Book Review - Journey to Peace: A True Story of Forgiveness and Reconcilliation

Journey to Peace: A True Story of Forgiveness and Reconcilliation

Written by: Adam Joe Lawton,

Troubador Publishing, 2012,

ISBN 9781780883182, 284pp

Reviewed by: Captain Andy Brayshaw

In April 1982 when Argentina invaded the British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands, Adam Joe Lawton was a 17-year-old junior seaman serving on HMS Sheffield, a type 42 destroyer. At that time, Sheffield was on her way home following protection duties in the Iran-Iraq war. With the invasion of the Falklands, Sheffield was redeployed to the South Atlantic as part of the British task force hastily assembled to retake the Falklands.

Journey to Peace follows the author’s journey through his baptism of fire when HMS Sheffield was hit and sunk by an Exocet missile, becoming Britain’s first casualty and resulting in the deaths of 20 of her crew. For a young man of Lawton’s age this was an appalling turn of events, an unimaginable horror that would haunt him for many years and see him change from a pleasant young man to one filled with hate, anger and uncontrollable aggression.

Like many veterans returning from the Falklands War, Lawton had difficulty adjusting to a peaceful existence. He was unable to grieve for his friends and fellow sailors who had died on Sheffield and turned to alcohol to try to block his appalling memories. However his alcohol-induced aggression would often see him involved in fights usually fought for the most trivial of reasons. This spiral into self- destruction would have continued indefinitely had it not been for a navy lieutenant to whom he was paraded following one of his bouts of drinking and fighting. The lieutenant took an interest in Lawton, noting his road to probable destruction, and prompting him to assess his situation and the limited future that he faced. As a result, Lawton began to arrest his descent and worked hard to recover from his alcohol addiction and its destructive aggression.

The memories of those eventful months in 1982 gradually began to fade and, by 1995, Lawton had left the navy and emigrated, living the Australian dream in Brisbane. In 1988, however, the memories that had been locked away for so long suddenly began to recur. That unseen killer of so many war veterans — Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — had arrived in Lawton’s life. What followed was a journey of reconciliation and forgiveness as Lawton faced his demons, returning to the Falklands and then travelling to Argentina to meet some of the Argentinian pilots who had been involved in the attack on Sheffield.

In 1982 Lawton had been the third-youngest sailor on Sheffield; of the two who were younger at the time, one took his own life and the other remains in psychiatric care. The British forces lost 258 personnel during the Falklands War. In the 30 years since the end of the war more than 350 ex-members have taken their own lives as a result of PTSD. The most recent of these is ex-Para Stephen Hood, who featured in iconic film footage celebrating victory at the battle of Goose Green. Hood committed suicide on 3 January 2013. Journey to Peace is a compelling and inspiring book for those men and women of all ages who have served their countries and are dealing with the demons that such service brings.