Hotspots in the Falklands (and Elsewhere)

ISBN 1-84683-069-9
Army memoir
  • Description
  • More Details
  • softback
  • 140 x 205 mm
  • 270 pages
  • plus 16pp of photos
by Major Philip Thompson MBE 
A British Soldier's experiences 1965-2003 include Aden, Malaya, Northern Ireland and the Falklands War

In this entertaining and forthright military memoir, Phil Thompson looks back on an eventful 38-year career as a soldier in the British Army, beginning in 1965 as a raw recruit and retiring in 2003 with the rank of major and an MBE for services rendered to Queen and Country in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the Light Infantry and the Small Arms School Corps.

His years of military service took him to many hotspots of one kind or another ~ including Aden, Malaya, Northern Ireland and the Middle East ~ but it was hotspots of a very particular kind with which he was concerned during the Falklands War in the early 1980s when, as an expert in the use of thermal imaging equipment ~ at the time a new and highly-classified military technology ~ he was deployed to assist the efforts of the SAS and their RN sister squadron the SBS.

Thermal imaging turned out to be a very useful technology and gave British forces in the Falklands a distinct advantage in a number of situations, which Phil describes in detail in the chapters devoted to his Falklands War experiences.

Delivered in the no-nonsense language of a soldier who has ‘been there, done that and got the T-shirt’, Phil’s straight-talking memoir will be appreciated by any former military personnel ~ and especially those who, like him, served in the UK land forces during the era he describes.

Phil Thompson left the Army in 2003 as a major and moved to Spain, where he still lives with his long suffering wife. His life is now dedicated to the pursuit of happiness and the sampling of all things made from hops and grapes. He also plays golf, a lot, and still enjoys walking long distances (but without the heavy backpack or anyone shouting out the pace).

Close contact is also maintained with the many friends and colleagues he made whilst in the army, particularly in the Light Infantry and Small Arms School Corps.