Difference between revisions of "Battle of Darwin and Goose Green"
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| + | Following the Argentine occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions (2 and 3 PARA) of the British 1st Parachute Regiment were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the Islands in Operation Corporate. | ||
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3 Commando Brigade went ashore at San Carlos on the night of 21/22 May. 2 PARA established itself on Sussex Mountain protecting the South of the Bridgehead without opposition. 3 PARA landed in the near Port San Carlos driving off a group of 40 enemy. | 3 Commando Brigade went ashore at San Carlos on the night of 21/22 May. 2 PARA established itself on Sussex Mountain protecting the South of the Bridgehead without opposition. 3 PARA landed in the near Port San Carlos driving off a group of 40 enemy. | ||
Revision as of 01:23, October 23, 2016
Following the Argentine occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions (2 and 3 PARA) of the British 1st Parachute Regiment were deployed as part of Brigadier Julian Thompson's 3 Commando Brigade to retake the Islands in Operation Corporate.
3 Commando Brigade went ashore at San Carlos on the night of 21/22 May. 2 PARA established itself on Sussex Mountain protecting the South of the Bridgehead without opposition. 3 PARA landed in the near Port San Carlos driving off a group of 40 enemy.
On 26 May, 2 PARA was ordered to move south and engage the Argentinian 12th Infantry Regiment and Airbase on the Darwin/Goose Green Peninsula.
The attack began under the cover of darkness of 28 May with heavy naval and artillery support. By daylight, however, it was held up by strong enemy defensive positions on Darwin Hill and Boca Hill and the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Jones, was killed trying to take out a machine gun post.
The assault continued with some ferocious close-quarter combat and by last light the whole peninsula less the Goose Green Settlement was taken. Negotiations with the Argentinians produced their surrender the next day. Around 45-55 Argentinians were killed, and The Official History of the Falklands Campaign reports 961 Argentinian prisoners taken, although as its author Lawrence Freedman noted "the counting process was possibly less precise than the number suggests", and other accounts of the battle have reported a larger prisoner count. A total of 15 British airborne soldiers were killed and 64 wounded during this battle.
Meanwhile on 27 May 3 PARA set off on foot by a Northern route to capture Teal Inlet which it did on 29 May taking some prisoners. On 11 June 2 PARA moved north to rejoin 3 Commando Brigade for the final Battle of Stanley. An early but vital objective was Mount Longdon and this was attacked by 3 PARA during the night 11/12 June. The enemy was well dug in and prepared and it was only after twelven hours of bloody fighting that 3 PARA secured the objective. They then held it for 48 hours under intense and accurate artillery fire.