Terry Peck

Terence John Peck (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.

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.

The hijackers chose the specific flight in question because Argentinian Rear Admiral José María Guzmán, who at the time was the then Governor of Tierra del Fuego (the Argentinian province to which the Falklands theoretically belonged) was aboard.

Islanders, including Peck, assumed the aircraft was in trouble and rushed to help only to be taken hostage by the terrorists.

As a part of the negotiations, the 26 passengers of the plane were exchanged with seven islanders, including Peck and Captain Ian Martin, commanding a four-man Royal Marines detachment.

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.

Peck was sworn back in as special constable the day before Argentina invaded, and at one time was considered by the Argentine occupiers as a candidate for Chief of Police; they could not have considered a more unsuitable candidate.

He immediately began to do his utmost to undermine the occupying forces.

His behaviour after the invasion caused consternation amongst the locals as he appeared to be wandering around Stanley clutching a length of drainpipe.

In reality this disguised a telephoto lens, with which he photographed Argentine preparations for the defence of the town.

The photographs he had taken were smuggled out of the Falklands by British contract workers taking the opportunity to leave the islands, providing valuable intelligence for British Forces.

The Argentine military police, led by Major Patricio Dowling, arrived on the islands with detailed files on many islanders, particularly those known for their anti-Argentine views.

Dowling, an Argentine of Irish origin who hated all things British, frequently overstepped his authority, ignoring instructions to treat the islanders with respect, and quickly became known for his tendency to resort to violence.

Constable Anton Livermore had been asked to stay on with the police force to defuse potentially serious clashes between locals and the Argentines.

Increasingly unhappy in the role he found himself in, when he heard Dowling discussing the imminent arrest of Terry Peck.

he took the opportunity to warn his former boss.

Having prepared a possible escape plan for some time, Peck armed himself with a semi-automatic pistol, borrowed a motorbike from the garage of an expatriate and fled Stanley.

His first stop was Long Island Farm, home of Neil and Glenda Watson, where a party was in full swing celebrating the Queen's birthday.

This was nearly his undoing, as the party did not hear the approach of a Puma helicopter until it was too late and the house was already surrounded by Argentine soldiers.

Fortunately the search of the house was half-hearted, and he escaped detection by the simple expedient of locking himself in the toilet.

He left for Green Patch to find the locals expecting him; there he acquired cold weather gear and rations left there by a party of Royal Navy sailors from HMS Endurance.

He then spent ten miserable days camping in a remote part of the islands known as Geordie's Valley, where he had fished before the occupation.

Eventually the cold sapped his morale and he risked a fire for the chance of a hot meal; unfortunately, just as it was ready he accidentally knocked it over.

It was the lowest point of his escape and, demoralised, he sought help from Trudi Morrison at Brookfield Farm.

A warm meal and a bath improved his mood, and with the help of other islanders he recovered weapons hidden by Royal Marines who escaped during the invasion.

On 21 May, he finally heard the news he had been waiting for.