About the book:
I decided to write the book in 2010, I had just sold my small Black Cab business, which left me with some spare time, and as I had never read a book that truly reflected the battle as I knew it, and with so many of my friends having gone unrewarded for acts of bravery, these men had their own accounts of the battle locked up inside them, it would only be a matter of time before their stories would be lost, and the books that I had previously read, that were wrong in so many ways, they would be the story of our battle. I decided to approach a number of my friends who'd taken part in the battle and they agreed to sit down and over a brew and give their account of the battle, these men gave me their snapshots of the battle, regarding what was happening to them, they were unaware of what was happening elsewhere, everyone seemed to be in their own small bubble unaware of the dilemma that others were facing, just small groups of friends trying to survive.
I started off with friends I knew well, then their acquaintances, then before I knew it, it began to snowball with Platoon Sergeants, Company Sergeant Majors, Company Commanders and finally our Commanding Officer Hew Pike, I ended up interviewing 70 people including five Major Generals, two Colonels and three Lt Colonel’s, plus many Majors, Captains, Lieutenants and the backbone of the British Army the Corporals and Tom’s. I travelled the length and breadth of the UK to interview each individual, and the battle slowly began to come together. I then decided to contact members of the Argentine Army and Marines who were all veterans of Mount Longdon, they were extremely helpful with maps indicating where the various machine gun locations, and where the various Argentine platoon areas of responsibility were, these men were vital to compiling an accurate account.
As I began to write my account in 2010, I contacted a military book publisher who said they were interested in publishing my account to coincide with the 30th anniversary Falklands War in 2012.
This was a fantastic opportunity to listen to so many fantastic accounts, from so many different viewpoints, seeing the same incidents differently, it was absolutely fascinating, one of the main criticisms of my book is I repeat certain passages, this is done to recall earlier passages so the reader can understand how these events affected other platoons or companies.
In 2012 as I neared the end of my book I contacted the publisher and sent them a draft of my book, they replied saying, you've written too much, you need to cut out 90,000 words, which equated to removing a full chapter, but after gathering so many great interviews, I couldn't do it, a I thought I owed it to the blokes, then quite out of the blue, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which, as you would expect, it stopped me in my tracks, not knowing how things would go, whether I would live or die, eventually after some fantastic care and treatment by the NHS, I lost my left kidney but fortunately my cancer hadn't spread, however, the health of my right kidney was rapidly declining and I was told to prepare for long term dialysis treatment.
In 2013, I contact the publisher who informed me they no longer wanted the book, in the publisher's words, 'my boat had sailed' and they had moved on to another military anniversary, plus my book was too big and not financially viable. They recommended another publisher, who said the same thing, ' it's too big' and not financially viable.
I was now spending most of my time attending the dialysis unit in Aintree Hospital, having sessions every other day, I decided to self publish, I contacted a wonderful printer in Liverpool who helped me tremendously and got it ready for print.
Its been a long and hard journey, but the feedback from friends and readers has been amazing, I particularly value the feedback I've from family members of the deceased, expressing their gratitude at getting for the first time, the full story of their loved ones. There have been criticisms of my grammar, spelling and punctuation, the truth of the matter is, I could not afford to get my book proofread as I and my family had bigger things like cancer, dialysis and financial problems to sort out.
As I said before, my book had never been about money, as most everyone, who has ever self-published a book will tell you, after printing, postage & packing,, eBay and PayPal fees, there is very little left.
By June 2017 I had spent four years on dialysis, when unexpectedly at 2.00am on 12th June, which happened to be the anniversary of the battle for Mount Longdon, I received a phone call telling me a kidney was available, I immediately made my way to the Royal Hospital, where I was told, a man was dying and I had to be ready for surgery at a moments notice, I waited, for two days, and on 14th June, the anniversary of the liberation of Port Stanley, I received my donor's kidney. I shall never forget and will be forever grateful to the man who gave me the gift of life.
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In January 2020 I was contacted by Jake Lingwood of Monoray Publishing with regards to publishing Three Days in June, under the title 3 Days in June, it is initially the same book, but this time it has been professionally edited and indexed. I am very thankful to Jake for having faith in me and the book, this will give the book a wider readership, and give greater recognition to the men of 3 Para who performed so bravely during and after the battle.
I hope you enjoy the book, and that it gives you a fresh insight into the bravery of those young men who sailed South in the summer of 1982.
Best wishes Jimmy O'Connell
Class of 1982.
Up till now, the book has received 241 five star reviews, please, if you read the Kindle version or the paperback version, please take the time to leave a review on Amazon.
