Plaque plays tribute to mechanic who died in the Falklands war

A more recent addition to the ‘Roll of Honour’ is a local man, ‘Hall, I’, who has an extra note by his name – ‘Falklands’.

Ian Hall, 22, was a weapons engineering mechanic on HMS Coventry, which was destroyed by Argentinian bombers during the Falklands War 40 years ago.

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We were reminded of his sacrifice in a family diary listing the activities of the Rev Tony Williamson during his year as Lord Mayor of Oxford.

Mr Williamson, worker-priest at the Cowley car factories, visited Ian’s parents at their home in Barns Road in May 1982 to offer his sympathy just four days after taking office.

Ian had been due a home visit but then, at short notice, HMS Coventry was dispatched from Gibraltar to the Falklands.

On May 25, the ship, a destroyer equipped with anti-aircraft missiles known as Sea Darts, was directed away from the main fleet, to act as a decoy to draw Argentinian aircraft.

Then its radar system jammed and in mid-afternoon, four Argentine aircraft broke through.

They dropped three huge bombs on to the Coventry, blowing massive holes in the ship.

The Oxford Mail reported at the time: “Ian was working on the Sea Darts, in the weapons control section of the destroyer when it was attacked.”

Within 20 minutes, the Coventry had been abandoned and capsized. Rescuers picked up 170 sailors, but 19 died.

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Captain David Hart Dyke later recalled that during those 20 minutes, crew members sang “Always look on the bright side of life” from Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

Ian’s parents, Peter and Iris, called a special Navy number for several days, hoping for information.

Then Gerald Cox, priest at St James Church, visited with the awful news.

The following day, when the Lord Mayor visited, the Halls received a letter from Ian, written weeks earlier. “I’ve got one up on dad,” he wrote.

His father had also been in the Navy, but had rarely seen action. For Ian, this was happening two or three times a day.

Iris told the Oxford Mail: “I would like to think that his death would be the last in this affair.

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“We hope that he did not die in vain and that peace will be restored quickly.”

Peter said: “We never even said cheerio to him because he was sent straight from Gibraltar.”

Six weeks after Ian’s death, the Lord Mayor read a lesson and gave the address at a memorial service at St James Church.

Ian, who had a twin sister Alison and was known as ‘Nobby’, was a pupil at three Oxford schools – Church Cowley Primary, Temple Cowley and Oxford Boys.

The Falklands war claimed 255 British and 649 Argentinian lives.

Thanks to Hugh Williamson, who found details about Ian in the diary his mother Barbara wrote recording his father’s year as Lord Mayor.

Hugh is writing a memoir about his father.

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