we were there the battle of mount tumbledown

In Argentine shelling directed by Marine Second Lieutenant Marcelo De Marco of the 5th Marines from his observation post on Tumbledown Mountain, four members of the Third Battalion, the Parachute Regiment and one REME craftsman had been killed on Mount Longdon and another seven paratroopers wounded. [17] In his moment of victory on the eastern slopes, Lawrence was almost killed when a bullet fired by an Argentine stay-behind sniper tore off the side of his head. [citation needed]. Due to their proximity to the capital, they were of strategic importance during the 1982 War. Still, the commander of the Royal Marines 42 Commando unit praised the beaten Argentine marines: [They] marched smartly, holding their regimental colors high as they marched along the streets of Port Stanley. The British coveted the enemys regimental flags, but to their disappointment the Argentines doused their banners with gasoline and burned them to ashes as their enemies watched. In a sense the casualty figures are misleading. Mount Tumbledown. Cold, exhausted and running low on ammunition, the Argentines finally surrendered. Lieutenant Bushby radioed for help, but he was using a trailing antenna, as opposed to a whip aerial, and was unsuccessful. This close-quarters night battle was later dramatized in the BBC drama Tumbledown. Islanders have also got involved, as have British army veterans and even an artist. There the group observed virtual and live firing demonstrations using rifles and pistols, before spending a night under the stars to try out night vision devices. Kiszely was later awarded the Military Cross for his actions that night. The fight for the Falklands officially commenced on May 1, when a long-range Royal Air Force Vulcan bomber dropped its payload on Port Stanley Airport, and Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS1s shot down three Argentine aircraft. I ran back to my position and ordered my men to open fire. [citation needed], The Royal Marines in Second Lieutenant Carl Bushby's 9 Troop protecting the landing zone successfully defended their position when the Argentine Marines under Davis launched a counter-attack, the last one of the ground campaign. Argentine Panhard armoured cars were moved forward to the edge of Stanley to cover the retreating troops. About us| Ron Soodalter has written for Americas Civil War, Civil War Times, Wild West and Smithsonian. According to Guardsman Mark Cape,[11] another three Guardsmen defending the summit were also wounded in this action, when Mio, De Marco and Privates Oscar Poltronieri and Carlos Muela attacked their position with hand grenades.[12]. 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. Nor were they alone in their disapproval. The 5th Platoon, led by Lieutenant Hctor Omar Mio, was positioned behind the 4th Platoon, facing north in support of Lucero's men. They were well used to it. Due to their proximity to the capital, they were of strategic importance during the 1982 War. Someone fired!" And through each death paid the total price 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. A group of Sappers from Condor Troop went ahead to clear a path through the mines, losing Sergeant Peter Thorpe badly wounded in the process. The unique project is documenting a number of Argentine defensive positions in the 1982. "Meeting the Falkland Islanders who are so grateful for their sacrifice meant that their war had not been forgotten.". Both sides took casualties, with the PARAs giving much worse than they received. A British Harrier was claimed to be hit by concentrated fire from M Company, on 7 June. Over the next three hours they captured all but three of the enemy foxholes. 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. A bullet passed through the compass secured on Kiszely's belt. Meanwhile, the 7th Duke of Edinburghs Own Gurkha Rifles had bypassed Tumbledown to capture Mount William to the south, while the Welsh Guards seized Sapper Hill, and 2 PARA took Wireless Ridge. In the words of one veteran of Britains elite 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), the war was short, sharp and very nasty and, often fought at close quarters with bayonets and grenades, like something out of World War I. Soldiers on both sides had little understanding of, or appreciation for, either the causes or the stakes; regardless, the battles were no less fierce, the deaths no less senseless, than those suffered in conflicts of greater global import. The delay caused by the mines may have saved lives. The British capture of heights above Stanley leads to the surrender of the town shortly afterwards. Till at last the ground they'd proved The close quarter battle was such that the Argentine artillery was unable to drop shells on to the British attackers. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. As the Guardsmen and Royal Marines consolidated their positions, the British lost a Volvo Bv 202 tracked vehicle to an anti-tank mine planted in the Sapper Hill sector. [2], During the battle, the 5th Marines Command Post took five direct hits, but Commander Robacio emerged unscathed.[3]. Secretary of State for Defence Sir John Nott himself later wrote, I must confess that I wasnt much aware of the Falkland Islands before the invasion[and] was a bit horrified to see how far away they were. Regardless, although the distant Falklands and South Georgia had long since ceased to be of commercial interest to the United Kingdom, they remained British dependencies, and the Ministry of Defence began immediate preparations for an all-out response to the invasion of the South Atlantic islands. M Company occupied Sapper Hill. They also engaged us with light mortars and missile launchers. Mount Tumbledown Works Cited Defensive positions http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Tumbledown.JPG They were held by the Argentine 5th Naval Infantry Battalion (BIM 5), a reinforced, cold weather trained and equipped, Marine battalion. It was released as a single by the Pipes and Drums of 2SG a year later.[16]. They had been grievously misinformed. During the advance, they became bogged down in a minefield, which took them a very long and frustrating time to extract themselves from, after coming under fire from heavy mortars on Sapper Hill. They skirmished on, numbed by shock. Max Arthur. The next day, the 1st Assault Section (under First Lieutenant Jos Martiniano Duarte) from the 601st Commando Company checked the boat for hidden explosives, then brought it back to Port Stanley for closer examination.[24]. They were detected, however, and the British were briefly pinned down by gunfire before a bayonet charge overwhelmed the Argentinian defenders. Initially, naval action accounted for the greatest number of casualties, with heavy losses of ships and lives on both sides. 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. During the helicopter evacuations of the wounded, Captain Sam Drennan of No. Of those eight brave men who died? Based on the experiences of Lieutenant Robert Lawrence, M.C.. They came on us fast, and we fell back We eventually got through to Stanley, through what I would like to say was a perfect barrage fired by the Royal Artillery. One of a number of night battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley, the battle led to British troops capturing all the heights above the town, allowing the town's capture and the surrender of the Argentine forces on the islands. 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. 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 and Royals, attacked the Argentinian marine company entrenched on the lower slopes of Mount William. Meanwhile, the men of the 1st Battalion 7th Gurkha Rifles had been spotted and shelled from Argentine mortar fire controllers and artillery officers on Sapper Hill, suffering eight wounded. A Royal Marine had stepped on a mine, followed by another a few minutes later. The CO sahib and the anti-tank Milan Platoon commander and the FOO were just going up and they got a rifle shot. Forty years of exposure to the Falklands' harsh climate takes its toll. Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Rod Eldridge from Waterloo Uncovered assisted the project in his capacity as a mental health professional and said the archaeological work helped support the veterans' "new and updated appraisals of what happened during the battle for Tumbledown". Seeing their company commander among the Argentinians inspired 14 and 15 Platoons to make the final dash across open ground to get within bayoneting distance of the remaining 4th Platoon Marines. "All of this adds a richness to field archaeology - which is not seen often," she added. B Company, 6th Regiment was in reserve behind N Company. However, Left Flank had lost two men killed and several wounded during the Argentine counterattack, when mortar fire controllers on Mount William targeted British wounded and stretcher bearers in error. 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. The Argentine marines, noted Lawrence, were wearing American-style uniform: big green parkas with webbing over the top.. The platoon commander [Marine Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Daniel Vazquez] then called Private Ramon Rotela manning the 60 millimetre mortar and Rotela fired it straight up into the air so that the bombs landed on ourselves. Thule Island. At the time of the battle, Marine Teniente de Navio (Ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant) Eduardo Villarraza's N Company held Mount Tumbledown. In a meeting with his company commanders the consensus was that the long uphill assault across the harsh ground of Tumbledown would be suicidal in daylight. These objects include cooking stands made from fencing wire, cut up oil drums for metal sheeting to construct shelters, bullets and bomb fragments. Llegados al lugar, se pudo comprobar la exactitud del aviso: sobre la playa haba un bote neumtico en posicin invertida." The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement during the Falklands War. Mount Tumbledown was where the war ended. The Scots Guards eventually mortally wounded him in a hail of gunfire,[16] but not before the Argentine soldier generated more confusion, resulting in the wounding of the Forward Observation Officer (FOO, Captain Swinton) attached to the Gurkhas, while clearing the positions of Marine Sergeant Jorge Lucero's 3rd Platoon before advancing on to take Mount William. "Alas, we will likely never know what was found and taken by those that took it upon themselves to dig on the battlefield without permissions," Dr Clack added. The Argentinian forces defending the mountains were Commander Carlos Robacio's 5th Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 5). Six Royal Marines were wounded by mines and small-arms fire[41][42][43] securing Sapper Hill, including four Marines from 40 Commando, one Sapper from Condor Troop and a forward officer (Major Brian Armitage) from 3 Commando Brigade HQs. Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins. The Falklands presented a more daunting challenge. The Argentinians, later learned to be of company strength, directed mortar, grenade, machine gun and small arms fire from very close range at the British company, killing three British soldiers. [56], Two British artists have depicted the battle in painting, Mark Churms[57] and Terence Cuneo, the latter commissioned by the Scots Guards. I may be wrong but I think the Scots Guards battalion at the battle of Mount Tumbledown was the 1st Battalion Scots Guards - NOT 2nd Battalion Scots Guards. But Was He Drugged Into Confessing? He played a quick march he had composed "on the back of a fag packet" [cigarette pack][51] during the battle, following a long tradition in which Pipe Majors were encouraged "to write tunes to commemorate any actions in which their regiments have been engaged". The initial advance was unopposed, but a heavy firefight broke out when British troops made contact with Argentinian defences. The Falklands War Documentary - The Battle of Mount Longdon (Soldiers Interview HD) Lifeisaticket 178 subscribers Subscribe Like 79K views 6 years ago Heroes of the Falklands War talk candidly. Through shell and mortar fire they moved, George Washington had complained vociferously about the flood of questionable foreign volunteers. Close to the heart of any Scots. James D. Ladd, By Sea, by Land: The Royal Marines 1919-1997: An Authorised History, p. 403, HarperCollins, 2000, "The firefight rolled backwards and forwards. The assaulting British forces were the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, 42 Commando, Royal Marines Mortar platoon and four light tanks of the Blues and Royals. The Battle of Mount Longdon was an engagement of the Falklands War between British and Argentine forces, which took place on 11-12 June 1982, resulting in the British victory and their occupation of a key position around the besieged Argentine garrison. 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. 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".[9]. On returning to England, his first words on seeing his father, a retired Royal Air Force wing commander, were, Oh, Daddyit wasnt worth it.. 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. The engagement was an attack by the British Army and the Royal Marines on the heights over-looking Stanley, the Falkland Islands capital. The Welsh Guards had lost one dead, the Royal Engineers had also lost one dead, and the Gurkhas had sustained altogether 13 wounded, including the artillery observation officer, Captain Keith Swinton. Such was the bravery of the British troops during the Battle for Mount Tumbledown that a number of medals, including 2 Military Crosses and 2 Distinguished Conduct Medals, were awarded following the conflict. 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 part of the British plan, 1/7 GR was given the task of capturing the sub-hill of Mount William held by O Company, the 5th Marine Battalion's reserve, and then allowing the Welsh Guards through to seize Sapper Hill, the final obstacle before Stanley. So those of you who live to talk, As Major Oscar Jaimet recalled in Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006), I heard the cries of the wounded calling for their comrades, twelve men wounded before nightfall. The Scots Guards, a regiment of the British Army, suffered significant casualties during the 1982 Falklands War while fighting on Tumbledown Mountain. The successive governments of Argentina had felt the islands to be theirs, however, and over the decades had lodged a series of formaland wholly ineffectualprotests. We had to wait for breaks in the firing, but I still lost a man killed there.[13]. 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". A group of Sappers went ahead to clear a path through the mines, but when the Welsh Guardsmen advanced they found Sapper Hill abandoned. Oscar Luis Jofre and Flix Roberto Aguiar, "A small counter-attack did now take place, but was driven off, but not without further casualties, including a mortar bomb which killed two stretcher-bearers tending to the wounded.". Lieutenant Robert Lawrence led 3 Platoon around to the right of the Argentinian platoon, hoping to take the Argentinians by surprise. [46] The Argentine Marine companies had been deeply entrenched and were well equipped with heavy machine guns. 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