"The long-term exposure to their feared stimulus, the battle, during the trip reduced levels of anxiety. [30] Argentine sources claim that the aircraft was hit by AAA immediately after the attack. These men earned his respect and the respect of the nation. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. For the courage displayed in the attack, men from 2 SG were awarded one Distinguished Service Order, two Military Crosses, two Distinguished Conduct Medals (one posthumously) and two Military Medals. Privacy Policy, The 2nd Scots Guards were tasked with launching the attack on Mount Tumbledown and they were led by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Scott. Captain Eduardo Villarraza's N Company from the 5th Marine Battalion, would defend Mounts Tumbledown and William. What's he waiting for? The Argentine marines had suffered at least 30 killed and 100 wounded. The first attack, a diversionary assault, aimed to scare off the Argentine troops by making the attack appear to be far bigger than it really was, thanks to the use of light tanks. [33]), On 13 June, a Welsh Guards messenger, bringing forward food supplies to Major Christopher Drewrywe's Number 2 Company (1WG), was killed when his motorbike ran over a mine. He played a quick march he had composed "on the back of a fag packet" [cigarette pack],[15] during the battle, following a long tradition in which Pipe Majors were encouraged "to write tunes to commemorate any actions in which their regiments have been engaged". Alongside the Scots Guards, mortar troops from 42 Commando, Scorpion light tanks, 1/7, This battle saw 43 British soldiers injured and 9 men killed, while Argentinas 5. The Guards took 30 prisoners, several of them RI 6 soldiers from Bravo Company. 47), Nine battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van der Bijl, p.190, Leo Cooper, 30/09/1999, Patrick Bishop and John Witherow, The Winter War: Falklands Conflict, p. 133, Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino, Oscar Luis Jofre & Flix Roberto Aguiar, page 262, Editorial Sudamericana, 1987, Malvinas: La Defensa de Puerto Argentino, Oscar Luis Jofre & Flix Roberto Aguiar, page 275, Editorial Sudamericana, 1987, Our Falklands war: The Men of The Task Force Tell Their Story, Geoffrey Underwood, p.70, Maritime Books, 1983, 1st Battalion, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles, Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal, Attenshun! "Get down! Lieutenant Robert Lawrence led 3 Platoon around to the right of the Argentinian platoons, hoping to take the Argentinians by surprise. And through each death paid the total price Archaeologists and veterans have been surveying what remains in the battlefields of the Falkland Islands. "I was 33 and I had been serving for around 15 years. But once returned across this vast sea, Published Jun 12, 2022. Mostly in their 20s, they were the men of the 5th Marine Battalionhighly trained and motivated troops with combat experience in the recent Argentine civil war. The Argentinian sniper (either Private Luis Jorge Bordn or Walter Ignacio Becerra, according to La Madrid[9]), armed with a FAL rifle, had helped cover the Argentinean retreat, firing shots at a Scout helicopter evacuating wounded off Tumbledown and injuring two men, before the Scots Guards mortally wounded him in a hail of gunfire.[8]. By the time QE2 arrived off South Georgia two weeks later, a strike force of British Special Air Service (SAS) commandos and Royal Marines had already secured the island. Featuring artwork from leading armour painter David Pentland, this .999 silver plated commemorative depicts the night of 13 June when forces led by the Scots Guards assaulted Mount Tumbledown, near the town of Port Stanley. The attacking British forces consisted of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards (2SG), mortar detachments from 42 Commando, Royal Marines and the 1st Battalion, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles (1/7 GR), as well as support from a troop of the Blues and Royals equipped with two Scorpion and two Scimitar armoured vehicles. Forty years of exposure to the Falklands' harsh climate takes its toll. The Guardsmen traded 66mm rockets and 84mm anti-tank rounds with the Argentinians, who were armed with anti-tank rifle grenades and protected in their rock bunkers. The attack was supported by naval gunfire from HMS Active's 4.5 inch gun. [6] The barrage lasted for about forty minutes and more British casualties would have been inflicted if the mortar bombs had not landed on soft peat, which absorbed most of the power of the explosions. A Scots Guardsman. Islanders have also got involved, as have British army veterans and even an artist. It was fought over a territory whose ownership had been in dispute for more than two centuries. As La Madrid withdrew after suffering five killed,[7] the platoons under Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco and Guillermo Robredo moved in from the eastern edge of the mountain to try to help La Madrid and the Marine 2nd platoon (under Second Lieutenant Marcelo Oruezabala) holding the saddle between Mounts Tumbledown and William. Terms of Use| Tanks of the Blues & Royals moved forward, to provide covering fire if necessary. Major Iain Charles Mackay-Dick (Westcott 1959-1963), 2nd i/c, 2nd Battalion Scots Guards. The Falklands presented a more daunting challenge. The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement in the Falklands War, one of a series of battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley. The unique project is documenting a number of Argentine defensive positions in the 1982 war, in particular for the decisive encounter on Mount Tumbledown. They were held by the Argentine 5th Naval Infantry Battalion (BIM 5), a reinforced, cold weather trained and equipped, Marine battalion. While awaiting orders, some of the guardsmenmany fresh from ceremonial duty in London and new to combat asked a few of the elite PARAs, who had recently captured Goose Green, how the Argentines had performed in combat. The project is a joint enterprise between Oxford University, Glasgow University, the veteran well-being charity Waterloo Uncovered and the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust. His charge reached the top of the mountain, although it absorbed a massive amount of his men, and in the end he and a group of six others were on top of Mount Tumbledown, three of whom were, however, injured. Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Rod Eldridge from Waterloo Uncovered assisted the project in his capacity as a mental health professional and said the archaeological work helped support the veterans' "new and updated appraisals of what happened during the battle for Tumbledown". Nick Van Der Bijl, Victory in the Falklands, p. 224, Pen and Sword, 2007. I reorganized and found that I was down to sixteen men. [60], There is a pipe march written by James Riddell of the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards [61] It is called The Crags Of Tumbledown Mountain. First into the fight, G Company was to seize the western flank of the mountain. A Royal Marine had stepped on a mine, followed by another a few minutes later. According to Private Jos Luis Fazio:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, My companions from M Company opened fire on a Sea Harrier, with rifles. Major Jaimet later recalled: I heard the cries of the wounded calling for their comrades, twelve men wounded before nightfall. These objects include cooking stands made from fencing wire, cut up oil drums for metal sheeting to construct shelters, bullets and bomb fragments. The battle seesawed for a full day and a night. Nobby knew what we were up to and had dropped in to tell us that he was going to take his patrol forward by helicopter that night and establish an observation post at Port Harriet House." Kiszely and six other Guardsmen suddenly found themselves standing on top of the mountain, looking down on Stanley which was under street lighting and vehicles could be seen moving along the roads. "Meeting the Falkland Islanders who are so grateful for their sacrifice meant that their war had not been forgotten.". Seeing their company commander among the Argentinians inspired 14 and 15 Platoons to make the final dash across open ground to get within bayoneting distance of the remaining 4th Platoon Marines. By 6 a.m., Left Flank's attack had clearly stalled and had cost the British company seven men killed and 18 wounded. Nightly naval and aerial bombardment followed. Despite the challenges, morale was high, for the British troops were preparing to end their misery by driving Argentine forces from the rugged escarpment before them. He is the only conscript soldier in his nation's recent history who has received this honour. George Washington had complained vociferously about the flood of questionable foreign volunteers. "Having someone beside me who was actually there, and able to tell me, among many other things, that a cylinder of rubber, no bigger than the end of a pen, was the connector between a Milan missile and its guide wire was another experience entirely," Prof Pollard explained. For weeks the soldiers of Britains famed Scots Guards regiment had snatched sleep amid bone-chilling winds in holes that repeatedly filled with freezing water. Major Kiszely, who was to become a senior general after the war, was the first man into the Argentine position, personally shooting two Argentinian conscripts and bayoneting a third, his bayonet breaking in two. Captain Timothy Simon Spicer (School 1966-1969 . I decided that the only thing was to keep fighting this battle with artillery, otherwise, we were just going to have a lot of shit knocked out of ourselves." While 45 Commando were marching towards Sapper Hill, Alpha and Charlie Companies from 40 Commando had escaped from the attention of the Argentine defenders on Sapper Hill and they were picked up by helicopters. They Say He Burned Down the Reichstag. I can remember lying there with all this firing going over my head. [17] In his moment of victory on the eastern slopes, Lawrence was almost killed when a bullet fired by an Argentine stay-behind sniper tore off the side of his head. [8], Right Flank had achieved this at the cost of five wounded, including Lt. Lawrence. The 2nd Bn Scots Guards' Reconnaissance Platoon, commanded by Major Richard Bethell (a former SAS officer), and supported by four light tanks of the 'Blues & Royals', clashed with the Argentine O Marine Company under Marine Captain Quiroga in a blocking position on the lower slopes of Mount William. I went through another gap in the rocks and was surprised by three men speaking in English behind and above me and firing over the top of me. Max Arthur. Halfway across the open ground 2 Platoon went to ground to give covering fire support, enabling us to gain a foothold on the enemy position. Archaeologists and veterans have been surveying what remains in the battlefields of the Falkland Islands. The 2nd Battalion Scots Guards had lost eight dead and 43 wounded. Nick van der Bijl. These 7 Foreigners Helped Win the American Revolution. The Falkland Islandsan archipelago in the South Atlantic comprising two large islands and 776 smaller ones lie a few hundred miles off the coast of Argentina and nearly 8,000 miles from the United Kingdom. In the words of one veteran of Britains elite 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), the war was short, sharp and very nasty and, often fought at close quarters with bayonets and grenades, like something out of World War I. Soldiers on both sides had little understanding of, or appreciation for, either the causes or the stakes; regardless, the battles were no less fierce, the deaths no less senseless, than those suffered in conflicts of greater global import. Right Flank had achieved this at the cost of five wounded, including Lieutenant Lawrence. The third phase began at 06:00, when RF Company began attacking their designated targets. As they climbed, they came upon unoccupied Argentine tents that contained boxes of highly sophisticated IWS (individual weapon sight) night scopesthe absolute top grade, recalled Lawrence, more advanced than the ones we had ourselves. In the first phase, G company would take the western end of the mountain. I had only twenty rounds left and I decided to continue the fight from Mount William. Danger came from all quarters, as the surrounding rocks ricocheted rounds in all directions. There the group observed virtual and live firing demonstrations using rifles and pistols, before spending a night under the stars to try out night vision devices. The Argentine Marine companies withdrew safely, although pursued by artillery fire and hit by a laser-guided bomb dropped by Flight Lieutenant Mark Hare in XZ133 killing two of the Marine canines, Negro and aro. The bodies of 30 Argentine Army and Marine soldiers were found over the 5th Marine Battalion perimeter. Meanwhile, two Royal Navy frigates, HMS Yarmouth and HMS Active, were pounding Tumbledown with their 4.5 inch guns. About us| For further reading he recommends Tumbledown: When the Fighting Is Over, by John Lawrence and Robert Lawrence; Reassessing the Fighting Performance of Conscript Soldiers During the Malvinas/ Falklands War (1982), by Alejandro L. Corbacho; and The Battle for the Falklands, by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins. Marine Sub-Lieutenant Hctor Mino's 5th Platoon, Amphibious Engineer Company, held the rocks to the right of Marine Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Vzquez's 4th Platoon, 5th Marines. Close to the heart of any Scots Guardsman, a battlefield study of Mount Tumbledown saw the party given an overview of the famous 1982 battle. [22] The Westinghouse radar was also damaged, and would remain out of service for several days. We felt a big explosion. Fortunately for the British, the shells nearly all landed in soft peat, which absorbed the blasts; otherwise, the result would have been catastrophic. Mount William was just south of Tumbledown and the Marine battalion's O Company was on its lower slopes. "Alas, we will likely never know what was found and taken by those that took it upon themselves to dig on the battlefield without permissions," Dr Clack added. Moving up, the men of Left Flank, however, soon found themselves engaged in hand-to-hand fighting with fixed bayonets. 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