Fifty men from the North-East's 4th Regiment, Royal Artillery, met in Osnabruck, Germany, at the weekend to resurrect the camaraderie and the pride that got them through the Falklands campaign.

"Even when you leave, you're still a soldier," said 46-year-old Alan Bell, who now runs his own business in Leeds.

Howard Foster, 44, now serving in Colchester, said of their enemy: "It was a relief when it was over because it was obvious they weren't trained or properly equipped. Some were trying to fight in plimsols.

Colonel Tony Rice, a major during the conflict, said: "We were a professional Army fighting conscripts who had never fought before."

Fred Greenhow, 42, now a training officer at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, remembered three Chinook helicopters burned on the ship, limiting the artillery's ability to move its guns.

Food was also destroyed, which meant soldiers needed to use their initiative to survive.

"We had nothing to eat for three days, so we killed a sheep and ate that," said Jock Jardine, now a lorry driver based in Berwick.

Col Rice, who is soon to retire at 54, agreed: "Camaraderie is usual in the Army, as are friends for life - but there is definitely a special bond between those of us who served in the Falklands which I could never explain to anyone else.

"It is something I will always have and I hope that, by coming to reunions like this one, we can in some way pass on that spirit to soldiers who are serving with the regiment today.