In the closing days of May 1982, the British land campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands
began, after an eight thousand mile voyage and weeks of battles at sea and in the air.
With a beachhead established, British troops were now charged with rapidly defeating an
Argentinian force that was more numerous and had spent weeks preparing defences.
The Battle for the Falklands was about to begin.
British troops began to arrive on the Falklands on May 21st, in a large scale landing by 3
commando brigade at San Carlos Water, on the west coast of east Falkland.
For four days afterwards, the ground troops could do little but dig in and ride out the
massive aerial bombardment launched by Argentina against the landings, which claimed three
British warships and the merchant ship Atlantic Conveyer.
The loss of conveyer, and its cargo of chinook helicopters, meant that many of the British
forces would now have to walk east towards the main Argentinian positions around Stanley,
across rough terrain and in the face of the developing south Atlantic winter.
It would take days for the bulk of 3 commando brigade to even get close to their objectives.
Despite this setback, the British wasted no time in going onto the offensive . On May
28th, 2nd Battalion the Parachute regiment assaulted an outlying Argentine position at
Goose Green . In a tough da y of fighting which cost the life of the battalions commander,
Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones, the paras were able to capture the local airfield and
encircle Argentine forces under Lieutenant Colonel Italo Piaggi , forcing a surrender
the following morning.
Yielding more than 1000 prisoners, the victory at Goose Green was the first major land victory
for the British.
The reconquest of the islands was well and truly underway.
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The recapture of Goose Green was a big first step for the British, but assaulting the positions
of almost ten times as many Argentines around Stanley, would need rather a lot more troops.
Happily, reinforcements were just starting to appear.
5th Infantry brigade un der Brigadier Tony Wilson arrived at San Carlos at the end of
May, accompanied by Major General Jeremy Moore, who would now take overall command of British
troops on the islands.
2 Para, which was at Goose Green following its successful offensive there, was attached
to 5th infantry brigade, which was to be tasked with securing the southern approaches to Stanley
, while Brigadier Julian Thompson’s 3rd Commando Brigade consolidated their position
to the north . Speed was of the essence, with winter closing in and Britain’s logistical
chain stretched to breaking point.
At the start of June, Brigadier Wilson vaulted 2 Para forwards to Fitzroy and Bluff cove
settlements by helicopter, after cursory reconaissance revealed no argentinians were present.
Moving the rest of 5th brigade forwards was more of a challenge, as the continuing shortage
of helicopters resulting from the loss of merchant ship Atlantic Conveyor during the
battle for san carlos forced the welsh and scots guards to be transported to Bluff cove
by sea instead.
Disaster struck at the end of this operation on June 8th, when the landing ship Sir Galahad
was caught at Fitzroy by Argentinian skyhawks whilst it still had half of the welsh guards
onboard . Three bombs exploded on Sir Galahad, which was crowded with soldiers waiting to
disembark. 48 people died in the ensuing fireball, twice the number killed in the entire goose
green operation and Britain’s worst single loss of life of the entire war.
The hit on galahad and the ensuing rescue operation delayed Britain’s preparations
for the attacks towards Stanley, which was drawing nearer.
Despite the setbacks, by June 10th Major General Moore had seven battalions ready to advance
on the Argentine stronghold around the islands capital.
3 commando brigades 3 Para, 45 commando and 42 commando were on the front line, joined
by the scots guards from the newly arrived 5th brigade.
At Fitzroy were 2 Para, the 1st Gurkhas and the Welsh guards, who had been reinforced
by two companies of 40 commando to make up their losses suffered on Sir Galahad.
The pl an was for two back-to-back night attacks to seize all of the high ground west of Stanley
, making it impossible for the Argentines to hold out in the town, whatever their numbers.
Major General Moore was fully committed to this assault – in reserve were only two
companies of 40 commando at San Carlos and a single company of Gurkhas at Goose Green
– everything else the British had would go into the attack.
And it still would be barely enough to match the Argentinians in numbers.
By this stage in the conflict Argentina had around 9000 troops left in Stanley, of which
around 5000 were frontline combat units.
Brigadier General Menendez, the Argentine commander in the Falklands, had positioned
his units in naturally strong defensive positions in the hills west of Stanley, with 7th regiment,
4th regiment and 5th marine battalion in the front line.
Further regiments continued to be retained near the coast, to ward off any amphibious
landings close to the capital.
The Argentine regiments were battalion sized units, roughly equivalent in size to the British
units they would be facing, but stretched much more thinly across a wide area.
To make matters worse, 5th marine battalion was the only Argentine unit that had proper
cold weather gear and experience: 4th regiment to their west had been drawn from the subtropical
province of Corrientes near the Brazilian border, and so were probably even more un-used
to the conditions of a Falklands winter than the British troops were.
Worried at how isolated and outgunned his troops were, General Menendez requested reinforcements
on June 10th but was refused.
General Galtieri and the rest of the Junta were not prepared to risk further naval or
air force assets, so Menendez was ordered to fight to the end with what he had.
The British attack began on the evening of June 11th, with three battalions moving forwards
to assault the three strongpoints of the outer ring of Argentine defenses: Mount Harriet,
Two Sisters and Mount Longdon.
To the west the offensive began smoothly, with both 42 commando on Mount Harriet and
45 commando on Two Sisters managing to overcome their opponents from 4th regiment in a few
hours of determined assault with relatively low casualties- only a single man dead at
Mount Harriet, and 4 at Two Sisters.
This was not the case at Mount Longdon, which was being assaulted by 3 Para.
Mount Longdon was smaller than the other hills attacked that night, but it was extremely
rocky, with outcrops creating narrow channels dominated by Argentine machine guns that the
paratroopers would have to advance through.
Sure enough, not long into the attack B company became badly stuck on the western slopes.
4 platoon was in particular danger, pinned down in the open by withering fire from the
rocks above.
The platoons commanding officer was soon lost to injury, and its dire position was only
alleviated when Sergeant Ian McKay led a mad nearly single handed assault on two key Argentine
positions.
Both were put of action, but McKay was cut down.
He was awarded the second posthumous Victoria cross of the land campaign.
McKay’s sacrifice allowed his platoon to get into a better position on the hill, and
B company was able to steadily push the Argentine defenders under Major Carlos Salvadores back,
eventually enabling A company to sweep through their positions and clear the rest of mount
longdon.
It had been a brutal fight- 23 paras had been killed- two of them just seventeen years old-
and 35 wounded.
At the end of the long, hard night of fighting, Argentina’s defensive ring around Stanley
had been severely dented.
All three key hills had fallen, with severe casualties for the defenders.
The only consolation for Brigadier Menendez was that the fighting had taken longer than
expected, delaying and disrupting the British enough that an additional day to regroup and
prepare for the second phase of the offensive would be required.
To carry it out, the Scots Guards and Gurkhas were brought up to prepare for their assaults
on mounts tumbledown and William, and artillery attacks on Argentine positions were stepped
up, aided by spotting from newly captured vantage points.
The final British offensive of the Falklands War began not long after sunset on June 13th,
with the Scots guards marching forwards to begin the assault of Mount Tumbledown.
There was some anxiety over this attack – Tumbledown had an almost sheer northern face and its
southern slopes were overlooked by Argentinian positions on Mount William, forcing the British
into a direct assault from the west.
To make matters worse, the defenders of Tumbledown were drawn from the 5th marine infantry battalion,
probably the best equipped and trained Argentine unit on the islands.
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Scott tried to mitigate the risks by launching a diversionary assault
south of Mount William prior to the main offensive, to try and draw the defenders attention away.
This worked well – G company was able to capture the first third of tumbledown without
being detected.
This easy success did not last for long though; when the left flank company took over the
attack it became pinned down by heavy Argentine fire in open ground on top of the ridge.
It took several hours to get going again, aided by a large artillery bombardment.
Tumbledown was eventually secured, but the delay meant there was no time for the Gurkhas
to attack Mount William before dawn- they would have to do it after dawn.
At the same time as the scots guards were fighting their way up tumbledown, to the north
2 Para were closing the ring around Stanley with an assault on wireless ridge.
Unlike the other British battalion commanders, Lieutenant Colonel David Chaundler decided
on a noisy attack, with a large artillery bombardment preceding the assault and then
use of overwhelming firepower to secure his objectives.
The paras were supported by a troop of scorpion and scimitar light tanks as well as extensive
artillery, mortar and naval gunfire support.
All this firepower soon told, driving the Argentine defenders off the ridge, and enabling
the British to rain a curtain of fire down on an attempted counter attack under Major
Roberto Berezay.
With the loss of Wireless Ridge the Argentine defense of Stanley had collapsed.
Hundreds of troops streamed east into the town, pursued by British artillery.
The Gurkhas were spared- or perhaps denied, in their view- their uphill mountain assault
in broad daylight when it was found that the trenches on Mount William were empty.
Sensing that their opponents were routed, Brigadier Thompson ordered his battalions
to keep advancing – 2 para straight on the road into Stanley, and 45 commando up to Sapper
Hill, the last remaining bit of high ground still in Argentinian hands.
The Welsh Guards were also moved forwards, helicoptered onto the summit of Sapper Hill
just as 45 commando was arriving.
As a result, Brigadier General Menendez realised on the morning of June 14th that the game
was up.
The British had him surrounded by land and sea, they had the high ground, and his troops
were low on ammunition, organisation and morale.
He concluded the only course of action was to surrender, and despite General Galtieri’s
objections from Buenos Aires, that’s what he decided to do.
A British negotiating team arrived that afternoon, terms were thrashed out, and then Msajor General
Moore flew in that evening to sign an instrument of surrender with General Menendez.
Moore then reported to London in the early hours, informing the British government that
“Major General Menendez surrendered to me all the Argentine armed forces in east and
west falkland…The Falkland Islands are once more unde r the government desired by their
inhabitants.
God Save The Queen.”
In the ten weeks between invasion and liberation, both sides suffered greatly.
Britain lost 255 dead and 775 wounded.
Argentina, 649 killed and 1,657 wounded.
That’s before you count the toll of PTSD and other mental health issues which many
veterans on both sides have lived with for four decades.Thousands of Argentine prisoners
of war were returned home just a few days after surrendering, and they found a nation
in turmoil.
General Galtieri had been deposed, the conclusion of seven month of leadership during which
he had got almost everything wrong.
There was public anguish over the nations defeat, attempts by the military to find scapegoats
within its own ranks to blame, and ultimately the beginning of a journey back towards democracy
for Argentina.
In the UK, the end of the Falklands War also had a profound effect, but in the opposite
direction.
The task force returned home over the summer of 1982 in triumph.
HMS Hermes and Canberra were met by huge crowds on their arrival in port.
Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government, which had been dreadfully unpopular only a
year before soared to new heights of popularity on the back of a quick, successful war.
Victory in the Falklands contributed heavily to her landslide victory in the 1983 general
election and paved the way for the continued Thatcherite reshaping of Britain’s economic
and political institutions in the years to come.
For the Falkland Islanders themselves, their belief in their Britishness, and seperateness
from Argentine was if anything strengthened by the war.
To this day, very little movement has been made toward co-operation or any economic links
between the Falklands and their nearest neighbour.
The islands remain as they always have been – a colony, ultimately dependent on Britain
for its economy and security.
But they are a colony under a government of their own choosing, thanks to a short but
dramatic war in the South Atlantic, 40 years ago.
Thank you for watching, and I’ll see you next time.