The Land Battles
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The land war in the Falklands opened on the 2nd April 1982. The Argentine forces landed 120 commandos at Mullett Creek at about 4.30am , who attacked the British Marines' barracks. Fortunately the Royal Marines were already deployed and thus avoided heavy loss of life. The Argentine commandos then joined the force marching on Government House with the intention of seizing the British Governor Rex Hunt. A fierce battle ensued and the British were pinned down by the Argentines. A second group of British marines overlooking the harbour managed to hit one of the Argentine landing craft with an anti-tank weapon before withdrawing back to Government house. |
With Argentine Armoured Personnel carriers and guns coming ashore, Rex Hunt, The Governor ordered a surrender. The 84 marines and Governor were flown to Montevideo and from there home, but not before giving a good count of themselves. See Naval Party 8901 And the Argentine Invasion
On South Georgia, another marine detachment led by Lieutenant Keith mills with twenty-three men put up vigorous resistance to the Argentine invasion when the Argentine forces attempted to land troops with a Puma helicopter. The Puma was fired on with every weapon the marines possessed. They then fired on an Argentine corvette in the bay, hitting it with three anti-tank rockets and more than 1200 rounds of small arms fire. After the Argentines had established a much superior force ashore, the marines surrendered and were returned to Britain. Lieutenant Mills received a hero's welcome and the Distinguished Service Cross. See Fairly Famous Mills and the Red Plum
The British government were swift in their decision to send a task force to recapture the islands. A large part of No.3 Commando was aboard the refitted Canberra when she left port on Good Friday to the strains of 'Rule Britannia' from the quayside. A small squadron of SAS went ahead aboard H.M.S. Antrim. By mid April the task force arrived in the South Atlantic. The Task forces first objective was the recapture of South Georgia. In very bad weather Wessex helicopters took off carrying the Mountain Troop of D Squadron SAS. |
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The landing site was dangerous and a Scientist who had evaded the Argentineans urged against the landing where the weather defied human reason. After one failed attempt when snow forced the helicopters back to the ship, the SAS were set down to reconnoitre the island in preparation for the arrival of the marines. The SAS were bogged down by the weather and eventually had to ask to be withdrawn. The first attempt by a Wessex helicopter failed and the helicopter crashed. The second Wessex crashed trying to take off. A third overloaded Wessex airlifted seventeen men, including the crews of the crashed helicopters back to Antrim.
The following night, 23rd April, 2 Section SBS was landed by Helicopter and also 5 gemini inflatable craft set out with troops of D Squadrons Boat troop aboard. Two suffered engine failure, one of the crews were picked up by helicopter. The others got to shore. The Antrim group moved in again on the 24th April to drop off more troops and in doing so, located and beached the Argentine Submarine Sante Fe. The Antrims' small company of marines were landed following a hasty conference and the seventy five marines, SBS and SAS under naval gunfire support landed by Helicopter. When they reached the settlements of Grytviken they found white sheets fluttering form several windows. An Argentine officer complained to the SAS that they had just walked through his minefield. At 5.15am, The Argentine commander formally surrendered. The following morning, after threatening defiance by radio overnight, the small enemy garrison at Leith, along the coast, surrendered without resistance. The scrap merchants whose activities had precipitated the entire war were also taken into custody, for repatriation to the mainland. To complete the victory, a helicopter picked up a weak emergency beacon signal from the southernmost tip of the island, Stromness Bay. The helicopter homed in on it and found the lost three man SAS patrol from the missing Gemini. They had paddled ashore with only a few hundred yards of land left between them and Antarctica. No British troops had been lost. See Operation Paraquat
The Ships now brought the SAS and SBS from South Georgia back to the main fleet in preparation for the landings. While in London, The Foreign Secretary tried to argue that Britain should accept the American mediated peace deal, the Argentineans were not amused by the offer of 'peace' by the Americans and were smarting from the loss of South Georgia. Eventually, having been refused aid from the Organization of America States, the Argentinean government rejected the peace overtures made by the American negotiator Haig. The peace attempt failed. America now changed its tune and imposed military and economic sanctions on Argentina and offered aid to Britain (Which had already been flowing for some time in secret). Although politically America was trying for peace, its military were throwing everything they had.
The United Nations intervened, tried to negotiate a peace plan and failed, the European nations fell in behind Britain and Argentina was slowly left without friends, her Latin American neighbours offered little support and the UN appeared to bless Britain's' retaliation. On Thursday 20th May, The Prime Minister published the 'red, white and blue' the Falklands White paper, spelling the end of the negotiations and solidifying, It was war.
In the first days of May, by helicopter and fast inflatable boats, parties of SAS and SBS forces were landed on the Falklands to assess the state of the Argentine forces. Their mission was to hide up and observer the enemy with out making contact.
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The British 3 Commando Brigade waded ashore at San Carlos a few minutes before 4 a.m. on Friday 21st May. 2 Para waded ashore an hour later and took their positions on the Summit of Sussex mountain to protect the approaches of Goose Green soon after first light. A few minutes after 2 Paras landing, 40 Commando came ashore a few hundred yards further north behind the Scorpion and Scimitar Armoured vehicles of the Blues and Royals to be met by the filthy SBS reception party who had been on the hill for days. |
A short time later, the British confirmed that there were no Argentine troops in the area. On the flagpole beside the local managers house, Men of C Company of 40 Commando raised the Union Jack at first light. See Troops Out Across the water, 45 Commando had taken up positions in the abandoned refrigeration plant at Ajax plant without incident. 3 Para landed very late after delays. The whole of 3 Commando was ashore without significant loss. As 2 Para struggled up Sussex mountain, two pairs of Pucara ground-attack aircraft attacked. The first pair was blown out of the sky by handheld missiles and shipboard Sams, the second pairs attack failed to inflict casualties on 2 Paras' B Company. |
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42 Commando was landed in the afternoon, this did not however improve the Task Forces air defense. The 12 Anti-Aircraft Rapier missile launchers, operated by 'T' (Shah Sujah's) Battery from 12 Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery under the Operational Control of 3 Commando brigade, some of which were damaged after so long exposed to the salt water during the sea crossing needed some time to be set up and realigned. |
Surgical support teams were established ashore at the old refrigeration plant, but the build-up ashore was delayed as the supply ships put stores ashore in the dark but left for safer waters before daylight. Dawn and dusk were the favoured times for aircraft attacks, and one evening two skyhawks bombed 40 Commando's positions. Two men were killed and three wounded.
The 25th May saw the Exocet missile claimed the Atlantic Conveyor and with her the vital Chinook and Wessex helicopters along with the tentage for the entire landing force. All but one of the Chinooks were lost, ending the hopes of the Task Force for a fast overland hopping campaign. Instead the Landing Forces preceded with a two pronged attack on Port Stanley. The forces left the San Carlos on the 27th May. The northerly prong of 45 Commando advanced on and secured the unoccupied hamlet of Douglas before meeting 3 Para who had gone straight to Teal Inlet arriving there before everyone else, at Teal Inlet on the 29th May. From here the combined force headed to Mount Kent, west of Stanley. The marines and commandos were each carrying an average of 120 pounds of equipment on their historic march across East Falkland. |
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The Southerly force, 2 Para headed to Darwin. Their mission was to capture the hamlet of Goose Green. Intelligence thought that there was a small Argentine garrison there. This proved to very wrong information. 2 Para soon encounter heavy oppression from a Argentine force over 1,200 strong. The battle was a hard slog for the Paras as they found the Argentineans were well dug in and waiting for them. After the Battle there were rumours that the BBC World Service had announced on their news that 2 Para were going to attack Goose Green just before the attack was to go in. |
This caused a lot on mistrust between the troops and the press for the rest of the war. The Battle went on all though the night of the 27th. As dawn came on the 28th the Paras looking over the ground they had sofa taken from the Argentines were shocked to see the well prepared defenses they had fought for all night. The battle went on thought out the rest of the day with the paras attacking and gaining one Argentine position after another. After a fierce 12 hour battle the Argentine garrison surrendered on 29th May at 1000 hours. It was only after the surrender that paras realized the size of the enemy forces. 200 Argentine soldiers lay dead on the battle field and over 1'000 surrendered to them. 2 Para had lost 16 killed and over 30 wounded. Unfortunately one of the casualties was 2 Para commander Lieutenant Colonel Jones, who was killed.
Leaving their bergens behind, 3 Paras marched in fighting order with food and ammunition, their vehicles coping brilliantly with the adverse conditions. On the 31st May, K Company 42 Commando embarked on helicopters and landed on the slopes of Mount Kent to be greeted by the SAS OP party and immediately dived for cover when they spotted a fire fight taking place a mile north. |
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The fire fight stopped and an SAS officer reported that they had destroyed one argentine patrol and knew of another which they had under surveillance. The Sole surviving Chinook airlifted in three 105 mm guns and 30 rounds of ammunition. It was damaged on its return flight and could not fly again that night. The following night, after no Argentine counter-attack helicopters ferried in the rest of 42 Commando to secure Mount Challenger. 45 Commando joined them on 4th June. The weather now deteriorated crippling both Argentine and British air power.
5 Brigade sailed from Britain on the Queen Elizabeth II on 12th May, with some but not all of the equipment they needed to go to war and little armour. The brigade transferred to Canberra and Norland for its final passage south at South Georgia.
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2 Para then continued overland past Swan Inlet house to Bluff Cove with a short helicopter hop by A Company to secure the northern bank and wait for 5 Brigade to arrive. 5 brigade were unable to march across the Falklands, having missed out on the vital six day acclimatization period 3 Commando had benefited from. So a second landing was staged in terrible weather, including 70 knot winds. The first units of 5 brigade were put ashore on the beaches. After much delay, the Guard of 5 brigade took over the positions of 2 Para who retied to the shearing sheds at Fitzroy to dry out. |
The Navy now pulled out the massive Landing Ships and instead sent in the light RAF ships to unload the Brigades supplies. The undefended landing ship Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad were kept in the close shore waters as they continued to unload and were bombed by Argentine aircraft during the following day. Both were hit badly and Plymouth was also bombed that afternoon cause a large lose of life particularly with in the ranks of the 1st battalion Welsh Guards aboard Sir Tristram. Aircraft and landing craft lifted survivors off.
Three days after this catastrophe, 3 Commando and 5 Brigade launched the battle for Port Stanley. The first act was to clear the mountains of Argentine soldiers and their snipers who were equipped with night vision scopes. The ensuing actions involved bitter fighting as 3 Para advanced over the mountains blasting Argentine positions with mortars and anti- tank weapons Storming argentine positions some times in bayonet charges. Ian Mackay, a Platoon sergeant led his platoon against an Argentine bunker, and lobbed in two grenades before he was killed himself. he was awarded a Posthumous Victoria Cross. |
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No 45 and 42 commando captured Two Sisters and Mount Harriet, then the 2nd battalion Scots Guards moved on Tumbledown Mountain as the 1/7 Gurkhas attacked Mount William before joining the 1st Welsh guards in the assault on Sapper Hill. some of the most bitter fighting took place on the mountains surrounding Port Stanley. 2 and 3 Para advanced on Mount Longdon and through the old marine barracks at Moody Brook Barrack and into Port Stanley. On 14th June at 2100 Hours, the Argentine forces surrendered. 11,313 Argentines were taken prisoner and were herded aboard British ships for repatriation. |
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