An outstanding Falklands Campaign Pair to L/Cpl Cowan 3rd B...

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Hammer

£2,800

Fees

An outstanding Falklands Campaign Pair to L/Cpl Cowan 3rd Bn Parachute Regt. British Parachute Regiment Falklands Medal group comprising GSM 1962-2007 Northern Ireland - correctly impressed 24429828 Pte S M Cowan Para
South Atlantic Medal 1982 - correctly impressed 24429828 L Cpl S M Cowan Para

Court Mounted as worn.
Condition EF

Sold by direct order of the recipient. The following information is his account of his service.

I was a member of a 4 man Patrol with D Ptl Coy ( 42 B ), Basically we were the eyes and ears for the battalion and Command, each patrol would consist of a Ptl Cmdr, a Lead Scout, a Gunner and a Radio Operator, the task of a Medic within the patrol was a joint effort between the four members, I myself was the Lead Scout for 42B, whilst on patrol I would be pushed a little further than the other three.

The CO of 3 Para would get his orders from on high and he would then disseminate and give out missions to do , for instance a CTR ( Close Tgt Recce ) where the Ptl would get as close as possible and even inside the enemy area and monitor / gather as much Intel as possible to feed back to battalion command.

Whilst in an OP ( Observation Post ), we could be some distance away and bring in a fire mission from our artillery, which we did using a Marine Artillery Unit 29 Commando, onto Mt Longdon, which was 3 Para's objective.

Patrols were also used to find safe routes to what is called a Start Line, where you would bring in the Riffle Company/ies so they could get themselves sorted and wait for H Hour.

When it was all over and time for tea and medals, I was very happy to learn that I had been promoted in the field to Lance Corporal, a bit of a rarity since WWII.

There's other tasks that as a Company we would be required to do such as lay down markers ( DZ- Drop Zone ) for incoming troops and or Eqp't.

A few of us actually did lay down markers in the form of a Special DZ on the Racecourse area for a drop of Eqpt via a Hercules C130, only to be told while we were waiting for the aircraft , that we were in a minefield ( comical I know ) so we than had to wait until someone managed to find the Argentine Engineer officer who hopefully still had the layout document so we could all walk out unscathed.

I remained in D Ptl Coy until 85 when It was decided that the 5th Airborne Brigade be equipped with a Pathfinder Platoon, a number of men were pulled/volunteered from the Regiments 3 Battalions and other arms that were parachute trained, ie Royal Engineers, the Guards. We numbered around 32 all ranks.

In 1987, I was posted back to 3 Para for the upcoming tour of NI in 89 and took up a position within B Coy; towards the end of that 2-year tour, I was posted back to the Depot in Aldershot.

After leaving the army I worked within the security circuit providing close protection and performing other security related tasks, this took me up to 2003 when I relocated to Iraq providing security for a British Company who had won contracts from the US DoD.
My time in Iraq ended in 2010 when the US pulled out across the Kuwaiti Border. I then relocated to Afghanistan, again providing security on US FOB's.