MARINE VETERANS ROLL BACK THE YEARS WITH ASSAULT COURSE VISIT
More than 40 Falklands veterans descended on Lympstone Commando Training Centre to do battle with the infamous endurance course.
In blazing sunshine, the former Marines of 42 Commando ran, swam, and scrambled for two and a half miles.
The endurance course was the first event in a weekend-long reunion to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War.
Captain Molly MacPherson, who organised the reunion, said: "The purpose of the endurance course was to start the weekend off on a high, to remember our youth, to enjoy ourselves and to bond again.
"When we arrived, everyone was trying to remember each other, but after running around for a couple of hours we all got to know each other again."
Ian Smith, who left the Marines in 1989 as a corporal, said: "I haven't seen any of the lads for about 20 years. It's been great to see everyone and it was good to do the endurance course again.
"It looked a lot easier, but that was probably because we walked around and didn't have rifles and webbing to carry. After spending a couple of hours with the lads, it's like you saw them all yesterday - only they're just a bit older, greyer and wiser."
Andrew Huxley, 43, who had driven from Shropshire, said: "It was brilliant. I came to the 20th reunion, so I saw quite a few of the lads then, but I haven't seen some people for 25 years," he said.
"Some looked exactly as they did but others I wouldn't have recognised in a million years.
"I think everyone will remember this day for the rest of their lives and it's a credit to Molly MacPherson for organising it."
Major Richard "Spot" Watson couldn't participate in the endurance course because of a bad back, but he said it was great to see everyone.
"A couple of guys I still work with as I'm still in the mob, but seeing all the others and coming back to Lympstone has brought back memories."
Colour Sergeant Tony Hands, a physical training instructor at Lympstone Commando, said: "It's great for the new recruits to see the veterans.
"The whole family ethos is a massive and when they see the old and the bold come back and show them they can do it still, it spurs the recruits on."
