John McDermott - Exhibition commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Falklands War in 2007.

(Text taken from sell out exhibition brochure)

The central theme of his Falklands War paintings addresses the trauma of war, focussing on his own experiences onboard the Royal Navy Frigate, HMS Plymouth and the suffering of others. Traces of death, violence and destruction are evident within the paintings; yet again, as in all his other work, they also offer hope of the survivability of the human spirit. The paintings do not point accusations as to the cause or blame of war. Never the less they set in motion important questions as to why wars need to be fought at all.

This exhibition was dedicated by him to the people of the Falkland Islands, who 25 years after the conflict ended, still live in fear of having their self-determination taken from them. Their future and freedom is very close to his heart. What follows below are the list of paintings exhibited.

May 2, 1982 South Atlantic

My Diary . 2nd May “Detached from main body to form a Surface Action Group with HMS Antrim, Brilliant and RFA Tidespring. Plan is to engage an enemy surface group to the south. Got news that the battle cruiser General Belgrano has been torpedoed - severely damaged. If true my heart goes out to their loved ones. I always convince myself that we are running the same risks” It’s dark outside and the sea is rough.

After an air attack

My Diary. 20th May “Came to Action Stations at 0230 this morning. Now in a bay of water called San Carlos. 0600. Landings begin. We are covering and ready to give NGS (Naval Gunfire Support) at any time. Heavy gunfire heard ashore during this time. Still dark outside. 0700. Marines have advanced 3 miles inshore. Other large units arriving now, these include Canberra, Norland Ferry, Europic Ferry. Troops are being ferried ashore swiftly by landing craft. No enemy opposition at this time. It appears that all the enemy have been destroyed. 1200. We have been at Action Stations for ten hours now - no strain. We’ve had some scares. 1300. We been lucky so far the ship has sustained four attacks from Mirage 5 and A4 Skyhawks. All have been beaten off. We think we caused a Mirage to splash - though not confirmed. 1610. Air attacks have been continuing. So far our CAP (Combat Air Patrol) have been scoring successes with 10 enemy aircraft down - all types. Earlier HMS Antrim sustained damage on her Quarterdeck and was strafed by 30mm cannon. Damage repaired? 2000. Since the last time I wrote events have accelerated. We came under severe air attack about 1830 and the Argentine aircraft, ‘Mirages’, only just missed us. It was very tense for all of us. We managed to fire back - clumsily - but we managed. Even as I write I have another air threat warning. We are bearing up well. HMS Ardent has been abondoned. God bless her dead. 0230. Now sailing to assist HMS Argonaut. She has been hit 3 times and is low in the water. She is literally a floating bomb. We will remain in San Carlos during the day light hours to fight of the expected air attacks”. I can’t sleep.

After action

My Diary. 23rd May. “The air attack was pretty tense, but we are doing our best and the results are showing. 2130. Antelopes UXB (unexplained bomb) has blown. She has abandoned ship - we are assisting. 2300. We know that 90% of her ship’s company have been saved - but the ship itself is a total flaming wreck. The lads are showing some obvious signs of strain. It’s not encouraging seeing your ships blow up. We’re all in one piece, and fighting fit. Thank God”. I am exhausted but can’t sleep.

Before action No 1

My Diary. 26th May. “Heading back into San Carlos after being on the gunline off Fox Bay. We fired 200 rounds at enemy positions. Big explosions reported ashore. God knows how many we have killed this morning. Back in San Carlos for the expected air attacks. It was a shock to hear about HMS Coventry and Altantic Conveyor. My thoughts are full of horrors they must be experiencing - that can well be imagined by us all. We are becoming numb to the losses, simply accepting them with shrugs of shoulders. I see this on the faces of others, perhaps myself. Horrible is the thought. How many losses can we accept, 5 ships or even 10? We feel we are too lucky.” We hate the daytime, the good weather. Waiting for the Sun to come up always means another day to survive the action that always comes.

Before action No 2

My Diary. 30th May “What an interesting day! We managed to be sent away (from San Carlos) for a rest period - a few days rest and maintenance period - to get stores etc, etc, . During the day we meet up with the Hermes group and take up station. During the Dog Watches (1600 to 2000) we get an Exocet scare. We go to Action Stations. Thus turns out to be spurious radar echoes (False Alert). 30 minutes later we get the real thing. We pick up Exocet Missile launch coming in our direction. We cover the Hermes to take the hit. HMRS Exeter fires Sea dart, we fired chaff and get our *4.5’s down the threat direction. One of our guy’s shits himself. We decoy the missiles. Day one of our rest period over.” My mate later says “when you can read the fuck’in serial number of a fuck’in Exocet as whizzes by you, then you say you had an Exocet attack.*The 4.5’s were the main armament of the ship. These are semi-automatic twin mounted naval guns with calibre of 4.5 inches housed within an enclosed turret.

South Atlantic Night

There was this short time, during the war, when we had no air attacks and no operations against enemy troops ashore. The ship was out of San Carlos and briefly within the safety of the main Task Force.

Looking out from the upper deck of the ship I saw nothing but the long swell of an immense sea, and we, in our small ship, were nothing but an insignificant particle of it. I rested that night, as I lay at my action stations, feeling teh weight of the heavy sea through the thin metal side of the ship. Rhythmic and caressing; somehow allowing me, that moment of sanctuary, that I so much needed to think of home.

South Atlantic Swell

Throughout the conflict the weather was always quite rough with long heavy swells. This made me feel so much further from home.

Maze of Conflict

The British, the Americans, the dastardly invading Argentines, the entire United Nations, as reported by BBC World Services radio - garbling on hourly. Arguments and peace initiatives as we listened intently to the ships radio, while preparing the ship from a peace time 21-year-old Frigate, a cheap post World War II utilitiy unit, being made over in 1982 as a worthy Low Value Expendable Unit. We sailed on south, the first ship to do so, on the brief command from the Commander in Chief Fleet, “Prepare for War”. Thatcher, Carrington, Pym and Natt. Galtieri, Costa Mendes, Haig and Regan. London, New York, Buenos Aires. Un Resolutions, Maritime Exclusions Zones - good by Queen, long live Argentina! Up yer Junta! We knew them all. What we didn’t know was the single name of any Falkland Islander. Those caught in the middle so far away.

San Carlos - 21 May

At first light we saw San Carlos around us. Fanning Head and the bare rolling hills. A bit like Scotland and just as cold. This quiet landscape didn’t feel like war zone and the ships, loads of them, looked like a Spithead Fleet Review. All that seemed missing were the holiday homes looking out over the bay. I shared such thougts with a mate of mine for about 5 minutes that morning.

Burial at sea

My diary. 24 May - “Late evening. We have just buried two young lads at sea. They were seaman that died on HMS Argonaut. It was a good a service and most of the ship’s company turned up to take part. It was solemn and dignified. Their families would have been pleased by the way it was conducted. Both Padres expressed the meaning of life and the sadness of death. This means much to us as we have been living with death since we came down here. To even both up. We die for the love of our country. We’re dying to get back to our country - more like it. It’s now about 12 hours after we buried the 2 lads from HMS Argonaut. Reflecting on the scene of a burial at sea can be very moving. I’ll never forget the event - ever.”

Sleeping Warrior - the day the ship got hit.

My dairy. 8th June. “1600. At this time the ship volunteered to go out alone into the sound (Falkland Sound) to get within range of Rosalie Mountain to cancel out an enemy Observation Post that had been spotted by Special Forces. 1610. We weighed anchor and proceeded out preparing for a direct bombardment at the same time. Shortly before we left the bay (San Carlos) we heard an air raid warning due in 30 minutes. We still proceeded regardless into the Sound. The Captain decided we had time to let loose some rounds at the enemy. The ship reached the gunline and I applied our initial settings for the shoot. Thereafter events happened quickly. Five aircraft were seen in the area around the Sound, near the bay. We were quite literally caught with our pants down. The aircraft at once spotted us and must have decided that they had an easy victory. They attacked in straight line ahead, one after the other. The aircraft, Mirage 5’s, came in very low firing some 30mm cannon at us scoring some hits. They then moments after released their bombs, 2 apiece at us. 4 of them hit, the rest splashed very near the ship. The turret was put out of action and the ship set on fire. We left our action stations with rifles since we couldn’t fire the 4.5.

During the attack we shot down 3 aircraft (later found out it was 2 with 1 other damaged) It is one day that I find hard to describe, even in this diary. An unforgettable, frightening experience. We are all lucky to be alive - we should have been sunk” As we were about to be attacked I became very calm inside. Around me were my family and loved ones, past and present, my grandmother, a loving aunty, my sisters and many more. It was as if they were ready to take me over the other side and into spirit. My life was shown to me, what was wrong and what was right. When I acknowledged this my grandmother held me tight to her, secure and safe.

Argentine POW’s - The three amigos

After the surrender on 14 June HMS Plymouth became the first British warship to enter into Stanley harbour. A boarding party from the ship then captured the Argentine supply vessel, Yehuin, taking it back alongside Public Jetty. It was near here that we seen the the retreating Argentine soldiers coming in from the surrounding area. Some were in dreadful state. This was the first time since April operation in South Georgia that we seen the enemy face to face. I felt so sorry for them, realising suddenly, that just like us, they too were survivors. This image of the Argentine soldiers has remained with me. The soldier was carrying his wounded buddy with another not too keen on surrendering.

Argentine POW - scrap metal merchant

My diary 26 April. “This afternoon I took the ships Sea Rider (rigid inflatable craft) in to a small cove to collect our SAS who landed the night before. I also collect the Argentine Marine Commander, Captain Alredo Astiz to sign the surrender of South Georgia. We also have 37 other prisoners, which include 6 marines. The others are of special interest. They are the civilian scrap metal dealers sent to S Georgia about 5 weeks ago - those who originally started this whole mess. Now sitting in the dining hall, they look a pathetic lot, dirty, smelly. I do feel sorry for them, but only for their pathetic situation. It won’t last for ever (they were soon sent home). Anyway, our hard ship is more than theirs”. One Argentine prisoner looked terrified. I tried to console him with a friendly smile, offering him some chocolate and a couple of fags (I got a bollocking for this!). He remembered me as we escorted them through the ship and up to the flight deck to be helo transferred over to RFA Tidespring. He briefly smiled at me and I said “adios amigo” He smiled more brightly at this and waved a goodbye. I hoped he would get home safe, as I too, hoped to be, at some later date.

HMS Endurance Cumberland Bay, South Georgia 1982

This was one of a whole series of paintings done shortly after I got home from the conflict. The 1982 crew of the Endurance, the "‘Red Plum’, knew more about the islands than any of us, and they remained at sea for much longer. We admired them.

HMS Plymouth

With HMS Antrim bombarding enemy positions near Grytviken, South Georgia 1982 (Another painting done shortly after I returned from the conflict). My diary. 25th April. This morning at 0930 we went to action stations. We began the assault on South Georgia. Our mission - to bombard the enemy strong points. We did this with great success. All in all we fired 166 rounds of 4.5 HE (High Explosive) at them in what was later described as excellent shooting. Earlier our helo with three others attacked the Guppy (the Argentine submarine, ARA Santa Fe) with five reported missile hits. We put the sub out of action - several damaged. It later settled in the water of the jetty at Grytviken. The helo’s few all afternoon landing troops, equipment. The assault lasted 2hours. The Argentine’s realised their hopeless position and surrendered at 1735GMT. They hoisted the white flag. Our troops accepted this surrender and promptly hoisted the Union Flag and Naval White Ensign. South Georgia is British again.

Later we sailed into Leith Harbour and soon had the ‘un-suurrendered’ marines - surrendered. No loss of life today I’m glad to say. We later found out that an argentine Petty Officer from ARA Santa Fe was shot dead by a Royal Marine on the belief that he was about to scuttle his submarine. He was later buried with full military honours provided by a detachment from the crew of HMS Antrim in Number 1 ceremonial uniform. The Argentine press still cynically voice that the Petty Officer was murdered. He was really the first known casualty in a conflict, origins of which lay with a malevolent military Junta housed as government in Buenos Aries.

Gotcha -76 x 56cm - watercolour on heavy paper

Gotcha 20

It was only when I got back home that I realised that the war, public and the media had already played out their own conflict. The ‘Gotcha’ headline by the Sun newspaper, announcing the torpedoing by HMS Conqueror, typified the ‘jingoistic nonsense that was fed to the public back home. I was very angry with this. They had no idea that over 300 sailors had perished horribly in the same sea that we sailed, at a time when we all thought that ‘last chance’ 11th hour, peace’ might be found. Few matelot’s celebrated the sinking of the Belgrano, even though we all knew it was a legitimate military target. The reference to ‘Guernica’ is deliberate. The sea, to the best of my memory, is how it was on that day.