted to join when I was 16 but my dad said I had to learn a trade so I served my apprenticeship as a coded welder and pipe fitter. I finished when I was 20 and joined the Marines at 21. My dad didn’t speak to me for weeks but I’d done what he wanted me to do. It was now time to do something for me.”

Thomsen joined the Royal Marines in October 1978 and by early 1981 he was the section commander of NP (Naval Party) 8901. Now the team leader of eight Marine commandos, Thomsen and his men volunteered for a yearlong tour of the Falkland Islands, “I knew they were a pair of desolate islands but we could choose where we wanted to go. We all jumped on the wagon because at the time some of the best-trained Marines were down there. We’d also served together before.”

For Thomsen, his deployment had several benefits, “I went so that all the lads could stay together in my team. We thought we’d go down there because it was a year away from the rest of the world and it was also a way to save some money up.”

The Marines departed for the Falklands in March 1981 but Thomsen’s first impressions of Port Stanley were not