Falklands 40 Documentary

Falklands Survivor Dave ‘Brum’ Serrell helps tell the story of ARDENT

The story of those who died when HMS Ardent was bombed and sunk in Falkland Sound on May 21, 1982, was first told in the book 'Through Fire and Water' first published in 2001.

Author Mark Higgitt painstakingly researched the story of the sinking of the Royal Navy's 'forgotten frigate' by Argentinian planes, which resulted in the loss of 22 of the crew and caused injury to 30 more. Former journalist, Mr Higgitt's cousin, had served on board the ship. The author had initially planned to write the story as a series of news features to mark Remembrance Day.

With the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Falklands War in mind, Mark decided to update the story of the crew of HMS Ardent and filmed an intimate documentary about the final hours of the ship. Titled 'ARDENTS, the remarkable men of F184', the hour and a half film looks at the expectations of the young crew as they prepared for war and the mixed emotions of their loved ones back home.

What motivated you to film the documentary?

Lume Books asked me to update the book for a fourth edition, during the lockdown, which took me back to the original interview tapes and transcripts that still paint a vivid picture of the events of 1982, and the life of Ardent. The written word is very powerful, of course, but it was hearing those voices again that sewed the seed of the documentary. From that point, two things were exceptionally clear. I knew that, if lockdown eventually allowed me to move around, I had a finite amount of time to produce the film – and, if I didn’t, it’s something I would regret. I also realised that, as we approached the 40th anniversary, there would be fewer opportunities to tell this story in this way.

Did you learn anything new since the book was first published?

By their very nature, insights added to an updated edition are new – at least, revisited and reassessed. The filmed interviews didn’t cover new ground, because there wasn’t time to explore it. But there were new perspectives on familiar ground that I hadn’t anticipated.

The process of weaving the interview footage together, as the timeline unfolds, also delivered some unforgettable moments for me that I hope will work for everyone. It was a little like gathering a particular group of people in the same room for the first time, then sitting back in a corner to listen afresh to how their stories connect.

You focus on a central character of the crew of HMS Ardent, Leading Marine Engineer Stephen ‘Knocker’ White, who was killed in action on May 21. Why was this important to your approach?

Experience told me a number of things when I started to jot down ideas for the film, back in mid- 2020, to see if it might be do-able. The story had to convey the spirit of Ardent to someone who doesn’t already know what made the ship’s company – this group of men – so special from the outset, what allowed you to make such a pivotal contribution to the success of the landings and, ultimately, what’s kept you together.

To do that, I needed someone whose character and story epitomised that spirit, rather than attempt to achieve that aim through the stories of several such men.

Everywhere I went in my original research notes and tapes, it was Knocker’s name that emerged. Over the years, I’ve remarked to many ARDENTS that I feel as if I would know what dits to expect if he were to walk into the room. I wish I’d known him, and heard his voice.

It is clear from the book and the film that the HMS Ardent Association has become an established family that supports each other and has done so since 1982. Why do you think this is the case and what is it about the ARDENTS that makes them ‘Remarkable Men’?

That’s simple. The Association was the brainchild of two men who loved their shipmates and were loved back (still do, still are). That bond was created out of shared experiences, triumphs and disasters, stretching from Amsterdam (1981) to Narvik (1982), from Guzz to Grantham Sound, to Canberra and QE2.

Ken Enticknap provides the answer early in the film by asking what makes a particular bunch of matelots gel. Forty years on, those are still the family ties that bind.

ARDENTS: The Remarkable Men of F184 is available to stream from May 21 2022, on Vimeo and hmsardent.org/knocker