A Falklands veteran from Holcombe Brook is hoping to create a lasting memory of the individual experiences from the conflict through a new Facebook community group.
Steve Butterworth, who is an outreach worker at Haslingden-based Veterans in Communities, has launched a Facebook group called Poems, Songs and Writings about the Falklands Islands conflict in 1982.
The aim of the group, which now has more than 200 members, is to create a safe environment for feelings and experiences from the Falklands War to be expressed whilst also acting as a way of creating a lasting memory of the conflict.
Steve said: “I have ideas for what this group can achieve.
“I would like to collect everyone’s writing and poetry to publish a book, filled with our individual experiences.
“I want others to understand what we have been through and a book could perhaps be a lasting memory for what we have to say.”
Steve spent eight years in the navy and was on HMS Intrepid in the Falklands, working as a catering accountant and medic helping the wounded.
He said: “When I first came out of the navy, I never spoke about what happened there, but I found that writing poetry was a form of escapism for me.
“It led me to write a poem, Pale Maiden, which was made into a song and recorded.
“More recently, I have considered how these wars do not only affect those that go, but the families that are left behind.”
Steve recently wrote a poem called "A Letter to Dad", which speaks to his father, who died at 52 years old, three years after Steve left the navy.
Other members of the group have already shared their own works which include poems, stories and some songs.
Steve said: “Some of the members write songs, which cannot be printed into a book.
“I would like there to be a live performance, where these veterans can sing what they have written and read their poetry with music.
“Some of the writing is deep and dark. Someone once said ‘even the shadows had shadows’ when talking about the Battle of Goose Green, which stuck with me.”
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Earlier this year, Steve was invited to attend a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace for members of the Not Forgotten Association and is a member of SAMA82, the South Atlantic Medal Association and the Borough of Bury Veterans’ Association.
The event was hosted by Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
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