A VETERAN of the Falklands War is hoping that events being held to commemorate 25 years since the end of the conflict will enable him to catch up with the families of three fallen friends.

Roy Taylor, who lives in Moat Close, Bramley, was an 18-year-old paratrooper when he set sail for the Falklands in May 1982.

After being among the first batch of soldiers to land on East Falkland, he developed trench foot but still saw action during the conflict.

He was in the port of Fitzroy when the RFA Sir Galahad was hit - an attack that resulted in the death of 32 soldiers - and he also took part in the victorious march into Port Stanley following the Argentine surrender.

While Mr Taylor was fortunate enough to return from the campaign without suffering serious injury, three fellow soldiers in their late teens who had trained alongside him at Aldershot died during the Battle of Wireless Ridge.

Mr Taylor, who is now 42, makes regular trips to the graves of Ian Scrivens, Jason Burt and Neil Grose, who are all buried in Aldershot, and hopes he might be able to meet up with their families when he travels to Whitehall for a veterans' parade on June 17.

"There are a few things going on to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the end of the war but I just fancied getting involved in the parade," he said. "I am looking forward to the event and meeting up with people I have not seen since I left the army.

"I am also keen to meet the families of my three friends who trained with me and who were killed down there. I would really like to meet some of those they left behind."

Mr Taylor was a member of the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 Para) during the war and was among the first British troops to land on the coast of East Falkland.

He had been in the army for almost two years but the landing at San Carlos was his first taste of real action.

"I was extremely nervous when I was waiting to come off the boat," Mr Taylor remembered. "We just did not know what to expect. When the front of the landing craft went down we could have faced a hail of bullets. Fortunately, it was all very peaceful, but we did not know that until we were there."

Shortly after this, he developed trench foot and did not fight alongside his colleagues at the Battle of Goose Green as a result.

Despite winning the battle, Goose Green was a sad occasion for 2 Para, who lost their commanding officer, Colonel Herbert Jones.

Mr Taylor soon rejoined his comrades in 2 Para and was with them in Fitzroy when the RFA Sir Galahad was hit.

"When the Sir Galahad was hit, my whole battalion was in a shed literally yards from the water's edge," Mr Taylor explained. "We just did what we could to help the soldiers get to shore but it was an awful sight."

After this, Mr Taylor came up against the enemy on a number of occasions, most notably at Wireless Ridge, where he lost his friends.

Eventually, the Argentinians surrendered and Mr Taylor took part in the victorious march into Port Stanley, the capital of the Falklands.

"It was a proud moment," he said. "I felt relief tinged with sadness for the loss of my friends but I was just happy to be alive."

Mr Taylor remained in the army until 1985, serving in Northern Ireland and Belize.

"I was still only 21 when I came to the end of my three-year contract. I could not see myself staying in the army for my whole life so I decided to do something different."

He has been a firefighter in Reading for the past 21 years and now lives in Bramley with his wife Wendy and teenage children, Bekky and Jamie.