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Lance Corporal Willie Urban joined the Scots Guards when he left school as he “didn’t want to go in the pits”.

A few years later, he found himself in the Falklands, shooting at Argentinian planes and finding a bomb during a football match.

Sitting on his desk at Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory is a photo of Willie Urban, in Army fatigues, standing on a hillside with a machine gun. Behind him a fellow Scots Guard scours the bleak, exposed landscape of the Falklands with binoculars.

Willie Urban with a picture of him in the Falklands 40 years ago.

The picture was taken in Bluff Cove in June 1982, shortly after a devastating Argentinian air attack had claimed the lives of dozens of Welsh Guards in the nearby harbour. As the planes roared overhead, there was no time to think first.

“I’d never fired that gun before,” Willie said.

“There’s nothing in training that can prepare you for that. At that point the adrenaline just takes over. When I got back to the base afterwards my hands were still shaking.”

Willie, now 65, was a 25-year-old Lance Corporal when he was posted to the Falklands with the 2nd Battalion, the Scots Guards.

He grew up in Newtongrange, and joined up aged 15 after leaving school, despite some concerns from his family. Apart from an uncle in the RAF, he didn’t have any family members in the military.

“I didn’t want to go in the pits like my father,” he said.

“It was pretty scary at first, but I soon got into the swing of things.

“I didn’t join up to go to war, but this was what we’d trained for. I knew nothing about the Falklands, I didn’t even know where it was.

“My wife accepted it was my job. She had enough on her plate as our youngest child was just five months old.”

Willie finally returned home to be reunited with his wife and young family. He continued his Army career, including serving as a drum instructor at Guards Depot, before he was discharged in 1996 after 22 years.

“Oh God, I miss it,” he said

“If I could do it again, I would. When I was 15, I was going into the unknown. I’d never left home, never been out of Scotland. I got on that train to Kings Cross and never looked back.

“It had its ups and downs, but I stuck at it, and made friends for life.”

Willie remembers when they were first sent ashore in the Falklands: “It was wild, rough terrain. It was cold, and the ground was boggy. They gave us galoshes to wear over our boots, but some wouldn’t wear them. They got trench foot, like back in the First World War.

“It was a case of get in, build up shelters and get settled in. We just had to get on with life as best we could. We had to prepare ourselves for the unknown.

“One day we were all sitting in the trenches, and we heard a boom. We were all taking cover. An artillery officer said: ‘That’s not for you guys’.

“They were bombarding the mountain. The Navy and RAF were coming in. It was like fireworks in the night. We could see the attack going on. It was like it was in slow motion. The machine guns have a tracer that lights up. They blew the top of the mountain off.”

The platoon was transferred by ship to Bluff Cove in early June during a night he describes as “one of the scariest ever” as they battled high waves in the South Atlantic.

On June 8th, the Argentinian air force bombed ships anchored close by in Port Pleasant in one of the most devastating attacks of the conflict. Two ships, Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram were hit by five Argentine Skyhawks.

Sir Galahad burst into flames instantly, with survivors jumping into the water to escape. Around 48 members of the Welsh Guards lost their lives.

Willie and his platoon were stationed on the other side of the hill as the air attacks took place.

He said: “The Argentinians came through the valley, and the first wave hit the ships really badly. The next time they came through we were ready for them, firing from the hip.

“They were so close you could almost see the pilots. We thought they were dropping more bombs on us, but it was only the fuel tanks to get more height and get away.

“We saw the smoke coming from the bay. It was only later that we learned what happened. The ships were in flames, and there were guys diving into the water trying to get away from the burning ships.

“It was horrendous - the biggest loss from one regiment. I had many friends in the Welsh Guards who lost their lives.”

A few days later they were ordered to move forward to Goat Ridge, just outside Port Stanley, within “touching distance” of Mount Tumbledown. On the night of June 13th , they were part of the defence platoon, prepared to go in to replace casualties if required.

They could see the battle taking place in the early hours of the morning, with casualties brought back to them on stretchers. Eight Scots Guards were killed that night, as well as a Royal Engineer who was attached to the battalion.

“After the ceasefire we moved on to Mount Tumbledown,” Willie said.

“Everybody was walking about in a daze, but still switched on. In a way they were shellshocked.

“I think if the battle had gone on for another couple of hours, then we would’ve lost. We were running out of ammunition.”

After that, they were sent back to the ship for a bit of “R&R” (rest and recuperation).

“We were trying to calm down, but there were people walking about like cripples because of trench foot.

“Then we got hurled off the boat so they could take the prisoners back to Montevideo.

“After that, we had to stay until August to clear up. We had to go round the island and dismantle trenches and take away barbed wire.

“We were more relaxed, but you still had to be alert. One day we were playing five-a-side football, and we found an unexploded bomb at the back of our accommodation. They managed to get rid of it.”

Falklands 40th stories - Lance Corporal Willie Urban from Newtongrange