British Triumph On East Falkland CSC 1984 SUBJECT AREA History WAR SINCE 1945 SEMINAR British Triumph on East Falkland Major Timothy J. Hannigan, USMC 2 April 1984 Marine Corps Command and Staff College Marine Corps Development and Education Command Quantico, Virginia 22134 ABSTRACT Author: Hannigan, Timothy J., Major, USMC Title: British Triumph on East Falkland Publisher: Marine Corps Command and Staff College Date: 1 April 1984 The United Kingdom won a brilliant victory in the 1982 Falkland Islands War. Responding quickly to an unexpected Argentine invasion of the Falklands in April 1982, the British government quickly sent a task force to the South Atlantic to recover the islands. Within 74 days the task force defeated the large Argentine occupation force, captured 11,400 prisoners, and returned the Falklands to British control. How the British won the war's land campaign forms the focal point of this paper. Following a brief introductory chapter, Chapters Two and Three describe the organization and operations of the British land forces from initial mobilization through the Argentine surrender. The narrative covers the task force's movement to the South Atlantic, the Royal Navy's effort to create the conditions for a successful amphibious operation, the surprise landing at San Carlos, and the landing force' s bold thrust across East Falkland to seize Port Stanley. Ten maps help depict what took place. The next three chapters analyze the problems and solutions Britain experienced in waging the land campaign. First, an analysis of the British amphibious operation. Before the landing at San Carlos, six British sub- marines forced all Argentine surface ships to return to their mainland ports for the remainder of the war. But the submarines and surface ships, including two carriers, failed to (1) eliminate the Argentine submarine threat, and (2) gain air superiority in the area. The amphibious group sailed dangerously exposed to air and submarine attacks for a day and a half before making a surprise landing at San Carlos. Even then, British air-defense inadequacies nearly allowed Argentine aircraft to thwart the landing during five days of heavy air counterattacks. Unexploded bombs helped the British to survive the air attacks. In ultimately securing a beachhead on East Falkland, Britain illustrated the value of amphibious forces that can strike when and where they please. Chapters Five and Six evaluate British land operations in the war and the landing force's use of weapons. Essentially, Britain's strong, profes- sional landing force overwhelmed Argentina's weak, conscript army. It marched extraordinary distances to out-maneuver the Argentines. It patrolled aggres- sively and executed well-planned night attacks. It used artillery, naval gunfire, and anti-armor weapons effectively to support attacks. It called upon combat engineers to breach minefields. The British ground units showed exceptionally high standards of tactical skill, physical fitness, teamwork, leadership, and morale in striking the crushing, victorious blow. Despite serious power-projection deficiencies, Britain soundly defeated Argentina in the Falklands War. Although the British profited from their opponents' mistakes and shortcomings, aggressiveness and competence, not luck, gained them a triumph on East Falkland Island. The paper draws material from (1) personal interviews with a former Argentine destroyer captain and Royal Marine officers, some of whom commanded at brigade and commando levels during the Falklands War; (2) Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins' comprehensive study of the war, entitled The Battle for the Falklands; and (3) many journal and magazine articles. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. ARGENTINA'S INVASION--BRITAIN'S RESPONSE 5 ARGENTINE INVASION 5 Invasion Plan 5 Seizure of Port Stanley 6 Seizure of South Georgia 8 BRITISH MOBILIZATION 8 Initial Political-Military Responses 8 Task-Force Mission and Composition 10 ASCENSION ISLAND 12 Description 12 Task-Force Use 12 Soviet Surveillance 13 Departures 13 WAR STRATEGY 14 NAVAL SUPPORTING OPERATIONS 14 Blockade 14 Submarine Operations 15 Air Operations 17 Surface-Ship Operations 18 Failure 19 SUBSIDIARY LANDING IN SOUTH GEORGIA 19 Plan of Attack 19 Improvised Assault 20 PREASSAULT OPERATIONS 22 Pre-D-Day Reconnaissance 22 Pebble Island Raid 23 Fanning Head Raid 23 3. THE BRITISH LAND CAMPAIGN 28 SAN CARLOS LANDING 28 Final Preparations 28 Amphibious Landing 29 Ground Defense 31 Air Defense 31 SAN CARLOS BREAKOUT 33 Breakout Plan 33 Battle of Darwin-Goose Green 34 3 Parachute Battalion's Movement to Mts. Estancia and Vernet 36 45 Commando's Movement to Mount Kent 37 42 Commando's Movement to Mts. Kent and Challenger 38 Displacement of Brigade Headquarters 39 40 Commando's Defense of Beachhead 39 THE SOUTHERN AXIS 40 Landing of Landing-Force HQ and 5 Infantry Brigade 40 Movement to Fitzroy-Bluff Cove 41 Fitzroy Tragedy 43 BATTLE OF PORT STANLEY 45 Attack Preparations 45 Phase-One Attack 47 Phase-Two Attack 50 ARGENTINE SURRENDER 52 Negotiations 52 Casualty and POW Totals 53 Clean-Up 53 4. AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS 58 PLANNING 58 Pre-embarkation 58 Landing-Site Options and Proposals 58 Choice of San Carlos 59 Landing Plan 60 EMBARKATION 60 Time Shortage 60 Shortage of Ships 61 Cross-Decking at Ascension Island 61 REHEARSAL 62 MOVEMENT TO THE OBJECTIVE 63 Training 63 Organzing for Combat 64 Ship Transfers 64 Movement Thru the TEZ 64 SUPPORTING AND PREASSAULT OPERATIONS 66 Value of Nuclear-Powered Submarines 66 Power-Projection Deficiencies 66 Reconnaissance/Sabotage Successes 67 AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT 68 Tactical Surprise 68 Ship-to-Shore Transport 69 Lack of Air Superiority 70 Beachhead Defense 72 5 INFANTRY BRIGADE'S LANDINGS 73 San Carlos Landing 73 Fitzroy-Bluff Cove Landing 74 5. LAND OPERATIONS 77 CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS 77 Principal Attributes 77 General Scheme of Maneuver 79 Port Stanley Attack 80 Designation and Use of Reserve 81 NIGHT OPERATIONS 82 Night Opportunities 82 British Training 82 Friendly Casualties 83 PATROLLING 83 Agressiveness 83 Preparation for the Port Stanley Attack 84 Leadership 85 COMPETENCE AND FITNESS OF GROUND FORCES 85 Sine Qua Non 85 Quality of Individual Soldier 86 Leadership 86 Unit Cohesion 87 Training 88 Physical Fitness 92 COMBAT-ENGINEER CONTRIBUTIONS 93 Minefield Reconnaissance and Breaching 93 Other Tasks 93 6. WEAPONS AND THEIR USES 96 ARTILLERY 96 Air-Transportability 96 Artillery Use in the Battle of Port Stanley 97 Most Effective Supporting Arm 98 NAVAL GUNFIRE 98 Capabilities and Control 98 Uses 99 OFFENSIVE AIR SUPPORT 100 Shortage of Air Power 100 Supporting Operations 101 Support of Land Operations 102 AIR-DEFENSE SYSTEMS 104 Air Threat 104 Mix of Air-Defense Systems 105 Royal Navy's Air-Defense Support 106 Landing-Force's Air-Defense Effort 107 Air Defense at San Carlos 109 Control of Air Defense 110 Air-Defense Inadequacies 111 INFANTRY WEAPONS 112 Anti-Air Weapons 112 Machine-Guns 113 7. CONCLUSON 118 MISSION: RECOVER THE FALKLANDS 118 ARGENTINE SURPRISE 118 NAVAL SUPPORTING OPERATIONS 119 SAN CARLA LANDING 121 LAND OPERATIONS 122 WHY THE BRITISH WON 123 APPENDIX A - Geographical Location of the Falkland Islands 125 APPENDIX B - Falkland Islands 126 APPENDIX C - Composition of the British Landing Force 127 APPENDIX D - Argentine Forces on the Falklands 129 APPENDIX E - South Georgia Island 130 APPENDIX F - Amphibious Landing at San Carlos 131 APPENDIX G - Beachhead Defense at San Carlos 132 APPENDIX H - Battle of Darwin - Goose Green 133 APPENDIX I - San Carlos to Port Stanley 134 APPENDIX J - Battle of Port Stanley: Phase One 135 APPENDIX K - Battle of Port Stanley: Phase Two 136 APPENDIX L - Command Relations of British Task Force 137 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 139 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people helped me research and write this paper. Most notably, a variety of Royal Marine officers generously shared their time and views. Major-General J.H.A. Thompson CBE, OBE, prepared a 60-minute cassette in response to my questions. Colonels A. F. Whitehead DSO and N. F. Vaux DSO discussed the war at length in interviews they granted me. Likewise, Lieutenant-Colonels P.A.C. Howgill and J. R. Hensman, the Royal Marine representatives to the U.S. Marine Corps' Education Center, offered invaluable assistance in patiently explaining British Army and Royal Marine customs and procedures. Major Christopher J.E. McDowall and Captain Toby Hunter provided further background information about the British effort in the Falklands. To all of them I extend my sincere thanks. Captain Jose Ferrer, the Argentine Navy's representative to the Inter-American Defense Board, also kindly granted me a long interview. Because I focused in this paper on British war operations and faced strict length limits, I regret that I couldn't use much of the interesting material he provided about Argentine operations. He broadened my understanding of the war. I warmly appreciate his candor and willingness to help. Many thanks also to Lieutenant Colonel Donald F. Bittner, USMC, for his overall guidance in the War Since 1945 Seminar; Lieutenant Colonel Timothy E. Kline for his detailed editing; Major Ronald R. Cruz for arranging the interview with Captain Ferrer; Mr. David Brown for his library help; and Mrs. Marge Kruzinski for her superb typing. My most heartfelt thanks goes to my wife, Mary, who cheerfully and patiently carried out her duties as a spouse, mother, and pinch-hitting father while I wrestled with this project. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The Falkland islands lie in the South Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles east of Argentina, 780 miles west of the island of South Georgia, and 1,500 miles north of Antarctica.1 Although 200 islands form the Falklands, two main islands, East and West Falkland, constitute over 98% of the island group's total land area of 4,697 square miles.2 The narrow, 5-to-10 mile-wide Falkland Sound separates these two islands.3 (See Appendixes A and B for general and detailed maps of the Falklands.) The relatively barren terrain on the islands consists of low hills; large, rocky outcrops; and wet, spongy peat bog.4 Shrubs and wild grass make up the sparse vegetation able to prosper on such terrain and in the cold and windy climate. High ground reaches elevations ranging from 1,300 to 1,800 feet above sea level in the northern half of the two main islands.5 Of the 1,800 people who live in the Falklands, most are British citizens.6 Slightly over half reside in Port Stanley, the island's capital situated on the east coast of East Falkland. The rest dwell in a dozen or so widely scattered hamlets,7 the two largest of which - Goose Green and Darwin - have estimated populations between 80 and 140.8 The islands contain no more than 30 miles of paved roads, located mostly in and around Port Stanley.9 Dirt tracks which connect the various hamlets allow Land Rovers and tractors to traffic between settlements only with great difficulty.10 With most hamlets having a grass landing strip, residents rely on air transportation to travel within the islands. Over 30 such strips exist along with the 4,100-foot paved strip at the small International Airport six miles south of Port Stanley.11 Although based years ago on the whaling industry, the island's economy today rests almost solely on sheep-raising and wool-processing. Over 600,000 sheep roam the open countryside.12 The British Falkland Islands Company owns half of the Falklands land and employs half of the work force. The British crown is the second biggest land-owner.13 Those few Argentine citizens allowed to immigrate to the Falklands must seek special permission from local authorities to buy land. A governor appointed by the Queen and a locally elected council administer these and all other governmental affairs as Great Britain's governing body on the islands.14 Potentially, the Falkland Islands could contribute more than wool to a nation that controls them. Within striking distance of the Cape Horn-shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the islands could serve as a base for protecting or disrupting shipping traffic along this important maritime route. Also, since one of the world' s largest unexplored sedimentary basins lies in the ocean east of the Falklands, the islands could provide access to vast amounts of oil and natural gas. The Falklands could thus prove to be strategically valuable in the future. During the period April-June 1982, the remote, rural, and tradition- ally peaceful Falkland Islands hosted the savagery and horror of a modern war involving tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians from the United Kingdom and Argentina. How these men fought the war's land campaign forms the focal point of this paper. More specifically, I aim to explain how and why the United Kingdom won the land battle so decisively. To lay the basis for such an explanation, I will first describe in Chapters Two and Three the major military developments of the land war. Having established who-did-what-to-whom, I will devote the next three chapters to an analysis of the problems and solutions that Britain experienced in waging the Falklands land campaign. Length restrictions on this paper permit me only to examine British amphibious operations, land operatons, and use of weapons. I have excluded any detailed analysis of the political developments that led to the war; Argentina's military activities during the war; and British command-and-control, intelligence, and combat-service-support efforts. NOTES 1U.S., Department of the Navy, Lessons of the Falklands: Summary Report, (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1983), D-1. (In subsequent notes, DON refers to Department of the Navy.) 2William Chaze, "At the Heart of Battle for the Falklands," U.S. News and World Report, 7 June 1982, p. 32. 3"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 7," NAVY International, July 1982, p. 1162. 4Edgar O'Ballance, "The San Carlos Landing," Marine Corps Gazette, October 1982, p. 36. 5DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. D-1. 6Chaze, p. 32. 7O'Ballance, p. 36. 8New York Times, 31 May 1982, p. A-4, cols. 1-2. 9DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. D-1. 10O'Ballance, p. 36. 11O'Ballance, p. 36; "The Falklands: the Air War and Missile Conflict," Armed Forces Journal International, September 1982, p. 33; DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. D-1. 12Chaze, p. 32. 13Chaze, p. 32. 14Chaze, p. 32. CHAPTER TWO ARGENTINA'S INVASION -- BRITAIN'S RESPONSE ARGENTINE INVASION Invasion Plan. Argentina has claimed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands since the early 19th Century. Frustrated with the delays in negotiating a settlement of the dispute with the British, Captain Jorge Anaya of the Argentine Navy first developed a plan for invading the Falkland Islands in the late 1960's. Since that time,Anaya had moved up through the ranks and assumed the Navy's top position in the fall of 1981. During the mid-1970's, Anaya and Admiral Emilio Massera, then head of the navy, refined the plan they named Plan Goa. The plan called for the Argentine Navy and Marines to make a surprise landing on the Falklands and to remove the Falklanders to Montevideo. Argentines would then resettle the islands. Admiral Massera proposed the implementation of the plan a couple of times during the 1970's, but the Jorge Videla junta feared British submarine power and rejected it.1 When Admiral Anaya assumed his position in the junta and General Leopoldo Galtieri became president of Argentina in December 1981, the junta developed an increasingly stronger interest in using military force to seize the Falklands. The Argentine leaders knew that the use of limited naval force in various places of the world during the 1970's had caused a change in rule on five islands (or parts of them).2 Feeling they too could pull off such a successful naval operation, the junta members renewed their interest in the Falklands-invasion plan. The junta initially planned to invade some time between July and October 1983. By then, the British would have withdrawn the ice-patrol ship ENDURANCE from the South Atlantic. If Britain chose to fight to retake the islands, its forces would have to fight in almost prohibitive conditions. On the ARgentine side, the Navy would have received new French Super Entendard airplanes and airborne EXOCET missiles, and new Argentine conscripts would have completed their training. The Foreign Minister would have had time to develop some legitimate grievances against the British.3 But Britain (1) projected an air of indifference about the Falklands through 1981 legislation that denied British citizenship to third and fourth generation Falklanders, and (2) advertised a plan to withdraw ENDURANCE, its only naval presence in the South Atlantic. This apparent "window of opportunity" enticed the Argentines to change the timing of the invasion and thereby sacrifice the advantages for a fall 1982 campaign. Seizure of Port Stanley. At some point during the last couple of days in March, the Argentine junta decided to invade the Falklands on 2 April. On 31 March the Argentine fleet was moving towards the Falklands. On 1 April Argentine radio stations reported the junta had said "'by tomorrow the Malvinas will be ours.'"4 Having monitored closely the rising tensions and the bellicose Argentine statements of 1 April, Falklands Governor Rex Hunt broadcast a warning to the islanders on that same day and deployed an enlarged Naval Party 8901, the Royal Marine garrison, to secure the Port Stanley airfield, the main road leading into Port Stanley, and the Government House. The Royal Marine force of approximately 70 men contained two detachments: one had just arrived for deployed duty in the Falklands, and another was about to return to the U.K. Governor Hunt also summoned his 120-man territorial defense force, but only 23 men reported for duty.5 Neither Hunt nor the British Ministry of Defense had developed contingency plans to defend the islands.6 The invasion took place on schedule. Declaring a state of emergency at 0425 on that day, Governor Hunt ordered the Marines to resist the expected invasion and, if necesary, to retreat for a final stand at the Government House in Port Stanley. At 0430 a force of 150 Argentine Marine commandos landed at Mullet Creek about three miles south of Port Stanley. Ninety minutes later, part of the black-uniformed commandos attacked Moody Brook, the Royal Marine barracks just outside Port Stanley. Since the Royal Marines had already deployed elsewhere in the area, the phosphorous grenades and automatic rifle fire used in the attack caused no casualties.7 The commandos then reinforced the other part of its force which had moved directly on foot from Mullet Creek to attack the Government House. This force had already engaged the Royal Marines dug in and around the Government House. At 0800 the main Argentine landing force arrived at Port Stanley Harbor.8 The force involved most units of the Argentine Navy, including the aircraft carrier VINCIENTINO DE MAYO and at least one Type 42 destroyer. Argentina's Second Fleet Marine Force (FMF) - consisting of the First and Second Marine Infantry Battalions, First Amphibian Vehicle Battalion, First Marine Field Artillery Battalion, heavy mortar company, anti-tank missile company, and engineer company - made the amphibious landing. A-4 Skyhawk aircraft from the DE MAYO supported the landing.9 As amphibious assault vehicles and heavy guns arrived ashore, Governor Hunt realized that his small force of Marines could not stop the overwhelming attack expected to ensue shortly. At 0830 Hunt surrendered. The British suffered no casualties during the battle. For the purpose of publicizing the British humiliation, the Argentines photographed the captured Royal Marines lying face down. As planned, Argentine C-130 Hercules aircraft flew Hunt, the Royal Marines, and any islander wishing to leave the Falklands to Montevideo shortly after the surrender.10 By 5 April the Royal Marines had returned to the United Kingdom.11 The junta appointed General Mario Benjamin Menendez, the 52 year-old commander of the First Army Corps, to be the new governor of the Falklands.12 See Appendix D for the locations of the Argentine units sent to the Falklands. On the mainland, Argentines set aside their political differences and economic frustrations to unite in celebrating the historic victory. As intended, the invasion had successfully rallied popular support for the junta. Seizure of South Georgia. One day after the seizure of Port Stanley, an Argentine force already deployed at South Georgia demanded the surrender of the British base at Grytviken. But sometime before the invasion, Lieutenant Keith Mills and his 23-man Royal Marine detachment had debarked the ENDURANCE and had set up a tactical defense of the port settlement. Under orders not to surrender, Mills' detachment bravely battled a much larger Argentine force for over two hours. Using all of their available weapons, including 84mm Carl Gustav anti-tank rockets, they hit a Puma troop-carrying helicopter and the corvette GUERICO. But with such a small force, Mills had no chance of successfully repelling the attack. He surrendered, having suffered one British NCO badly wounded in the arm. His men killed four Argentines.13 BRITISH MOBILIZATION Initial Political-Military Responses. As the organization within the Minstry of Defence responsible for defense of the Falklands, the Royal Navy started organizing contingency plans for South Atlantic operations during the last couple of weeks in March. The Royal Navy decided on 28 March to send three nuclear submarines to the troubled area and sent an RFA ship on 29 March to support the ENDURANCE. Also on 29 March First Sea Lord Sir Henry Leach met with his senior staff at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall to organize a naval task force for possible use in the South Alantic. The group decided to include all available resources - aircraft carriers, surface escorts, submarines, and amphibious ships - in the planned task force. The First Flotilla, under the command of Bear Admiral John "Sandy" Woodward, would form the core of the task force.14 On 30 March the Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Sir John Fieldhouse, met Woodward aboard a ship at sea to discuss the plan.15 Woodward's task group was, at the time, participating in Exercise Spring Train, a training operation in the mid-Atlantic. Putting the fleet on the highest state of alert on 1 April, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered Leach to have Woodward consolidate his task group and prepare to steam south covertly.16 At 1800 on 2 April, Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington and Defense Minister John Nott confirmed the surrender of the Falklands at a joint press conference in London. The Thatcher government knew that the political and military setback would trigger widespread demands throughout Britain for an effective response. That evening prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Cabinet met and decided to send a naval task force to the Falklands. At the meeting the British service chiefs pointed out the great logistical problems that a task force would have to overcome to operate in the South Atlantic. But Leach confidently asserted that the Royal Navy could carry out such an operation. Two considerations probably induced the Cabinet to send the task force: (1) the necessity to maintain the momentum of military preparations already begun, and (2) the need to show Parliament that the government could and would react firmly to the aggression. The Cabinet did not declare war on Argentina. The Cabinet recognized that the sending of ships, although a military response, meant no immediate hostilities and gave it breathing space to negotiate a peaceful settlement.17 As the Cabinet had anticipated, the House of Commons on 3 April strongly criticized what it felt was a shameful defeat that Britain and, more specifically, the Thatcher government had suffered. Both Foreign Minister Carrington and Defense Minister Nott offered their resignations to Mrs. Thatcher. She resisted them initially, but Carrington refused to reconsider. On 5 April Mrs. Thatcher accepted his resignation and appointed Francis Pym to be the new Foreign Secretary.18 Task Force Mission and Composition. The general mission of the naval task force ordered to the South Atlantic was to effect a withdrawal of Argentine forces from the Falklands with a minimun loss of life and to re-establish British rule of the islands.19 To carry out this mission, the task force had to prepare itself to carry out three possible courses of action. They included (1) a naval blockade of the Falklands, (2) the sinking of Argentine ships and/or aircraft as a signal that the task force meant business, and (3) a counter-invasion to regain control of the Falklands.20 See Appendix L for a diagram of the command relations within the task force. Five categories of shipping constituted the sea element of the task force. The carrier-task group initially included two small carriers; three Type-42 destroyers armed with Sea Dart air-defense missiles; two Type-22 frigates armed with Sea Wolf air-defense missiles; and various other destroyers, frigates, and support ships. The amphibious task group consisted of seven ships: a dock-landing ship (LPD) and six logistic landing ships (LSLs). A second LPD later joined the group.21 Ships in the other three categories sailed at different times during the war. The submarine group eventually numbered six submarines. Twenty-two Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships, government-owned and civilian manned, provided logistical support to the task force.22 Finally, the sea force included merchant ships which the government chartered or requisitioned to provide logistical and transport support. Fifty-nine of these ships taken up from trade (STUFT) supported the task force during the course of the war.23 Initially, 20 Sea Harriers deployed on the two carriers as the air element of the task force.24 Eight more Sea Harriers and 14 Royal Air Force GR3 Harriers later reinforced the task force. Almost 200 helicopters participated in the war. They included seven types: Sea King, Wessex, Lynx, Gazelle, Wasp, Scout, and Chinook.25 The ground element of the task force at first consisted of the Royal Marines' 3 Commando Brigade, the 3rd Parachute Battalion, and elements of the 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment all under the command of Brigadier- General Julian Thompson, the Commander of 3 Commando Brigade. The 2nd Parachute Battalion joined Thompson's brigade while the latter visited Ascension Island on its way to the Falklands. After 3 Commando Brigade seized a beachhead on the Falklands, 5 Infantry Brigade landed there and doubled the size of the landing force. The 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards; 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards; and the 1st Battalion, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles made up this brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Anthony Wilson. Major- General Jeremy Moore, RM, assumed overall command of the two-brigade landing force. (See. Appendix C for a detailed listing of the landing-force units.) First alerted about the Falklands crisis on 31 March, Brigadier Thompson met with his staff at Plymouth on 2 April to start planning for a possible operation in the Falklands. On 4 April he hosted a major meeting of his staff and subordinate commanders at Hamoaze House to discuss arrangements for an immediate deployment to the South Atlantic.26 Over the course of the next week, the various units of the landing force quickly embarked personnel and equipment on both ships and aircraft. On 5 April the SAS's D Squadron flew to Ascension Island, a British island in the Atlantic about half way to the Falklands. The next day the 3rd Commando Brigade staff sailed from Britain aboard the LPD FEARLESS. Three companies of the brigade flew to Ascension island, while the remainder of the landing forces sailed on the LSLs, the USS CANBERRA, and the carrier HMS HERMES. CANBERRA, a 45,000-ton-civilian- passenger ship, carried 650 men when it sailed on 9 April.27 Within a week of Argentina's invasion of the Falklands, Britain had launched a major sea, air, and land force tasked to recover the islands. The task force's first stop was Ascension Island. ASCENSION ISLAND Description. British-owned Ascension Island lies off the west coast of Africa, 4,225 miles by sea from the U.K. and 3,750 miles from the Falklands. (See Appendix A for the island's approximate position in the Atlantic.) Thirty-four square miles in size, it has no native inhabitants. Its climate is hot and arid, and most of its lava soil supports no vegetation. The united States leases the island from Britain for the purpose of operating a civilian- manned, tracking station.28 Under normal circumstances, aircraft periodically resupply the Americans through use of the island's Wideawake Airfield. Task-Force Use. Located halfway between the U.K. and the Falklands, Ascension Island gave the British a logistical base from which to operate in the South Atlantic. Upon leaving the U.K. early in April, the various elements of the British task force sailed or flew to Ascension to make final plans and preparations for the Falklands-recovery operation. While there, the task force accomplished many tasks. The senior commanders - Sir John Fieldhouse (CINCFLEET), Admiral John Woodward (Commander, Carriers), Commodore Michael Clapp (Commander, Amphibious Warfare), and Brigadier-General Julian Thompson (Commander, Land Force)-met to plan the upcoming naval and land campaign.29 In a major cross-decking operation, the landing force restowed weapons, equipment, ammunition, and stores aboard the ships it planned to use in an amphibious assault on the Falklands. During the hasty embarkation of ships in the U.K., embarkation officers and cargo handlers had jammed the gear on the ships as expeditiously as possible. In the Ascension Island restow, Commando Logistics Regiment arranged the gear on the ships based on the order of tactical off-load in the amphibious objective area.30 Also at Ascension, the brigade managed to accomplish some training, to include weapons-firing, amphibious assault drills, equipment checks, and physical fitness workouts.31 Soviet Surveillance. The Soviet Union showed its first noticeable interest in the task force during the reorganization of Ascension. A Soviet Bear aircraft flying below 1,000 feet surveyed British activities.32 Soviet Bears later periodically shadowed the task force as it steamed to the Falklands. The Argentines have yet to reveal how much information the Soviets provided them on British military operations. Departures. Woodward's carrier task group sailed from Ascension on 18 April. In moving ahead of the rest of the task force, it sought to win the antici- pated sea and air battle before the amphibious task force arrived to begin the land battle. The amphibious task group moved at different times. The slow- moving LSLs, carrying parts of the landing force, departed Ascension on 30 April. On 8 May the remainder of the force, including CANBERRA and command ship FEARLESS, ventured south. Just before leaving, the task group had received valuable reinforcements in the form of another LPD, HMS INTREPID; a container ship, ATLANTIC CONVEYOR; and the 2nd Parachute Battalion.33 With the addition of 2 PARA, 3 Commando Brigade numbered over 4,000 men. WAR STRATEGY The task force's strategy envisioned three phases for the Falklands campaign. In the first phase, Woodward's carrier-battle group would prepare the Falklands area for the planned amphibious assault. The mission required the accomplishment of three main tasks: (1) a naval and air blockade of the islands, (2) the defeat of Argentine naval forces, and (3) the securing of British air superiority in the area. Phase two called for the amphibious task force to make a landing and to establish a beachhead on the Falklands. Finally, in phase three, the landing force, supported by naval forces, would defeat the enemy's ground forces.34 NAVAL SUPPORTING OPERATIONS Blockade. To accomplish the air and naval blockade required to isolate the amphibious objective area, the British government announced clear rules of engagement for its naval forces to honor and enforce. Many of these rules notified forces on both sides where the British would and would not engage Argentine forces. In imposing a 200-mile Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) around the Falklands on 12 April, the British declared that its task force would attack any Argentine naval ships within that zone.35 British submarines patrolled the zone to enforce the restriction. Over the next few weeks as the task force began operating in the area, the guidelines regulating a task-force attack became increasingly permissive. On 23 April the British government warned the Argentines that any "threat to interfere with the mission of British forces in the South Atlantic would be dealt with appropriately."36 Tightening the blockade even further, the British changed the MEZ to a Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) on 30 April. The TEZ covered the same 200 miles around the Falklands, but it restricted both ships and aircraft, either military or civilian, from moving through the zone.37 On 7 May the British government declared that its task force would treat as hostile all Argentine naval ships and military aircraft that moved beyond 12 miles of the Argentine coast. On 11 May Arentina retaliated by designating a vast war zone that imposed similar restrictions against British forces.38 At this point, the British task force had gained the authority to attack Argentine forces practically everywhere except on the Argentine mainland. Concerned about the political and military risks of escalating the war, the British government prohibited any types of attacks on the mainland. Such attacks might well have undermined world support of the British campaign and assuredly would have increased Latin American support for Argentina. Since Argentina probably would have enjoyed overwhelming air superiority over its air bases on the mainland, the task force might have suffered prohibitive losses if it had tried such attacks. In any case, the British decision to refrain from attacks on the mainland provided Argentine air forces a sanctuary from which to strike at the task force.39 Submarine Operations. Six British submarines, five nuclear and one conven- tional, deployed to the South Atlantic.40 Along with enforcing Argentine compliance with the exclusion zone, the submarines tried to accomplish two main tasks. They sought to monitor the movements of Argentina's surface ships and attempted to destroy its two 209 submarines.41 In dealing with the surface ships, the submarines produced invaluable successes. Since they could steam faster than any of the Argentine ships, track vessels at long distances, and kill without detection, they posed a serious threat to the small Argentine Navy. HMS CONQUEROR proved the lethality of thin threat on 2 May, when it torpedoed the GENERAL BELGRANO, a 13,645-ton cruiser, some 35 miles southwest of the TEZ. The British War Cabinet had authorized the strike outside the TEZ, even though it would escalate the conflict. The attack killed 368 sailors, while 800 more survived the attack by floating in life rafts for 30 hours before escorting Argentine destroyers returned to rescue them.42 The surprising and deadly strike dealt a stunning blow to the Argentine Navy. The fleet, including the carrier DE MAYO, returned to bases on the mainland and remained there for the rest of the war. British submarines had, in fact, completely neutralized both Argentina's surface navy and the menacing air power the carrier could have generated against the task force. Major contributions from the submarines. The submarines were less effective in carrying out their second main task. Although aided in their anti-submarine warfare (ASW) by RAF Nimrod aircraft flying partrols from Ascension island and task-force heli- copters with ASW equipment, the submarines failed to destroy the enemy's submarines.43 One Argentine submarine, the SAN LUIS, operated in the main areas of the British task force during a 36-day patrol. Because the fire-control panel for its main torpedo malfunctioned, the SAN LUIS fired all of its torpedoes on incorrect bearings.44 Very obviously, Britain's ineffective ASW operations could have led to major, even prohibitive, setbacks for the task force. British submarines made one more contribution to the war. After the Argentine Navy withdrew, some of the submarines patrolled off the coast near Argentina's air bases. They used their electronic, sonar, and communications equipnent to detect and report the take-off of aircraft sorties towards the Falklands.45 Air Operations. During the pre-assault supporting operations, British aircraft carried out both offensive air and anti-air missions. RAF Vulcan bombers attacked the Port Stanley airfield on 1 and 4 May. Refueling 17 times during the round trip on 1 May, one bomber dropped twenty-one 1,000 lb. bombs from 10,000 feet over the airfield. The bombers caused limited cratering damage to the runway.46 To complement the Vulcans during the first couple of weeks in May, Sea Harriers from the task force's carriers regularly attacked both Port Stanley and Goose Green, whenever the weather permitted air operations. Task-force helicopters and Harriers also attacked any of the few Argentine ships steaming at sea. On 3 May Lynx helicopters fired Sea Skua air-to-surface guided missiles to sink one patrol craft and damage another.47 On 9 May a Harrier sank the NARWHAL, an intelligence-gathering ship.48 Although the Harriers suffered no losses from enemy fire, three Harriers crashed into the ocean during flight operations.49 In executing their primary mission of providing longe-range air defense for the task force, the Sea Harriers flew extensive combat air patrol (CAP) sorties. They turned away an Argentine Boeing 707 trying to gather intelli- gence and helped to turn back most of the relatively few enemy-air attacks on the task force.50 Except for the first day of the air battle, the Argentine A-4 Skyhawks and Mirages chose to try to out-run the Harriers rather than dog- fight with them.51 On 4 May two Argentine Super Entendards carrying EXOCET sea-skimming, guided missiles did penetrate the protective screen of the Harriers and shipboard air-defense systems. One EXOCET missile hit the HMS SHEFFIELD, a Type-42 destroyer on radar-picket duty west of the Falklands. Although the missile failed to explode, its ignited fuel caused extensive fire damage. Twenty-one men died, and all others abandoned the ship. Six days later, the ship sank while in tow to South Georgia.52 The sinking of the SHEFFIELD jolted the British government and public and caused the task force to change air tactics. Concerned that the Harriers and shipboard systems could not guarantee protection against the threat of low-flying aircraft with stand-off missiles, Admiral Woodward decided to keep his carriers 100 miles east of the Falklands beyond the range of enemy aircraft.53 The change in the operating area meant that the Sea Harriers would have longer sorties to the islands and reduced time over their targets and at their CAP stations. The move doomed to failure the task force's effort to gain air superiority in the amphibious objective area. Surface-Ship Operations. Surface-ship operations during this phase of the war included carrier-escort duty, anti-air warfare, and shore bombardment. Once the Argentine fleet returned to port, the surface ships had only to contend with submarine and air threats to the task force. They fired on many suspected submarine contacts but scored no hits. Except for the SHEFFIELD disaster and bomb damage to Type-42 destroyer HMS GLASGOW, they managed to protect the task force from the air threat. The destroyers and frigates even went so far as to patrol near the East Falkland coast to ambush enemy aircraft with their Sea Dart and Sea Wolf weapons. The tactic destroyed at least six A-4 Skyhawks.54 The British surface ships bombarded East and West Falkland with naval gunfire periodically during phase one of the war. The bombardments sought to prevent the build-up of Argentine strength on the islands, disrupt enemy communications, and to alarm and tire out the Argentine conscripts. The night before the amphibious landing, the naval-gunfire ships struck at various places on East and West Falkland to divert Argentine attention away from the actual landing site.55 Failure. In the pre-assault supporting operations, Woodward's carrier group succeeded in achieving only two of its three objectives. It did impose a reasonably effective blockade and did eliminate the threat of Argentina's naval forces. But in failing to eliminate the submarine threat and to gain air superiority, the carrier group failed to create the conditions necessary for a successful amphibious landing. If the British were to make an amphibious landing on the Falklands, they would have to do it under the intimidating threat of submarine and strong, land-based air attacks. A risky proposition! Call it an amphibious gamble. Briefed by the service chiefs about the amphibious force's vulnerability to enemy air, the War Cabinet on 8 May made the crucial decision of the war to send the landing force into the South Atlantic despite the lack of air superiority.56 SUBSIDIARY LANDING IN SOUTH GEORGIA Plan of Attack. With the British public anxious for a military victory and the Foreign Office looking to reinforce its diplomacy with a show of resolve, the War Cabinet decided in early April to make a landing to recover South Georgia. Intelligence reports indicated the British would meet little resistance on the island. Planning for the operation started on 6 April. Major Guy Sheridan, the second-in-command of 42 Commando, took charge of a team that included M Company of 42 Commando, elements of SAS's D Squadron, and a Special Boat Squadron (SBS) party. At Ascension Island the team embarked aboard HMS PLYMOUTH, HMS ANTRIM, and RFA tanker TIDESPRING for movement to South Georgia.57 Sheridan's plan called for the SAS detachment to land on Fortuna Glacier north of Leith and to proceed via Husik and Stromness to Leigh. Meanwhile, two SBS teams would land by boat or helicopter in Hound Bay southeast of Grytviken and make their way to Grytviken via Moraine Fjord. M Company would serve as a quick reaction force that could land wherever required.58 (See Appendix E for maps of South Georgia.) Improvised Assault. On 14 April the small squadron of ships rendezvoused with HMS ENDURANCE 1,000 miles north of South Georgia. After transferring to ENDURANCE, the SAS detachment landed by helicopter on Fortuna Glacier as planned on 21 April. But in the deep snow and severe weather, the SAS found they could not move across the terrain and asked to withdraw on 22 April. It took three helicopters to execute the withdrawal. The first two experienced whiteouts and crashed on the glacier. Almost miraculously, the crashes caused no casualties. A third Wessex helicopter finally managed to lift out the SAS troop and returned it to the ANTRIM.59 The SAS had narrowly avoided a catastrophe. Shortly after midnight on 23 April, the British tried again to penetrate the island. Two SBS sections landed in helicopters at the northern end df Sorling Valley, while five SAS teams tried to land on Grass Island in Gemini inflatable boats. Only three of the boats reached the shore; two drifted away into the night. A Wessex helicopter rescued one of the boats the next morning. Because of the ice and snow, neither the SBS nor the SAS could move very well to carry out its reconnaissance missions.60 The next day heli- copters moved the SBS sections from Sorling Valley to Moraine Fjord. But the main event of 24 April was the British discovery of an Argentine submarine operating in the area. Faced with such a deadly threat, the British ships had to disperse. The RFA TIDESPRING with M Company embarked on it with- drew some 200 miles to the north.61 Prospects for effective reconnaissance of South Georgia and an amphibious landing seemed a long way off. British fortunes changed on 25 April. Early in the morning, a Wessex helicopter sighted the Argentine submarine SANTA FE near the surface of the bay five miles from Grytviken. Three Wasp and a Lynx helicopter attacked the submarine with machine guns and an AS-12 missile. The attack forced the submarine to beach at Grytviken.62 Heartened by the successful attack, British officers aboard the ANTRIM decided to press the attack, even though their main assault forces were still 200 miles away. Major Sheridan formed a 75-man composite company from the various Royal Marine detachment, SAS, SBS, mortar, and reconnaissance troops embarked aboard the ANTRIM. Two naval gunfire support parties also worked with the company.63 At approximately 1345 Major Sheridan issued his order for the operation scheduled to start at 1445. At 1415 naval gun fire spotters in a Wasp heli- copter started calling in naval gunfire to support the landing. The composite company landed in helicopters near Hestlesletten and moved across Brown Mountain still under the cover of naval gunfire. In all, the ships fired 235 rounds of naval gunfire. Within 1,000 meters of King Edward's Point, Major Sheridan ordered the landing of more troops and requested that the ships make a demonstration of their strength in Cumberland Bay East. Before either could take place, the Argentines surrendered at King Edward's Point.64 Major Sheridan accepted the surrender of the Argentine-garrison commander in Grytviken at 1715. The next day more forces surrendered at Leith.65 Casualties were light for both sides. The Argentines suffered one WIA and one non-battlefield death. Since a helo recovered the lost Gemini landing craft on 26 April, the British amazingly escaped from many near-catastrophes with no KIAs.66 They took 156 military and 38 civilian prisoners - no small feat for a composite company that attacked on one-hour notice.67 The victory of South Georgia aided the British cause in two ways. First, the securing of South Georgia gave the Royal Navy a limited anchorage in the South Atlantic. Secondly, the win dealt a psychological blow to the Argentines.68 The British had handily won round one of the land battle. In so doing, Britain demonstrated that it would, and could, use force effectively. PREASSAULT OPERATIONS Pre-D-Day Reconnaissance. SAS and SBS reconnaissance teams provided the only effective reconnaissance of enemy activities on the Falklands before D-Day. In early May the teams landed by helicopters and inflatable boats at night to assess the enemy's strength, condition, and deployment of forces. They also scouted landing sites, removed mines, and made small-unit sabotage and diversionary raids. The raids helped to confuse and disorganize the Argentine forces.69 The six SBS teams concentrated on reconnoitering coastal landing sites, including the site eventually used at San Carlos. The patrols reported no evidence of mines in San Carlos Water or on its beaches. They also pointed out how the surrounding high ground would protect ships anchored in San Carlos Water from low-flying EXOCET missiles. The eight 4-man SAS patrols operated further inland. Three worked on West Falkland, one each at Darwin and Bluff Cove, and three around Port Stanley. The SAS used their portable satellite- communication radios to transmit their findings to the officers planning the land campaign.70 Aside from the SAS and SBS efforts, practically no other reconnaissance took place. Because the U.S. had no reconnaissance satellites flying near the Falklands, the British received no satellite photographs of the battle- field.71 Aircraft offered no better reconnaissance. The task force con- tained no dedicated aerial reconnaissance aircraft, and the Harriers had no high altitude cameras.72 in this high technology era, preassault recon- naissance depended on the daring and skill of foot patrols. Pebble Island Raid. Elements of the landing force carried out one major raid in the amphibious objective area during preassault operations. On 14 May a 53-man SAS patrol raided an enemy airfield on Pebble Island, located off the northern coast of West Falkland. (See Appendix B for the location.) In the raid, the SAS patrol sought to destroy some enemy aircraft based at the airfield and some small, mobile radar stations that could direct Argentine air attacks on the task force.73 On the night of 11 May, an 8-man SAS reconnaissance patrol landed by helicopter on West Falkland and later paddled canoes to Pebble Island to confirm the target. Three nights later, the rest of the SAS raiding party under the command of Major Cedric Delves, heli-lifted to the island to carry out the raid. A naval gunfire spotter with the patrol directed over 100 naval gunfire rounds onto the airfield in 30 minutes. The SAS used hand-emplaced demolition charges to blow the aircraft. After a brief Argentine counterattack, the SAS patrol withdrew back to the ships having suffered only two wounded men. In destroying 11 Pucarra turbo-prop aircraft and the mobile radar stations, the SAS patrol eliminated a part of Argentina's imposing land-based air threat.74 Fanning Head Raid. The night before 3 Commando Brigade landed at San Carlos, a 32-man SBS patrol heli-lifted to Fanning Head, at the northern entrance to San Carlos Water, to destroy an Argentine garrison guarding the entrance. A Wessex III helicopter using a thermal imager had located the garrison of 20 or so earlier in the evening. The SBS landed at 2300 and used naval gunfire and machine-guns to disperse the Argentines. They took nine prisoners at dawn the next morning.75 Another successful and helpful pre-assault operation. These successes helped pave the way for the successful main landing at San Carlos on 21 May. NOTES 1Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins, The Battle for the Falklands (New York: W.W. Norton, 1983), p. 21. 2James Cable, "The Falklands: Causes and Consequences," NAVY International, August 1982, p. 1229. 3Hastings and Jenkins, p. 48. 4Hastings and Jenkins, p. 73. 5Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 72-73; "The Falkland Islands," NAVY International, May 1982, p. 1035. 6Stewart W.B. Menaul, "The Falklands Campaign: A War of Yesterday?" Strategic Review, X, No. 4 (1982), 82 and 85. 7Hastings and Jenkins, p. 73. 8Hastings and Jenkins, p. 74. 9Adrian English, "Argentina's Military Potential," NAVY International, May 1982, pp. 1046-47. 10Hastings and Jenkins, p. 74. 11Hastings and Jenkins, p. 94. 12Hastings and Jenkins, p. 75. 13Hastings and Jenkins, p. 74. 14Hastings and Jenkins, p. 62. 15Hastings and Jenkins, p. 63. 16Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 70-71. 17Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 76-78. 18Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 78-80. 19Lawrence Freedman, "The War of the Falkland Islands, 1982," Foreign Affairs, 61, No. 1 (1982), 203. 20"The Falkland Islands," p. 1032. 21DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. 40. 22Neville Trotter, "The Falklands Campaign Command and Logistics," Armed Forces Journal International, June 1983, p. 34. 23A. D. Baker III, "Sealift, British Style," Proceedings, June 1983, p. 111. 24Hastings and Jenkins, p. 88. 25U.K., Secretary of State for Defence, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1982), pp. 19-20. (In subsequent notes, SSD refers to Secretary of State for Defense.) 26Hastings and Jenkins, p. 87. 27Hastings and Jenkins, p. 97; "The Falkland Islands, p. 1039. 28Trotter, p. 40. 29Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 121-122. 30Hastings and Jenkins, p. 180; Commando Logistic Regiment. "Miracle or Nightmare," The Globe and Laurel, July/August 1982, p. 254. 31Hastings and Jenkins, p. 182; D. V. Nicholls, "Amphibious Victory," The Globe and Laurel, July/August 1982, p. 220. 32"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After April 13," NAVY International, June 1982, p. 1095. 33Nicholls, p. 221. 34David Drysdale, "The War at Sea," The Globe and Laurel, July/August 1982, pp. 228-30. 35Hastings and Jenkins, p. 116. 36SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 5. 37"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and progress After April 13," p. 1097. 38"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 7," pp. 1158 and 1160. 39Hastings and Jenkins, 162; Freedman, p. 204; Jeffrey Record, "The Falkland War," The Washington Quarterly, 5, No. 4 (1982), 44; English, p. 1047. 40DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. 8. 41Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 146-147. 42Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 147-150; "The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After April 13," p. 1098. 43"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 25," NAVY International, August 1982, p. 1223. 44DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. 8; Personal interview with Jose Ferrer, 22 February 1984. 45Hastings and Jenkins, p. 157. 46Hastings and Jenkisn, pp. 143-44. 47Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 150-51. 48Hastings and Jenkins, p. 158. 49Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 156-57. 50"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After April 13," p. 1097; Menaul, p. 83. 51DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. 5. 52Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 150-55; "The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After April 13," p. 1099; Ezio Bonsignore, "Hard Lessons From the South Atlantic," Military Technology, VI, Issue 6 (1982), 34. 53Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 156 and 193; Drysdale, p. 229. 54Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 157-59. 55"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 7," pp. 1158-59; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 196. 56Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 163, 169, and 317. 57Hastings and Jenkins, p. 119. 58"Retaking of South Georgia," The Globe and Laurel, July/August 1982, p. 234. 59Hastings and Jenkins pp. 126-28. 60"Retaking of South Georgia," p. 234; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 128. 61Hastings and Jenkins, p. 128. 62"Retaking of South Georgia," p. 235; Hastings and Jenkins, 129. 63Hastings and Jenkins, p. 129. 64Retaking of South Georgia," p. 235. 65Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 129-30. 66Hastings and Jenkins, p. 130. 67"Argentina: Malvinas Yes, Army No," The Economist, 1 May 1982, p. 21. 68SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 5. 69Hastings and Jenkins, p. 176; Nicholls, p. 220; Gary L. Guertner, "The 74-Day War: New Technology and Old Tactics," Military Review, LXII, No. 11 (1982), p. 67. 70Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 177, 184, and 186. 71Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 58, 90 and 290; "Battle Order: The Balance of Forces," The Economist, 24 April 1982, p. 28. 72Hastings and Jenkisn, p. 290; SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 24; J.H.A. Thompson, cassette (np.: n.p., February 1984). 73"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 7," p. 1160; "The Falkland Crisis:" Operations and Progress After May 25," p. 1222; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 186. 74Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 186-87; O'Ballance, p. 37. 75Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 196-97; Nicholls, pp. 222-23. CHAPTER THREE THE BRITISH LAND CAMPAIGN SAN CARLOS LANDING Final Preparations. Towards the end of the pre-landing supporting operations, the amphibious task group rendezvoused with the carrier group and readied itself for an amphibious assault. On 19 May, two days before the scheduled landing, 3 Commando Brigade carried out a major cross-decking operation in the open seas. To facilitate the off-load of troops at the landing site, the 3rd Parachute Battalion and 40 Commando moved from the passenger ship, CANBERRA, to LPDs INTREPID and FEARLESS. Fortunately for the amphibious task group, an unusually calm day allowed the pre-D-Day transfers to take place. At the end of the operation, the following ships hosted 3 Commando Brigade's main combat units: Click here to view image Taking up space throughout the ship, including the Wardroom, 1,500 men billeted aboard FEARLESS.1 The transfers produced one tragic episode. A Sea King helicopter moving a SAS party to INTREPID struck an albatross and crashed into the sea. Twenty- two men died, including 20 from the SAS.2 A wretched loss for the elite SAS! At last light on 19 May the amphibious task group crossed into the TEZ on its way to the San Carlos landing site. In retrospect, this 36-hour transit exposed the landing force to the greatest hazard it would face in the entire war. Steaming within range of Argentine land-based aircraft without having gained local air superiority, the task group bared itself to potentially devastating strikes from enemy air. Likewise, the not-yet-eliminated submarine threat made the task group vulnerable to sub-surface attacks. Some well-placed bombs or torpedoes against FEERLESS could have killed 1,500 men of the landing force quite quickly. But with fog on 20 May helping to hide the ships and making flight operations difficult, the Argentines missed their best opportunity to strike a decisive blow at the clustered and very vulnerable landing force.3 Amphibious Landing. At 0300 on 21 May, FEARLESS docked in the San Carlos area. (See Appendix F for a diagram of the landing site.) San Carlos Water extends southeasterly into East Falkland from the northeast corner of Falkland Sound. A couple of miles inland, the water forks. The smaller, northern fork, called Port San Carlos, leads to a 30-person hamlet, also called Port San Carlos, on the northern shore. Two good beaches for landing - Green 1 and 2 - exist on this nothern shore. The terrain around Port San Carlos is soft and hilly. The southern fork, which retains the name San Carlos Water, leads to San Carlos, another hamlet of about 30 people on the eastern shore. Two good beaches - Blue 1 and 2 - also exist near this settlement. On the western shore of San Carlos Water lies Ajax Bay, site of an abandoned refrigeration plant originally built to market sheep carcasses. One beach - Red - exists near Ajax Bay. Below San Carlos Water, the Sussex Mountains protrude as an obstacle for movements to the south.4 Under a bright moon and amidst calm seas, the rest of the amphibious ships anchored in San Carlos Water and started off-loading 3 Commando Brigade's assault units. During phase one of the assault, 40 Commando and 2 Para moved in landing craft (LCUs) through San Carlos Water to Blue Beaches 1 and 2 near San Carlos. At about 0340 2 Para waded ashore unopposed at Blue Beach 2 and quickly headed south to secure the Sussex Mountains. 40 Commando landed to the north moments later and advanced to clear San Carlos. Meeting no resistance, the Royal Marines raised the Union Jack above San Carlos at 0730.5 In phase two, 45 Commando and 3 Para landed. At dawn 45 Commando departed INTREPID and STROMNESS in four LCUs and sailed to Red Beach in daylight. After making an unopposed landing, the Commando's companies seized Ajax Bay and moved into defensive positions on the high ground. To the north, 3 Para fell behind schedule but managed to move ashore at Green Beach 1 by 0700.6 A SBS team met 3 para on the beach and reported no enemy activity in the area. Shortly thereafter, 3 Para's lead company observed an Argentine platoon moving eastwards out of Port San Carlos. The company engaged the enemy with mortars and machine-guns but inflicted no casualties. With small-arms fire only, the Argentines downed two British Gazelle helicopters that prematurely strayed into the Port 5an Carlos area. Three of the four pilots died in the crashes. 3 Para then cleared Port San Carlos and organized its defense.7 Having established four battalions ashore against practically no opposi- tion, the amphibious group achieved complete tactical surprise in the San Carlos landing early on the morning of 21 May. The landing force never once had to request the air and naval gunfire on-call fires planned for use if needed. Casualties were minimal. Ground Defense. After completing their assaults, the four battalions started organizing a defense of the San Carlos area. Artillery and air-defense weapons landed during phase three of the amphibious operation. On the afternoon of21 May, 42 Commando moved ashore to help 3 Para at Port San Carlos. At 2030 that evening, the Brigade's tactical headquarters landed and set up near 40 Commando's position at San Carlos.9 Within 36 hours of the initial landing, the brigade had organized the tactical defense of a 10-square-mile beachhead.10 (See the diagram in Appendix G.) SAS, SBS, and units of the battalions patrolled forward of friendly lines. All troops lived in, and prepared to fight from, fighting holes. Since the high water table filled many of the fighting holes, many Marines and soldiers built sangars, rock breastworks built and camouflaged above ground.11 3 Commando Brigade remained static in this defensive position for six days. Brigadier Thompson knew he had to continue the attack but wanted to build up his logistical support before moving from the beachhead. So 3 Commando Brigade carried out a massive supply build-up ashore to sustain itself on land. The build-up became even more critically important when menacing Argentine air forces threatened to drive the support ships away from the beach. After D+1 the support ships left San Carlos Water during daylight hours and unloaded only at night.12 Because of this limitation and the lack of port facilities in the San Carlos area, the supply build-up moved slowly. Thompson's brigade occupied and defended the beachhead for an agonizing six days. But theArgentine Army and Marines made no effort to mount a ground attack against the beachhead. Air Defense. Conversely, the Argentine Air Force and Navy launched massive air attacks against the British sea and landing forces. The attacks started shortly after dawn on D-Day. Four Pucara ground-attack aircraft bombed 2 Para as it moved up the Sussex Mountains but inflicted no casualties. An SAS team shot down one of the Pucara with an American-made Stinger ground-to-air missile. It was the only aircraft downed by a Stinger throughout the war. A little later, two Aeromacchi aircraft attacked the RFA ship, FORT AUSTIN, and the frigate, ARGONAUT, anchored in San Carlos Water. The FORT AUSTIN escaped damage, but the ARGONAUT incurred a hole in its surveillance radar and some wounded crew members.13 The attacks on the ships began what turned out to be a five-day air assault on the ships supporting the landing force. Starting at 1030, Argentine Mirages and Skyhawks made 12 separate, low-level attacks from the east on D-Day. With six aircraft making up each attack wave, the Argentines sent a total of 72 aircraft to attack the British force.14 The destroyers and frigates screening the amphibious and support ships constituted the main target for the air attackers.15 The Argentines sank the Type 21 frigate ARDENT, crippled the frigate ARGONAUT, and struck the frigates BRILLIANT and BROADSW0RD with cannon fire. The troop and supply ships, including the CANBERRA, drew some fire but escaped the full weight of the attacks.16 The attacks practically ignored the landing force. To protect itself, the amphibious task group set up a layered defense consisting of: (1) Harriers at combat air patrol (CAP) stations, (2) missile- firing destroyers and frigates, (3) ships firing anti-aircraft guns on the "gunline", and (4) troop and supply ships firing small calibre weapons. The landing force also contributed its Rapier and Blowpipe missile defense systems to the air-defense effort.17 On 21 May the British force shot down 15 of the 72 attacking aircraft.18 Probably because of bad weather over their bases, the Argentine aircraft did not attack on D+1 (22 May). But, again concentrating on the British escort ships, they resumed their powerful attacks on 23 and 24 May. They managed to sink ANTELOPE, another Type 21 frigate, while the British destroyed 10 of the attacking aircraft on the 23rd and 18 on the 24th.19 To help honor Argentina's National Day on 25 May, the Argentines attacked with fury on that day. They sank COVENTRY, another Type 42 destroyer, and ATLANTIC CONVEYOR, a container ship carrying critically important helicopters and supplies.20 The British shot down another eight aircraft.21 25 May marked the turning point in the battle of San Carlos and maybe even the whole war. Two significant developments occurred. First, Admiral Woodward elected to withdraw the carriers further from the Falklands in the face of the Argentine air threat. The decision had the effect of shortening the times the Harriers could remain on station, a step that weakened the amphibious task group's air defenses. But, second, the Argentines took heed of the more than 50 aircraft losses they had suffered in five days and chose to cut back their own attacks. In so doing, the Argentines acknowledged their inability to dislodge the British from the beachhead.22 The British had won the Battle of San Carlos. SAN CARLOS BREAKOUT Breakout Plan. Brigadier General Thompson's original plan for the breakout from the San Carlos beachhead called for his battalions to leapfrog across East Falkland using helicopters. But the loss of three huge Chinook trans- port helicopters in the sinking of ATLANTIC CONVEYOR on 25 May gave him insufficent helicopter assets to lift the troops, equipment, ammunition, and supplies for such a helicopterborne move. Especially adamant about the need need to provide artillery support to his advancing infantry, Thompson recognized that he would have to employ most of his helicopters for equipment and supply transport, not for troop movement. Under strong pressure from military and political authorities in London to maintain the momentum of the attack, Thompson formed a plan for his brigade to continue the attack towards Port Stanley on foot.23 Battle of Darwin-Goose Green. As early as 23 May Thompson had ordered 2 Para to make a battalion raid on a supposedly weak Argentine battalion occupying the small settlement of Goose Green, approximately 13 miles south of San Carlos. But poor weather that prevented the helicopter movement of artillery forced 2 Para to cancel the attack shortly after it started on 24 May. Two days later, at the direction of impatient London authorities, Brigadier Thompson ordered 2 Para to make a full-scale attack on both Goose Green and Darwin, another small hamlet of 80 people 2.5 miles north of Goose Green. Thompson felt the two hamlets were strategically irrelevant for the prose- cution of the land campaign but had to comply with political authorities preoccupied with both public demands for action and possible U.N. efforts to arrange a premature ceasefire.24 During the night of 26-27 May, Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Jones marched 2nd Parachute Battalion halfway to Goose Green and rested his men in a sheltered harbor position at Camilla Creek House. (See Appendix H for a diagram of the attack.) At 1600 on 27 May, while still occupying the harbor position, Lieutenant-Colonel Jones issued his attack order calling for "a six-phase night-day, silent-noisy battalion attack to capture Darwin and Goose Green."25 The plan called for 2 Para's companies to move down both the eastern and western sides of the isthmus leading to Goose Green. During darkness 2 Para would seize the outer Argentine defensive positions protecting Goose Green and Darwin. To minimize civilian casualties, the battalion would then move on the settlements during daylight. As 2 Para prepared to attack at Camilla Creek House, Lieutenant Colonel Jones monitored a BBC World Service news bulletin reporting that 2 Para was attacking and had advanced to a position five miles north of Darwin. No doubt trying to boost morale at home, a senior official in London had confirmed to a BBC radio correspondent that 2 Para was moving to attack Darwin and Goose Green. The Argentines reacted to the public report by moving a reserve battalion from Mount Kent to Goose Green early on the morning of 28 May. The leak of vital tactical information made 2 Para's task indeed more formidable.26 On the night of 27 May, C Company secured the start line for 2 Para's attack, and A and B Companies crossed the start line early on the morning of the 28th. Naval gunfire supported the attack. As daylight broke, A Company occupied Coronation Point and B Company engaged the Argentines at Boca House on the western side of the isthmus. As 2 Para pressed the attack during daylight, it encountered fierce resistance from a large force deployed, alerted, and dug in across the narrow isthmus. Supported only by artillery fire and their own mortars, the British had to advance across open ground against heavy machine-gun fire. In trying to help A Company advance, Lieutenant-Colonel Jones fell mortally wounded from rifle fire.27 Major Chris Keeble, the second-in-command, assumed command and continued to press the attack. As the day wore on, A and C Companies finally seized Darwin and pushed south along the east coast to the northern outskirts of Goose Green. B and D Companies moved down the western side and then swung east to threaten Goose Green from the west and south.28 By nightfall, Keeble's men occupied the hills around Goose Green after a victorious day on the battlefield. The Argentines landed reinforcements south of 2 Para but applied no pressure to 2 Para's ring around Goose Green. During the night Keeble planned a major attack for the following morning, to include a demonstration of Harrier and artillery firepower. Helicopters and BV202 vehicles resupplied 2 Para with mortars and small-arms ammunition.29 But no further fighting ensued the next day. Keeble sent two Argentine POWs into Goose Green to arrange possible surrender negotiations. The Argentine commander, Air Vice-Commodore Wilson Pedroza, met with Keeble and surrendered. Expecting 80 Argentines to walk out, 2 Para observed with shocked disbelief as over 150 airmen and 900 soldiers emerged to surrender. Including those taken during the course of the attack, 2 Para took 1,200 prisoners in the Battle of Darwin-Goose Green. The Argentines suffered 50 dead, while 2 Para had lost 17 killed and 35 wounded.30 As one of the decisive actions of the war, the battle showed Britain's firm resolve to win the war. The Argentines, too, had fought hard initially but then had crumbled quickly, a pattern they repeated in later battles. In victory against great odds, 2 Para showed leadership, aggressive fighting spirit, maintenance of momentum, and proper use of terrain and weapons. The whole landing force enjoyed a boost in morale.31 Probably most importantly, 2 Para's strong showing established "a psychological ascendancy over the Argentines which our (British) forces never lost."32 3 Parachute Battalion's Movement to Mts. Estancia and Vernet. At 1300 on 27 May, the day after 2 Para headed out to Goose Green, 3 Para marched almost due east out of its defensive position enroute to Teal Inlet, a small hamlet on the Port Salvador Bay about halfway from San Carlos to Port Stanley. (See Appendix I for a diagram of 3 Para's route of march.) Carrying enormous loads, 3 Para reached Teal Inlet on the night of 29 May and immediately pushed on towards Estancia House the next day. The battalion secured the few farm buildings at Mt. Estancia on 31 May, and moved to Mounts Estancia and Vernet on 1 June. 3 Para had marched approximately 50 miles in six days and had encountered no opposition. From 1-11 June, it anchored 3 Commando Brigade's northern flank as the brigade prepared for its final push on Port Stanley.33 45 Commando's Movement to Mount Kent. 45 Commando also departed the San Carlos beachhead on 27 May. At dawn, 45 Commando boarded LCUs and sailed, relatively exposed, from Ajax Bay up San Carlos Water to Port San Carlos. Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew F. Whitehead, the commanding officer of 45 Commando, himself can't explain why Brigadier Thompson sent his unit from the southern flank of the beachhead for a breakout to the north. Possibly because 2 Para was in the process of securing the southern flank at Goose Green, Thompson felt the enemy threatened 45 Commando's position less than those of the other battalions. In any case, 45 Commando set off on foot towards Douglas Settlement carrying up to 120 pounds per man.34 (See Appendix I for a diagram of 45 Commando's route of march.) Marching 13 miles to New House that night, 45 Commando continued the next day to Douglas Settlement, a small hamlet at the northwest corner of Port Salvador Bay. During the march, four-man teams of the Reconnaissance Troop moved a mile ahead of the commando column. The Surveillance Troop guarded the flanks, and the lead company deployed tactically. The Command Group marched behind the lead company. With the Marines spread 10 yards apart, the column stretched out for 2-3 miles. Seven BV202 Volvos - three fitted for radios and four carrying ammunition - moved with the column. Blowpipe missile launchers and machine guns were available for emergency air defense as the commando moved across the exposed terrain.35 45 Commando deployed tactically with two companies up, one back, and mortars in support to seize Douglas Settlement. But the formation encountered no resistance as it entered the hamlet in the early morning darkness of the 29th. Lieutenant-Colonel Whitehead immediately deployed Blowpipes on the high ground surrounding the town. Having moved 25 miles in 36 hours over soggy and very rough terrain, 45 Commando sustained about 25 injuries, mostly ankle, knee, blisters, and wet feet problems. Only 5-6 Marines had injuries requiring evacuation. The others rested at Douglas under a sergeant's supervision when 45 Commando departed the hamlet, but 15 of them rejoined the commando within 48 hours.36 On 30 May 45 Commando pushed to Teal Inlet, arriving there that evening just after 3 Para had departed the town. Islanders' tractors and trailers helped move some of the Marine packs and equipment during this leg of the march. After resting for four days in the shelter of Teal Inlet's few trees and shearing shed, the commando on 3-4 June made its last march ("yomp" as the Marines dubbed the marching with such heavy loads) to Mount Kent, approximately 10 miles northwest of Port Stanley. Establishing a patrol base here, 45 Commando prepared for the assault on Port Stanley.37 42 Commando's Movement to Mts. Kent and Challenger. On 27 May SAS patrols near Mt. Kent reported that the Argentines were only lightly defending this key terrain that overlooked Port Stanley only 12 miles away. Probably the movement of the Argentine reserve from Mt. Kent to Goose Green triggered the SAS report. Seeing an opportunity to seize the dominant approach to Port Stanley, Brigadier Thompson directed 42 Commando, the brigade reserve still deployed near Port San Carlos, to seize Mt. Kent. Lieutenant Colonel Nick Vaux, the commander of 42 Commando, tried to heli-lift K Company and three 105mm artillery howitzers to Mount Kent just after dark on 30 May. But blizzard conditions and whiteouts forced the Sea King helicopter pilots to abort the mission after almost two hours of heliborne terror. Lieutenant Colonel Vaux tried again the next night, this time success- fully. He flew to the base of Mt. Kent with 2/3 of K Company. As they landed, a nearby SAS patrol drove off a small Argentine force. K Company moved immediately to seize the undefended summit of Mt. Kent. The next night, Sea Kings flew in the rest of 42 Commando. (See Appendix K for a diagram of 42 Commando's movement.) L Company secured unoccupied Mt. Challenger, south of Mt. Kent, and the commando prepared defensive positions, to include critically important observation posts (OPs), on both hills. For six days, 42 Commando endured the extreme cold of the mountains, with temperatures dropping to as low as 11oF at night.38 Displacement of Brigade Headquarters. During the night of 31 May, the Brigade headquarters displaced from San Carlos to Teal Inlet in BV202 Volvos, two Scorpion and four Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles, and a Samson recovery vehicle. On 3 June, the headquarters displaced to Mt. Kent.39 40 Commando's Defense of Beachhead. Throughout the breakout, 40 Commando remained defending the San Carlos beachhead. As the other battalions left the area, 40 Commando had to spread across a wider and wider frontage. C Company moved to defend Ajax Bay, and B Company moved to the Sussex Mountains after 2 Para's departure. 40 Commando assumed the mission of Brigade reserve, and later became the force reserve after 5 Infantry Brigade landed.40 The only major attack 40 Commando experienced while defending the beach- head occurred at dusk on 27 May. Two A-4 Skyhawks hit 40 Commando's field entrenchments with 500-pound bombs. The Commando suffered two dead and three wounded. A second wave of three Skyhawks with 500 pound-bombs and cannon attacked the Brigade Maintenance Area (BMA) at Ajax Bay. Luckily for the British, only 4 of the 12 bombs exploded. Two unexploded bombs landed in a building housing the Medical Squadron and 100 or so Marines of Commando Logistics Regiment. The attack killed 6 and wounded 27. Had the bombs detonated properly, they could have wreaked catastrophic destruction.41 Except for minor skirmishes with Argentine patrols, 40 Commando faced no more attacks on the San Carlos beachhead. It remained at the beachhead to provide protection for 5 Infantry Brigade's landing and to guard against a paratroop attack on the BMA. THE SOUTHERN AXIS Landing of Landing-Force HQ and 5 Infantry Brigade. When intelligence sources reported that Argentine forces on the Falklands greatly exceeded the strength of 3 Commando Brigade, the British War Cabinet decided to reinforce the brigade. British military authorities chose 5 Infantry Brigade, Britain's "out-of-area force", for the mission. Commanded by Brigadier General Anthony Wilson, the brigade had just formed in January 1982. 2 Parachute Battalion, 3 Parachute Battalion, and the 1st Battalion of the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles constituted the combat units of the brigade. Since 2 Para and 3 Para had already deployed to the Falklands under the command of 3 Commando Brigade, 5 Infantry Brigade picked up 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards and 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards to replace them. Because the brigade staff had only participated in one exercise since forming and had not worked with the two new battalions, Brigadier Wilson sent his brigade to the Sennybridge training area on 22 April for a two-week training exercise. During the exercise, code-named Welsh Falcon, the brigade practiced battalion attacks, live fire, helicopter movements, and amphibious assaults.42 On 3 May the Ministry of Defense requisitioned the luxury-passenger liner QUEEN ELIZABETH II (QEII) to take the brigade and the overall landing-force command group to the Falklands. With the high-level staff and 5 Brigade hastily embarking the ship, QEII sailed from Southhampton, U.K., on 12 May. Although under the impression that it could restow its gear at Ascension, the brigade found no chance to accomplish this task. QEII sailed instead to South Georgia, where 5 Infantry Brigade transferred to the ships CANBERRA and NORLAND. The British government intentionally avoided putting the potentially lucrative target close to the Falklands.43 While at South Georgia, Royal Marine Major General Jeremy Moore, the new overall commander of the two brigades, transferred with his staff and Brigadier Wilson to the destroyer ANTRIM for immediate passage to San Carlos. Arriving there on 30 May, he boarded FEARLESS, the amphibious task group's command ship, and assumed command of all British land forces on the Falklands.44 On 1 June the Gurkhas led 5 infantry Brigade ashore at San Carlos and marched immediately to Goose Green. With the two Guards battalions landing on 2 June, the British landing force had eight battalions on East Falkland Island. Movement to Fitzroy-Bluff Cove. Upon taking over command of the land campaign General Moore faced the immediate decision of how to employ both brigades for the attack on Port Stanley. You will recall that 3 Commando Brigade at this time was moving battalions into the hills around Mt. Kent. Brigadier Wilson, eager to get his brigade into action, urged Moore to open a southern axis of advance from Goose Green to Fitzroy-Bluff Cove and on to Port Stanley. Moore agreed to the plan and placed 2 Para, still at Goose Green,under the command of 5 Infantry Brigade. But because 3 Commando Brigade needed all available helicopters to build up combat power and supplies at their relatively exposed position at Mount Kent, Moore denied Brigadier Wilson the use of helicopters for transporting his brigade along the southern axis.45 Brigadier Wilson rejected no for an answer. On 2 June 2 Para discovered via a commercial telephone call to a Fitzroy resident that Argentine soldiers had departed the Fitzroy-Bluff Cove area. Quickly commandeering the force's one available Chinook helicopter, Brigadier Wilson packed 78 men of A Company 2 Para, into the Chinook and sent it 36 miles up the southern coast to high ground near Bluff Cove, across the bay from Fitzroy. (See Appendix I for a diagram of the move.) That evening the Chinook lifted another 78 men from B Company into the area.46 The improvised troop movement appalled General Moore and his staff, especially since Brigadier Wilson had sought no authorization to make the move. General Moore now had a company-size force dangerously close to the enemy but beyond the range of any artillery fire support. The landing-force staff and 5 Infantry Brigade had to devote all of their efforts towards getting help for the exposed unit at Bluff Cove.47 On 3 June the Welsh Guards compounded the problem. The battalion tried to march from San Carlos to Goose Green but had to turn around after walking for 12 hours. Fresh from public duties in London and not yet acclimatized to the cold, the Guardsmen buckled under the physical demands, heavy loads, rugged terrain, and severe weather.48 So, if 5 Infantry Brigade couldn't fly or walk to Fitzroy-Bluff Cove, how then could it get there to reinforce 2 Para's exposed companies? General Moore arranged with the Navy to move the brigade by ship. On 5 June the Scots Guards embarked the LPD INTREPID at San Carlos, sailed over- night to Port Fitzroy, and landed in LCUs at Bluff Cove the next morning. (See Appendix I for a diagram of the move.) On 6 June the Welsh Guards tried to execute the same kind of movement in the LPD FEARLESS. But because foggy weather prevented the movement of two LCUs from Bluff Cove to FEARLESS, only half of the Welsh Guards could taxi ashore in FEARLESS'S two LCUs. FEARLESS returned to San Carlos with 300 Welsh Guardsmen aboard. At this point, the Commodore Clapp, Admiral Woodward, and Admiral Fieldbouse decided against further use of the two amphibious assault ships for such transport duty outside of the range of the main destroyer and frigate screen. Brigadier Wilson would have to use the 5,700-ton landing ships (LSLs) to move the remainder of his brigade.49 Fitzroy Tragedy. On 6 June the LSL TRISTRAM, carrying some Welsh Guards- men and artillery ammunition, arrived unannounced at Fitzroy while FEARLESS was trying to off-load its welsh Guardsmen. Rather than returning to San Carlos with FEARLESS, SIR TRISTRAM remained in the Fitzroy Harbor all the next day. Since the Argentine air threat had seemingly vanished, the urgency to follow prudent air-defense practices apparently vanished also. The ship lay anchored in broad daylight with no escort protection. The troop commanders ashore made no effort to set up their Blowpipe missiles and machine-guns to protect the ship. To make matters worse, 5 infantry Brigade still hadn't transported its communication equipment to Fitzroy-Bluff Cove and so couldn't talk to either SIR TRISTRAM or Landing Force Headquarters at San Carlos.50 At 0700 on 8 June another LSL, SIR GALAHAD, also arrived at Fitzroy unannounced. Carrying the rest of the Welsh Guardsmen and 16 Field Ambulance unit, the ship appeared at dawn because the medical teams had delayed embarkation by four hours. (See Appendix I for a diagram of the move.) Although SIR GALAHAD's captain wanted to sail the following night so the ship could off-load in darkness at Fitzroy, Commodore Clapp had directed the ship to move immediately. This fateful decision led to tragedy.51 An Argentine mobile Westinghouse AN/TPS-43 3-D unjammable radar on Sapper Hill near Port Stanley detected the landing at Fitzroy.52 At 1310 two Mirages and two Skyhawks attacked SIR GALAHAD and SIR TRISTRAM with bombs. Minutes before the attack, the Sea Harrier CAP at Fitzroy had diverted to West Falkland Island to help the frigate PLYMOUTH fend off an air attack from five Mirages. The Skyhawks and Mirages had a free ride to the LSLs anchored at Fitzroy. Bombs hit both ships. One bomb on SIR GALAHAD ignited petroleum which the brigade intended to use for Rapier generators.53 Although heli- copter pilots made heroic efforts to save lives, 50 soldiers and seamen died, and 46 more suffered wounds. The figures include 32 Welsh Guardsmen killed. SIR GALAHAD sank, and SIR TRISTRAM sustained severe damage.54 Two more waves attacked at Fitzroy that afternoon but inflicted minimal damage. One wave did go on to sink a British LCU loaded with brigade trucks as it moved along the southern coast of East Falkland. Six Royal Marines died in the strike. The Harrier CAP managed to destory four aircraft with- drawing from Fitzroy.55 To add to the day's gloom, the Mirages badly damaged PLYMOUTH. Indeed a tragic day for the United Kingdom. General Moore responded swiftly to the disaster. Not wanting to delay the impending attack on Port Stanley, he reinforced the decimated Welsh Guards with A and C Companies from 40 Commando in reserve. He also emphasized to his subordinates that the landing force would attack Port Stanley on schedule.56 BATTLE OF PORT STANLEY Attack Preparations. By 4 June 3 Commando Brigade had gained positions west of Port Stanley from which it could launch an attack on the Falklands capital. 3 Para occupied Mts. Vernet and Estancia at the northern end of the brigade area, while 42 Commando held Mts. Kent and Challenger at the southern end. 45 Commando operated out of a patrol base behind Mt. Kent. 40 Commando, at San Carlos, had become General Moore's overall reserve force and 2 Para, at Bluff Cove, was under the control of 5 infantry Brigade. 5 Infantry Brigade was still in the process of trying to open a southern axis to Port Stanley via Fitzroy-Bluff Cove. Between General Moore's forces and Port Stanley, a series of well- prepared defensive positions opposed the British advance. General Menendez had organized what he thought was an impregnable defense of Port Stanley. In the outer defense, Argentine forces stretched in an arc from Mt. Longdon in the north through Two Sisters Hill in the center to Mt. Harriet in the south. Further to the east, more Argentine units manned a tighter ring around Port Stanley with defensive positions on Wireless Ridge, Tumbledown Mountain, Mt. William, and Sapper Hill. Minefields and clear fields of fire protected the defensive positions; infantry with machine-guns and recoilless rifles occupied them. Thirty 105mm and four 155mm howitzers supported the defense with artillery firepower. In such a position of strength, General Menendez felt he could stalemate the British for months.57 While 3 Commando Brigade waited in the north for 5 Infantry Brigade to move to Fitzroy-Bluff Cove, Brigadier Thompson had his brigade take advantage of the time to prepare for the attack. Helicopters lifted 7, 8, and 29 Batteries of 29 Commando Regiment Poyal Artillery with 1,000 rounds per gun into position near Mt. Kent from which they could support the attack on Port Stanley.58 Artillery forward observers and naval gunfire spotters called in harassing strikes on Argentine positions from observation posts established on the forward slopes of the British-occupied hills. The bombard- ment also included Harrier air strikes against Argentine artillery positions and defenses on Two Sisters and Mt. Longdon. For their part, the Argentines tried to hit 3 Para and 42 Commando with limited artillery fire and air strikes but inflicted little damage.59 Along with building up supplies and harassing the Argentines with fire, 3 Commando Brigade aggressively patrolled forward of its positions. The patrols provided security for the brigade and sought to identify the precise location of Argentine defensive positions and the best routes of advance to them. The latter mission often required the patrols to reconnoiter and breach minefields very near the enemy, always a tense and formidable assignment.60 At least two Marines suffered shattered legs from the detonation of anti-persornel mines. Some patrols operating close to Argentine positions engaged the enemy. A nine-man patrol from 45 Commando infiltrated the position on Two Sisters and killed nine soldiers without taking a casualty.61 Another patrol from 42 Commando killed six in their defensive positions on Mt. Harriet.62 Led mainly by junior officers or non- commissioned officers, these patrols gained valuable enemy and terrain information for staffs to use in planning the attack. The nine days of wait and preparation did exact a fitness cost on 3 Commando Brigade. Caught in open mountains in continual rain, snow, wind, and cold, many brigade members found little shelter even in dry fighting holes. Many suffered from exposure problems of hypo-thermia, diarrhea, and trench foot. The brigade had to evacuate some to Teal Inlet to recover in local homes or LSLs anchored there.63 While the troops patrolled and endured the bitter elements, the landing force commanders and staffs planned the attack. Brigadier Thompson convinced General Moore that British forces should attack across the entire Argentine front to open up many resupply and casualty-evacuation routes. General Moore agreed and decided to make a phased attack. In phase one, he would have 3 Commando Brigade attack the Argentine outer defenses on Mt. Longdon, Two Sisters, and Mr. Harriet. In phase two, 5 Infantry Brigade would pass through the Commando Brigade to attack Wireless Ridge, Mt. Tumbledown, and Mt. William. Moore would continue the brigade leapfrogging until he forced the enemy's collapse.64 Phase-One Attack. On 10 June, Brigadier Thompson issued orders for phase one of the attack. (See Appendix J for a diagram of the attack.) Calling for a night attack on 11 June, he directed 3 Para to seize Mt. Longdon, 45 Commando to seize Two Sisters, and 42 Commando to seize Mt. Harriet. He used the reinforcements which General Moore assigned to him for the attack to support the brigade. After it moved by helicopter from Bluff Cove to Mt. Kent on 11 June, 2 Para would support 3 Para's attack on Mt. Longdon. The Welsh Guards battalion would first secure the start line for 42 Commando's attack and then assume the misison of brigade reserve. Five artillery batteries and four ships would provide fire support for the attack.65 At Mount Longdon, 3 Para attacked elements of the Argentine 7th Regiment from the north. The Argentines engaged the paras with heavy mortar, recoilless rifle, machine-gun, and sniper fire. Under the support of intense and accurate artillery fire, 3 Para sections and squads advanced up the hill. The paras used 84mm, and 66mm rockets and wire-guided Milan missiles to destroy the enemy's weapons positions. As dawn broke, riflemen of 3 Para with fixed bayonets captured the top of the hill. In fighting one of the toughest and bloodiest battles of the campaign against a determined foe, 3 Para suffered 23 killed and 47 wounded, a relatively low price to pay for securing a well- prepared and defended position.66 To the south of Mt. Longdon, 45 Commando attacked Two Sisters. X Company skirted the southern end of Mt. Kent to attack the western peak of Two Sisters frontally. Y and Z Companies moved around the northern side of Mt. Kent to hit the northern flank of the eastern peak. The plan called for X Company to attack first, followed by the northern flanking attack. Y and Z Companies would serve as commando reserve during X Company's attack, and X Company would assume this role for the two- company assault. But Lieutenant-Colonel whitehead had to wait 50 minutes at the start line near Murrel Bridge for X Company to attack. Willing to wait no longer, he launched Y and Z Companies on the northern flank at 0400, just as X Company made its frontal assault. In effect, 45 Commando executed a three-company-no-reserve attack. Relying heavily on artillery, naval gunfire, and organic rocket fire, the Marines advanced aggressively by fire and movement. Within 2-1/2 hours and well before dawn, 45 Commando secured Two Sisters.67 For 45 Commando, the casualties were light: 4 killed and 8 wounded.68 But, along with the troop casualties, the British destroyer GLAMORGAN providing naval gunfire support to 45 Commando, suffered damage. At 0235 an Argentine ground-launched EXOCET missile struck GLAMORGAN. Although the missile failed to explode, it killed 13 men and wounded more.69 In part three of 3 Commando Brigade's attack, 42 Commando advanced to seize Mt. Harriet at the southern edge of the Argentine outer defense. After a detailed study of the terrain, including analysis of reports from aggressive patrols, Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Vaux opted for an "extended right hooking" maneuver. At 2100 K and L Companies started moving through mine- fields and open terrain around the southern end of Mt. Harriet to a position in the rear of Mt. Harriet. After a delay caused by difficulties in linking up with the Reconnaissance Troop of the Welsh Guards, the two companies crossed the start line and advanced undetected close to the Argentine lines. Artillery rounds and naval gunfire from three destroyers pounded the defenders. Over 1,000 shells landed on Mt. Harriet that night. As K and L crossed the start line, J Company staged a noisy, diversionary attack on Wall Mountain, a small, undefended hill between Mts. Challenger and Harriet. The distraction helped K Company to move within 100-200 meters of Argentine positions before drawing fire. When the shooting started, 42 Commando effectively used mortar-illumination rounds to light up Argentine machine-gun positions identified in the pre-attack patrols. Milan missiles and 84mm and 66mm rockets silenced the machine-guns. Just before dawn, K Company secured the top of the hill, and L Company maneuvered along its western edge to tie in with 45 Commando on Two Sisters. Completely surprising what was probably an Argentine battalion, 42 Commando achieved a brilliant victory on what Brigadier Thompson thought would be the brigade's most difficult objective.70 For the comparatively low price of 1 dead and 13 wounded, 42 Commando captured the key terrain and 70 prisoners.71 Phase-Two Attack. General Moore's original plan called for 5 Infantry Brigade to press the attack the very next night of 12-13 June. But when helicopters had not yet arrived at Bluff Cove to move the Scots Guards battalion to its assembly area behind Mt. Harriet, Brigadier Wilson asked for a 24-hour-delay in the attack. General Moore approved the request.72 Harriers maintained some momentun that day by striking enemy positions on Tumbledown Mountain and Mt. William.73 A Wessex helicopter managed to penetrate into Port Stanley to fire two rockets at the Argentine command group. Neither missile found its target, but the helicopter escaped unscathed.74 Argentine forces tried to strike back with supporting fire on the 12th. A-4 Skyhawks attacked 3 Commando Brigade's headquarters behind Mt. Kent but missed their target.75 Although troublesome, artillery fire on the brigade's new forward positions caused little damage. After dark, 5 Infantry Brigade launched a four-pronged attack. (See Appendix K for a diagram of the attack.) Once again working for 5 Infantry Brigade, 2 Para attacked in the north to seize wireless Ridge, east of Mt. Longdon. At the same time, the Scots Guards went after Tumbledown Mountain east of Two Sisters. After the seizure of Tumbledown, the Gurkha battalion intended to pass through the Scots Guards to seize Mt. William to the south. The Welsh Guards would then push east to Sapper Hill, the last high ground west of Port Stanley. In the north, a 60-man combined unit from the SAS and the Royal Marine Rigid Raider Squadron made a diversionary night attack against the east flank of Wireless Ridge before 2 Para made its main attack. Overwhelming the small unit with fire power, the Argentines forced it to withdraw. At 2030 2 Para attacked from the north under its own overwhelming fire power. Artillery, naval gunfire, the 76mm guns of the Scorpions and Scimitars, and Rarden cannon pounded the ridge. The battalion secured the objective relatively easily before dawn but then had to repel 40 enemy paratroopers in Argentina's only counterattack of the war. As the paras saw Argentine troops fleeing into Port Stanley only three miles away, Brigadier Thompson approved their request to advance towards the capital.76 At Tumbledown, the Scots Guards fought the toughest battle of the night. At 2030 the battalion's Headquarters Company tried to make a diversionary attack on an enemy position southeast of Mt. Harriet, but it too had to with- draw under heavy enemy fire. The main attack opened at 2100. G Company seized the first summit of the hill complex facing no opposition. Left Flank company passed through G Company and confronted Argentina's best outfit, the 92 men, 10 machine guns, and mortars of the 5th Marine Battalion. A fierce fire-fight raged practically all night. At a cost of 7 dead and 21 wounded, Left Flank Company finally secured Tumbledown's second summit. At 0600, Right Flank company started a six-hour drive to secure the final summit. In capturing one of Argentina's most strongly defended positions, the Scots Guards lost 9 men dead and 43 wounded.77 With Tumbledown secured, the Gurkhas passed through the Scots Guards and on to Mt. William against only sporadic shelling. The Welsh Guards, two of whose companies were the replacements from 40 Commando, moved to the road south of Mt. William. As Argentine troops retreated into Port Stanley, the Welsh Guards flew by helicopter to Sapper Hill, just outside the town.78 The British dead for the second night of fighting totalled 20.79 General Moore's forces now controlled all of the high ground surrounding Port Stanley. Argentine resistance had crumbled. ARGENTINE SURRENDER Negotiations. The Argentine surrender followed quickly. For several days, Royal Marine Captain Rod Bell and SAS Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rose had broadcasted appeals in Spanish over the island's medical radio circuit for the Argentines to surrender. On the afternoon of 14 June, Dr. Alison Bleaney, a Falklander physician in Port Stanley, urged the Argentine command to heed these appeals. General Menendez agreed to talk to the British. A Gazelle helicopter took Bell and use to Port Stanley for talks at the Government House.80 Although General Galtieri in Buenos Aires ordered the Argentine force to counterattack, General Menendez believed such a step would lead to a senseless massacre. Menendez instead agreed to surrender all Argentine forces on both East and West Falkland.81 Using the SAS's portable satellite radio, British authorities in London monitored Rose's progress. These authorities only intervened to disapprove the use of Argentine ships to ferry prisoners back to Argentina.82 After a delay caused by poor flying conditions, General Moore flew into Port Stanley and signed the surrender document at 2100, 14 June 1982.83 The war had lasted 74 days. Moore radioed to London, "The Falkland Islands are once more under the government desired by their inhabitants. God save the Queen."84 At 2215, 14 June, Mrs. Thatcher announced the surrender to the House of Commons.85 Stunned by the suddenness of victory, British fighting men felt great relief about not having to fight another battle. They eagerly looked forward to leaving the Falklands. Casualty and POW Totals. For the full war, the British suffered 255 killed and 777 wounded.86 At one point, Argentina announced it had lost 652 men either dead or missing in action from the war.87 At another time, it admitted to 1,798 dead or wounded and 3,300 missing in action.88 The British captured 11,400 prisoners.89 Clean-Up. Following the surrender, British troops faced numerous tasks throughout the islands. In addition to processing the great number of POWs, they had to clear minefields, detonate unexploded bombs, restore water and power to Port Stanley, and find shelter for 7,000 men. They also had to clean up large messes of food, ammunition, and even human excrement that the Argentines had left in the Port Stanley area. British military authorities recognized that the air and sea blockade of the Falklands had been less successful than what they had previously believed.90 NOTES 1Nicholls, pp. 221-222; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 190. 2Hastings and Jenkins, p. 191. 3Nicholls, pp. 221-22; Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 192-94. 4O'Ballance, p. 38; "The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 7," p. 1162; "Sheltered No Longer," Time, 7 June 1982, p. 37. 5DON, Lessons of the Falklands, p. 11; Nicholls, p. 222; 40 Commando. "Falklands Diary," The Globe and Laurel, July/August 1982, p. 236; Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 197-98. 6Hastings and Jenkins, p. 198; 45 Commando. "Ajax Bay to Stanley," The Globe and Laurel, July/August 1982, p. 249. 7"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 7," p. 1162; Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 202-03. 842 Commando, "Ascension to the Falklands and Back Again," The Globe and Laurel, July/August 1982, p. 242. 9Nicholls, p. 223; Thompson cassette. 10Menaul, p. 84. 11Personal interview with A.F. Whitehead, 24 January 1984. 12Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 213-14. 13Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 203-04. 14Hastings and Jenkins, p. 208. 15Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 210-11; O'Ballance, p. 39; "Falkland Islands: The noose round Port Stanley," The Economist, 5 June 1982, p. 19. 16Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 205-06 and 208-09. 17SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 9; Trotter, p. 36; Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 116-117. 18SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 9. 19Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 215-16; SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 9. 20Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 224-28; "The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 7," p. 1166. 21SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 9. 22Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 228-29; Drysdale, p. 230; Trotter, p. 36. 23Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 229-231 and 262. 24Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 231 and 236-37. 25Hastings and Jenkins, p. 240. 26Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 239 and 255-56. 27Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 240-46; Nicholls, p. 224. 28Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 246-249. 29Hastings and Jenkins, p. 249; Nicholls, p. 225. 30Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 250-251. 31Nicholls, p. 225. 32SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 10. 33Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 232, 264, and 266. 34Whitehead interview, 24 January 1984; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 232. 35Whitehead interview, 24 January 1984. 36Whitehead interview, 24 January 1984; 45 Commando, p. 250. 37Whitehead interview, 24 January 1984; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 264; 45 Commando, p. 250. 38Nicholls, p. 225; Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 264-66; 42 Commando, p. 243. 39Nicholls, p. 225; Personal interview with Toby Hunter, 29 March 1984. 4040 Commando, p. 236; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 274. 41Nicholls, p. 224; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 222; Commando Logistic Regiment, pp. 255-56. 42Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 267-68. 43"The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After April 13," p. 1098; G.W. Field, "Operation Corporate - The Falkland Islands Campaign," The Royal Engineers Journal, 96, No. 4 (1982), 235; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 269. 44Hastings and Jenkins, p. 270. 45Hastings and Jenkins, p. 271. 46Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 272-73. 47Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 273-74. 48Hastings and Jenkins, p. 274. 49Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 275-76. 50Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 276-77. 51Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 277-80. 52Menaul, p. 85. 53Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 277-282. 54SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 12. 55Hastings and Jenkins, p. 281. 56Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 281-82; 40 Commando, p. 236. 57Hastings and Jenkins, p. 285. 58Nicholls, p. 225. 59Nicholls, p. 226; 45 Commando, p. 251. 60Thompson casette; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 290. 6145 Commando, p. 250. 6242 Commando, p. 245. 63Nicholls, p. 225; 42 Commando, p. 245; N.F. Vaux, "Commando Night Attack," Marine Corps Gazette, October 1983, p. 41. 64Hastings and Jenkins, p. 291. 65Nicholls, p. 226. 66Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 297-99. 67Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 294-96; 45 Commando, p. 251; Whitehead interview, 24 January 1984. 68Hastings and Jenkins, p. 299. 69Hastings and Jenkins, p. 296; "The Falkland Crisis: Operations and Progress After May 25," p. 1227. 70Hastings and Jenkins, p. 294; 42 Commando, pp. 245-46; Vaux, pp. 42-46. 71Hastings and Jenkins, p. 299. 72Hastings and Jenkins, p. 300. 73Hastings and Jenkins, p. 299; 40 Commando, p. 238. 74Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 299-300. 75Nicholls, p. 227. 76Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 303-307. 77Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 300-303. 78Hastings and Jenkins, p. 307; 40 Commando, p. 237. 79SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 12. 80Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 309-10. 81Hastings and Jenkins, pp. 324-25. 82Hastings and Jenkins, p. 310. 83Hastings and Jenkins, p. 311. 84George Russell, "And Now, to Win the Peace," Time, 28 June 1982, p. 25. 85Hastings and Jenkins, p. 311. 86SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 27. 87Hastings and Jenkins, p. 317. 88O'Ballance, p. 45. 89SSD, The Falklands Campaign: The Lessons, p. 28. 9042 Commando, p. 247; Russell, p. 25; Hastings and Jenkins, p. 314. CHAPTER FOUR AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS PLANNING Pre-embarkation. No contingency plans for a military operation to recover the Falklands existed at the time of the Argentine invasion on 2 April.1 All elements of the task force had to start planning for the operation without benefit of preliminary staff preparations. Brigadier Thompson met with his commanders on 4 April and offered them some broad guidelines. He felt the brigade would spend a long time at sea because the amphibious force would do nothing until the Navy won the sea battle. He indicated that SAS and SBS teams would reconnoiter the islands before the landing. And he pointed out that limited assault craft and helicopter assets would rule out any direct assault on Port Stanley.2 With only this minimal but perceptive guidance, 3 Commando Brigade sailed frcm Britain to make a major amphibious landing 8,000 miles away. Landing-Site Options and Proposals. Enroute to Ascension Island, the staffs of the amphibious task group and 3 Commando Brigade developed three possible courses of action for the amphibious landing on the Falkland Islands. One course called for a landing at Steveley Bay on West Falkland, a long distance from the main Argentine forces at Port Stanley. A second course proposed a landing at San Carlos, same distance from Port Stanley but on East Falkland. A third recommended a landing on Berkeley Sound, only a few miles to the north of Port Stanley's defenses.3 (See Appendix A for the locations of these potential landing sites.) In a 17 April meeting at Ascension Island, the landing force, amphibious, and carrier task groups presented proposed courses of action to Admiral commander of the task force. Brigadier Thompson preferred the San Carlos option.4 Admiral Woodward suggested establishing a beachhead in West Falkland for the purpose of building an airstrip for C-130 Hercules and F-4 Phantom aircraft. Another option he discussed was a landing on Lafonia, a flat area south of East Falkland and connected to it only by a narrow isthmus. Admiral Fieldhouse indicated that he wanted to seize quickly East Falkland's vital objectives, including Port Stanley.5 Choice of San Carlos. The San Carlos landing site offered the amphibious force many advantages. San Carlos Water would provide sheltered water in which the ships and landing craft could easily unload the landing force and its equipment. By closing off relatively narrow Falkland Sound to the north and south of San Carlos Water, the Navy could defend the amphibious ships against any enemy surface or sun-surface attacks. Since the site lied 50 miles over very rough terrain from the enemy's main force at Port Stanley, the Argentinescould probably only attack the British beachhead with a relatively small helicopterborne force. Finally, the high ground that surrounded San Carlos Water would prevent Argentine aircraft from using their feared, sea-skimming EXOCET missiles to attack the ships unloading in San Carlos Water.6 interestingly, as long ago as the 1930's, a British naval task force had cited many of these advantages in recommending San Carlos as the best landing site for any possible operations in the Falklands.7 The San Carlos site also posed a couple of disadvantages. The surround- ing hills that would help defend against the EXOCETs would also restrict the acquisition of low-flying air threats until the aircraft emerged over the high ground. Also, the narrow width of Falkland Sound would give the Navy ships little room in which to maneuver away from eneny air attacks.8 In late April, Admiral Fieldhouse approved the recommendation by the amphibious task group and landing force to land at San Carlos. He briefed the Chief-of-Defence Committee and formally presented the San Carlos plan to the War Cabinet on 27 April. The task force received a time window of 19 May - 3 June in which to make the landing.9 Landing Plan. On 13 May Brigadier Thompson issued orders for the San Carlos landing to 60 officers in the wardroom of FEARLESS. At the time, the ship was 900 miles from Port Stanley. Again, the plan directed 40 Commando and 2 Para to secure San Carlos and Sussex Mountains in phase one. In phase two, 45 Commando and 3 Para would secure Ajax Bay and Port San Carlos settlement. Artillery and air-defense weapons would move ashore in phase three. 42 Commando would serve as brigade reserve. Two key points about the plan. Contrary to all doctrine for amphibious warfare, the plan acknowledged that the Royal Navy would not have air superiority in the landing area. Since the War Cabinet had decided on 8 May to make the landing without air superiority, the landing force had no choice but to execute.10 Second, the plan covered only the landing and defense of the beachhead. Although Brigadier Thompson and his staff had begun planning for follow-on land operations, the plan for the amphibious landing on the Falklands focused solely on the landing. EMBARKATION Time Shortage. The shortage of time available for 3 Commando Brigade to embark ships in Britain offered a major challenge to the brigade and its senior headquarters, Headquarters Commando Forces Royal Marines, which coordinated the embarkation. Because of political requirements to launch an amphibious task group immediately, the brigade embarked and sailed within eight days of the Argentine invasion. With practically no preparatory warning, the brigade's Commando Logistics Regiment loaded two-thirds of itself and allof the brigade's War Maintenance Reserves over the weekend of 2-4 April.12 Although the brigade had to restow much of the equipment later at Ascension Island, the rapid embarkation demonstrated 3 Commando Brigade's exceptional readiness to respond to a crisis. The 3rd
