"Emotional" Falklands War veteran reunited with lost hat after throwing it from HMS Glamorgan four decades ago

Marine Engineer Mechanic 1 AMC Steve Audley thought his service hat was lost forever after throwing it over the side of a destroyer when he returned to Portsmouth in July 1982. He was part of the HMS Glamorgan ship’s company, the only vessel to be hit with an Exocet missile and still survive.

MEM 1 AMC Audley, 63, was left reflecting on his crewmates and service after the naval headwear was returned to him. “It has been quite emotional thinking about it,” he told The News. “The memories and conversations fade in some respect, but the actions don’t. When I received it, I had a little bit of a tear. It still has my name written in Biro. It doesn't fit and has shrunk a little bit. I have no idea how it would have been picked up.”

The hat was washed up on a beach after dropping into the sea. David Radcliffe, former CEO of Hogg Robinson Group who died in 2020, picked up the piece of uniform and kept it in his possession. His son Mark, founder of the veterans charity Wings for Warriors, recently spotted the name inside and approached the HMS Glamorgan Falklands Association so it could be reunited with its rightful owner.

“As soon as I found out there was a name in it, it was very obvious that it was a piece of history,” the Portsmouth native said. “It’s not my history, and it didn’t feel right to keep. Being able to track them down felt like the right thing to do.”

“I noticed the hangar was on fire, that was quite scary”

An old shipmate of MEM 1 AMC Audley told him his hat was rediscovered after a post was put up on the Association’s Facebook page. Originally, the engineer and many of his comrades pitched their hats into the sea while lined up aboard ship after hearing the “finish main engines” signal while sailing into Portsmouth harbour.

It will now take pride of place in a display cabinet alongside his medals and a copy of the ship’s crest at his Dorset home. “I was quite shocked,” MEM 1 AMC Audley said. “Portsmouth harbour isn’t the cleanest and quiet of places. I expected the hat to be churned up, waterlogged, and sink to the bottom forever.”

HMS Glamorgan, a County-class 5,440 tonne destroyer, played a vital role in Britain's fight against the Argentinean junta. She was first put into action on May 1, 1982 - alongside HMS Arrow and HMS Alacrity - to bombard Argentine positions around Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands.

She supported special forces during the raid on Pebble Island on May 14, and continuously fired upon various shore positions on the east of the islands for the next fortnight - drawing attention away from a landing at San Carlos Water.

On June 11, she was deployed to support Royal Marines fighting the Battle of Two Sisters. HMS Glamorgan was attacked the following morning, hit by an MM38 Exocet missile which was fired from an improvised shore-based launcher. It struck the port side adjacent to the hangar near the stern. Before impact, the ship had executed a high-speed turn, but a severe fire broke out aboard ship.

MEM 1 AMC Audley, now 63, still has vivid memories of fighting the blaze. “I was about to stand in the shower when I heard a thud and thought ‘that’s a bit weird’, he added. “The next minute, we were called to action stations because of the fire. All my paths to action stations were covered in smoke. A reroute took me across the flight deck, and I noticed the hangar was on fire. I went round one side and met the Chief Stoker who was firefighting. He was struggling to hold on to the hose, so I grabbed it and we fought the fire for quite a while through the escape hatch.

“That was quite scary. We were right next to a missile launcher, and all of a sudden, it moved and went into a firing mode. I threw the Chief Stoker onto a Rib that was next to us, jumped on top of him and shouted ‘keep your head down’ as the missiles went off. We then noticed a helicopter coming towards us, so we turned the hose on it, only to be told it was from HMS Yarmouth to see if we were ok.”

“Timing is serendipitous”

A total of 14 HMS Glamorgan crew members were killed, and dozens more wounded, after the ship was attacked. Repairs were made at sea the following day, shortly before the Argentinean surrender on June 14. She re-entered Portsmouth on July 10 after spending 104 days at sea.

Mr Radcliffe was pleased to see the memento returned, and to learn more about the courage of HMS Glamorgan sailors. “It was nice that I was able to complete the story for Steve and my dad,” he added. “The timing with Armistice Day feels serendipitous. The association are very much still a crew and a collective.

“The hat is not the story. It’s a key to remind us of who they are and what they’ve done for us. The Royal Navy is in our blood, irrespective of if we served or not. It's a throwback to the heritage of the Navy, and brings the story of HMS Glamorgan forward.

“These veterans are incredibly brave and have to deal with scary experiences. Sitting in a ship in one of the most inhospitable parts of the world, going through what they went through, is a different kind of brave.”