Lt Col Peter Cameron, Royal Marine pilot who led his commando air squadron during the Falklands war

Often flying in appalling conditions, his Gazelle and Scout helicopters rendered outstanding service throughout the conflict

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Cameron, who has died aged 83, commanded 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron (BAS) during the Falklands War, when he was awarded the Military Cross for gallant and distinguished service.
In April 1982, Cameron was a major, skiing in Switzerland, when the conflict broke out, but after a period of feverish mobilisation and professional energy, by April 5 the several flights of BAS were embarked in their designated ships.
From the first day of landings at San Carlos, Cameron’s Gazelle and Scout helicopters rendered outstanding service. Flying in appalling conditions, by day and night, for the first few days they dodged enemy fighters and flew through heavy friendly aircraft fire to support the troops ashore.
Two Gazelles were shot down and three aircrew lost their lives while trying to clear the way for larger Sea King helicopters to land Rapier anti-air missiles which were desperately needed ashore to defend the beachhead. During the battle for Darwin, a Scout helicopter trying to get forward to evacuate casualties was shot down by an Argentine fighter.
But under Cameron’s leadership the BAS pressed on to take desperately needed ammunition to the frontline and to evacuate their casualties, often under enemy ground fire and with the ever-present threat of air attack. On the last night of the war, when the battle was still in progress, Cameron flew forward in the whirling murk of a heavy snowstorm to lead a Sea King to an artillery battery which was out of shells.
The six Scouts and nine Gazelles of BAS flew a total of 2,110 hours during the campaign, reflecting a remarkable rate of serviceability and flying. According to the citation for his MC, “Throughout this most demanding period, Major Cameron led his Squadron with humour and compassion both on the ground and in the air. His fine example of courage and determination, in the face of severe losses, was an inspiration to all and his leadership ensured that no call for help went unanswered.”
Charles Peter “Pedro” Cameron was born on March 8 1941 in Nairobi, Kenya, while his father was a commissioner of prisons in Salisbury, Rhodesia. Young Cameron was educated at Stubbington House near Fareham, where between 1841 and 1962 four generations of headmasters from the Forster family had produced politicians, diplomats, generals and admirals, including seven recipients of the VC and 24 of the DSO. So many Stubbington boys joined the Navy that it was nicknamed “the cradle of the Navy”.
Cameron joined the Royal Marines in 1959 and completed his training in 40 Commando in Malta before deploying to the Far East in command of a rifle troop during the Konfrontasi. There, he landed by helicopter from the carrier Albion into Kuching to secure a landing site for the commando, recalling of this first landing: “We shot out of the helicopters straight into a monsoon drain, with kit falling off us – and the helicopters flew away and there was a very quiet whistle. We had landed in the middle of a school’s sports day.”
Selected for pilot training, Cameron became the first RM officer to be awarded Army flying wings, and in July 1965 he returned to 40 Commando, flying the light Sioux reconnaissance helicopter. Based at Simanggang in Malaysia, Cameron supported 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Regiment and the Queen’s Dragoon Guards.
Small, light helicopters proved so useful that in 1965 Cameron was invited to form 42 Commando air troop based in Singapore. This deployed to Borneo and then Lundu, Sarawak, where Cameron was heavily involved in actions against Indonesian guerrillas along the 150-mile jungle-clad border.
Next, he deployed in Albion to the Gulf of Benin, part of a stand-by force during the Biafran War, but by May 1968 he was once again in the Far East, in command of 42 Commando’s air troop. When later that year 3 Commando Brigade formed its own air squadron, Cameron was the natural choice to command a flight of three Sioux helicopters, and for the next two and a half years he flew from ashore and afloat in Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, Brunei and Australia.
Cameron never forgot that he was a Royal Marine first and an aviator second. In 1971-74 he commanded the Royal Marines Display Team at the Royal Tournament, and then served at the Commando Training Centre, Lympstone, where he was responsible for the training of all adult recruits to “green beret” standard.
Next, he was senior pilot of BAS before being selected in 1976 to attend the Royal Air Force Staff College, Bracknell. That year, after a spell as military assistant (“flunky”) to the Commandant General Royal Marines, General Sir Peter Whiteley, Cameron resigned, had second thoughts, and then discovered that Whiteley had already written Cameron’s letter withdrawing his resignation.
He was exceptionally busy between 1977 and 1979, with winter training in Norway interspersed with tours of duty in Northern Ireland, then in 1979 Cameron took command of 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron with flights deployed as far afield as Belize, the US, Canada, Germany, Norway and Northern Ireland.
After the Falklands War he took up naval recruiting and then commanded the Royal Marines Reserve, then in 1987 he became British Defence Adviser in Colombo and the Maldives. In retirement he was clerk to the Company of Waterman and Lightermen (1991-94). He also joined the Territorial Army and flew in the rank of captain with the Army Air Corps.
Max Arthur recorded Cameron’s Falklands adventures in his 2002 book Above All, Courage.Peter Cameron loved life, family, flying and command.
In 1968 he married the diplomat Carol Cook. She survives him with their three entrepreneur sons.
Lt Col Peter Cameron, born March 8 1941, died October 28 2024