A GWENT Falklands veteran says Baroness Thatcher was widely admired by troops.

Denzil Connick, of Oakdale, was among the British forces scrambled to the Falkland Islands in 1982.

Mr Connick lost a leg serving in the conflict with the Parachute Regiment.

But he said despite not agreeing with all of her politics she was widely admired by veterans as a war leader.

"In 2002 for the twentieth anniversary, when many of us went back to the islands for the first time, Mrs Thatcher came on the plane at Gatwick airport to wave us off.

"She was very involved with the South Atlantic Medal Association (A Falklands veterans group) and spoke to many veterans.

"What I’d like to get across is that every single casualty was like a knife to her heart.

"She was in tears on many occasions and many people don’t realise that.

"She was a mother herself and as human as the rest of us not the monster some people like to make her out to be.

"We needed to defend a British territory and British people and I think she did absolutely the right thing.

"Like Churchill was before, she was the right person for the job.

"That belligerence that maybe caused some of her, how should I put it, more interesting political decisions, that was a strength during the Falklands.

"She made some enemies, but from my perspective as a Falklands veteran, she was the right person for then."
 

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