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At some point a group of people passed my position and someone stepped on my arm and I gave them some abuse, little did I know
that this was the RSM moving amongst the injured. He asked who I was and I told him, some minutes later another stretcher party
arrived and put me in a BV and I was taken to either Estancia House or Teal Inlet to the next Aid Post.
Here again I was looked at and they stripped my clothes off. I remember handing a phosphorus grenade to someone in combat gear
who was passing through the aid post. I was again put in a tent to await treatment, here I slept for some time as when I awoke a medic
was tapping my arm. I asked what he was doing and he said I thought you were here to give blood. I pulled back the blanket and said
something like ‘I don’t think so mate!’ At this point he left the tent, I noticed that it was again dark outside.
I was then hastily taken by Wessex helicopter to the Uganda which was the hospital ship for British troops. On arrival they attached a
drip and gave me blood to get the injuries bleeding so they could see what they had to deal with. I had lost a lot of blood, but because
of the cold my body had closed down and had kept me alive.
Whilst on the Uganda I had seven operations during my stay on this fine floating hospital. Whilst here we heard that the war had
finished and we were told who had died and who had been injured from the Regiment. I stayed on this ship for some time while I
recovered. I was then moved with the majority of the injured to the survey ship Hydra on which we sailed to Uruguay and anchored
off the German Battle Ship Graf Spee. The next day we arrived at Montevideo and transported to the airport to be put on a VC10 kitted
out for medical transport. We left Montevideo and after a short stop over at Ascension Island arrived back at RAF Brize Norton.
Once back in the UK we were taken to the RAF Hospital at Wroughton. At Wroughton I was after a week the only person on the ward
as they did not wish us to mix with normal patients, other injuries had been taken away to specialist units around the country. I stayed
in Hospital until the September of 1982 when I was discharged and posted back to 3 Para who had moved from Tidworth back to
Aldershot.
In this recent X-ray the head of an Argentine bullet and numerous shards of shrapnel are still evident
in Ian Bailey’s right hip. They were only removed in June of this year
In the late September I was posted to The Depot The Parachute Regiment as firstly a Weapons Instructor and then as a Platoon
Instructor. From the date I was shot I was put on the Army Y list which means I lost my specialist pay (Parachute Pay). This was started
again once I jumped again in the February of 1983. During the rest of my career my injuries bothered me from time to time but I learnt
to put up with it as you did not want to be seen as being a wimp. I had no formal after care or Physiotherapy.
Later in my career in 2002 I had problems with my neck and after being seen by a consultant it was decided that I should have my
neck fused, as the chance of this operation being successful was only 50% I decided to resign my commission and leave. I did not take
a medical discharge as firstly it was not offered and secondly trying to get a job aged 42 after being medically discharged from the
Army would have been very difficult.
I was told stop running, tabbing and jumping out of aeroplanes and I should be fine. To date this has been the case with my neck
injury. However, on leaving the Army in 2002 I started to have problems with discharge from my hip injury. On referral to a consultant
it was found that I had numerous bits of shrapnel in my hip. Over the next 7 years the discharge became more frequent and the pain
more intense, culminating in June of this year when I went into hospital to have them removed. This took some 3 hours on the
operating table and some 5 days in hospital. They found many bits of shrapnel including the head of the bullet. These offending items
had been in my body since June 82 and no one had bothered to mention it!’
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