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28
May 2022
The Stray Ferret is publishing two articles this weekend looking back at Harrogate's links with the Falklands War.
Today, we speak to Harrogate woman Christina Nelson who was only 22 when her husband Stephen Heyes was killed aboard the HMS Ardent aged 21.
HMS Ardent was sunk by Argentine bombs 40 years ago this month, on May 22, 1982.
Twenty-two British sailors died.
Ms Nelson told the Stray Ferret she finds every anniversary difficult. The couple had only been married for one year before his death.
Stephen knew he'd met the girl for him as, two weeks later, he hitchhiked to Harrogate from where he was stationed on the south coast and proposed.
Their wedding was two years later at Christ Church on March 28, 1981, which Ms Nelson remembers as "all done on a budget but we didn't lack on anything".
Stephen was a huge Roxy Music fan and their first dance was the song 'Dance Away'.
HMS Ardent was attacked by at least three waves of Argentine aircraft on May 21. It sank into the Atlantic Ocean the next day.
But at the time there were only rumours that a ship had been hit.
Ms Nelson was working part-time at a Ladbrokes bookies and her boss told her to go home after the rumours spread.
She spent an agonising night on the phone with military officials, hoping to receive an update on Stephen. She was eventually told that his ship, HMS Ardent, was not in that area where the attacks happened.
But that all changed when a customer came into the shop and said: "Bloody hell, you wouldn't have thought they'd sink the Ardent."
Ms Nelson said she knew then that Stephen had been killed.
Christina now lives in Alicante, Spain. She spent last weekend's anniversary with one of Stephen's old friends from the Navy, who had cycled over from Benidorm.
She said it still doesn't seem real that four decades have passed by since her husband's death.
Christina said she likes to remember Stephen as a big-hearted family man.
She added:
Stephen Heyes was one of 255 British military personnel that died in the war. Three islanders and 649 Argentine soldiers also died.
Tomorrow, we speak to Harrogate Falklands veteran Neil Harper about his experiences during the conflict. We also speak to journalist Tim Flanagan who reported on the war for the Harrogate Advertiser.
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