:00:10. > :00:20.Welcome to Inside Out, for a special programme of the Falklands
:00:20. > :00:33.
:00:33. > :00:39.It is nearly 30 years since 255 British servicemen and women lost
:00:39. > :00:46.their lives in the Falklands War. Back then, at a Braille navy gunner
:00:46. > :00:52.was hailed as a hero, after shooting down a top fighter pilot.
:00:52. > :01:00.-- a Royal Navy. Nicola has uncovered an extraordinary story of
:01:00. > :01:06.international friendship that was born in battle. 8,000 miles away,
:01:06. > :01:09.in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, lie the Falkland Islands.
:01:09. > :01:12.Just 3,000 people live in this remote British outpost, and it was
:01:12. > :01:22.a determination to preserve their unique way of life that led to a
:01:22. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :01:34.bitter war taking place here in More than 900 men were killed when
:01:34. > :01:37.Argentina invaded the Falklands. Thousands of personal stories of
:01:37. > :01:47.bravery and survival came out of the war, but to this day, one of
:01:47. > :01:52.
:01:52. > :02:02.the most extraordinary has never I fired at 10, hit the aircraft, a
:02:02. > :02:05.
:02:05. > :02:08.lot of smoke came out. I feel the impact. For 25 years, Royal Navy
:02:08. > :02:18.gunner Neil Wilkinson believed he had killed the pilot of an
:02:18. > :02:20.
:02:20. > :02:23.Argentine fighter jet. I thought "he is dead". But in 2007, Neil
:02:23. > :02:29.discovered he had survived, and now, three decades on, the two former
:02:29. > :02:34.enemies are about to meet for the first time. Neil's story starts
:02:34. > :02:37.here in Portsmouth, back in April 1982. When Argentina invaded the
:02:37. > :02:43.Falkland Islands, a British Naval taskforce was rapidly deployed from
:02:43. > :02:53.here. Neil was 22-years-old at the time and his ship was on its way to
:02:53. > :02:58.
:02:58. > :03:05.The Government has now decided that a large taskforce will sell as soon
:03:05. > :03:14.as all preparations are complete. HMS Invincible will be in their
:03:14. > :03:20.lead. It will leave port on a Monday. I was a young able seaman
:03:20. > :03:26.who'd joined the Navy to see the world, and get paid for it. I never
:03:26. > :03:33.envisaged going to war at all. It was something that, you know might
:03:34. > :03:36.happen, but not at 22. Neil's ship was HMS Intrepid. She was being
:03:37. > :03:46.decommissioned in 1982, but when the war broke out, she was saved
:03:46. > :03:51.from Breakers Yard and made battle- ready in record time. The people
:03:51. > :03:57.give us a fantastic send off, there were balloons and banners and
:03:57. > :04:03.everything. It was a lovely feeling, to be on the upper deck, watching
:04:03. > :04:07.them. Knowing that somebody's family was there. Neil's ship
:04:07. > :04:10.played a key role in the Falklands War along with its sister ship, HMS
:04:10. > :04:13.Fearless. Together they defended the beachhead at San Carlos Bay and
:04:13. > :04:23.landed thousands of British troops on the islands. But it was events
:04:23. > :04:30.
:04:30. > :04:34.on one day in particular that had a So this is it, almost exactly as it
:04:34. > :04:37.was. This is the same type of gun that Neil fired from HMS Intrepid.
:04:37. > :04:42.Today, it's buried in a store room in Portsmouth, but seeing it has
:04:42. > :04:50.brought back vivid memories for Neil. This is what we call a
:04:50. > :04:54.spider's website. You only have a few seconds to get ready, whichever
:04:54. > :05:02.direction they were coming from. You would fire in front of the
:05:02. > :05:08.aircraft. I was the only weapon that are fired up that day on our
:05:08. > :05:18.ship. The aircraft came over, and I had to range in on them, and then I
:05:18. > :05:23.opened fire. To actually pull the trigger did not take much doing.
:05:23. > :05:30.After the first initial few days, it becomes second nature - you know
:05:30. > :05:34.what to do. There is an element of water that comes my way? What do
:05:34. > :05:40.you do then? Produced will have a job to do. That is what your job is
:05:40. > :05:43.to do - you are protecting your ship. Almost 30 years ago, Neil was
:05:43. > :05:53.hailed a hero for shooting down the Douglas A4 skyhawk, but the reality
:05:53. > :05:53.
:05:53. > :06:50.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 56 seconds
:06:50. > :06:56.The aircraft had just released its weapon. It then noticed that it had
:06:56. > :07:06.been fired at. It noticed that it had lost hydraulic pressure, and
:07:06. > :07:16.one of the aircraft men noticed a fire. Then, the aircraft crashed
:07:16. > :07:24.
:07:24. > :07:27.into a land, and the pilot safely In 1982, he was 33-years-old, and
:07:27. > :07:30.one of Argentina's most highly- skilled combat pilots. In fact, he
:07:30. > :07:40.was the pilot who launched the devastating air attack on the
:07:40. > :08:19.
:08:19. > :08:24.British destroyer HMS Coventry. Despite these losses, neither our
:08:24. > :08:28.resolve not our confidence is weekend. It was a disastrous loss
:08:28. > :08:38.for the British. 19 men died as the ship sank. In Argentina, Velasco
:08:38. > :08:39.
:08:39. > :08:43.was a hero, but his luck would soon Neil has decided the time has come
:08:43. > :08:52.to lay old ghosts to rest. He's about to start out on a journey
:08:52. > :08:56.that will change his life. There we are, sir. That is your boarding
:08:56. > :08:59.card. Velasco has agreed to meet him at his home in Argentina. But
:08:59. > :09:07.before he gets there, Neil has another important visit to make.
:09:07. > :09:10.He's returning to the Falkland Islands. Life on the Falklands has
:09:10. > :09:16.never been quite the same since 1982. Today, the islanders are
:09:16. > :09:20.forced to live in the shadow of the war. We've arrived on the islands
:09:20. > :09:24.and he's heading to the coast. This is San Carlos Bay on East Falkland
:09:24. > :09:31.it played a key role for the British in the war. For Neil, it
:09:32. > :09:41.was the heart of the battle and a place he'll never forget. We work
:09:41. > :09:46.in here with probably 30 other ships at the time. It was just
:09:46. > :09:51.horrendous. The Argentine air force gave us a welcoming but I don't
:09:51. > :09:53.think anybody was prepared for. the time the task force arrived,
:09:53. > :09:58.more than 10,000 Argentine troops were occupying the Falklands. On
:09:58. > :10:03.21st May, the British ships began to unload their own soldiers. They
:10:03. > :10:07.had to get as many men and supplies as possible onto the islands.
:10:07. > :10:10.Neil's ship was positioned just a few miles out from here. It played
:10:10. > :10:15.a key role in getting thousands of British troops onto the beaches
:10:15. > :10:25.here at San Carlos. But when the Argentines got wind of the landings,
:10:25. > :10:25.
:10:26. > :10:30.they responded with a series of fierce and relentless air attacks.
:10:30. > :10:34.Argentine at Sky Hawk jets came in time and again to bomb British
:10:34. > :10:44.ships. Back then, this whole area became known as Bomb Alley - so
:10:44. > :10:51.
:10:51. > :10:54.intense was the fighting that took Mind-blowing. To be here now after
:10:54. > :10:57.30 years The Argentine air force inflicted serious damage on the
:10:57. > :11:00.British fleet, but they also suffered huge losses of their own.
:11:00. > :11:04.On the 27th May Velasco set out from Rio Gallegos in Argentina. He
:11:04. > :11:14.was piloting one of four Skyhawk fighter jets on a bombing raid to
:11:14. > :11:15.
:11:15. > :11:22.San Carlos - where Neil's ship Intrepid was waiting. The aircraft
:11:22. > :11:26.attacked, and that in, I started the motor on the weapon. I fired
:11:26. > :11:31.off the six rounds, I hit the aircraft. A lot of smoke came out
:11:31. > :11:38.the back of the aircraft, and I thought, there is no way anybody
:11:38. > :11:41.can survive that. Mariano Velasco's squadron had
:11:41. > :11:46.entered the bay from the South. The first two Skyhawks dropped their
:11:46. > :11:49.bombs and escaped. But as Velasco flew in he was met with a barrage
:11:49. > :11:59.of gunfire. Neil fired into the sky and hit the
:11:59. > :12:27.
:12:27. > :12:33.Neil wants to know more about what happened that day. So our next stop
:12:33. > :12:36.is West Falkland. From the air it becomes clear just
:12:36. > :12:39.how desolate and remote these islands are. Velasco's plane came
:12:39. > :12:49.down somewhere on the other side of this channel.
:12:49. > :12:52.All we need to do now is figure out where.
:12:52. > :12:55.So we've just landed on the West Island in a place called Port
:12:55. > :12:59.Howard, which has a population of just 25 people. Now, luckily for us
:12:59. > :13:02.one of the islanders here is going to help us look for the wreckage of
:13:02. > :13:12.Velasco's Skyhawk. We think it's about six miles from here, so let's
:13:12. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:23.see if we can go and track it down. This is where we are, Port Howard.
:13:24. > :13:26.The green hill is out here... Bill was a young man when the
:13:26. > :13:28.Argentines invaded, but like many islanders, his memories of the war
:13:28. > :13:32.are still vivid. The landscape here is almost
:13:32. > :13:42.The Falkland Islands all his life, and he knows this area like the
:13:42. > :13:52.
:13:52. > :13:59.back of his hand. We did not have it any Argentinian troops there, we
:13:59. > :14:06.could see them coming in threes or fours. The landscape here is almost
:14:06. > :14:16.without features, but Bill knows this area like the back of his hand.
:14:16. > :14:18.
:14:18. > :14:21.That is a green hill... Another two or three miles and we will be there.
:14:21. > :14:24.It's been a long journey - Neil's already travelled more than 8,000
:14:24. > :14:27.miles from his home in Yorkshire to find out about the pilot he thought
:14:27. > :14:37.he'd killed. Now, as he approaches the place where Velasco's war ended,
:14:37. > :14:42.
:14:42. > :14:49.he's finally getting closer to the truth. It is a very strange feeling.
:14:49. > :14:55.Look at this. There are bits all over the place, still here. I do
:14:55. > :15:05.not now how we get out of it. I know it did eject, but luckily, for
:15:05. > :15:06.
:15:06. > :15:09.him, he did. It is just unbelievable Acton
:15:09. > :15:13.The last time Neil saw this aircraft was in 1982, when he
:15:13. > :15:16.watched it veer out of the sky followed by a plume of black smoke.
:15:16. > :15:26.Velasco's escape was incredible. Many other Argentine pilots weren't
:15:26. > :15:27.
:15:27. > :15:33.so lucky. It is a brilliant feeling, not to gloat over a crash site, and
:15:33. > :15:42.to say, this is what I did. The feeling inside is that, he got out
:15:42. > :15:45.and he did survive it. I am really pleased that he did.
:15:45. > :15:49.Over the last 30 years people have visited this site and removed parts
:15:49. > :15:59.of the wreckage as a sort of souvenir of the war. So it's
:15:59. > :15:59.
:15:59. > :16:06.astonishing that in 2012, so much of the aircraft remains. You can
:16:06. > :16:16.see the yellow paint, but they had painted on... That is the Argentine
:16:16. > :16:16.
:16:17. > :16:19.markings. $$NEWLINEThe Skyhawk came down with such force that even
:16:19. > :16:21.today a deep impact crater is clearly visible. By ejecting,
:16:21. > :16:24.Velasco had saved himself from certain death.
:16:24. > :16:27.Over the next few days Velasco would walk more than ten miles over
:16:27. > :16:30.some of the most brutal terrain with a badly injured ankle. The
:16:30. > :16:33.temperature was below freezing, the war was continuing all around him -
:16:34. > :16:36.so it must have been a huge relief when he finally came across this
:16:36. > :16:39.abandoned shepherd's lodge. It was stocked with food and fuel
:16:39. > :16:49.for heating, and Velasco took shelter here for several days until
:16:49. > :17:15.
:17:15. > :17:19.eventually help arrived. Only after Velasco was rescued from the lodge
:17:19. > :17:22.on the West Island would he hear about the brutal land battles that
:17:22. > :17:24.had taken place in the East. 500 British troops had attacked
:17:24. > :17:28.Argentine forces at Goose Green and Darwin.
:17:28. > :17:38.They were among the bloodiest days of the whole war. 17 British and 55
:17:38. > :17:45.
:17:45. > :17:48.Argentineans were killed during 14 Almost three decades have passed
:17:48. > :17:50.since the war, but Britain still maintains a large military base on
:17:50. > :17:56.the Falklands. Today Neil's been invited onboard
:17:56. > :18:06.one of the Royal Navy's support vessels. It's the first time he's
:18:06. > :18:09.
:18:09. > :18:12.been back on a warship since the 1980s.
:18:12. > :18:15.Neil can never forget the bloody battles that took place in these
:18:15. > :18:17.waters but he's still proud of his time in the Navy.
:18:17. > :18:27.$YELLOW Returning to the Falklands has been a once-in-a-lifetime
:18:27. > :18:37.
:18:37. > :18:44.His role was on -- his role was invaluable as a gunner on the deck.
:18:44. > :18:51.It has been a real pleasure having him on board. Returning to the
:18:51. > :18:54.Falklands has been a once in a lifetime opportunity for a meal.
:18:54. > :18:56.It's allowed him to come to terms with what happened in the war and
:18:56. > :19:06.to remember those who lost their lives.
:19:06. > :19:15.
:19:15. > :19:21.And a chance to discover more about Shot down. The images in my brain
:19:21. > :19:26.are not going to go away, but I am getting some closure. But he has
:19:26. > :19:34.also been an adventure. In Argentina, Neil will face his
:19:34. > :19:40.biggest challenge. When I come face to face with the same pilot that
:19:40. > :19:50.attacked that day, it will be raw emotion. As it probably is now,
:19:50. > :19:59.
:19:59. > :20:06.really. We have been travelling for several hours, through the car door
:20:06. > :20:10.but province. -- Cordoba province. Neil knows Velasco has agreed to
:20:10. > :20:18.meet him, but his feeling anxious about coming face-to-face with the
:20:18. > :20:24.man he tried to kill. We are less than three hours away, and I am
:20:24. > :20:29.very nervous, very apprehensive, and to be honest, I cannot tell you
:20:29. > :20:33.what is going through my mind. It is just awash with the different
:20:34. > :20:42.thoughts of how we might end up, and I do not know what the outcome
:20:43. > :20:47.will be when I meet him face to face. Marianna Velasco's Skyhawk
:20:48. > :20:52.was one of ten destroyed in the war, but some have been preserved in
:20:52. > :21:02.Argentina. This is just like the aircraft for Lasker was forced to
:21:02. > :21:28.
:21:28. > :21:38.This Skyhawk flew on many successful bombing missions against
:21:38. > :21:53.
:21:53. > :21:56.the British. In Argentina it's a After the war, Velasco returned to
:21:56. > :21:59.Argentina and went on to have a long and successful career in the
:21:59. > :22:06.air force, eventually rising to the position of Commodore. He still
:22:06. > :22:10.believes the Falkland Islands belong to Argentina.
:22:10. > :22:20.Today he's retired and lives with his family in a small rural village
:22:20. > :22:23.
:22:23. > :22:27.in the mountains. Now, finally, Neil is about to meet him. So you I
:22:27. > :22:37.am going to leave you now to make these final few steps on your own.
:22:37. > :22:39.
:22:39. > :22:49.Good luck. Thank you. This is brilliant. You on your own. Thank
:22:49. > :23:05.
:23:05. > :23:09.you. Hello. Hello. Welcome to my house. Thank you. It is an honour.
:23:09. > :23:19.Neil's waited a long time for this moment - and now that it's here the
:23:19. > :23:19.
:23:19. > :23:27.relief is overwhelming. It is to massive to put into words. I do not
:23:27. > :23:37.know what to say. I am just so happy, really, that you brought me
:23:37. > :24:05.
:24:05. > :24:15.here. And I have here. At his house. The compass... This is the moment I
:24:15. > :24:15.
:24:15. > :24:22.reject. -- This is the moment I inject. Along time has passed, and
:24:22. > :24:32.wins have had time to heal. Unbelievable. I almost said that
:24:32. > :24:56.
:24:56. > :25:06.when you came over, it was a round I have been t a crash site. It is
:25:06. > :25:06.
:25:06. > :25:12.in many pieces. Too big to carry to you! For this time, I have had the
:25:12. > :25:19.build up, the build up, and not knowing he was alive for all that
:25:19. > :25:24.time, for 25 years. Then, finding he was alive, and I eventually got
:25:24. > :25:34.here after five long years of trying. And I am so ecstatic. He
:25:34. > :25:36.
:25:36. > :25:40.welcomed me with open arms. And that is all I wanted. After the
:25:40. > :25:46.crash landing, Marianna would not fly again in the Falklands war, so
:25:46. > :25:51.you would not see his country surrender on 14th June 1982. For
:25:51. > :25:56.Argentina, the war had been a catastrophe. Almost 700 man were
:25:56. > :25:59.killed and nearly 1000 injured. But as British troops raised the flag
:25:59. > :26:04.in Standley, there was no celebration - just a sense of
:26:04. > :26:14.relief. In the UK, the war helped to revive and re-elect Margaret
:26:14. > :26:16.
:26:16. > :26:21.Thatcher. We knew what we had to do. And we went about it and did it. We
:26:21. > :26:27.had to take back what was, maybe not was -- and what was rightfully
:26:27. > :26:33.ours, but we had to come down and it could have swung either way.
:26:33. > :26:43.There were a lot of IFS and buts and babies. But I think we did a
:26:43. > :27:23.
:27:23. > :27:25.lot -- but I think we did a good Today, as the 30th anniversary of
:27:25. > :27:28.the war approaches, Argentina shows no sign of relinquishing its claim
:27:28. > :27:31.on the Falkland Islands. But for Neil and Mariano the
:27:31. > :27:36.politics of the war are far less important than the people affected
:27:36. > :27:39.and the lives lost. Their friendship is genuine - they've
:27:39. > :27:49.decided to keep in touch. After all, they've got three decades of
:27:49. > :28:07.
:28:07. > :28:17.Part of it is closure. This part of it, meeting him in the flesh, are
:28:17. > :28:26.
:28:26. > :28:31.now know that he is alive, and we If you want to contact us about it
:28:31. > :28:38.tonight's programme, you can do it fire Facebook or Twitter. That is
:28:38. > :28:42.all from here, make sure you join us next week. When we investigate
:28:42. > :28:48.how the latest batch of young jockeys are coming to terms with