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Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T06:07:53Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle fire, rifle-grenades and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and even defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the 'Globe & Laurel' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield<ref>''Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos.'' Así Lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982</ref>and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 CDO.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, field artillery and naval bombardments, Harrier fighter-bomber attacks and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T06:06:47Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle fire, rifle-grenades and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the 'Globe & Laurel' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield<ref>''Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos.'' Así Lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982</ref>and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 CDO.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, field artillery and naval bombardments, Harrier fighter-bomber attacks and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T06:06:06Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle, rifle-grenades and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the 'Globe & Laurel' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield<ref>''Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos.'' Así Lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982</ref>and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 CDO.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, field artillery and naval bombardments, Harrier fighter-bomber attacks and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T05:58:41Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the 'Globe & Laurel' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield<ref>''Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos.'' Así Lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982</ref>and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 CDO.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, field artillery and naval bombardments, Harrier fighter-bomber attacks and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T05:35:21Z

Spartano: /* Aftermath */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield<ref>''Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos.'' Así Lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982</ref>and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 CDO.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, field artillery and naval bombardments, Harrier fighter-bomber attacks and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T05:32:56Z

Spartano: /* Harriet */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield<ref>''Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos.'' Así Lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982</ref>and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 CDO.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T05:23:47Z

Spartano: /* Harriet */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield<ref>''Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos.'' Así Lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982</ref>and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:37:47Z

Spartano: /* No-Man's-Land */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment<ref>Mayor Mario Luis Castagneto: "Otra acción, esta vez de la 602, al mando de su propio jefe, el mayor Rico, se produjo ... delante de la posición propia. En ella chocan con una fracción del SAS-Special Air Service- y, aunque los nuestros se encuentran en inferioridad de número que los comandos ingleses, no sólo lo baten y ponen en fuga sino que les capturan material que es traido de regreso a Puerto Argentino. Recuerdo que la televisión argentina filmó ese material capturado." La Guerra de Las Malvinas (Version Argentina), p. 645, Ediciones Fernández Reguera, 1987</ref>, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:32:36Z

Spartano: /* No-Man's-Land */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31/June 1 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:31:05Z

Spartano: /* No-Man's-Land */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of Thursday June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On Wednesday June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:28:52Z

Spartano:

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's Arctic-trained 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:27:31Z

Spartano:

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier cluster bomb attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:26:44Z

Spartano:

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers from Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval gunfire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:15:38Z

Spartano: /* No-Man's-Land */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval fire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González and Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T03:03:36Z

Spartano: /* No-Man's-Land */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval fire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used it with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>[https://www.latdf.com.ar/2015/02/cabo-baruzzo-el-heroe-argentino-que.html Cabo Baruzzo, el Héroe Argentino que peleó en Malvinas hasta con un cuchillo ]</ref>
<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T02:56:35Z

Spartano: /* No-Man's-Land */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval fire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat and capturing an abandoned M-16 rifle fitted with night-vision-scope that was given to Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon, who used with great effect on the night of June 11/12, wounding several Royal Marine Commandos.<ref>"One determined Argentinian sniper just below the highest part of the mountain held out long after other resistance in that area had ended. He hit 6 Troop's commander, Lieutenant Pusey, and the troop sergeant took over ... The sniper was eventually silenced by an 84-mm Carl Gustav rocket round fired at fifteen yards range. L Company suffered no fatal casualties but two officers and at least six marines were hit." Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook, p.349, Viking, 1985</ref>

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T02:24:15Z

Spartano: /* Aftermath */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval fire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded Private Luciano Oscar Pintos from the 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment, a Gallantry in Combat Medal, for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-19T02:16:35Z

Spartano:

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and naval fire that put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment Private Luciano Oscar Pintos a Gallantry in Combat Medal for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-19T01:35:27Z

Spartano: /* Top Malo House */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose was aboard in one of the helicopters and he concedes the British very nearly lost the Falklands ground campaign on this night along with a substantial part of 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO and the helicopters allocated to assist the Royal Marine Commandos and Paras take key hills west of Murrell River, ''"By the time we got there, the Argentinian Special Forces were almost up on the ridge from which they could have brought direct fire down on the helicopters. Then as Brigadier Julian Thompson said, it would have been 'Game over'. So it was really down to 10 minutes that we might have well lost the war."''<ref>Falklands War: The Untold Story 2022 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions and sudden firefights, meant it took five nights to airlift in the rifle company of Captain Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentinian Special Forces patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170324022411/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS engage Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak with the SAS patrol under the command of Captain Timothy Burls.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, 'Bravo November'. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms or mortar fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvering to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring Sergeant Mac Mclean in the hand (bad bone bruising) as he was preparing to fire an anti-tank rocket as part of thee support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fall back in the confusion, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he all of a sudden lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>in a protracted gun-battle, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret (Senior Lieutenant Luis Darío José Castagnari) from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) at Stanley Airbase that was killed and another four Blue Berets wounded when hit by a Seaslug missile that the British light cruiser HMS 'Glamorgan' fired in the surface-to-surface role while the Argentinian Air Force Commandos were protecting the Skyguard fire-control radars and preparing to take part in the helicopter-borne offensive and seize Smoko Mount. Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T19:27:33Z

Spartano: /* Aftermath */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose was aboard in one of the helicopters and he concedes the British very nearly lost the Falklands ground campaign on this night along with a substantial part of 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO and the helicopters allocated to assist the Royal Marine Commandos and Paras take key hills west of Murrell River, ''"By the time we got there, the Argentinian Special Forces were almost up on the ridge from which they could have brought direct fire down on the helicopters. Then as Brigadier Julian Thompson said, it would have been 'Game over'. So it was really down to 10 minutes that we might have well lost the war."''<ref>Falklands War: The Untold Story 2022 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions and sudden firefights, meant it took five nights to airlift in the rifle company of Captain Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentinian Special Forces patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170324022411/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS engage Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak with the SAS patrol under the command of Captain Timothy Burls.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, 'Bravo November'. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms or mortar fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvering to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring Sergeant Mac Mclean in the hand (bad bone bruising) as he was preparing to fire an anti-tank rocket as part of thee support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fall back in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he all of a sudden lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>in a protracted gun-battle, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret (Senior Lieutenant Luis Darío José Castagnari) from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) at Stanley Airbase that was killed and another four Blue Berets wounded when hit by a Seaslug missile that the British light cruiser HMS 'Glamorgan' fired in the surface-to-surface role while the Argentinian Air Force Commandos were protecting the Skyguard fire-control radars and preparing to take part in the helicopter-borne offensive and seize Smoko Mount. Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T19:25:52Z

Spartano: /* Aftermath */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose was aboard in one of the helicopters and he concedes the British very nearly lost the Falklands ground campaign on this night along with a substantial part of 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO and the helicopters allocated to assist the Royal Marine Commandos and Paras take key hills west of Murrell River, ''"By the time we got there, the Argentinian Special Forces were almost up on the ridge from which they could have brought direct fire down on the helicopters. Then as Brigadier Julian Thompson said, it would have been 'Game over'. So it was really down to 10 minutes that we might have well lost the war."''<ref>Falklands War: The Untold Story 2022 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions and sudden firefights, meant it took five nights to airlift in the rifle company of Captain Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentinian Special Forces patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170324022411/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS engage Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak with the SAS patrol under the command of Captain Timothy Burls.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, 'Bravo November'. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms or mortar fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvering to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring Sergeant Mac Mclean in the hand (bad bone bruising) as he was preparing to fire an anti-tank rocket as part of thee support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fall back in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he all of a sudden lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>in a protracted gun-battle, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret (Senior Lieutenant Luis Darío José Castagnari) from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) at Stanley Airbase that was killed and another four Blue Berets wounded when hit by a Seaslug missile that the British light cruiser HMS 'Glamorgan' launched in the surface-to-surface role while the Argentinian Air Force Commandos were preparing to take part in the helicopter-borne offensive and seize Smoko Mount. Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T19:09:19Z

Spartano: /* Top Malo House */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose was aboard in one of the helicopters and he concedes the British very nearly lost the Falklands ground campaign on this night along with a substantial part of 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO and the helicopters allocated to assist the Royal Marine Commandos and Paras take key hills west of Murrell River, ''"By the time we got there, the Argentinian Special Forces were almost up on the ridge from which they could have brought direct fire down on the helicopters. Then as Brigadier Julian Thompson said, it would have been 'Game over'. So it was really down to 10 minutes that we might have well lost the war."''<ref>Falklands War: The Untold Story 2022 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions and sudden firefights, meant it took five nights to airlift in the rifle company of Captain Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentinian Special Forces patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170324022411/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS engage Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak with the SAS patrol under the command of Captain Timothy Burls.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, 'Bravo November'. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms or mortar fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvering to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring Sergeant Mac Mclean in the hand (bad bone bruising) as he was preparing to fire an anti-tank rocket as part of thee support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fall back in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he all of a sudden lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>in a protracted gun-battle, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T19:04:11Z

Spartano: /* Top Malo House */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose was aboard in one of the helicopters and he concedes the British very nearly lost the Falklands ground campaign on this night along with a substantial part of 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO and the helicopters allocated to assist the Royal Marine Commandos and Paras take key hills west of Murrell River, ''"By the time we got there, the Argentinian Special Forces were almost up on the ridge from which they could have brought direct fire down on the helicopters. Then as Brigadier Julian Thompson said, it would have been 'Game over'. So it was really down to 10 minutes that we might have well lost the war."''<ref>Falklands War: The Untold Story 2022 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions and sudden firefights, meant it took five nights to airlift in the rifle company of Captain Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentinian Special Forces patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170324022411/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS engage Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak with the SAS patrol under the command of Captain Timothy Burls.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, 'Bravo November'. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms or mortar fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvering to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring Sergeant Mac Mclean in the hand (bad bone bruising) as he was preparing to fire an anti-tank rocket as part of thee support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:53:57Z

Spartano: /* Royal Marine reinforcements */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose was aboard in one of the helicopters and he concedes the British very nearly lost the Falklands ground campaign on this night along with a substantial part of 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO and the helicopters allocated to assist the Royal Marine Commandos and Paras take key hills west of Murrell River, ''"By the time we got there, the Argentinian Special Forces were almost up on the ridge from which they could have brought direct fire down on the helicopters. Then as Brigadier Julian Thompson said, it would have been 'Game over'. So it was really down to 10 minutes that we might have well lost the war."''<ref>Falklands War: The Untold Story 2022 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions and sudden firefights, meant it took five nights to airlift in the rifle company of Captain Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentinian Special Forces patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170324022411/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS engage Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak with the SAS patrol under the command of Captain Timothy Burls.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, 'Bravo November'. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms or mortar fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvering to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:37:13Z

Spartano: /* Mount Kent */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose was aboard in one of the helicopters and he concedes the British very nearly lost the Falklands ground campaign on this night along with a substantial part of 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO and the helicopters allocated to assist the Royal Marine Commandos and Paras take key hills west of Murrell River, ''"By the time we got there, the Argentinian Special Forces were almost up on the ridge from which they could have brought direct fire down on the helicopters. Then as Brigadier Julian Thompson said, it would have been 'Game over'. So it was really down to 10 minutes that we might have well lost the war."''<ref>Falklands War: The Untold Story 2022 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:31:02Z

Spartano: /* Bluff Cove Peak */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>''"There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak,"'' admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:29:48Z

Spartano: /* Bluff Cove Peak */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

The 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla Al Valor En Combate' (Gallantry In Combat Medal) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak," admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:28:28Z

Spartano: /* Mount Kent */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>''Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds.'' Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

In the meantime, the 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla al Heroico Valor en Combate' (Heroic Valour Cross) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak," admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:27:55Z

Spartano: /* Mount Kent */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold both peaks until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA in the meantime had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds. Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

In the meantime, the 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla al Heroico Valor en Combate' (Heroic Valour Cross) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak," admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:26:52Z

Spartano: /* Argentinian commando incursion */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

Preparations for the Argentinian Special Forces helicopter-borne offensive began on Saturday May 29. About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (Sunday May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold them until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds. Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

In the meantime, the 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla al Heroico Valor en Combate' (Heroic Valour Cross) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak," admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:25:41Z

Spartano: /* First contact */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo from the 3rd Rifle Platoon of the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold them until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds. Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

In the meantime, the 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla al Heroico Valor en Combate' (Heroic Valour Cross) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak," admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:24:48Z

Spartano: /* Argentinian commando incursion */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Daniel Castillo from the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron ('Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de la Gendarmería Nacional' or EFE601GN)under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold them until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds. Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

In the meantime, the 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla al Heroico Valor en Combate' (Heroic Valour Cross) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak," admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House

2022-07-18T18:23:18Z

Spartano: /* Bluff Cove Peak */

On May 27, 1982, the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and 45 COMMANDO (45 CDO), Royal Marines left the British beachhead at San Carlos for Estancia Mountain and Bluff Cove Peak as part of the British breakout to Stanley. The 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were ordered to attack the Argentinian Task Force 'Mercedes' on May 28 located on Darwin Isthmus, suffering heavy casualties during the [[Battle of Darwin and Goose Green]], but prevailing and eliminating any future threat from the Argentinian garrison.

On May 29, Captain Peter Babbington's 'Kilo' Company from 42 COMMANDO (42 CDO) embarked in Sea King helicopters to reinforce Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) that was holding Mount Kent with 'D' Company (under Major Cedric Delves). Captain Babbington's rifle company along with some 105mm Light Guns rom the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment was expected to land on Mount Kent on the night of May 29/30. A sudden gun-battle near the helicopter landing zone and snow blizzards meant these helicopter-borne reinforcements would only arrive on the night May 30/31, perilously close to another firefight.

On 31 May, 19 Royal Marine Commandos from the [[Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) under Major [[Rod Boswell]], embarked in a Wessex helicopter, with orders to eliminate the Argentinian Army Special Forces patrol that had taken refuge at Top Malo House, in order to allow the 600 Paratroopers from 3 PARA to capture Estancia Mountain and Estancia House Farm unmolested.

==Key ground==

Mount Kent with its surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, approximately five miles west of Port Stanley. It rises to just under 1,100 feet and it dominated the central axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley. Given its dominance and proximity to the capital of the Falkland Islands, the mountain was an area of special interest to both British and Argentinian Special Forces.

==First contact==

The first engagement during the Battles of Mount Kent and Top Malo House occurred during 27 May, when 'Subteniente' Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz, Sergeant Ramón Valdez, Corporal Walter Pintos and Private Daniel Castillo from the 4th Regiment's C Company, while patrolling the western slopes under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, were overflown by a British helicopter. After radioing this information back to Regimental Headquarters, the small squad soon after detected a British hide and opened fire. The next day, they closely inspected the scene but only found empty British rations that had to be dug out of the ground.<ref>[http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/category/118-mcp-2017 Marcelo Llambias Pravaz (Malvinas Corazón De Mi Patria)]</ref>

The next day, Lieutenant Guillermo Enrique Anaya from the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion visited Estancia House Farm and his Bell UH-1H helicopter landed twice on May 28. Lieutenant Anaya thought there were British commandos hiding in a cow shed, so he machine-gunned it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JpnPMsuMA Entrevista a Guillermo Anaya, Top Gun de los helicopteristas]</ref>

In the days that followed there were a number of brief but extremely violent clashes between the Special Forces of both sides.

==Argentinian commando incursion==

About 40 men of 39-year-old Major [[Aldo Rico]]'s [[602nd Commando Company (Argentinian Army)]], were originally scheduled to make an assault landing in six Bell UH-1H helicopters of the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. A follow-up force, the 65-man 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron under Major [[José Ricardo Spadaro]], would reinforce the Mount Kent position. Argentinian maps had confirmed the overland route was obstructed with minefields and booby-traps. This meant the National Gendarmerie Special Forces would have to arrive in a Puma helicopter the next day (May 30), exposed to Royal Air Force GR-3 Harriers in their morning bomb runs. There was additional delay when the Marine Special Forces from Major [[Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots]] 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping in the lead C-130 Hercules aircraft from [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] on the Argentinian mainland, had to abort landing on Stanley Airport. <ref>[https://www.clarin.com/politica/abril-contado-hombre-hizo-rendir-ingleses_0_BJ8jvSeAYe.html Cómo fue el 2 de abril, contado por el hombre que hizo rendir a los ingleses]</ref>A snow blizzard added to the confusion as the Argentinian Army Special Forces hurriedly prepared their backpacks and gear for the insertions.

On Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak, Major Cedric Delves' thinly spread out D Squadron, received no warning of Operation 'Autoimpuesta' (Self-Imposed-Initiative) and were momentarily caught off guard when they heard the sound of Argentinian Army helicopters approaching from Murrell River, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in 29 Argentinian Army Green Berets consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's 5-man Headquarters Section and Captain Tomás Victor Fernández's 2nd and Captain Andrés Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both 12-man patrols.<ref>''On Mount Kent D Squadron, thinly spread out, received no warning of Operation Autoimpuesta and were unprepared for the sound, at about 6pm, of helicopters approaching from the east, in fact a Puma and four Huey helicopters bringing in twenty-nine commandos consisting of Captain Eduardo Villarruel's five-strong HQ Section and Captain Tomas Fernandez's 2nd and Captain Ferrero's 3rd Assault Sections, both twelve-strong.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

==Mount Kent==

On the night of May 29th 1982, Captain Andres Antonio Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from the 602nd Commando Company ran into 16 'Air' Troop from D Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service on the eastern slopes of the mountain.<ref>''Ferrero's section landed on the eastern slopes of Mount Kent and were soon engaged in a confusing close-quarter night battle with Boat Troop of exploding grenades, sudden firefights at close rage and the abrupt scuttle of boots over rocks.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 147, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The British took control of the situation, but at the cost of two badly wounded SAS troopers (Carl Rhodes and Richard Palmer). Captain Andres Ferrero remembers:{{cquote|The Malvinas War is all so long ago now that it is difficult to recall it, even more to sort out the details sufficiently to compare one's experience there with 'Comandos en Accion'. However, reading Isidoro Ruiz-Moreno's official history, again and again, to refresh my flagging memory has proved a salutary experience. Our mission briefing told us little more than we were to get on the ground, deal with any opposition as best we could and wait for the National Gendarmerie Commandos. Our task was to block the advance of 3 Commando Brigade.

We'd been divided into two waves. I didn't like the idea of being split from the rest of the Commandos, but I could see why we had to do it. To fly in the turbulence between the peaks was a sure way to lose further helicopters. Bad weather had been forecast. Dark clouds on the horizon were blowing in Puerto Argentino's direction. To add to the problem, only four helicopters were available. Major Aldo Rico had agreed that the second wave should be postponed until the next day and since he and others in the company had failed to hitch a helicopter lift, to pass the time that night, he achieved his goal to learn to ride a motorbike. Rico had asked Major Mario Castagneto if he thought Mount Kent could be reached by foot but, because of the new minefields, he realized it would not be possible. In any case, it was too late to do anything by land that day.

We were issued grenades, bandoliers and ammunition, and two MAG machine-guns, along with anti-tank rocket launchers and ratpacks (ration packs). We were tired after a sleepless night. First Lieutenant Horacio Fernando Lauría, a charismatic engineer-commando in his early thirties, in an attempt to take his mind of what lay ahead had been studying Mount Kent zone maps and intelligence reports ... We boarded a Unimog, which Captain Fernando De La Serna told us would be taking us to our helicopter. We were dressed in reversible white camouflage suits. The helmets came off, the berets on, and the 602nd was driven to the Soccer Field. It was around 4 in the evening and darker than usual because the sky was overcast. Journalist Eduardo Rotondo was filming us and taking pictures. This was a unique period for the Army; to be in a war zone accompanied by journalists.

It was Argentinian Army Day. A day to be proud of our Army. It was even more important for Major Rico as it was his son's birthday. The helicopter we boarded - Huey AE 418 - was stripped bare inside and we sat on the floor ... At last, at about 5 in the evening came the order to go. Captains Eduardo Villarruel and Jorge Duran were coming too. The pilot lifted his helicopter into a low hover, about 3 feet off the ground. The whine of the engines was deafening. We were in the air, and this time it wasn't a training exercise. The pilot, lowered the helicopter's nose and picked up airspeed. It was a 6 or 7 minute flight - something like that. As we started to approach the noise was incredible. When we landed, I could not get off fast enough. As soon as we got off clear of the blades we began to off-load the weapons and equipment. The helicopter was loaded to the roof with spare ammunition, Instalaza missiles and medical packs. We watched the ascent of the helicopter until it disappeared.

Not surprisingly, some insertions were badly scattered: Captain Eduardo Villarruel's headquarters group was so thoroughly lost that they did not rejoin the 602nd until the next day. We had landed 500 metres off course - northeast of Mount Kent. The night had fallen like ice into a glass, sharp and cold. With First Lieutenant Francisco Maqueda, an experienced mountaineer, leading, we moved higher up the mountain. It was awful terrain, with rocky outcrops all over the place. It was extremely difficult going for, while the sides of the mountain were not sheer, they were very steep and made up of boulders. One thing all of us had in common was that we were in reasonable shape.

The average age in the 602nd was between 28 and 33. Otherwise my combat patrol couldn't have undertaken the six grueling patrol missions that lay ahead. The thought of bumping into a British patrol, or even worse, walking into an ambush, was uppermost in my mind. This was the Lion's den. We'd gone 500 metres when, I signaled a stop. 'I can hear water,' I said. I got edgy. I turned to Lauría who caught up with me when I stopped and he asked, 'Why not let Maqueda and me go on a reconnaissance, to see what's around?' I thought for a moment, then said, 'Okay, but that I along with Maqueda would be going, with Sergeant Arturo Oviedo.' The rest were to stay behind some boulders and wait for us to signal with the torch ... When we had gone about 50 metres all hell broke out. The rest of the patrol under Lauría, came under accurate machine-gun and mortar fire.

Only one man was wounded though - First Sergeant Raimundo Maximiliano Viltes. He received a bullet through a heel. For a few seconds, pandemonium reigned. Only a few managed to get rounds off. Lauría thought they were part of Combat Team Solari that was known to have been dug in the area. When he explained to me what happened, it was obvious he was very shocked. Returning fire with his FAL rifle, Lauría managed to hit some Special Air Service Commandos ... By now it was about 7 in the evening and I heard two helicopters flying over head, returning with the 601st's 2nd Assault Section from Big Mountain, but saw nothing because of the low clouds. I had to make myself calm down. I had already experienced combat, being under fire from People's Revolutionary Army guerrillas. I had been a Commando since 1975 and had served in Tucumán Province. I tried to work out how to hit back. We crawled towards them, heard they were British and decided to take them ourselves. The problem was that we had to sprint over the top, World War One style. I had little hope that anyone could have survived that ambush. I was filled with confusion as well as desperate with anxiety. By this time mortar flares were up, illuminating portions of the area. Later I learned that at the first sound of mortar fire most had run away. It wasn't exactly the reaction Lauría had wanted. Lauría and Viltes, who were last away, had a grim withdrawal under mortar fire all the way. First Sergeant José Núñez helped Viltes.

That night Lauría lay listening to the storm of fire as the Kent ridgeline blazed under the fire of 'D' Squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment. I started to pray. I put myself in God's hands and I know this is going to sound corny, but it started snowing very hard. We didn't dare wait too long. The signal we'd agreed on was one, two, then go. When finally we were calm enough, I put up one finger, then two, and we made our move. We were now scrambling downhill. It was slippery, dangerous. We slid down the mountainside on our backs and bottoms, sending small avalanches of grey stone, cascading down the mountain. During the getaway we lost Oviedo. The British Commandos did not follow up. There were about 20 of them with two machine-guns but they also fled. This is not uncommon in war. It was later learned that the British Commandos, thinking that they were on the point of being outflanked by Maqueda, Oviedo and me, decided to retire. Realizing their mistake, they returned to the Kent ridgeline just as Captain Tomás Fernandez's patrol closed on Bluff Cove Peak.<ref>See ''Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, Emecé, 1986''</ref>}}

An attempt to disembark two platoon of Royal Marines from 42 COMMANDO to reinforce 'D' Squadron in the middle of the firefight was frustrated by heavy snows and machine-gun and tracer rounds, which forced the British helicopters to quickly exit the area with Marine William Macpherson recalling, ''"As we came in we could see glows through the snows as we came into the Landing Site and we were like thinking 'What is that?' and then there was a lot of machine-gun and tracer rounds coming at the helicopters and we banked away really hard and then the door slammed and we did not know what was happening and we ended up back in San Carlos. And when we got back, and this was probably 3 in the morning and the Sergeant-Major was there in the sheep-shed and he said 'You guys have no idea what a close call you just had tonight.'"''<ref>The UNTOLD Battle For Mount Harriet | Major 'Molly' Macpherson 42 CDO Royal Marines (available on YouTube)</ref>

Meanwhile, according to his Military Cross citation<ref>[https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/burls-timothy-william.30947/ 22 SAS Burls, Timothy William]</ref>, Captain Timothy William Burls along with his Boat Troop from the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment's 'D' Squadron had arrived at Estancia House Farm and, whilst securing the area their position on Bluff Cove Peak had been infiltrated. After discussing with Brigadier Julian Thompson (commander of 3 Commando Brigade) of the option of regrouping at Estancia House Farm, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose instructed Major Cedric Delves that it was critical to maintain Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak and ordered him to gather his patrols and hold them until 'Kilo' Company 42 from COMMANDO arrived.<ref>''Meanwhile, according to his patrol report, Villarruel had also landed on Mount Kent and, avoiding contact, withdrew to the high ground north of the hill. After discussing with Brigadier Thompson the importance of seizing Mount Kent and disadvantage of regrouping at Estancia, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose, who commanded the SAS, instructed Major Delves that it was critical to hold it and put him in command of all forces in the area until 42 Commando arrived.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 148, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

3 PARA had captured Teal Inlet Settlement on May 29 but had lost one man in their march to Estancia House Farm when a Paratrooper in Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company shot himself and was seriously wounded in a negligent discharge incident.<ref>Unfortunately, this was a 'negligent discharge' originating from one of the most dangerous weapons in the British military inventory, the 9 mm sub-machine gun. He was rather unwell as Nick Morgan, John Williams and Malcolm Jowitt got to work. Later, this patient would complain about the three tubes inserted into his chest, but those drainage routes did a vital job in carrying away the blood leaking from the bullet's long track. He was a rather lucky boy – another survivor, and very much against the odds. Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, p. 89, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012</ref>

==Bluff Cove Peak==

In the meantime, the 602nd Commando Company's 2nd Assault Section, commanded by 'Capitán' Tomás Victor Fernández, after a brief pause, continued its advance up [[Bluff Cove Peak]]. It was here that 'Teniente 1º' Rubén Eduardo Márquez and 'Sargento 1º' Oscar Humberto Blas won posthumously the 'Medalla al Heroico Valor en Combate' (Heroic Valour Cross) in a patrol clash in which they wounded two Special Air Service Commandos from 17 'Boat' Troop with hand grenades (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters).<ref>''Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May.'' Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Martin C. Arostegui, pg 181, St. Martin's Press, 1997</ref><ref>''Fernandez's section spent the night extricating themselves from the ambush and although two more SAS were wounded, he lost Sergeant Alfredo Flores, who was knocked out when he fell and was taken prisoner.''Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021</ref>There was nothing for it but to squeeze as many as possible into caves near the top of Bluff Cove Peak," admits Captain Fernández.

That same morning, before dawn, as 'Capitán' Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel led his headquarters group back to Argentinian lines, he ran into a heavily armed British patrol on the foggy slopes of Mount Kent heading to Estancia House Farm. The Argentinian Special Forces went to ground and took up ambush positions. Sergeant Mario Antonio Cisnero, had the 7.62 millimetre belt-fed machine-gun and was ready to open fire. Villarruel, for some reason told Cisnero to hold his fire. It was a serious misjudgment and probably cost the Argentinians the battle for Mount Kent. It later transpired that the British patrol were members of 'D' Squadron, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment retreating with their two badly wounded in the Mount Kent action. Unfortunately because of the blizzard, communications were lost on both sides. But for the first time Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Rose's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment was in control of the situation after the initial SAS retreat. By 1700 local time on May 30 when 'Capitán' Tomás Fernández's radio operator, 'Sargento 1º' Vicente Alfredo Flores, at last came on air, he passed the dramatic message, ''"We are in trouble" and 40 minutes later, "there are English all around us...you had better hurry up."''<ref>[https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/that-time-two-countries-special-forces-squared-off-in-combat/ That time two countries’ Special Forces squared off in combat]</ref>

The Argentinian helicopter-borne offensive had been checked, with the Special Air Service successfully maintaining their positions on Mount Kent and Bluff Cove Peak. Major Aldo Rico was placed in charge of all further Special Forces operations. He reluctantly cancelled the deployment of Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company and instructed Castagneto to rescue the 602nd Commando Company, who were to assemble on Estancia Mountain.<ref>''Operation Autoimpuesta, so far, was not going well and with the British now occupying Mount Kent, Major Rico was given command of Special Forces operations. He cancelled the deployment of 601 Commando Company and instructed Major Castagneto to rescue 602 Commando, who were to assemble on Mount Estancia.'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, pg. 149, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

Captain Andrés Ferrero regrouped his men on Estancia Mountain and awaited reinforcements. Around 1100 local time on May 30, the Argentinian patrol commander watched in horror as two Royal Air Force Harriers (XZ963 and XZ789) made a pass over the Puma carrying reinforcements from the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, firing as they went. The Puma crashed in the ground and started a fire in which six Gendarmerie Commandos from Captain Jorge San Emeterio's combat patrol were killed: Lieutenant Ricardo Julio Sánchez, Second Lieutenant Guillermo Nasif, Corporals Marciano Veron, Víctor Samuel Guerrero, Carlos Ismael Pereyra and Lance-Corporal Juan Carlos Treppo. Those Gendarmerie Commandos who could jumped out, some of them braving the fire and exploding ammunition to rescue eight injured colleagues.

The Argentinian Special Forces nearby, in the form of Sergeant Mario Cisnero ―armed with a 7.62 mm machinegun― from Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section, or Sergeant Luis Alberto Kovalski (also armed with a machinegun)<ref>[https://www.stopenlinea.com.ar/noticias/2019/06/06/45005-el-alacran-kovalski-participo-de-la-evocacion-del-bautismo-de-fuego-de-gendarmeria-nacional El alacrán Kovalski participó de la evocación del bautismo de fuego de Gendarmería Nacional]</ref>from EFE601GN along with Private Nicomedes Daniel Castillo<ref>Capitán Jorge R. Farinella: “Con el Tte 1ro D' Aloia nos encontrábamos con un misil SAM 7 cada uno que la noche anterior, yo había traído y a la luz de una vela habíamos aprendido teóricamente a usar debajo de una lona. Nuevamente entraban en picada dos aviones disparando sus ametralladoras y lanzando sus bombas; desde nuestras improvisadas posiciones abrimos fuego con todo lo que teníamos. Los misiles que son un arma tremendamente eficaz, y normalmente por cada uno que se dispara se derriba un avión, siempre que el apuntador tenga un mínimo de experiencia para usarlos. Y eso nos faltaba. Hay que disparar de pie y desde un costado de la dirección de ataque del enemigo. Ambos estábamos parados en la dirección del fuego, y entre el esfuerzo por mantenernos en el lugar -que era descubierto- la falta de experiencia y la mala ubicación, nuestra acción fue ineficaz, no así la de las 12,7 y los fusileros que dieron en uno de los aviones que incendiado comenzó a perder altura mientras trataba de sobrevolar por la costa y se retiraron.” Volveremos!, Jorge R. Farinella, p.96, Editorial Rosario, 1984</ref>from the 3rd Rifle Platoon (under 2d Lieuenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz) of C Company 4th Regiment however, exacted rapid revenge and one of the Royal Air Force Harriers involved, XZ-963 flown by Squadron-Leader Jerry Pook was shot down.<ref>''En medio de lo que parecia un corredor de aviones, aparecieron dos Harrier. El Perro, ni corto ni perezoso, volvio a dispararles. -¡Perro, dejáte de boludear y no les tires más porque van a saber dónde estamos y nos van a hacer pelota!, le pidieron sus compañeros a los gritos.'' Malvinas: 20 Años, 20 Héroes, p. 204, Fundación Soldados, 2002</ref>

==Royal Marine reinforcements==

The job of seizing the 1,300ft mountain fell to Captain Peter Babbington's ''Kilo'' Company of 42 CDO, who would be flown in by helicopters. Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron was told to locate and secure a suitable landing zone below the Mount Kent summit, but the lack of helicopters, coupled with blizzard conditions, meant it took five nights to airlift in the 120 Royal Marines of Babbington.

The British High Command 8,000 miles away in Northwood, impatient for victories, questioned the need to use up valuable time on reconnaissance. Fortunately the British commander in the Falklands ignored their orders, because when the Royal Marines did land on the lower slopes of Mount Kent they discovered that strong enemy special forces patrols were still trying to penetrate the British lines.

Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]], who commanded 3 Commando Brigade, wrote later that without the SAS presence on Mount Kent, the Argentine patrols ''"would have had a turkey shoot on the vulnerable helicopters and the troops as they jumped out, temporarily disorientated in the darkness; the operation would have been a disaster."''<ref>[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/key-battles-at-top-malo-and-mount-kent-1-1272106 Key battles at Top Malo and Mount Kent]</ref>

When the 42 CDO spearhead flew in on the night of May 30/31 they witnessed the SAS ambush Captain Tomás Fernández's 2nd Assault Section near the landing site. Fortunately for the Royal Marine reinforcements, though, the Argentinian patrol withdrew after having earlier lost two killed on Bluff Cove Peak.

Also heavily involved in this action was the Task Force’s only surviving Chinook helicopter, ''Bravo November''. Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, co-pilot of the Chinook took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter (possibly as a result of small-arms fire) soon after:{{cquote|We knew the SAS were outgunned. Our job was to land 105-mm howitzers] of 29 Regiment Royal Artillery. Rose (Loadmaster) told me the landing site was flat and secure. The mission was to be flown all at night with night-vision goggles. We had three 105—mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened. The ground was not flat and covered in boulders. We could not find anywhere to land and we spent time manoeuvring to drop off the under-slung loads. We had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns very far across the terrible terrain. I can distinctly remember troops moving under the rotor disking firing their guns – this was not part of the plan. There were incoming artillery rounds. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit water. We were lucky because if we had hit solid ground we would have been dead. We hit at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick (Pilot) said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced. We had the collective still up and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle. We were climbing.<ref>16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008</ref>}}

==Top Malo House==

On May 27, a four-man patrol of the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC) under Sergeant Chris Stone were manning an Observation Post (OP) on Bull Hill. They heard two UH-1 Huey helicopters approach their position and fearing that they would be attacked radioed that this might be their last transmission and that they would try to fight their way out. Fortunately after circling their position the Hueys set off towards Mount Simon (which was covered in mist) and deposited on the lower slopes what the British Mountain Commandos estimated to be a 17-man Special Forces patrol. This was worrying news for the British as the strong enemy patrol flanked 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters at Teal Inlet and the British helicopters supplying 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company on Mount Kent.

The Argentinian remote outpost was reported to Captain Rod Boswell, the M&AWC commander at San Carlos. Top Malo House was beyond the range of British Artillery and no Royal Air Force Harriers were available for an air strike, so Brigadier Julian Thompson agreed that Boswell's unit should eliminate the Argentinian patrol. Captain Boswell gathered together nineteen Mountain Commandos and were flown forward by a Sea King helicopter piloted by Lieutenant John Miller the next morning.

Having surrounded Top Malo House, Captain Rod Boswell ordered his 12-man assault group patrol to fix bayonets and fire a green flare, the signal for the 7-man fire support group (under Lieutenant Callum Murray) on a nearby hillock to unleash a volley of six anti-tank rockets at the remote farmhouse.

Senior Lieutenant [[Ernesto Emilio Espinosa]] on sentry duty on the top stairs window raised the alarm and was shot and killed by Corporal Steve Groves armed with a sniper rifle, but not before shooting and injuring the hand (bad bone bruising) Sergeant Mac Mclean from the support group.

As Boswell and his assault group charged forward, two more 66mm rockets smashed into the house and the Argentinian Army Special Forces who had taken cover there overnight fled to Mullow Stream 200 metres away. The ammunition stacked in the farmhouse exploded as the British Mountain Commandos ran forward, forcing them to fallback in the confusion attack, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the Argentinian Green Berets lying in the stream firing at them.<ref>''The enemy ran out of the house into a small stream bed about 50 metres away, firing as they ran. Sergeant Doyle fell, hit through the shoulder and then Corporal Groves also fell, hit in the chest. The ammunition stacked in the house exploded as the assault group ran forward, causing them to recoil for a moment, while smoke from the burning building shielded them from the enemy lying in the stream firing at them.'' No Picnic, Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008</ref>

In the fierce firefight, Senior Sergeant [[Mateo Domingo Sbert]] was killed while covering along with Captain José Arnobio Vercesi and Senior Lieutenant Juan José Gatti, the Argentinian retreat to the stream and the Argentinian second-in-command, Senior Lieutenant [[Horacio Losito]], had an enemy Mountain Commando fixed in his sights when he lost consciousness through loss of blood before Senior Sergeants Miguel Ángel Castillo and Omar Medina reluctantly threw down their weapons and surrendered with the remainder of the patrol. In the confusion of surrender, a number of British Commandos kept firing and Medina was badly wounded in the left leg and Corporal Raúl Valdivieso was also shot.

The battle of Top Malo House had lasted about forty-five minutes and cost the lives of two members of Captain [[José Arnobio Vercesi]]'s 1st Assault Section of the 602nd Commando Company. The 10 Argentinian survivors, six of them wounded, were taken prisoner.

Four Royal Marine Commandos (Sergeants Taff Doyle, Steve Groves, Mac McLean and Corporal Chris Stone) were wounded<ref>[http://www.forces.net/news/remembering-falklands-day-day Remembering The Falklands Day By Day]</ref><ref>''"Sergeant McLean was wounded in the hand when a round hit the 66mm LAW he was about to fire."'' Nine Battles to Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref><ref>''"The fire group quickly destroyed the target house, but the Argentinians stormed out, firing back and very quickly two Marines, Sergeant Terry Doyle in the assault group and Sergeant Rocky Stone of the fire group, had been shot and injured. Then Corporal Steve Groves was shot in the chest. The assault group had almost charged down on to Top Malo, blazing firepower from the hip and with Boswell leading."'' Commando, David Reynolds, p. 146, Sutton, 2001</ref>, a testament to the bravery and skill of the Argentinian Commandos.

==Aftermath==

The Battle of Mount Kent and Top Malo House in late May 1982 cost the lives of eleven members of Argentina's Special Forces, including a Blue Beret from the Argentinian Air Force's Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE). Ten British Commandos and Paratroopers (4 M&AWC, 4 SAS, 1 Paratrooper from 3 PARA and 1 gunner from the Royal Marine Artillery Regiment were wounded or injured, but five British Commandos were soon killed as a result of [[Friendly fire]] on the lower slopes of Mount Kent.

Unknown to Vercesi's men, however, the 45-minute fight at Top Malo House had tied down a significant part of the available M&AWC Commandos , leaving only a handful of Boswell's men on Mount Smoko to keep watch of the Argentinian outpost guarding the bridge connecting Bluff Cove and Fitzroy Settlements.<ref>By Sea, By Land The Royal Marines, 1919-1997, James D. Ladd, p. 385, HarperCollins, 1998</ref>As a result of the British delay to clear both settlements, Senior Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco and his platoon of engineers from the 601st Combat Engineer Battalion were able to blow up a significant part of the bridge unmolested on June 2<ref>[http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/voladura-del-puente-fitz-roy-en-la-campana-de-malvinas/ Voladura del Puente Fitz Roy en la Campaña de Malvinas]</ref>, resulting in 50 British killed and 200 wounded<ref>The Royal Navy in the Falklands Conflict and the Gulf War, Alistair Finlan, p. 78, Routledge, 2004</ref>during the [[Bluff Cove/Fitzroy Air Attacks]] on 8 June when the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and attached units aboard the troopships 'Sir Galahad' and 'Sir Tristram' arrived overnight only to discover their advance route by land severed and forcing them to remain aboard ships the following day.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-identificaron-mateo-sbert-sargento-murio-historica-nid2186555/ Malvinas: identificaron a Mateo Sbert, el sargento que murió en la histórica batalla de "Top Malo House"]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argentina]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-18T06:22:06Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of Shaw's platoon was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of Lieutenant Andy Shaw and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment Private Luciano Oscar Pintos a Gallantry in Combat Medal for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-18T06:20:05Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss (wounded) of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss (wounded) of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of 'Yankee' Company was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of 'Yankee' Company and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment Private Luciano Oscar Pintos a Gallantry in Combat Medal for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-18T06:17:14Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of 'Yankee' Company was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding or injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of 'Yankee' Company and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment Private Luciano Oscar Pintos a Gallantry in Combat Medal for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-18T06:11:47Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed attempting to fight off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of 'Yankee' Company was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding/injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of 'Yankee' Company and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment Private Luciano Oscar Pintos a Gallantry in Combat Medal for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-18T06:10:15Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Rifle Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain with Private Orlando Aylan reported to have been killed fighting off the British attackers armed only with a LineMan shovel after having run out of ammunition.

The great fight for the southern peak of Two Sisters had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of 'Yankee' Company was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding/injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of 'Yankee' Company and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment Private Luciano Oscar Pintos a Gallantry in Combat Medal for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Battles of Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain

2022-07-18T06:02:22Z

Spartano: /* Two Sisters */

During the 1982 [[Falklands/Malvinas War]] the battle for the high ground on Mount Harriet and neighbouring Two Sisters Mountain was pivotal to both British attackers and Argentinian defenders in the form of Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th 'Monte Caseros' (Jungle) Infantry Regiment as both sought to secure the approaches to Port Stanley. The battle began with British field artillery softening up bombardments that killed Privates Luis Orlando Aguilera and Ramón Orlando Palavecino on Two Sisters in the first two days of June<ref>Así lucharon, Carlos M. Turolo, p 48, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>and put out of action the Rasit ground-surveillance radar on Harriet on the night of June 2–3.<ref>''Durante el bombardeo del 2 de junio, particularmente intenso sobre el radar RASIT, el cual al recibir un impacto cercano terminó por destruir el cable y su conector ,pieza fundamental e irremplazable para el funcionamiento del radar. Desde entonces, el Cabo 1º Gacitua, su operador, y el Tte 1º D´Aloia ,que también pasaba horas frente a la consola, intentaron hacer todo lo posible para ponerlo a funcionar de nuevo, pero no lo consiguieron.'' Malvinas en Primera Línea , Lautaro Giménez Corbalán, pp. 256-257 Editorial Edivern, 2017</ref> The fighting didn't reach its conclusion until the final infantry assaults on the night of June 11–12 and, even then, only after several naval bombardments as well as Royal Air Force Harrier attacks and Royal Marine Commando raids.

==No-Man's-Land==

Following [[Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)]], the Argentinian occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, 42 COMMANDO and 45 COMMANDO (40 and 45 CDO) of the British Royal Marines were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the islands in Operation 'Corporate'.

Following 'Kilo' Company's helicopter flight forward on the night of May 31 to reinforce D Squadron 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment defending Mount Kent from Argentinian Special Forces attacks, the rest of 42 COMMANDO arrived in helicopters, and were eventually ordered to secure Mount Challenger.

45 CDO's march to Bluff Cove Peak from San Carlos Water via Teal Inlet ended on June 4, and the next week was spent with 42 CDO patrolling No-Man's-Land, leading to a number of bloody clashes with the Argentinians.

On the morning of June 3, while the 10th Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre was visiting the 4th Regiment's Commanding Officer on Mount Harriet, reports were received that a British force had been forced to abandon Wall Mountain. Lieutenant Chris Marwood's Recce Troop from 42 COMMANDO had been manning the outpost on Wall when it came under heavy small arms fire and was then hit by mortars and anti-tank guns from 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti Heavy Weapons Platoon on Harriet. The situation became so difficult that the Royal Marines abandoned much of their gear before withdrawing. Within 24 hours, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 10 Troop from Juliet Company (42 CDO) had recaptured the position but were themselves knocked off the feature when attacked by a dozen Army Green Berets from the 602nd Commando Company on the night of 5/6 June.

Lieutenant Chris Fox's Recce Troop reached the western end of Two Sisters on the night of June 5/6. The next day, they killed five of the Argentinians, including three Marine Sappers: Corporal Jorge Sisterna and Privates Ramón Olavarría, Víctor Ordóñez and Vicente Díaz that were part of a mine-laying team. The Argentinians in the form of the platoon sergeant (Ramón Valdez) and several soldiers from 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon (C Company, 4th Infantry Regiment) counterattacked and Fox's patrol having regrouped near Murrell River had to call in artillery fire and a smoke screen so that they could make good their escape<ref>''The Argentines must have put up a good fight because British records show that their patrol had to call on artillery shelling and smoke so that they could withdraw.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, pg 228, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Lieutenant Mark Townsends's 1 Troop from 'Kilo' Company, 42 COMMANDO raided the forward Argentinian positions on Mount Harriet from Goat Ridge on the night of June 8/9 killing two defenders (Corporal Hipólito González y Private Martiniano Gómez) in 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Rifle Platoon (B Company, 4th Regiment) and wounding the platoon sergeant (Raúl Donato Solis) and Private Antonio Funes.<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref> 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán along with Sergeant Héctor Carlos Montellano from the 3rd Logistic (Truck) Battalion and a 10-man section from the 'Ghost/Lost Platoon' on the southern slopes counterattacked forcing Towsend's men to retreat.

On June 9, Sergeant Ian Allum's Recce Platoon from the 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attempted to pinpoint the heavy weapons emplacements on Harriet from their hide in Port Harriet House but a counterattack (under Senior Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia, a Paratrooper) comprising elements of the 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli) and 120mm Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juárez) dispersed them at dusk, causing 3 wounded with the help of Argentinian mortar fire from Harriet.<ref>[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas” ]</ref>

That night, as a result of the spirited resistance encountered on Harriet, Lieutenant David Morgan's 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was forced to call off a company-sized raid on the Argentinian strongpoint.<ref>''At 0200 woken to find the Defensive Fire list done and just waiting for the infantry to advance. Later on the advance was cancelled, so the early hours were very quiet.'' Falklands Gunner, Tom Martin, Casemate Publishers, 2017</ref><ref>''Early on 10 June, one Gurkha company moved forward to Bluff Cove close to Mount Challenger to establish a base from which to carry out aggressive patrolling against Mount William. This task was cancelled and the company withdrew.'' The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 525, Routledge, 2004</ref>

On the night of June 9/10, Lieutenant David Stewart 3 Troop of 'X-Ray' Company, 45 COMMANDO attempted to raid the forward positions of 2d Lieutenant Llambías-Pravaz's platoon on southern Two Sisters. Stewart's platoon, reinforced by a dozen sappers, mortarmen and recce troops, clashed with 50 Argentinian Special Forces spread in ambush positions near Murrell River. The Argentinians lost 2 special forces (Sergeants Mario Antonio Cisnero and Ramón Gumersindo Acosta) killed and 2 wounded (Senior Lieutenant Jorge Vizoso-Posse and Sergeant Pablo Daniel Parada) battling Stewart's men, seizing much equipment, while the British report losing 4 Royal Marines killed and 3 wounded on this night.<ref>[http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=killed+in+action&g2_itemId=7711&g2_fromNavId=xf7a6e6e3 Commando Veteran's Archive]</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wPs9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4053,288159&dq= Marines shot comrades in Falklands conflict]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160813090450/http://www.commandogunner.co.uk/page19.html Commando Gunner Regroup]</ref>According to British military historian Bruce Quarrie, it was a hard-fought and costly action for both sides:{{cquote|A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus [[M72 LAW|66 mm rocket launchers]] and [[2-inch mortar|2-inch]] [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 [1 am local time] were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their mortar, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [They knew they were cut off with what looked a poor chance of escape. In these circumstances any panic or break in morale and the game was up]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties.<ref>Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985</ref>}}

British war correspondent Robert Fox interviewed two of the British survivors, one suffering loss of hearing from the numerous rocket and grenade blasts and another who had twisted his leg during the British retreat from the ensuing Argentinian counterattack on the part of the National Gendarmerie Commando patrol of Captain Eduardo Miguel Santo that had tried to cut off their escape route with a machine-gun team.<ref>''"One of the marines said he had damaged eardrums from the discharge of a 66 mm rocket close to him ... The other casualty had twisted his leg."'' Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, p. 247, Methuen, 1982</ref>
<ref>''"A fighting patrol crossing the open ground between Mount Kent and Mount Challenger forded the Murrell River; however, the defence of the enemy sector had been reinforced by 602 Commando Company and the National Gendarmerie and the patrol became involved in a tough battle. At risk of being cut off, it withdrew under accurate artillery fire."'' My Friends: The Enemy, Nick Van Der Bijl, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2020</ref>

In 2022, Corporal Marty Wilkin from 45 CDO's Recce Troop who had taken part in the raid, revealed that Lieutenant Stewart's men having regrouped on the opposite side of Murrell River had been ordered back with the attached Royal Engineers from Condor Troop (armed with plastic explosive charges) to finish the job and destroy the remaining Argentinian machine-gun nests but that he objected and convinced Stewart to disobey the suicidal orders from the X-Ray Company commander for which Wilkin got a severe dressing down from the Commanding Officer of 45 CDO later that morning.<ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

==Two Sisters==

As the [[Battles of Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge]] commenced, 45 COMMANDO, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead, in the centre, moved off towards their start-lines ('Pub Garden') for the attack on Two Sisters Mountain. Captain Ian Gardiner's 'X-Ray' Company spearheaded the attack. The Royal Marines preferred to attack under the cover of night. Such was the importance attached to lives.

'X-Ray' Company would assault the lower ridges of the southern peak ('Long Toenail') of Two Sisters from the west, 'Zulu' Company would attack the northern peak, known in 45 COMMANDO as 'Summer Days', and 'Yankee' Company would then assault the eastern ridge. The local commander on the Two Sisters ridge was Major Ricardo Mario Cordón, second-in-command of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Infantry Regiment.

The first attack against 'Long Toenail' came in around 11.00 PM<ref>''Ten minutes later the 150 men of X Company were as good as new and began their assault at 11 p.m.'' No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 131, Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg, 1985</ref>Falklands time and Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop – a Royal Marine Troop is like an Army Platoon – managed to get very close to 2d Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Rifle Platoon, 'C' Company, 4th Regiment. But the attack was beaten off by rifle and machine-gun fire. Second Lieutenant Llambias-Pravaz rallied his men with the old Guarani Indian war-cry of 'Sapukay!' The Royal Marine Commandos in 'X-Ray' Company pushed hard when prudent, but avoided rash moves.

The Argentine conscripts on 'Long Toenail' under Corporals Raúl Héctor Peña, Raúl Ramos, Walter Ariel Pintos and Jorge Omar Valdez from the 3rd Rifle Platoon stood to their machineguns and Instalaza anti-tank rocket launchers and defied the attackers with fixed bayonets. Lieutenant Stewart's men flung themselves again at the Argentinians but, were driven off much to the frustration of Captain Gardiner. Despite this, some Argentinians had to pull in a bit or be overrun. The combat was extremely rough being fought in cold wind over a bare rocky ridge and around huge boulders.

Eventually, at 2.45 AM, the sections under Corporals Peña, Ramos, Pintos and Valdez had to retreat. After nearly 4 hours of chaotic night fighting the men of 3rd Platoon fell back from 'Long Toenail' to Tumbledown Mountain where Private Orlando Aylan was killed fighting the Scots Guards on the night of June 13-14.

The great fight in and around the southern peak had cost Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon 5 killed and 16 wounded<ref>Así Peleamos: Malvinas, Martín Antonio Balza, p 205, Fundación Soldados, 1999</ref>, including his platoon sergeant. The assault on the southern peak was supported by 40 COMMANDO's Anti-Tank Troop and innumerable 66mm LAW anti-tank rockets. 'X Ray' Company found the Milan missiles to be a very effective way of dislodging Llambías-Pravaz's defiant 3rd Platoon, but expensive at 35,000 US dollars each. 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz was one of the recent April 1982 graduates from the Army Academy. His outstanding courage was recognized by the award of the Gallantry in Combat Medal.

Soon after midnight as 'X-Ray' Company continued its fight for 'Long Toenail', 'Zulu' Company followed by 'Yankee' Company to their right, moved off from 'Pub Garden' on their silent uphill approach. As the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Platoons were still distracted by 'X-Ray' Company's attack, the other two companies closed in until an Argentinian flare illuminated 'Zulu' Company and 8 Troop opened fire in response.

'Yankee' and 'Zulu' Companies attacked the northern peak of Two Sisters at 1230 local time and engaged in a two-hour firefight, during which the Argentinian mortar platoon commander (Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, son of an Argentinian Army 2-Star General) was killed.

The 3rd Artillery Group's pack howitzers and Major Oscar Jaimet's heavy mortars were brought into play, giving the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company effective support. In this way 45 COMMANDO began to suffer serious losses, including the loss of two platoon commanders (Lieutenants Paul Denning and John Davies) and the naval gunfire liaison officer of the British light cruiser 'Glamorgan'. The whole operation was proving to be a disaster.

Then to the astonishment of the Argentinian 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons on the northern peak, 'Zulu' Company, below, at about 02.30 local time rose, charging with fixed bayonets and screaming at the top of their voices swept the defenders aside. Lieutenant Clive Dytor, commander of 8 Troop, 'Zulu' Company had tipped the scales and defeated Major Ricardo Cordón. At about 0300 Major Cordón and his staff threw up their arms when Royal Marines entered their bunker. Had Lieutenant Clive Dytor dithered in closing with and defeating Mosquera-Gutiérrez's 1st Platoon and Perez-Grandi's 2nd Platoon, 'Summer Days' would have perhaps most probably been reinforced in time by the 6th 'Mercedes' Regiment's 'B' Company which was currently preparing. Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet was naturally anxious to help Major Cordón. This would have changed the picture of the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain completely.

In an interview with the ''Globe & Laurel'' (The Journal of the Royal Marines, July/August 1982) soon after the Falklands War, Second Lieutenant Paul Mansell, a rifle platoon commander in 'Zulu' Company, recalled the heavy exchange of fire in the fight for the northern Two Sisters stronghold:{{cquote|The mission was to attack the Two Sisters and exploit forward to Mount Tumbledown. However, the presumed enemy forces strength of one medium machine gun on our company objective was later confirmed to have swollen to at least two platoons of Argies in a seemingly impregnable defensive position within the rock formation on the Bluff ... Yankee Company on our right immediately suffered two fatal injuries from gunshot wounds. Amongst my troop, I sustained two VSI head wounds from artillery fragments in my forward sections.As these men were being casevaced, our depth troop was temporarily caught in a mortar DF which resulted in one further fatality and three seriously injured. It was now that everyone turned on to 'auto-pilot', relying totally on their own professionalism and training ... Having sustained such early casualties, it was with pride that I noticed a bold defiance and aggressiveness during our skirmish forward. The steady thudding of their 0.5 Browning machine gun, chorused by the rattle of FN automatic fire was regularly interrupted by our Carl Gustav and 66 mm HEAT warheads exploding on the rock face of the Bluff ... The Commando policy of hitting hard with everything at our disposal, from rifle to Naval gunfire proved its worth.
<ref>The Globe & Laurel:The Journal of the Royal Marines, p. 251, July/August 1982</ref>}}

The task of ridding the 6th 'Mercedes' Mechanized Infantry Regiment's 'B' Company remained. On the eastern ridge the fighting was equally tough.<ref>''45 Commando faced another four hours of vicious fighting before Two Sisters was finally taken, overcoming many bunkers and foxholes at the point of bayonet.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>
The defenders brought down heavy machine-gun and mortar fire on 'Yankee' Company now reduced to a single platoon (5 Troop under Lieutenant Andy Davis) after the loss of the other two rifle platoon commanders.<ref>''"What was a Yankee company became once again a 5 Troop task, so I got summoned by the company commander ... and I was told I was the only troop commander left so 5 Troop had to crack on with the job."'' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ3WNHdACfs The Untold Story Of 45 Commando In The Falklands | Major Andy Shaw]</ref>

Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri, as a machine-gunner found himself very busy indeed, suffering two near-misses from anti-tanks rockets from Shaw's platoon.<ref>''"Just prior to Yankee Company moving forward, a .50 Browning machine gun at the western end continued to fire. Major Davis told one of his Carl Gustav 84mm anti-tank teams to move out to his right to improve their angle of fire and engage the .50, which they did, silencing the gun successfully ... Andy Shaw and 5 Troop were now the foremost troop ... A machine gun opened up close by from the left flank and they dived for cover. Corporal Bell shouted to Marine Jock Shaw to deal with it. Shaw carefully put his fag down on a rock, extended his 66mm launcher and fired. The gun fell silent and they moved on. It now began to snow; they also started to come under mortar fire ... the rounds very quickly started to arrive closer and closer until 5 Troop were engulfed in a barrage of hell."'' The Yompers, Ian R. Gardiner, p. 182, Pen & Sword, 2012</ref>

Part of his citation for the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest Argentinian decoration for bravery, reads:{{cquote|Always volunteering for dangerous missions, manning a machine-gun, holding up attacks, always the last man to withdraw, sometimes overrun by the English, twice given up for dead but always returning to his platoon.<ref>The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 239, Viking, 1989</ref>}}

Ahead of 'Yankee' Company was a ridgeline and there Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco's 2nd Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Regiment, lay in wait. Franco had harrangued his young soldiers and had gained their confidence. While the fight for the eastern ridge was in progress, an Exocet anti-ship missile was launched from a Marine trailer near Hooker's Point, causing serious damage to the light cruiser 'Glamorgan', and killing 14 and wounding/injuring over 30 British sailors.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12472079 HMS Glamorgan: memorial for Falklands War ship ]</ref>The British warship had been forced to remain in position longer than expected in support of 'Yankee' Company and had been hit while taking a short cut close to the shoreline, in an attempt to reach the safety of San Carlos with dawn fast approaching.

Major Jaimet was confident of holding the British thrust, now coming from the northern peak. During the advance on the eastern ridge Lieutenant Andy Shaw's 5 Troop reportedly destroyed two Argentinian machine-guns (in fact Private Poltronieri manning a 7.62mm belt-fed machinegun from different positions, who survived both attacks), somehow avoiding the mortar bombs exploding all around them coming from the 120mm mortar section under Corporal Juan Antonio Barroso, Private Mario Javier Romero and others, not to mention the numerous booby-traps, (including aerial bombs) laid by the 1st Amphibious Engineer Company platoon under Marine Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño in the first week of June. A counterattack at the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Stanley House, using a number of Panhard armoured cars in support of Major Jaimet's company, was contemplated but rejected.<ref>[https://www.infobae.com/def/2021/07/10/aldo-franco-el-veterano-de-malvinas-que-se-reinvento-y-hoy-tiene-un-proyecto-solidario/ Aldo Franco, el veterano de Malvinas que se reinventó y hoy tiene un proyecto solidario]</ref>Then Jaimet received orders at 0445 to abandon the ridge and retire to Tumbledown Mountain. With the breach on Two Sisters Mountain, where Major Cordón's company was supposed to be, the 6th Regiment company had no option but to withdraw with dawn fast approaching. Franco's platoon formed the rearguard and it filed off, leaving three killed. Time and time again 2d Lt. Franco―he became an Army commando after the war―reported his platoon could hold, but was ordered to abandon Two Sisters.

So ended the Battle for Two Sisters Mountain, six hours after 'X-Ray' Company came under heavy fire from 2d Lt Llambías-Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on 'Long Toenail' (as long and costly as the fighting for Darwin Ridge had been for both sides, according to the authors of '5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands'). 45 COMMANDO's losses were 8 dead and 17 wounded. The Argentine losses were put at 20 dead and 50 wounded. 2d Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera-Gutiérrez was wounded during the fighting on the northern peak. Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella on 'Long Toenail' was killed. Second Lieutenant Jorge Daniel Perez-Grandi was also down. Corporal Nicolás Urbieta along with Privates Andres Avelino Barosso and Aldo Adolfo Leiva carried him away, severely wounded. Perez-Grandi had spent a year in 1978 in the 4th Airborne Artillery Group as a conscript before entering the Buenos Aires Army Academy.

Naturally the Army needed a scapegoat and Major Ricardo Cordón was court-martialed and sacked. Bad luck played at least a malignant part as the loss of his reserve platoon and communications in the 4th Regiment's 'C' Company.

Lieutenant Andy Shaw's platoon, seeking revenge for comrades lost two nights before, gathered a group of Argentinian prisoners and were preparing to execute them when all of a sudden the British battalion commander, accompanied by British war correspondent Robert Fox, appeared out of the early morning mist to inspect the captured positions, scuttling their plans for vengeance.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802042111/https://www.originalandunrestored.com/heroes-the-mountain-way Meet Andy Shaw]</ref>

The Royal Marines now chose to demonstrate that as vengeful as they could be, they also had a human side. When the remnants of 1st Platoon, 'A' Company, 4th Regiment were withdrawn, their wounded platoon commander was overlooked in the dark and taken by the Royal Marines. When it became apparent that the Argentinian Artillery was about to bombard Two Sisters, the Royal Marines moved the wounded officer to a place of safety where he could be shielded from the incoming fire.

British war correspondent Robert Fox recalls that:{{cquote|A second lieutenant with a smashed lower leg said he couldn't walk. I hoisted him so that he could put his arm on my shoulder. He was about 6 foot 4 inches tall and felt almost one and a half times my weight. I asked him how badly he was hurt. 'Agua, agua', (water, water) was all he could whimper in reply. We laid him on the ground and managed to get a helicopter to take him away.<ref>Eyewitness Falklands, Robert Fox, pp. 255-256</ref>}}

The reserve platoon under Second Lieutenant Juan Nazer had been heavily mortared and had given up ground almost immediately. Nazer's platoon had failed to prepare a firm platoon defence line facing Murrell River, possibly as a result of exhaustion following their long debilitating period on Beagle Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead reportedly looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. ''"With 120 men I could have died of old age holding these hills."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 296, Michael Joseph, 1983</ref>

Corporal Marty Wilkin echoed pretty much the same sentiment. ''"If it had been the other way around and we had been in defence, we would still be there today. They were not making the best use of the cover and everything else they had and they had not done enough work there. "'' <ref>Falklands Conflict - Marty Wilkin (available on YouTube)</ref>

However according to British war correspondents Patrick Bishop and John Witherow that accompanied the Paras and Royal Marines in the fighting, ''"The feature was too long for the Argentinians to defend seriously without committing a couple of battalions"''.<ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p. 125, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Lieutenant Andy Shaw would later condemn the Argentinian defenders for defecating in their positions, forgetting that the Afrika Korps had done the same thing in the North African Campaign when pinned down for days by Allied bombardments, except the German soldiers had brought with them pigs to eat the mess and to butcher and eat the pigs when supplies failed to arrive.<ref>The Conquest of North Africa, 1940-1943, Alexander Clifford, p.197, Little, Brown, 1943</ref>

For Lieutenant Clive Dytor, who had joined the Royal Marines in 1980, the Argentinian heavy machine-gunners and protecting rifle teams on the northern peak had fought to the bitter end, ''"The Argentine Marines (in reality Army infantry) all fought to the end and were killed with bullets and bayonets. We had to fight through lots of positions, clearing the enemy."''<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html Falklands War hero explains why he entered the church after being awarded the Military Cross]</ref>

In 2012, in an interview with the British newspaper ''Chester Chronicle'', Lieutenant Chris Caroe, a 21-year-old platoon commander in the fighting for the southern peak, confirmed that the Argentinian defenders had been resolute fighters: ''"Despite being a conscript army... the Argentinians were a force to be reckoned with because they were led by skilled regulars."''
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141019061950/http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/ex-marine-chris-caroe-chester-recalls-5179719 Ex-marine Chris Caroe from Chester recalls the Falklands War ]</ref>

==Harriet==

To the south, Mount Harriet proved to be more formidable, being surrounded to the west and south by minefields. 3 Commando Brigade's last target for the night was alloted to 42 COMMANDO (under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux).

Under the cover of darkness of June 12, 42 COMMANDO's 'Kilo' Company (under Captain Peter Babbington) "secretly crept" through Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's lines in the form of a frozen minefield and arrived at the eastern end of Mount Harriet by 2215 local time. The 4th Regiment sentries; despite all preparations were caught by surprise. The Royal Marine Commandos were magnificently trained at silent approach.

The advance of 'K' Company, 42 COMMANDO was made with dazzling rapidity. In vain Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria called down on the eastern slopes the fire of the Argentinian Artillery knowing very well that the Heavy Mortar Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz) was positioned there.

So large were the column of dejected prisoners that it was obvious the strength on the eastern ridge had been greatly underestimated. Nevertheless, it was not all a pushover. Some Argentinian conscripts had fought with great tenacity. Private Daniel Jose Sanchez (wounded in action) from the Heavy Weapons Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Daniel Alberto Monetti) had proved particularly courageous, causing the Royal Marine Commandos in 'Kilo' Company to dive for cover as he liberally sprayed them with fire with his Browning 12.7 millimetre heavy machinegun. Sanchez ''"loved being in Malvinas"''.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria hurriedly sent a 12th Regiment officer, Senior Lieutenant Ignacio Benjamín Gorriti, for reinforcements, to the 12th Regiment Reserve Platoon (under 2d Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) on the southern slopes of Mount Harriet. To Soria's credit, Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverria (the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer) was able to move forward and establish a new defence line.

It was while storming the Argentinian Reserve Platoon lying in wait to ambush 'Kilo' Company that Corporal Steven Newland had a brush with death when Corporal Roberto Bacilio Baruzzo from the 12th Regiment shot him in both legs. Despite his wounds, he still managed to stagger away and gain 42 COMMANDO's aid post.

The close quarter combat is here described first-hand by Corporal Steven Newland:{{cquote|All the time we were lying there rounds were ricocheting off the rocks at us and the cold was freezing our bollocks off. On the radio I heard Sharkie talking to his boss. He said 'we're pinned down by a sniper and we can't move.' I thought 'Right, someone's got to go for this bastard.' So I took off my 66 [millimetre bazooka] shells, got on the radio to our boss and said 'Wait there and I'll see what I can do'. I crawled around this mega-size boulder, climbed up a little steep bit, went over the top on my stomach, rolled into cover, crawled a bit further and looked around the corner of this rock, thinking that the sniper had to be there somewhere. There was more than a sniper - there was half a platoon! About ten of them were lying on a nice, flat, table-top rock overlooking our positions. It was perfect for them. They had a machinegun on the left and the rest of them were lined out with rifles. Everytime one of ours tried to move forward, one of them would shoot at him, so to us it looked as if there was only one sniper who was keeping on the move. They were waiting for us to break cover and try and clear this one sniper - then they would just waste us with their machinegun. I sat back behind this rock and whispered down my throat-microphone to Sharkie about what I'd found. I told him to keep the lads there and I'd see what we could do. Then having made my mind up I picked up my SLR rifle, changed the magazine and put a fresh one on and slipped the safety catch off. I then looped the pin of one grenade onto one finger of my left hand and did the same with another. I was ready. So I thought 'Well, you've got to do something.' I pulled one grenade, whack - straight onto the machinegun. Pulled the other, whack - straight at the Spics. I dodged back around the rock and heard the two bangs. As soon as they'd gone off I went in and anything that moved got three rounds. I don't know how many I shot, but they got a whole magazine. I went back round the corner of the rock, changed the magazine and I was about to go back and sort out anyone who was left, when Sharkie called on the net: 'Get out. We're putting two 66s in' So I ran back down the hill, dived into this little hollow I'd seen on the way up. Over the net I told him to 'Let it go!'. The 66s exploded and the next thing I heard was Sharkie on the radio again. He said 'It's clear. They've given up. Go back to where you were and make sure they don't get out the back.' I went up by a different route and as I rounded this rock, I saw one of the guys that I'd hit. I'd only got him in the shoulder but he'd gone down like the rest of them and in the dark, I'd automatically thought he was dead. But he was far from that, because as I came back round the corner, he just squeezed off a burst from his automatic rifle. He must've realised he was going to die unless he got me first. I felt the bullets go into both my legs. I thought 'Shit, the fucker's got me'. I was so angry, I fired 15 rounds into his head.<ref>War in Peace, Volume 10 Issue 112, Orbis Publishing Limited 1985</ref>}}

Newland shot several, three fatally.<ref>"La cuestión es que en ese lado ya no se combatía, pero en Dos Hermanas sí se veía el entrecruzamiento de disparos. Yo, como dije, no me imaginaba qué había pasado con mis tres soldados de la retaguardia y me preguntaba qué había ocurrido con esos changos mientras combatía hacia el frente. Después desgraciadamente, incluso a través de los ingleses, comprobé que estaban muertos." Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 155, Editorial Sudamericana, 1982</ref>

The fighting on Mount Harriet was fierce, casualties were heavy and passions ran high. Yet a sense of restraint existed in 42 Commando.

Meanwhile, to the southwest of Mount Harriet, the vanguard of 42 COMMANDO's 'Lima' Company (under Captain David Wheen) had had a nasty moment when it stumbled onto the 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon (3rd Infantry Brigade's Security Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Pablo Andres Oliva), entrenched on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The Argentinians with their MAG 7.62 belt-fed millimetre machineguns and FAL automatic rifles opened up on 'Lima' Company, spitting fire into the ranks. The weight of fire was incredible. The attack of the Royal Marine Commandos faltered and disaster on a gigantic scale threatened to overwhelm Captain Wheen's company.<ref>''The men of Lima Company found the going particularly tough, coming under sustained fire as they scaled the rugged flanks of Harriet to the southwest, and having to use Milan anti-tank weapons to take out the sniper hides and machine-gun nests. The Argentine troops fought fiercely, belying subsequent stories in the press of a ragged force of beleaguered conscripts.'' Commando: The Inside Story of Britain’s Royal Marines, Monty Halls, Random House, 2022</ref>

Then quite unexpectedly, with a collective roar, the Royal Marine Commandos began to advance, firing magazine after magazine. To the profound disappointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Soria, Oliva's 'Ghost/Lost' Platoon that suffered four killed during their defence of Harriet, could not halt the British onslaught.

Savage fighting ensued as 'Lima' Company encountered some of the stiffest opposition of the night in the form of 2d Lieutenant Eugenio Cesar Bruny's 2nd Platoon (now under the command of platoon sergeant Mario José Valdez after Bruny had been wounded) and Argentinian artillery fire. According to Brigadier Julian Thompson's book 'No Picnic', eleven Royal Marine Commandos fell wounded to the canisters spewed out by the Argentinian Artillery.

Throughout the night most of the 4th Regiment B Company positions held, Corporal Roberto Baruzzo near the summit, continued to harass 'Lima' Company, wounding Lieutenant Julian Pusey and others, until he was blasted out by an 84 millimetre Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket and taken prisoner.

The flickering flames from a burning Mercedes jeep cast a glow over the facade. Visibility was poor owing to a heavy mist. Naval shelling which had been continuous added to the confusion. The Argentinian defence was unraveling.

Nevertheless, from their positions on the northern slopes the 3rd Platoon under 2d Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán continued to contest the British advance and so fifteen GPMG machine-guns were moved into position to hammer the Argentinian rifle platoon and 5 Troop (under Lieutenant Jerry Burnell) moved into close quarters. As they closed in the Argentinians withdrew.

With dawn approaching and 'Lima' Company still fighting forward, 'Juliet' Company was ordered on to Goat Ridge, by which time the defending rifle platoon under 2d Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (a paratrooper) had retreated to new positions on Tumbledown Mountain and 'Kilo' Company had cleared the summit of Harriet.

By 09.30 local time the craggy peaks of Mount Harriet and Goat Ridge were secure, at a cost to 42 COMMANDO of two fatal casualties (Corporals Jeremy Smith and Laurence Watts) and thirty wounded.<ref>"2 COYS OF 42 CDO HAD TAKEN A REGIMENTAL POSITION FOR 2 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED ... WE HAD BEEN ORDERED TO BE PREPARED TO PRESS FORWARD THE ATTACK ONTO MOUNT TUMBLEDOWN AND MOUNT WILLIAM IF THE ENEMY FLED OUR INITIAL ATTACK, AND TIME ALLOWED. BY DAWN IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE IN NO POSITION TO ATTACK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, OUT OF AMMO AND SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT CASUALTIES. MY 21C, A RADIO OPERATOR, MY TAC HQ MACHINE GUNNER AND ONE OF MY TROOP COMMANDERS HAD ALL BEEN SHOT, AND A FURTHER 10 ALSO WOUNDED. ANOTHER TROOP COMMANDER I DISCOVERED WAS SUFFERING FROM SHELLSHOCK". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/WDG.htm A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective, Major David G. Wheen, Royal Marines]</ref>

The remnants of the 4th Regiment's 'B' Company were virtually surrounded and Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo and his men were forced to surrender:{{cquote|It hurt me a lot to have to take the decision to surrender, but the situation then gave no alternative, and all I could have achieved was further casualties in my personnel, who were already in a bad state. But I was very sad to surrender.<ref>Denys Blakeway,The Falklands War: A Major Television Series of Channel Four, p. 156, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992</ref>}}

==Aftermath==

Accurate casualty figures, as always, are impossible to obtain, but the Argentinian Army admits around 40 Argentinians died defending the Harriet―Two Sisters defence line ('Línea de Defensa Monte Caseros'). These losses occurred in patrol battles, bombardments and the final British attack on the night of June 11–12. It was not a cheap victory for the British either. Ten Royal Marine Commandos were killed, if casualties during the night of June 9–10 June are included, and over 50 wounded, including Marine Mark Curtis who lost a leg in a minefield in early June and had to be carried for 7 hours before he could be evacuated.

A grateful Argentinian Army awarded 12th 'General Arenales' Regiment Private Luciano Oscar Pintos a Gallantry in Combat Medal for his rescue of several wounded on Mount Harriet. 42 COMMANDO received one DSO, an MC and 4 MM's for Mount Harriet. 45 COMMANDO were awarded a DSO, 3 MC's, a DCM and 4 MM's for Two Sisters.

The British fired over one-thousand shells and mortar bombs onto Mount Harriet that night, which was one of the main reasons why they won. The accuracy of the British gunners enabled the British Commandos to call down fire only 100 metres ahead of their advance. ''"If it wasn't for the British Artillery there would have been a lot more British casualties"'' said Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Soria after the war.<ref>Razor's Edge, Hugh Bicheno, Orion Publishing Group, 2007</ref>

The Argentinian defensive works on the 'Monte Caseros Line' (Mount Harriet and Two Sisters Mountain) were far less elaborate than claimed by Brigadier-General Julian Thompson in the book 'No Picnic'. 3 Commando Brigade had conducted six company-sized attacks against 'Fuerza de Tareas Monte Caceros' (Task Force Monte Caseros), killing around 20 Argentinians and capturing 300 on the night of June 11–12. Despite popular myth the soldiers of the 4th Regiment from Corrientes Province did not lack bravery, what he lacked was night-sights and manpack radios necessary for modern warfare.

The 4th Infantry Regiment had lost nearly all of its platoons and half of the platoon commanders and platoon sergeants were battle casualties. Senior Lieutenant Jorge Agustín Echeverría was badly wounded and captured as was 2d Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny and 2d Lieutenant Mario Héctor Juaréz. Sergeant Héctor Ricardo Montellano, who had helped 2d Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán fight-off a Royal Marine Commando incursion on the night of June 8-9, was killed.

In 2019, former platoon commanders Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán and Mark Townsend returned to the Falklands/Malvinas to inspect the battlefield and in a token of friendship exchanged berets on the summit of Harriet with Townsend reporting that Jiménez-Corbalán was ''"A well trained officer that fought with bravery alongside his men."''<ref>[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-tras-enfrentarse-combate-se-hicieron-amigos-nid2234223 Malvinas. Tras enfrentarse en combate, se hicieron amigos y ahora volvieron juntos a las islas]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britlink.org/overseas-territories/falkland-islands/falklands-war-1982/ Falkland’s War 1982]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9X3kGKhwPQ "Defensa del Monte Harriet y Dos Hermanas"]

[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:45:50Z

Spartano: /* Occupation */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Major Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO' ('Vehículo Anfibio a Oruga') 010, cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('Vehículos Anfibios a Orugas' 05, 07 and 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO' 07, forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO' 07 were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers from the surrounding hills did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:41:30Z

Spartano: /* Urban combat */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Major Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO' ('Vehículo Anfibio a Oruga') 010, cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('Vehículos Anfibios a Orugas' 05, 07 and 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO' 07, forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO' 07 were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:38:11Z

Spartano: /* Urban combat */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Major Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO' ('Vehículo Anfibio a Oruga' 010, cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('Vehículos Anfibios a Orugas' 05, 07 and 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO 7', forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO 7' were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:33:38Z

Spartano: /* Urban combat */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Major Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO' ('Vehículo Anfibio a Oruga' 010, cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('VAO' 05,'VAO' 07 and 'VAO' 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO 7', forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO 7' were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:33:07Z

Spartano: /* Urban combat */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Major Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO' (Vehículo Anfibio a Oruga 010, cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('VAO' 05,'VAO' 07 and 'VAO' 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO 7', forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO 7' were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:02:43Z

Spartano: /* British surrender */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Major Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO 010', cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('VAO' 05,'VAO' 07 and 'VAO' 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO 7', forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO 7' were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:01:56Z

Spartano: /* Urban combat */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Major Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO 010', cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('VAO' 05,'VAO' 07 and 'VAO' 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO 7', forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO 7' were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]

Operation Rosario (Falklands/Malvinas War)

2022-07-18T05:01:20Z

Spartano: /* Argentinian landings */

On April 2, 1982, with an armed confrontation in the making between a platoon of British Royal Marines (under Lieutenant Keith Mills and Sergeant Peter Leach) sent to reinforce the British Antartic Survey (BAS) under base commander Steve Martin<ref>"The 23 Marines, only one of whom was wounded in the Battle of Grytviken, and 13 civilians – the BAS base commander Steve Martin had been with the military contingent at the time – were taken on board the Bahia Paraiso without incident." [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549893/How-South-Georgia-was-recaptured.html]</ref> and apprehend Argentine scrap-metal workers on South Georgia and their protecting Special Forces from the [[Argentinian Navy]] survey ship ARA "Bahía Buen Suceso",<ref>[https://www.spink.com ot-description.aspx?id=12002445 Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria]</ref> Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, a remote British colony in the South Atlantic. The Argentinian amphibious landings, '''Operation Rosario''' (under Rear-Admiral [[Carlos César Büsser]], Argentinian Marine Corps Commandant), led to a brief, but costly war.

==Background==
Argentinian invasion plans accelerated when Britain protested about the presence of scrap-metal workers on South Georgia. With talks on the future of the Falklands stalled, the Argentinian Military Junta reacted strongly and by March 26, 1982, two frigates were on their way south, and more ships had put to sea ostensibly for exercises with the Uruguayan Navy. But it seemed that only now was the final decision taken to invade and they headed for Stanley although bad weather delayed their arrival. By March 31, British intelligence had to assume landings were imminent, Governor [[Rex Hunt]] was warned, and next evening he announced over the radio that invasion was expected early on April 2.

==British defenders==
Before the broadcast took place, the defence of Port Stanley was already being organized by the company-sized garrison of Naval Party 8901 (NP8901, all volunteers from 42 COMMANDO 45 COMMANDO), under Major Gary Noote and Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF, Royal Marines-trained), under Major Phil Sommers and half a dozen policemen from the Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP). Usually consisting of 160 defenders, Majors Noote and Sommers, had been reinforced by Major Mike Norman and his platoon-sized garrison replacement that had disembarked from the RRS 'John Biscoe'. Assuming the main landing would be near Stanley Airfield followed by an advance on Port Stanley, Noote, Sommers and Norman deployed their 120 men (including 42 FIDF soldiers<ref>"Meanwhile the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) was preparing for the invasion quite independently of the Marines. Their OC, Major Phil Summers, had tasked the approximately forty parttime militiamen to guard such key points as the telephone exchange, the radio station and the power station." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders' Story, Graham Bound, p. 45, Casemate Publishers, 2007</ref>
) accordingly, and positioned four sniper/anti-tanks squads on the Airport Road ready to fall back on the main 40-man position at Government House. By the early hours of April 2, they were mostly in position and the small patrol ship 'Forrest' was out in Port William on radar watch. Governor Hunt also ordered the arrest of 30 Argentinian men and women.<ref>"With his legal powers to justify his action, the Governor now ordered Chief Secretary Dick Baker to lead a small team of armed sailors rounding up several dozen Argentine citizens living in Stanley." Invasion 1982: The Falkland Islanders Story, Graham Bound, p. 50, Casemite Publishers, 2007</ref>

==Argentinian landings==
The plan was for the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping ('Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios' or APCA) under Marine Major Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots to seize both the NP8901 Barracks at Moody Brook and Government House to force a surrender, supported if necessary by men of Marine Lieutenant-colonel Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl's 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2) landed from ships of Task Group 40.1. Under the command of the 1st Marine Brigade commander, Marine Colonel Miguel Angel Pita, the Argentinian Marines had orders to cause no casualties ''"if at all possible"''.<ref>"Under Miguel Pita's robust personal leadership, and with orders to cause no casualties 'if at all possible', 800 men from his brigade, formed from the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 2), a Comandos Anfibios team ... spearheaded the assault on the Falklands Islands." Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations, Ewen Southby-Tailyour, p. 61, Pen and Sword, 2014</ref> Once Stanley Airfield was in Argentinian hands, the 25th 'Special' (Army Rangers) Infantry Regiment and Special Operations Group ('Grupo de Operaciones Especiales' or GOE) would then fly in.

The first landings were before midnight with the 1st Amphibious Commando Grouping spearhead under Lieutenant Bernardo Schweitzer going ashore from the destroyer ARA 'Santisima Trinidad' to secure Mullet Creek, followed early on Friday morning by a 'Buzo Tactico' (Tactical Frogmen) beach reconnaissance party from the submarine ARA 'Santa Fe' to check out the main landing beach north of Stanley.<ref>"The next Argentinians ashore were the frogmen from the Santa Fe, to secure the beach at Yorke Bay, to the north of the airfield, at 3:30 a.m." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p. 57, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref>

The Amphibious Commandos split into two parties, the largest heading for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the defending Royal Marines asleep with Marine Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi suffering a twisted ankle in the rough going. The other group of sixteen was tasked with securing Government House.<ref>"At around 11 pm on the 1st of April, 1982, ninety-two Argentinian marines of the Amphibious Commando Grouping under Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots landed from small inflatable rubber boats, two miles south of Stanley. They split into two parties, the largest making for Moody Brook barracks, some six miles away, where they hoped to catch the bulk of the Royal Marine (RM) garrison asleep. The other group of sixteen was heading for Government House. The invasion had started. After six hours, during which they had seriously underestimated the difficulties of moving across country at night, the marines arrived to find the barracks empty. The eighty-two RMs, under Major Norman, were well aware of imminent invasion so were not spending the night in their beds. " The Last Eleven: Winners of the Victoria Cross since the Second World War, Mark Adkin, p. 171, Pen & Sword, 1991</ref>

As the Amphibious Commandos secured their objectives the destroyers and frigates of Task Force 40 took up support and escort positions and the Tank Landing Ship ARA 'Cabo San Antonio' headed in for the unguarded beach at York Bay.

==Urban combat==
From 6:00 a.m. the main Special Forces attacks and supporting infantry landings got underway. Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez-Sabarots' plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they stumbled out of beds. Those bent on avoiding capture were to be flushed out with the careful use of machine-guns positioned south of Moody Brook, forcing them to take a route towards Cortley Ridge where they would be unable to intervene in the defence of Government House, and could be later rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided.<ref>"Sanchez-Sabarot's plan was to capture the Royal Marines as they broke out from the barracks. Those who managed to evade capture were to be channeled by the judicious use of MAGs positioned south of Moody Brook along an escape route towards Cortley Hill where they would be unable to reinforce the defence of Government House, and could be rounded up. Casualties were to be avoided". Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>The Royal Marines seemed to be asleep, although a room still had a light on. No sentries were observed and Sánchez-Sabarots noticed that no fighting was taking place at Government House as expected with the main landings now taking place. Nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire for the British barracks were empty. <ref>'"The barracks were ominously quiet, although a light burned in a cabin. No sentries were seen and the night was silent apart from the occasional animal call. Sanchez-Sabarots had expected to hear firing from Government House as some evidence that the main landings had taken place; nevertheless he ordered the attack to begin. Stun and tear gas grenades were hurled into the buildings, but no coughing Royal Marines stumbled out and there was no return fire." Nine Battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, p. 20, Pen & Sword, 2014</ref>

The larger body of Amphibious Commandos having cleared Moody Brook, now headed east for Government House which by then was under fire from the spearhead under Marine Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino. Giachino, Second-in-Command of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 1) and on loan to APCA, was hit by small arms fire during the attack on Government House and died of his wounds, becoming the only Argentinian invasion force fatality that was treated at the local [[King Edward VII Memorial Hospital]] (KEMH). Around 6:30 a.m., the first of some 20 LVTP-7 Amtraks with 20 or more Marines each inside were landing from 'Cabo San Antonio' and by 6.45 am more Marines from the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion were coming into the airfield by Sea King helicopters. A 25th Regiment platoon under 2nd Lieutenant Oscar Roberto Reyes, having disembarked from 'VAO 010', cleared the Airfield buildings.

As the outnumbered NP 8901 and FIDF defenders fell back on Government House, one of the squads under Lieutenant Bill Trollope defending the Ionospheric Research Station on the Airport Road, stopped the Amtrack spearhead ('VAO' 05,'VAO' 07 and 'VAO' 019) with anti-armour weapons, machine-guns and sniper fire that wounded one Argentinian Marine, Private Horacio Tello.<ref>"The fact that no one was observed to emerge from the first Amtrac to be engaged encouraged the Royal Marines to think that one of their rocket rounds had punched a hole in it and that some of the machine-gun fire had penetrated the hole and caused severe casualties among the men inside. Local civilians who observed the action optimistically supported this view later. There was no rocket hit, just the scars of ninety-seven machine-gun bullets. Only one Argentine marine was slightly wounded by a sliver of metal cutting his hand." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 37, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref><ref>"Pedí novedades de personal y material : En el VAO 07 había un herido leve en la mano izquierda debido a un balazo que perforó la parte carnosa : Conscripto Clase 62 Horacio Tello." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 230, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>The spearhead was brought to a halt by machine-gun fire hitting the driver compartment of 2nd Sub-Officer Anibal Edgardo Esposito and turret of 'VAO 7', forcing the machine-gunner, Corporal Osvaldo César Arce to take cover.<ref>[https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref> None of the occupants of 'VAO 7' were seen to emerge for 2nd Sub-Officer Víctor Quiroga under the guidance of Arce, manoeuvred the Amtrack off the road into a hollow in the ground and disembarked the Marines now hidden from view.

Trollope's men were obliged to fall back as the Argentinian Marines emerged from the other Amtracks and 2nd Sub-Officer Mario Di Filippo's 'VAO' opened fire with a 72mm recoilles rifle, scoring a direct hit on the building.<ref>"Commander Weinstabl and I decided it was time to force the British to withdraw. I ordered the crew with the recoilles rifle to fire one round of hollow charge at ... the roof of the house where the machine-gun was, to cause a bang but not an explosion. We were still following our orders not to inflict casualties. The first round was about a hundred metres short, but the second hit the roof ... They had stopped firing, so Commander started the movement of the two companies around the position.." Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 36, Pen and Sword, 2003</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190328073538/https://interesestrategicoarg.com/2014/07/05/2-de-abril-de-1982-malvinas-vehiculos-anfibios/ Vehículos Anfibios]</ref>

Only one Royal Marine squad under Corporal Lou Armour managed to fight its way to Government House, the others were gradually overrun by the increasing number of Amtracks and Marines landed by the white-painted Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

==British surrender==
With daybreak and Government House surrounded, under sniper fire and the Amtracks approaching, Governor Hunt attempted to negotiate. Faced with the overwhelming forces at Rear-Admiral Büsser's disposal, he ordered the defenders to lay down their arms, which they did at 9:30 a.m. without having suffered any casualties. The Royal Marines had held out against two Argentinian Marine battalions and Special Forces for three hours, firing 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 anti-tank rockets<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9582471/Rear-Admiral-Carlos-Busser.html Rear-Admiral Carlos Büsser ]</ref>in a firefight that cost the life of the 2ic of BIM 1 and wounded or injured six invaders, including a military chaplain (Angel Mafezzini) and Marine Major Hugo Jorge Santillán that commanded the vanguard of 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion who suffered a sprained ankle taking cover after coming under fire.<ref>[https://www.laprensa.com.ar/452562-La-Operacion-Rosario-en-primera-persona.note.aspx La Operación Rosario en primera persona]</ref>Disc Jockey (DJ) Patrick Watts from the [[Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service]] (FIBS) had kept Port Stanley residents informed about the progress of the fighting and informed them of the surrender and Argentinian casualties, ''"The governor has just told me that a truce has been called ... there is to be no more shooting and we know for sure there are three Argentinians very badly wounded in the Government House area ... and I believe there is one believed to be dying"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>

Before the British surrender, Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots had to divert a section of his men to release the Argentinian nationals that Vice-Commodore Héctor Ricardo Gilobert (the head of 'Líneas Aéreas del Estado' or LADE in Port Stanley) reported were being held under police guard in Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant (Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli) and several marines from the 2nd Marine Battalion Headquarters had secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings and liberated some 30 Argentinian civilians. <ref>"The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told." Victory in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 23, Pen & Sword, 2007</ref>

That evening, the Governor, his family and most of the Royal Marines and captured sailors from 'Endurance' were flown out. Major Norman and his men volunteered to fight again with Juliet Company, 42 COMMANDO, suffering four wounded in the final mountain battles.

The British Marines later called into question the Argentinian version of events regarding Operation 'Rosario'. According to one of Major Mike Norman's men, Colour-Sergeant Bill Muir, ''"It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us."''<ref>Commando: The Illustrated History of Britain's Green Berets, David Reynolds, p. 125, Sutton, 2001</ref>Corporal Lou Armour who fought at Government House, says he counted only three Argentinian casualties outside the building.<ref>"There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done." Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p. 233, Speaking Out: Untold Stories From The Falklands War, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>Major Noott helped treat the three Argentinian wounded (Major Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga and Corporal Ernesto Urbina) before they were transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with the husband (Neville Bennet) of the acting matron (Valerie Bennett) on watch duty reporting ''"nothing of note"'' had happened in KEMH on April 2 apart from the death of the second-in-command of BIM 1 and other Argentinian wounded.<ref>"I found Valerie in good health if not in good temper. She kept on muttering about soldiers with great big boots and nasty guns wandering round in her hospital. On the previous day the medic from the ‘Brook’ had come back to help if necessary’ she said that he looked as if he needed a bath and set out to get it ready for him, but, however one of the other lot had different ideas about that and stopped the move to the bathroom with his gun, and said that the bloke was a prisoner of war, nothing of note had happened. Some Argy doctors had been in the Operating Theatre the day before, without success, and she would be happier when they all went home. And she was quite willing to help them on their way." A Falklands Family at War: Diaries of the 1982 Conflict, Neville Bennett, Valerie Bennett, p. 18, Pen & Sword Military, 2021 </ref>DJ Patrick Watts had rang KEMH that morning and was able to confirm how many Argentinians had been wounded, ''"I have just been telephoning the hospital ... There are two seriously wounded people and they are both Argentinians ... and I understand from Doctor Mary Elphinstone that two Argentinians are seriously injured and they are going to be picked up from the hospital now"''.<ref>Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Live broadcast of Argentine Invasion 1982. Part 2 of 2 (available on YouTube)</ref>Doctor Alison Bleaney got to King Edward Memorial Hospital soon after this radio transmission and saw the Argentinians accommodating their wounded and injured (Major Hugo Jorge Santillán, Captain Jorge Horacio Bardi, Chaplain Angel Mafezzini and Private Horacio Tello) inside an Amtrack.<ref>"Lo busque al Padre Mafezzini que se encontraba en el hospital curandose una herida en un ojo y le pedi que fuera a la morgue para rogarle a Dios que lo recibiera en sus brazos." Operación Rosario, Carlos Büsser, p. 179, Editorial Atlántida, 1984</ref>

Two of the Royal Marines Mark Gibbs and George Brown involved in the action against the Amtrack spearhead, claim to have destroyed one Amtrack with 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rockets. However, British tanks expert Andrew Hills has examined all the available evidence and has concluded that in reality one Argentinian Amtrak was peppered by machine-gun fire and another lost one of its tracks to a near-miss from the shoulder-launched rockets fired by Trollope's men.<ref>[https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/1982-argentinian-invasion-of-the-falkland-islands/#index9 Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands]</ref>

British war correspondent Max Hastings in his book 'Battle for the Falklands' (Michael Joseph, 1983) claims that, ''"The commandos indeed landed at Mullett Creek, about 4.30 a.m., and reached Moody Brook ninety minutes later. But their subsequent tactics suggested no misgivings about causing casualties. In a noisy full-scale attack, they hurled phosphorus grenades into the barracks and raked the rooms with automatic fire. Only the fact that the British marines had already been deployed prevented heavy loss of life."''

The Argentinians maintain that the barracks were destroyed in an air attack by Harriers from No. 1 Squadron RAF on June 12—involving Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare and Wing Commander Peter Squire—that killed three conscripts and wounded their commander (Major José Rodolfo Banetta) from 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.<ref>"El día anterior el fuego británico había alcanzado los cuarteles de Moody Brook, donde mató a tres soldados e hirió al mayor José Rodolfo Banetta, de la compañía comando de la Brigada X." Isidoro J. Ruiz Moreno, La Lucha Por La Capital (chapter), Comandos en Acción: El Ejercito en Malvinas, Emece, 1986</ref><ref>"El Jefe de Personal del Comando de las Fuerzas Terrestres que, hasta ese entonces, había permanecido con su Sección en el Cuartel de los Marines (Moody Brook), el Mayor del Ejército Don José R. Banetta, que debía replegarse de las instalaciones mencionadas hacia su Puesto de Comando Principal en la localidad, al incendiarse y destruirse los cuarteles, por un efectivo y preciso ataque de la aviación enemiga." Carlos H. Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 216, Desde el Frente: Batallón de Infantería de Marina No. 5, Centro Naval, 1996</ref><ref>"Los ataques aéreos continuaban pero en forma cada vez más esporádica, quizá el último bombardeo importante fue sobre el ex-cuartel de los Royal Marines en Moody Brooki donde funcionaba el PC Ret de la Agr Ej a órdenes del My Banetta. Produjo bajas y grandes daños en el cuartel." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 182, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984</ref>
The Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect their personal belongings<ref>"The captured British servicemen were then allowed to collect personal items (but no uniform) from Moody Brook and were flown out to Comodoro Rivadavia that evening." The Royal Navy and Falklands War, David Brown, p.59, Pen & Sword, 1987</ref> with the Commanding Officer of the 25th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín) claiming he was present and helped them find their misplaced pay envelopes.<ref>Mohamed Alí Seineldín, p. 125, Malvinas: Un Sentimiento, Editorial Sudamericana, 1999</ref>During the Argentinian occupation, Moody Brook Barracks first housed elements of C Company 25th Regiment prior to their departure to Goose Green and then 601st Combat Aviation Battalion and 10th Brigade Headquarters according to the authors of 'Partes de Guerra' (Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997).<ref>Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadini, Partes de Guerra, p. 38, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997</ref>

On April 10, Argentinian war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo attended the gathering inside the bar room of the Moody Brook Barracks to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd 'La Tablada' Mechanized Infantry Regiment (minus the Armoured Personnel Carriers) with the Argentinian Regimental Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini) in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez giving a patriotic speech and everyone present (officers, NCOs and conscripts) getting a piece of a giant chocolate easter egg that was flown in from the Argentinian mainland and the chance to wash it down with a toast of fine French wine seized from the well-stocked wine cellar of the Royal Marine Moody Brook Barracks.<ref>"Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982</ref>

==South Georgia==
On April 3, the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion captured South Georgia, 1,350 kilometres to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentinian corvette ARA 'Guerrico' was lured too close to shore and hit by anti-tank missiles from the 23-man Royal Marines platoon under Lieutenant Keith Mill and one Argentinian sailor, Corporal Patricio Guanca was killed in the action. Soon after this Argentinian setback, another two Marines, Privates Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila were killed and seven wounded when the Puma helicopter transporting their platoon was hit by concentrated small-arms fire and forced to make a crash-landing. However, one British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentinian Marines. The Marines platoon under Lieutenant Mills eventually surrendered when their position was bombarded by the main 100mm gun of the Argentinian warship.

The 13-strong volunteer militia force under BAS commander Steve Martin at King Edward Point had taken refuge in the church at Grytviken; they were captured in the afternoon and were removed at gunpoint to an Argentine ship bound for Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and held for 15 days before being repatriated to Britain. Thirteen other BAS men in South Georgia and two females, scientist Cindy Buxton and journalist Annie Price, remained in hiding until liberated by the British Task Force in late April 1982. They would later confirm that Lieutenant Mills had given them a pistol and that both women had been trained how to shoot.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294188401.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May%2015,%201982&author=London%20Daily%20Telegraph&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%28pre-1997%20Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=2%20BRITONS%20DESCRIBE%20STAY%20ON%20S.%20GEORGIA 2 BRITONS DESCRIBE STAY ON S. GEORGIA]</ref>

Photographs of the Royal Marines outside Government House, face down on the ground, soon appeared in the British press, smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony for Simon Winchester of the [[Sunday Times]] who had taken the pictures.<ref>"The humiliation was soon reinforced by images of the Argentine flag being raised and of the Royal Marines as prisoners. The photographs of the surrender of the Royal Marines had been taken by Simon Winchester of the Sunday Times and were smuggled out by out by Rex Hunt's son Tony." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, pp. 8-9, Routledge, 2004</ref> In response to calls for actions, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered that an armada of British warships be sent to the Falklands. Winchester went to Argentina to cover the war from the southern airbases, but he was arrested with two colleagues (Ian Mather and Tony Prime) for spying.<ref>"Winchester went to Argentina where he was later arrested with two colleagues for spying." The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy, Lawrence Freedman, p. 9, Routledge, 2004</ref>

Fierce battles erupted in May. In all, more than 900 soldiers and sailors from both side died in the fighting. But the British forces won. Winchester, Mather and Prime were freed on June 29.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/30/world/3-british-reporters-released-from-jail-by-argentine-junta.html 3 BRITISH REPORTERS RELEASED FROM JAIL BY ARGENTINE JUNTA]</ref>

==Occupation==
Life under Argentinian occupation was full of anxiety for many of the Falklanders. They had no desire to be ruled by the Argentinians and found that many of their essential goods and services were under threat from the British naval blockade and requisitioning by the Argentinian garrison. Most Land Rovers and many tractors were requisitioned by the military and high powered radios were supposed to be handed over, although not all were.

Shortly after being appointed Miltary Governor of the Malvinas, Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez had a meeting with around 40 locals that had formed part of the Fakland Islands Defence Force (FIDF) and that had been captured then released on 2 April. He warned them against taking part in any future attacks on the Argentinian garrison:
''“I met some of them [members of the FIDF] and explained that if they did some wrong to the occupying troops, I would apply the laws of war against them. I also told them that there was a group of two or three youngsters that continuously were gesticulating or showed an aggressive attitude against the Argentine officers and NCOs. For instance, they used to approach at an excessive speed and pass our troops very closely. I told them that if they ran into one of them or threw them to the floor and somebody fired at them, although I did not like martyrs, I was going to justify what my men did."''<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3357032 74 Days Under the Argentine Flag: The Experiences of Occupation During the Falklands/Malvinas War]</ref>

There were further deportations of authority figures and Falklanders suspected as being resistance leaders were exiled to Fox Bay Settlement along with their families. Major Patricio Douglas Dowling took control of Argentinian military intelligence and soon gathered a reputation for harshness and threatening behaviour. Most of the 181st Military Police Company under Major Roberto Eduardo Berazay strained to maintain good relations with the Falkland Islanders and tried to treat them well although cold and hungry conscript soldiers did take to stealing food and break-and-enters became more frequent as the conflict dragged on and as the weather worsened. Military discipline was rigidly enforced in Port Stanley on the part of Major Berazay's military police unit in order to prevent break-in’s, robberies, vandalism and sexual assault, from soldiers from the frontlines that dared go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and those caught were returned to their units where they were beaten, humiliated and staked in the freezing ground as part of field-punishment.

Argentinian Air Force Group Captain Carlos Bloomer-Reeve was given the job of acting as liaison officer between the local population and the military authorities. He had lived in the Falklands and was respected for the fair-mindedness and respect he showed to the locals.

The population at Goose Green had initially a very hard time when they were confined en masse in the Social Club in the aftermath of the British air attacks on Goose Green airfield on 1 May 1982. Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Angel Piaggi, the Commanding Officer of the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment, said that the lockdown in Goose Green was necessary in order to protect the locals from ''"the rage of the air force men, who had lost so many colleagues."''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/9369182/Making_Their_Dispositions_Accordingly_Civilian_Experiences_of_the_1982_Falklands_War Making Their Dispositions Accordingly: Civilian Experiences of the 1982 Falklands War]</ref>

The conditions improved when the Argentinians took pity on local women and children. According to local farm manager Eric Goss: ''"Sanitation in the hall was grim. We ran out of water on the third day, the toilets were blocked and there was some dysentery. We persuaded the Argentinians to bring sea water in barrels for the toilets; and old chap, Mike Robson, did sterling work keeping them going. Two young men, Bob McLeod and Ray Robson, both radio hams, found an old broken radio, part of the club equipment, in a junk cupboard. They made this work and we listened each evening to the B.B.C. World Service; the others made noise at the windows to cover the crackling of the broadcast and we were never discovered."''<ref>Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p. 169, Viking, 1985</ref>

One local female resident reported that life in the Social Club was far from grim:
''“After the first week the Argentines let two women go out each day to the galley in the cookhouse, where all the men would normally eat together. They were allowed to cook up a big meal, with bread and cakes, and bring it down to the hall. Considering we were all cramped together in a small place everybody got on very well. People were generally good-natured.”''<ref>Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, Andre Deutsch, 1989</ref>

The government authority did attempt to enforce a change in the road traffic code which had chaotic consequences. The authorities wanted everyone to drive on the right hand side of the road as in Argentina. It was thought that the Argentine military traffic would find this easier than remembering to drive on the left. Merely informing the local population was not enough to change the habits of a lifetime and the end result was chaos. Initial signs in Spanish did not help matters and in the end the authorities had to paint signs in English and write continued reminders in white paint on the roads themselves. It became a permanent reminder that the islands were occupied territory.

Other daily reminders of occupation included the numerous field artillery and anti-aircraft batteries in and around Port Stanley and large no-go areas to the civilian population like the gymnasium building that was commandeered by Argentinian Army Green Berets from Major Mario Luis Castagneto's 601st Commando Company. Children were taken out of school and sent to the interior for their safety. The local radio station was forced to play Argentinian official military communiques of the war. Fortunately, many islanders were able to pick up the BBC World Service and were encouraged by news of the British landings in San Carlos and the British victory at Goose Green.

There was some talk of evacuating the Falklands Islanders. The British government did not wish the Falklanders to abandon the islands as that would make their main argument of self-determination mute. It was only a small portion of the population who considered leaving but it was enough to concern the British government. They made it clear that the British would help anyone temporarily but that the expectation was that they would return once the fighting was over. As it transpired, few Falkland Islanders took this option and most remained in the Falklands. Tragically, three islanders would be killed when a stray naval shell hit their house.

==Liberation==
Argentinian occupation of the Falklands ended on June 14. After 74 days, the islands became British administered again. Unlike the Goose Green residents the Port Stanley citizens had been allowed much freedom of movement. But there had been a 16-hour night curfew.

The British units took over the buildings commandeered by the Argentinians. Local fireman Lewis Clifton describes how the infrastructures of Port Stanley broke under the extra strain of accommodating the British troops and processing thousands of Argentine prisoners of war awaiting repatriation: ''"The place just couldn't take it. There was only sporadic electricity and water and the sanitation system collapsed. The streets were ankle-deep in human waste. The stench was awful, really awful, and we were all suffering from what we called Galtieri's revenge. He lost the war but left us ill."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420135114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/Britain_at_War_Readers__Memorie/9130824/The-Falklands-invasion-by-those-who-were-there.html The Falklands invasion, by those who were there]</ref>

Water was scarce, since Stanley's main pumping station had been damaged by British naval fire during the mountain battles, with many Argentinian soldiers suffering from diarrhea because of Liver Fluke Disease (found in sheep) forced to relieve themselves in bathtubs, buckets, chest of drawers and the back streets of Stanley in the face of sudden violent bowel movement and with toilets no longer working.<ref>''British naval gunfire had destroyed the roof of Port Stanley's water pumping station, causing the valves, filters and pipes to freeze up and split.'' The Scars of Wars, Hugh McManners, p. 315, HarperCollins, 1993</ref><ref>The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

There was much Argentinian criticism of the behaviour of British Paratroopers after the Argentinian surrender. Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre, the commander of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in his book 'Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino' (Editorial Sudamaricana, 1987) alleges that he complained to the British authorities and the Royal Marine Commandos took over and soon restored order in the Falklands capital. A staff officer of Commodore Michael Clapp wrote in his war diary:''"Utterly depressing. The troops are in a post war mood and very selfish. Grab, Grab - transport, houses, equipment, food, etc. - gone is the spirit of selflessness in the field. It will return but at present all is filth, squalor and (the) looting instinct prevails. Quite the worst aspect of the whole campaign."''<ref>The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 146, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005</ref>

British SBS Commandos were helicoptered to Pebble Island on June 15 to accept the surrender of the local garrison and found that the two dozen local inhabitants had been confined to the farm manager's house. But the locals showed no hatred for the occupiers, and even insisted that one young English-speaking Argentinian conscript, Jorge Alberto Ortiz, from the 3rd Marine Battalion's 'H' Company whom they had befriended should have lunch with them before he was taken with the others to imprisonment in the sheep shearing sheds. Jorge in his perfect Californian accent told them he planned to come back in the near future as a civilian. Arina Bernstein, a cheerful read-headed woman in her mid-thirties told him he would be welcome, ''"But don't you come back planting you little flag here again, Jorge."''<ref>The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p.313, Pan, 1987</ref>

The sentiment of civilians in Stanley were mixed, and there were several years later, claims that Argentinian soldiers had booby trapped the Geriatric Acute Ward of Stanley Hospital<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10300593/Argentine-army-lashed-rocket-launcher-slide-futile-bid-defeat-British-troops.html No wonder we won the Falklands: How the Argentine army lashed rocket launcher to a SLIDE in futile bid to defeat British troops]</ref>, the dining area of civilian homes, and even children bikes at Goose Green and the play doll of the five-year old daughter (Sarah Clement) of Mike Summers, a future Falklands politician.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/3214/25-years-on 25 years on]</ref>

There is, however, only one substantiated case that was reported in the major world newspapers in July 1982, of a hand grenade wedged under the floorboards of Stanley School that was found by Captain Brian Lloyd of the Royal Engineers, but that was clearly aimed at causing casualties among the British garrison like the booby-traps the British Paras and Royal Marines found in trenches and Stanley Racecourse that had been the final Argentinian defence line on the morning of June 14 comprising a regimental-size grouping that was organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Eugenio Alfredo Dalton (10th Brigade's Operations Officer) and placed under the command of Major Guillermo Rubén Berazay (3rd Regiment's Operations Officer.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The British also accused the Argentinian engineers of not keeping proper records on the location of their minefields, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention with Major Guv Lukas from the British bomb-disposal unit reporting. ''"A number of formal mine fields were laid out. But these were then thickened up by indiscriminate helicopter scattering."''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/09/world/hills-around-falkland-capital-strewn-with-argentine-dead.html HILLS AROUND FALKLAND CAPITAL STREWN WITH ARGENTINE DEAD]</ref>

The Port Stanley Army Grouping ('Agrupación de Ejército Puerto Argentino') commander, Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre who oversaw the transfer of power in the Falklands capital to the British authorities has contested the claim that the Argentinian Army and Marines engineers had conducted themselves unprofessionally and has asserted that ''"although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter"'' and that ''"records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war"''.<ref>''The British later made the accusation that some of the mines were scattered haphazardly by helicopter and again, that incomplete records were kept. Jofre stresses that, although mines were brought forward by helicopter, they were never scattered by helicopter. Also, he says, records were properly handed over by his engineer commander after the war.'' Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook, p. 225, Pen & Sword, 2003</ref>

Claims that the Argentinian forces had behaved like savages throughout the occupation were investigated with British war correspondents Patrick Joseph Bishop and ‎John Witherow establishing they were mostly hearsay:''"They had certainly been responsible for smashing up the solid old post office, and the backstreets of the town were littered with excrement. But although fourteen local men were taken from their homes during the occupation and sent to West Falkland where they were put under house arrest, few inhabitants were ill-treated. It was an uncomfortable rather than brutal regime... There were stories of looting but on closer examination this tended to be troops stealing buns from the deep-freeze or sleeping in beds with muddy boots. Some valuables and souvenirs were stolen and houses vandalized but the details of the outrages were vague. Most of the serious damage was done by the British shelling. One islander said without rencour that the British had caused more of a mess in Stanley than the Argentinians."''<ref> The Winter War: The Falklands, Patrick Joseph Bishop, John Witherow, p.143, Quartet Books, 1982</ref>

Captain Jeremy Larken of HMS 'Fearless' confirms the view the Argentinian occupation foces had behaved appropriately:''"It was clear General Menendez had looked after things at Government House with almost loving care. Even the ornaments were still in their place. But once 3 Commando Brigade got in there and started using it as their headquarters, I think it suffered considerably. It's fair to say that the British were less careful with Port Stanley than had been the Argentine forces... In the early days, our control over our own people was not as good as it might have been. I won't say there was rape and pillage, but there was a great deal of acquisition of war materials."'' <ref>Forgotten Voices of the Falklands, Hugh McManners, p. 433, Random House, 2008</ref>

The 181st Military Police Company, assisted in great part by the Amphibious Engineer Company, 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron and 601st and 602nd Commando Companies, had kept a watchful eye in Stanley with Leftist anti-war veterans from the Buenos Aires-based Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Centre ('Centro Ex-Combatientes Islas Malvinas' or CECIM) complaining and telling of being tied and pinned to the frozen ground with tent pegs for hours or punched and kicked for deserting their posts and stealing from the Moody Brook food depot and locals or for shooting and killing sheep for food in the middle of minefields and booby-traps. In a 2019 interview with ‘Radio Noticias’, former Private Gustavo Alberto Placente from the 181st Military Police Company explained that field punishments were indeed carried out but were absolutely necessary to keep some of the lesser inclined conscript soldiers to fight in line.<ref>Gustavo Placente | Indagación a 18 militares por torturas en Malvinas (available on YouTube)</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Argentina]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:1980s]]