Veterans set for return to Falklands

One of the youngest Royal Marines to take part in the Falklands conflict is preparing to make his first return to the islands on the 30th anniversary of the war.

Graham Jones, 47, is part of a group of ex-servicemen who will travel to the South Atlantic next month to take part in the Stanley Marathon.

Their aim is pay homage to those who died in the Falklands and raise money to support British veterans of all conflicts.

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Mr Jones, now a police constable for Cheshire Police, was just 17 when his Commando unit was mobilised following Argentina’s invasion in April 1982.

The father-of-three, from Ellesmere Port, said: “We were supposed to be going on leave but the Royal Navy Police stopped us at the gate and told us we were going to the Falklands.”

Mr Jones was told he was too young to join his colleagues on the UK Task Force, which was being assembled to re-take the islands. However, he said: “Luckily, because I was coming up to 17 and three quarters, they decided I was eligible to follow my mates down there.”

As well as the marathon, on 18 March, the group will return to battle sites and pay their respects at the Falklands’ memorials to the fallen.

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