Review of 2022: April sees Portsmouth reflect on the Falklands War while Southsea was rammed with Easter sunseekers

During the month of April, Portsmouth saw Navy veterans remember the Falklands conflict during its anniversary year and pay tribute to their fallen comrades.

On April 5, The News provided a 40-page supplement commemorating 40 years since the Falklands task force sailed. On this day, Veterans spoke of their horrors as Portsmouth marked the major milestone that claimed the lives of 255 military personnel.

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Chief Petty Officer Alan ‘Sharkey’ Ward was among those left with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time at war, during which he dealt with casualties from the bombings of RFAs Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram. He was serving in survey ship HMS Herald at the time.

‘The smell of burning skin stays with you for the rest of your life,' said Alan, 60, of Copnor.

‘I’ll never forget the screams first thing in the morning. It was called the 9am screams because they didn't have morphine and things like that to treat the wounded. It was awful.

‘You get the best training in the world in the navy… but it doesn’t prepare you for the after-effects of war.’

The News were also there to report when veterans laid wreaths at two ceremonies in the city on April 10 as the HMS Hermes Association remembered their fellow comrades at a reunion at the Maritime Hotel.

Later in the month, revellers in Southsea enjoyed a wonderfully sunny Easter weekend with no Covid-19 restrictions – the first in three years.

Blue sky and sunshine bathed Southsea for the Bank Holiday weekend as people made the most of their freedoms, and businesses welcomed back hordes of visitors.

For Mark Wilson, one of the owners of the Southsea Model Village, it was long overdue. ‘It’s so nice to see people out and about enjoying themselves,’ he said.

‘It’s fantastic to be back. The past couple of years have been really stop-start and we’ve not known where we’ve stood.’

The sight of families frolicking on the beach and enjoying the endless entertainment was a far cry from two years before which rendered the beach and shop fronts a ghost town.

As the month drew to a close, following the tragic death of her 10-year-old daughter, Charlotte Fairall, of Stubbington, teamed up with Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage to secure historic parliamentary debate on childhood cancer.

Sophie Fairall lost her battle to a rare type of cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma, in September 2021. Charlotte, 41, told The News: ‘I think Sophie would be really proud of what is happening. Absolutely this will save the lives of other children in the future.

‘We might have lost Sophie but we want to do everything we can to ensure this doesn’t happen to other families.’

To finish the month on a high, and on the theme of giving thanks, 20 years of excellence in Portsmouth were marked as the winners of The News Business Excellence Awards were crowned.

The best of the city’s businesses took centre stage as they celebrated individual and joint successes at Portsmouth Guildhall on April 29, as the country eased its way out of the pandemic.

Leading the way was overall business of the year Pro Pods. The company, based in Drayton, is finessing a new way of living, creating ‘boutique’ style houses for young professionals - house sharing, but a world away from the stereotypes.

Pro Pods picked up not just the overall title but the Entrepreneur of the Year gong for boss Daryn Brewer.

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‘I’m absolutely ecstatic, a lot of hard work and a lot of investment, a lot of long hours but it’s all paid off. It just shows that if you have a dream you can create it,’ he said.

Editor of The News Mark Waldron said: ‘Each year we celebrate local business success whatever the challenges – and this year’s awards are extra-special after all that we’ve been through.

‘Now restrictions have been lifted and society returns to a new normality, it is a good moment to reflect on and celebrate how much has been achieved even in the face of adversity.’