Terry Peck

After the war for a time he became disillusioned with the prospects for the islands' future and left to begin a new life in Scotland in 1984. He returned to the islands and stood for election to the Falkland Islands Government but failed to win back his seat. After standing again he succeeded, standing from 1989 to 1993. He continued to express his views in a forthright manner lambasting the British Government for the lack of aid and castigating Margaret Thatcher for allowing Argentines to visit the graves of their war dead. In his role as councillor he promoted a number of local causes, in particular ensuring a fair deal for local contractors in the employment on post-war aid projects. He became a manager of the local YMCA.

Mount Longdon was attacked on 11 June 1982, it was intended to be a silent attack meaning that there was no artillery barrage to alert the defenders but the element of surprise was lost when one of the paras stepped on a mine. The Battle of Mount Longdon proved to be one of the bloodiest battles of the entire campaign but Terry advanced all the way with British forces. When a soldier was shot near him, he volunteered to carry the man back down the mountain. His account describes the action:

Peck remained with the battalion on Mount Longdon, existing on toffees and food scavenged from Argentine trenches, enduring an artillery barrage from long range 155 mm guns based in Stanley. He did not return home until 3 Para marched into Stanley. For his actions in supporting British forces in the advance on Stanley he was awarded an MBE in 1982. However, he considered the honorary membership conferred upon him by the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment the greater honour and wore his maroon beret and winged cap badge with great pride. Every year after the war on 11 June, he visited the memorial on the summit of Mount Longdon to pay his respects to fallen comrades.

He continued in his career with the Police Force becoming the Chief of Police and attending the Bramshill Police College, Hampshire. While serving in the police force, he displayed his characteristic courage and tenacity, on one occasion driving for 10 hours across the Camp to rescue a family whose house burnt down one Christmas. On another he ignored orders, diving on the wreck of an aircraft in Mare Harbour to assist in the rescue of the bodies of the occupants. Although he was awarded the Colonial Police Medal in 1975, he became dissatisfied with the police service and retired early. One of the secret duties of the Chief of Police was to collate intelligence on local political agitators, including legislative councillors, and the few Argentines living in Stanley; this was a duty he found increasingly distasteful. He was elected a member of the Legislative Council shortly afterward, where he ardently opposed any transfer of sovereignty to Argentina. In 1980, when Nicholas Ridley visited the islands to attempt to persuade the islanders to accept the leaseback proposal that the Falklands be given to Argentina, then leased back for 100 years, he fitted a loud hailer to his Land Rover with which the protestors harangued Ridley on his journey to the airport.

Born in Stanley, he was descended from Irish and English (Norfolk) emigrants to the Falkland Islands. Educated in Stanley, in his youth he boxed and became a member of the Boys' Brigade. On leaving school he found work in the construction of a meat packing plant at Ajax Bay in Falkland Sound. After joining the Police Force and the Falkland Islands Defence Force he became involved with the Argentine Sovereignty Claim in 1966.

On 26 September 1966, an Aerolíneas Argentinas DC-4 flew low over Stanley before attempting to land at the racecourse. On its approach it clipped telegraph poles, and on touching down the undercarriage sank into the soft ground bringing the aircraft to an immediate and jarring stop. Earlier that day, the aircraft had been hijacked whilst on an internal flight by Right-Wing Argentine nationalists, known as the Condor Group, who forced the crew to fly to the Falklands, apparently unaware there was then no airport.

Terence John Peck MBE CPM (2 August 1938 – 30 December 2006) was a member of the Falkland Islands Defence Force who during the 1982 Falklands War became a war hero by spying on the Argentine invaders, subsequently escaping to British lines, acting as a scout for 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, and taking part in the fighting for Mount Longdon. A fiercely patriotic Islander, he vehemently opposed Argentina's claim to the Islands. He later met and befriended an Argentine conscript who served during the war.

On 21 May, he finally heard the news he had been waiting for. Isabel Short, a resident of Port San Carlos issued the cryptic message "We've just received a lot of friends" over the short wave radio. When the BBC confirmed the landing, Peck immediately set out to link up with British forces. Coming over the ridge at Port San Carlos, he saw long lines of British marching inland from the beachhead. He was grilled for three days by intelligence officers anxious to gather as much information as they could about the enemy. On the 2nd day he was approached by Major Roger Patton of the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, with a request to act as a guide for his troops. Peck volunteered without hesitation and was attached to 3 Para's D patrol company. His first major contribution to the campaign was to organise local farmers and their vehicles to help overcome the severe lack of military transport. For 10 days, he joined patrols sent out at night to identify enemy numbers and tactical positions. It was hard dangerous work and at 43 he was twice the age of the soldiers he was guiding.