HE was supposed to be on a training exercise in Gibraltar, but at the last minute, 21-year-old David Ramsden was sent some 8,000 miles to the Falklands for a war he knew nothing about.

He was a sub-lieutenant and bridge watch keeper on HMS Plymouth — the first navy ship to reach the islands in the South Atlantic in April, 1982.

He had been in the senior service for two years when he found himself at war. It was a “sobering moment”, recalls Mr Ramsden, now aged 51, and who runs a successful business in Bury, Authorized Access.

Mr Ramsden was off South Georgia when Argentinian fighter jets sank HMS Sheffield and brought home to him the harsh reality of war.

He said: “I knew things were getting more serious, but I had no idea what was being formed out there or of the media hype. We were hearing news that things were happening in the Falklands but, to be frank, nobody knew where the Falklands were.

“I just assumed it was something that was going on a long, long way away.

“There was a poignant moment in South Georgia when we realised it was actually serious and soon after the Belgrano sank and then HMS Sheffield.”

Mr Ramsden’s’ ship survived four bomb hits. Luckily none detonated but still caused a major fire and considerable structural damage. He said every day was laced with fear.

His ship was just 1,000 metres away from HMS Ardent when he watched it explode, killing the bomb disposal experts who were on-board.

Another moment that still haunts him was when neighbouring ship, HMS Argonaught, was bombed in Falkland Sound, causing the death of two sailors who were trapped and drowned.

The men were buried at sea from Mr Ramsden’s ship, a moment he says he will never forget.

“The whole thing was highly charged with emotion and it was one of the saddest moments,” he recalled. “The bodies were on a stretcher with Union Jacks on and they lifted the stretcher up and the flag stayed there and the body slipped out into the sea.

“It was at night and was pitch black and very emotional,” he said.

But Mr Ramsden also has happy memories of the war, including his time spent living in the sick bay.

Because he had joined the ship at the last minute — and was transferred to three different vessels in just one week — he did not have a room onboard and had to stay in the sick bay.

He left the navy after 10 years, following a brief spell in Oman to get married.

Now, 30 years after the conflict, he says he feels proud to have taken part in the war.

He added: “We were standing up for British citizens. Whatever anybody says, the Falkland Islands are British territory.”