Once we had taken that, we would have taken the whole mountain., As Lawrence reached the summit, other guardsmen from various platoons closed up behind and around him. While 45 Commando were marching towards Sapper Hill, Alpha and Charlie Companies from 40 Commando had escaped from the attention of the Argentine defenders on Sapper Hill and they were picked up by helicopters. On the morning of June 13 helicopters flew the men of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, from Bluff Cove to a staging area near Goat Ridge, where they soon began to take heavy artillery and mortar fire. Lance-Corporal Graham Rennie of 3 Platoon in the book 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands (Pen & Sword Books, 2003) later described the attack: Our assault was initiated by a Guardsman killing a sniper, which was followed by a volley of 66 mm anti-tank rounds. Two Royal Navy frigatesYarmouth and Activelay offshore to provide naval gunfire support. I don't know if I killed anyone. At this point I had been up and in actual combat for over six hours. These objects include cooking stands made from fencing wire, cut up oil drums for metal sheeting to construct shelters, bullets and bomb fragments. Mount Tumbledown was one of the key sites for the British Task Force to focus on during the conflict as its great height gave the Argentine troops a strong advantage and the Task Force aimed to remove this. He said the project had helped him "get through the journey without too many hiccups". Remember then just what it was to be Scots Guards hotel is opening (wait for it ..) now", Apasionante documental sobre la Guerra de Malvinas, http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1362425-un-heroe-todos-los-heroes, "Part 53. This button displays the currently selected search type. A bullet also passed through the compass secured on the belt of the Left Flank Company commander, injuring Major Kiszely. Kiszely and six other Guardsmen suddenly found themselves standing on top of the mountain, looking down on Stanley which was under street lighting and vehicles could be seen moving along the roads. Within days of the Argentine occupation the Thatcher governmentdeclaring the 1,800 Falkland residents to be of British tradition and stockhad established a war cabinet and begun to assemble a naval armada. Danger came from all quarters, as the surrounding rocks ricocheted rounds in all directions. Published Jun 12, 2022. Fortunately for the British, the shells nearly all landed in soft peat, which absorbed the blasts; otherwise, the result would have been catastrophic. Men from 9 Para Squadron, Royal Engineers, were awarded two Military Medals and Captain Sam Drennan, the Army Air Corps Scout pilot who had picked up the injured soldiers under fire and a former Scots Guards NCO, received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Nick van der Bijl, "Cuando le orden al guardiamarina Davis: "Listo, nos vamos! Privacy Policy, The 2nd Scots Guards were tasked with launching the attack on Mount Tumbledown and they were led by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Scott. Wireless Ridge. Eventually, we got the artillery and started blasting away with everything else we had as well. To help identify the bunkers, the Guardsmen fired flares at the summit. Tanks of the Blues & Royals moved forward, to provide covering fire if necessary. It is based on the experiences of Lieutenant Robert Lawrence, who was severely wounded during the battle. Reaching the rear positions of N Marine Company, Second Lieutenant Franco took the time to set free several German Shepherds left behind in the Argentine retreat from Tumbledown. Web. [12] This, Mr Eldridge said, brought "new, helpful and cathartic thoughts and feelings". [44][45] Two parked British Sea Kings within range from Koch's Marines sustained minor damage from Sergeant Miguel Angel Vaca's machine-gun and rifle-grenades fired by Corporal Carlos Jorge Sini, but both remained operational. "We ran over a mine. Its mission completed, the diversionary force withdrew, in the process losing one of its tanks to a booby trap. The fighting was hard going for Left Flank. In the first phase, G company would take the western end of the mountain. They soon stumbled upon Argentine trenches, and after an intense firefight in which two guardsmen were killed and four wounded, they withdrewstraight into an undetected minefield. In the face of such punishing fire, explosions and booby traps, the guardsmen struggled on toward the summit, one man advancing while another covered him. Despite the challenges, morale was high, for the British troops were preparing to end their misery by driving Argentine forces from the rugged escarpment before them. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Grazing livestock doesn't help, either. That done, Left Flank Company was to pass through the captured area and take the summit. Flix Roberto Aguiar and Francisco Cervo. Fearing a counter-attack, the British platoon withdrew into an undetected minefield, and were forced to abandon their dead. Reaching its objective undetected, the company found the western end of the mountain undefended and occupied it easily, but later came under heavy shellfire that wounded Major Dalzel-Job in the head. The CO sahib and the anti-tank Milan Platoon commander and the FOO were just going up and they got a rifle shot. In the first phase, G company would take the western end of the mountain. The sustained landing of British ground forces began on May 21seven weeks after the Argentine invasion at San Carlos Water, an inlet on the west coast of East Falkland Island. To Guardsman Tracy Evens, the Sapper Hill positions looked impregnable: During the battle, Guardsman Philip Williams was knocked unconscious by an explosion, and left for dead. On the eastern half of the mountain the platoon of conscripts of La Madrid were still holding out, so Colonel Scott ordered Right Flank to push on to clear the final positions. At one stage Lieutenant Colonel Michael Scott, (Commanding Officer of 2 SG), thought the battalion might have to withdraw and attack again the next night, The old nails were being bitten a bit, if we had been held on Tumbledown it . The conflict itself was reasonably short, but very bloody. The archaeological team found an "abundance" of scavenged metal, including fence wire and railway track, sleeping bags, blankets and entrenching tools that spoke to the "makeshift inhabitation" and "anticipation of the fighting to come", said Dr Clack. They were detected, however, and the British were briefly pinned down by gunfire before a bayonet charge overwhelmed the Argentinian defenders. This close-quarters night battle was later dramatized in the BBC drama Tumbledown. The British schedule called for a diversionary attack south of Mount Tumbledown by a small number of the Scots Guards, assisted by the four light tanks of the Blues and Royals, whilst the leading attack came as a three-phase . Studying the memories of veterans alongside historical sources and the archaeological remains would enable a unique and "enhanced understanding of events", he explained. Their orders were to move towards Sapper Hill only after these objectives were taken. The attack was supported by naval gunfire from HMS Active's 4.5 inch gun. In 1982 the notoriously oppressive and much-beleaguered military junta that governed Argentina saw the seizure of the Falklands as an opportunity to distract its citizens from the many economic and human rights issues plaguing the country and to unite Argentines behind a self-justifying campaign. At 750 feet, the most challenging objective was Mount Tumbledown, a collection of crags, slabs and boulders that constituted an ideal defensive position. According to Dhanbahadur Rai, a Gurkha: The Scots Guards were to attack Tumbledown, with the Gurkhas following behind. Emma Goss, heritage conservation officer at the Falkland Islands Museum, also said the project was unique in both using the perspectives of former combatants and "in the future, utilising the first-hand perspectives of islanders who were heavily involved in the war". The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement in the Falklands War, one of a series of battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley. As La Madrid withdrew after suffering five killed,[7] the platoons under Second Lieutenant Aldo Franco and Guillermo Robredo moved in from the eastern edge of the mountain to try to help La Madrid and the Marine 2nd platoon (under Second Lieutenant Marcelo Oruezabala) holding the saddle between Mounts Tumbledown and William. Mount Tumbledown was one of the key sites for the British Task Force to focus on during the conflict as its great height gave the Argentine troops a strong advantage and the Task Force aimed to remove this. Someone fired!" It was, Lawrence wrote, out-and-out battle, the fullest possible fighting. Throwing himself into the thick of the fight, Major John Kiszely, Left Flanks commander, shot two enemy soldiers and bayoneted a third. Fuel indications suggested a considerable fuel leak at the same time. In his moment of victory on the eastern slopes, Lawrence was almost killed when a bullet fired by an Argentine sniper tore off the side of his head. It was absolutely horrific. In the third phase, Right Flank would pass through Left Flank to secure the eastern end of Tumbledown. The 2nd Bn Scots Guards' Reconnaissance Platoon, commanded by Major Richard Bethell (a former SAS officer), and supported by four light tanks of the 'Blues & Royals', clashed with the Argentine O Marine Company under Marine Captain Quiroga in a blocking position on the lower slopes of Mount William. A half-hour into the engagement, shortly after 10 p.m., G Company commenced the assault on Tumbledown. It was snowing and we were tired. The first phase of the plan featured a diversionary maneuver. Due to the call for a swift response, transportation of troops to the war zone was, in some instances, haphazard at best. Kiszely was later awarded the Military Cross for his actions that night. Three Shirburnians serving with the 2 nd Battalion Scots Guard were involved in the Battle of Tumbledown Mountain during the Falklands Conflict, which was fought on 13-14 June 1982 and resulted in the British troops capturing the heights above Stanley :. By 9:45 a.m., some 12 hours after the first shot rang out, the firing ceased. The Falkland Islandsan archipelago in the South Atlantic comprising two large islands and 776 smaller ones lie a few hundred miles off the coast of Argentina and nearly 8,000 miles from the United Kingdom. [citation needed]. Pairs of civilian shoes were found tucked neatly in rock crevices in some of the Argentines' temporary fortifications, or sangars. By 9:00a.m., the Scots Guards had gained the high ground east of Tumbledown Mountain and the Gurkhas commenced deploying across the heavily shelled saddle from Tumbledown south to Mount William, which they took with the loss of 8 wounded. British troops swarmed over the mountaintop and drove the Argentinians out, at times fighting with fixed bayonets. [49], Due to his actions on both Two Sisters and Tumbledown, Private Oscar Ismael Poltronieri of La Madrid's platoon was awarded the Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross, Argentina's highest military decoration. They were detected, however, and the British were briefly pinned down by gunfire before a bayonet charge overwhelmed the Argentinian defenders. Two Royal Navy submarines soon surfaced off the Falklands, while other warships sailed out of various British ports, and requisitioned civilian transport vesselsincluding the Cunard Line flagship Queen Elizabeth 2ferried ground forces to the islands. Prior to the British landings, the Argentinian marine battalion had been brought up to brigade strength by a company of the Amphibious Engineers Company (CKIA), a heavy machine-gun company of the Headquarters Battalion (BICO), a battery of the 1st Marine Field Artillery Battalion (BIAC), and three Tigercat SAM/Hispano-Suiza 30mm anti-aircraft gun batteries of the 1st Marine Anti-Aircraft Regiment, as well as a 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion platoon, a 3rd Marine Infantry Battalion platoon, a military police platoon and a canine platoon. Cold, exhausted and running low on ammunition, the Argentines finally surrendered. I hadn't fired directly at a British soldier, as they had been too hard to get a clear shot at. The Welsh Guards had lost one dead, the Royal Engineers had also lost one dead, and the Gurkhas had sustained altogether 10 wounded. The attacking British forces consisted of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards (2SG), mortar detachments from 42 Commando, Royal Marines and the 1st Battalion, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles (1/7 GR), as well as support from a troop of the Blues and Royals equipped with two Scorpion and two Scimitar armoured vehicles. Mount Tumbledown. The Argentinians opened fire, killing two British soldiers and wounding four others. The team also found evidence of illegally excavated Argentine bunkers. In the second phase, Left Flank (company) would pass through the area taken by G company to capture the centre of the summit. The archaeological evidence painted a "vivid picture", enabling the team "not just to map these remains within the landscape but also to plot the footsteps of those who fought across that incredibly rugged terrain", he continued. In the centre and to the left of the 4th Platoon were Second Lieutenant scar Silva's RI 4 platoon, which had recently fought well on Goat Ridge. MacLeod executed a very quick and professional landing in worrying circumstances. But once returned across this vast sea, M Company occupied Sapper Hill. Right Flank had achieved this at the cost of five wounded, including Lieutenant Lawrence. The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement during the Falklands War. It was released as a single by the Pipes and Drums of 2SG a year later.[16]. The Argentinians refused to budge; the Guardsmen could hear some of them shouting obscene phrases in English and even singing the March of the Malvinas as they fought. Nor the memory of our dead neglect, Adding to the other-worldliness of the scene was a surprise blizzard that sent snow swirling around the silhouetted fighting figures. They were eventually landed on the slopes of Sapper Hill just as 45 Commando were approaching, so both units attacked and captured the hill. I went through another gap in the rocks and was surprised by three men speaking in English behind and above me and firing over the top of me. The 2nd Scots Guards were tasked with launching the attack on Mount Tumbledown and they were led by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Scott. The obverse features key events set against the Union Flag in full colour and an intricate engraving of the Islands. Geoffrey Underwood, Our Falklands War: The Men of the Task Force Tell Their Story, p. 42, Maritime Books, 1983, "9 Troop were inadvertently set down 3km east of the intended landing zone, and were on Sapper Hill. At one stage Lieutenant Colonel Michael Scott, (Commanding Officer of 2 SG), thought the battalion might have to withdraw and attack again the next night, The old nails were being bitten a bit, if we had been held on Tumbledown it might have encouraged them to keep on fighting.[6]. The third phase began at 06:00, when RF Company began attacking their designated targets. Two members of 9 PARA Squadron, Royal Engineers, received Military Medals, and a helicopter pilot who repeatedly risked his life to transport wounded from the mountain during combat received the Distinguished Flying Cross. A group of Sappers went ahead to clear a path through the mines, but when the Welsh Guardsmen advanced they found Sapper Hill abandoned. J. M. Kneen and D. J. Sutton, "Marine Vince Comb, seventeen and a half years old and the youngest man in the troop, was the machine gunner and was hit by bullets in the wrist and arm. [39] The 5th Marines worked their way back into Stanley, leaving the 2nd Platoon of Marine Second Lieutenant Marcelo Davis and 3rd Platoon of Marine Second Lieutenant Alejandro Koch of M Company to cover the retreat. Read about our approach to external linking. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Dozens of girls treated after new Iran poisonings, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Carlos Robacio, BIM5 commander, was awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal and the battalion itself was decorated by the Argentine Congress in 2002. Three dimensional digital models are being made of a number of structures, such as bunkers and sangars. On William's southern slopes, one of the tanks was taken out of action by a booby trap. During the recovery, the aircraft caught fire on Hermes flight deck, owing to a fractured reaction pipe. The actual fighting lasted only a matter of weeks but claimed more than 900 lives. Nick Van Der Bijl, Victory in the Falklands, p. 224, Pen and Sword, 2007. The Argentinian defenders held firm under the British 'softening up' bombardment, which began at 7:30 local time. It has been said that the soft ground on which the battle took place helped to save the Scots Guards from further injury as the peat absorbed the mortar shell explosions from the Argentine side, reducing their impact greatly. The battle started at about 830 pm on 13 June, beginning with a diversion, since the argentines are fond of diversion. For the courage displayed in the attack, men from 2 SG were awarded one Distinguished Service Order, two Military Crosses, two Distinguished Conduct Medals (one posthumously) and two Military Medals. Here was a golden opportunity being missed. In argenteenish, "diversin" means "fun." But there was no fun in any of it. "The long-term exposure to their feared stimulus, the battle, during the trip reduced levels of anxiety. [46] The Argentine Marine companies had been deeply entrenched and were well equipped with heavy machine guns. We just fired our rifles, that's all. By that time British forces had taken nearby Mount Harriet, Two Sisters Ridge anddespite prolonged Argentine artillery fire and heavy casualtiesMount Longdon. The Guards took 30 prisoners, several of them RI 6 soldiers from Bravo Company. The Scots Guards, a regiment of the British Army, suffered significant casualties during the 1982 Falklands War while fighting on Tumbledown Mountain. 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