Day 12

The flight was long but I was able to grab a few hours sleep due to the extra large seat I was lucky enough to have.

The chap sitting next to me was called Simon and had been on the HMS Coventry. His story was quite harrowing.

After the ship had been hit, he was knocked unconscious and lay injured. His head had been cut open , so blood was pouring from it. He had Formica fragments embeded in his scalp as it had become shrapnel due to the force of the blast. When he came around, he found that the ship was listing badly and on fire. He made his way to the exit but because the ladders were made of alluminium they had melted. He was trapped in a burning ship that was slowly sinking. Fortune smiled though and as the ship listed more he was able to walk on the walls and climb out onto the upper deck where he then jumped into the sea. Without an immersion suit he should have died but somehow he was able to hold on until rescued.

We arrived in London almost three hours late and poor old John Samson had been waiting all that time. I guess this is the one time I didn't bother checking to see if the flight was delayed or not. It was great to see him though and all the other Scots Guards who came out, took the time to say hello. It was sad to see everyone disperse. I just really hope we can keep something going between us all and stay in contact.

John took me back to Windsor where he lives and we had a quick drink and something to eat as it was lunch time. We then headed to his house where I had the chance to freshen up and get changed into some clean clothes. I was then able to show him all the pictures I had taken, over a cup of tea and describe to him the weekend. I found out surprisingly, that he had been with G company which I had never realised before.

In the evening his daughter Samantha and her boyfriend came over. We discussed the Falklands and I got a chance to talk a little about Buddhism to her. It was nice to actually meet her having spent time in the past talking to her on MSN. We popped out for an Indian meal and by the end of it I was on my chip strap. As it is a relatively early start tomorrow, I went to bed in good time. It has been a wonderful day and I'm so happy to have been able to spend some quality time with John.