Meanwhile, two Royal Navy frigates, HMS Yarmouth and HMS Active, were pounding Tumbledown with their 4.5 inch guns. Lieutenant Robert Lawrence led 3 Platoon around to the right of the Argentinian platoon, hoping to take the Argentinians by surprise. In the first phase, G company would take the western end of the mountain. The battle for Tumbledown began on the night of June 11th, 1982 and lasted for several days. There a well-trained Argentine marine battalion was heavily dug into a series of intricate bunkers, cut in the rock.The firepower of the marines was intense and impressive.. This page was last edited on 23 October 2022, at 23:19. 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. They fired all around it so that it would run into the bullets, it tilted, began to smoke and was lost at sea. The Battle of Mount Tumbledown By Regan Brands Significance Freed the Argentinean people from a harsh military rule. During the helicopter evacuations of the wounded, Captain Sam Drennan of No. Next on the agenda was a trip to the RAF's 1435 (Typhoon) Flight, where they were shown around one of the fighter aircraft permanently stationed at MPC; the RAF then flew the group over the islands on an A400M Atlas transport. Only the personal intervention of Colonel Flix Aguiar, the 10th Brigade Chief of Staff, brought the fighting to an end. At this point I had been up and in actual combat for over six hours. ", l todava estaba pensando en el contraataque, y sali disparando hacia el frente, o sea al revs Es que Davis y sus hombres estaban listos para largar el contraataque. 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. 2015. The fighting was intense and brutal, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The Argentinian forces defending the mountains were Commander Carlos Robacio's 5th Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 5). To its great surprise the company met with practically no resistance and quickly secured its objective. M Company occupied Sapper Hill. In 2012, Argentine journalist Nicolas Kasanzew wrote a tango called "Carlos Daniel Vazquez's Thermopylae", which is sung by Carlos Longoni. The Falklands presented a more daunting challenge. The British fired antitank rockets at enemy positions, but the Argentines held, raining down mortar and machine-gun fire on the guardsmen. 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. 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 [13], 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. Although Margaret Thatchers government rode a wave of popular sentiment into another term of office, many Britons continued to question the necessity of an armed conflict that had claimed the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British servicemen, as well as three Falkland Islanders, and left thousands more wounded over an ancient possession of questionable worth, thousands of miles distant, that few of their countrymen had even known existed. Captain Timothy Simon Spicer (School 1966-1969 . I was shooting, doing my work. 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 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. He played a quick march he had composed "on the back of a fag packet" [cigarette pack],[15] during the battle, following a long tradition in which Pipe Majors were encouraged "to write tunes to commemorate any actions in which their regiments have been engaged". "En la madrugada del da 31, dos ataques areos con aviones Vulcan y Harrier sobre las posiciones del RI 3, del RI 25 y la zona del aeropuerto, pusieron fuera de servicio, transitoriamente, el radar de vigilancia de la Fuerza Area." The fighting was hard going for Left Flank. Nobby knew what we were up to and had dropped in to tell us that he was going to take his patrol forward by helicopter that night and establish an observation post at Port Harriet House." Marine Private Jorge Sanchez recalled: The fighting was sporadic, but at times fierce, as we tried to maintain our position. The 1st Battalion, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles were held in reserve. By 6 a.m., Left Flank's attack had clearly stalled and had cost the British company seven men killed and 18 wounded. The Guardsmen traded 66mm rockets and 84mm anti-tank rounds with the Argentinians, who were armed with anti-tank rifle grenades and protected in their rock bunkers. While the British boasted nearly three times as many ships, the Argentines held a 3-to-1 advantage in combat aircraft. B Company, 6th Regiment was in reserve behind N Company. The British plan 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 main attack came as a three-phase silent advance from the west of Mount Tumbledown. [31] (The Harrier had extensive repairs and, though still operational, it was ultimately transferred to the School of Flight Deck Operations at Culdrose,[32] and was eventually donated to the Polish Aviation Museum of Krakw. 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. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. 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. I heard Private Roberto Barboza yell "The English are here!" Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. The Argentinians had well dug-in machine guns and snipers. The initial advance was unopposed, but a heavy firefight broke out when British troops made contact with Argentine defences. + Follow. Londons Sunday Times later shared with its readers that on Mount Tumbledown the Scots Guards were to face the toughest action of all. A Royal Marine had stepped on a mine, followed by another a few minutes later. 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. On Mount William's southern slopes, one of the tanks was taken out of action by a booby trap. At 4.30 p.m., on 7 June 1982, a British Harrier bombing positions held by the 5th Marine Battalion was reportedly hit by concentrated fire from M Company (under Marine Sub-Lieutenant Rodolfo Cionchi) on Sapper Hill. Due to their proximity to the capital, they were of strategic importance during the 1982 War. 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. Port Stanley. At 750 feet, the most challenging objective was Mount Tumbledown, a collection of crags, slabs and boulders that constituted an ideal defensive position. 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. Terms of Use| [52][53] He named the tune The Crags of Tumbledown Mountain. At 2:30a.m., however, a second British assault overwhelmed the men of the 4th and 12th Regiments but the survivors of Vazquez's 4th Platoon would continue fighting till about 7:00 am. Note: this is a language joke. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. 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. 2023 BBC. The Argentinians, in the form of their 6th Infantry Regiment's B Company, now counter-attacked and a burst of machine gun fire from the 3rd Platoon of Second Lieutenant Augusto La Madrid injured three British men, including Lieutenant Alasdair Mitchell, commander of 15 Platoon. To Guardsman Tracy Evens, the Sapper Hill positions looked impregnable: We were led to an area that the company would rest at for the night, I still took in the fact the Argies had prepared Sapper Hill well, they had depth positions that would have made the task of taking it very hard.[47]. It is based on the experiences of Lieutenant Robert Lawrence, who was severely wounded during the battle. 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. "In the gloomy dawn, Captain Villarraza's Forward Observation Officer on Sapper Hill, Second Lieutenant Marcelo De Marco, radioed 3rd Artillery Group for airburst, which wounded eight Gurkhas." The Argentinian defenders held firm under the British 'softening up' bombardment, which began at 7:30 local time. The CO sahib and the anti-tank Milan Platoon commander and the FOO were just going up and they got a rifle shot. 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. 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. In June, Lieutenant Reynoso's Recce Platoon reportedly exchanged small arms fire with a British patrol (possibly G Squadron from the SAS, who had commandeered a yacht at Bluff Cove Settlement to operate behind Tumbledown[25] and had also sent men forward in a helicopter[26]) infiltrated near Sapper Hill, prior to the final land battles. [55], A cross has been erected at the summit of the mountain as a memorial to the soldiers who died in the battle. By 9:45 a.m., some 12 hours after the first shot rang out, the firing ceased. 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. 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. But Was He Drugged Into Confessing? Forty years of exposure to the Falklands' harsh climate takes its toll. I went up through the roof and the vehicle went up and was turned right round by the explosion," recalled Major Brian Armitage. I guessed that they were adjusting onto our muzzle flashes so I told all the company to stop firing with their small arms. Flix Roberto Aguiar and Francisco Cervo. "It has been the trip of a lifetime to be part of the project and facing a few demons; it has been a life-changer," he explained. While awaiting orders, some of the guardsmenmany fresh from ceremonial duty in London and new to combat asked a few of the elite PARAs, who had recently captured Goose Green, how the Argentines had performed in combat. Saved countless others from their own unknown. But as soon as we opened up we got very accurate artillery fire back at our own position. In a sense the casualty figures are misleading. Mount Tumbledown, Mount William and Sapper Hill lie west of the capital. [5] Two men were wounded covering the withdrawal and four more were wounded by mines. 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 marines. This close-quarters night battle was later dramatized in the BBC drama Tumbledown. Archaeologists and veterans have been surveying what remains in the battlefields of the Falkland Islands. "After some time an explosion was heard. The 2nd Battalion Scots Guards had lost eight dead and 43 wounded. 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. Men were suffering from frostbite and trench foot, and rations were running low. After colonial conflicts with France and Spain over the islands, Britain claimed sovereignty in 1774, landed troops to reassert its dominion in 1833 and formally established the Falklands as a Crown colony in 1840. The Guards took 30 prisoners, several of them RI 6 soldiers from Bravo Company. This should be checked. The Scots Guards were tasked with taking the mountain from a well-entrenched Argentine force. The project is the first time that war veterans have taken part in an archaeological survey of their own battlefield. The 2nd Scots Guards were tasked with launching the attack on Mount Tumbledown and they were led by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Scott. "The long-term exposure to their feared stimulus, the battle, during the trip reduced levels of anxiety. 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. We thought we had suffered before, but what luxury and comfort compared to this. The obverse features key events set against the Union Flag in full colour and an intricate engraving of the Islands. Adding to the other-worldliness of the scene was a surprise blizzard that sent snow swirling around the silhouetted fighting figures. Nor were they alone in their disapproval. [6], 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. The British troops swarmed over the mountaintop and killed, wounded or captured several of the RI 4 and RI 12 defenders, at times fighting with fixed bayonets. In argenteenish, "diversin" means "fun." But there was no fun in any of it. 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. He is the only conscript soldier in his nation's recent history who has received this honour. The close quarter battle was such that the Argentine artillery was unable to drop shells on to the British attackers. 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". In the third phase, Right Flank would pass through Left Flank to secure the eastern end of Tumbledown. At the time of the battle, N Company held Mount Tumbledown. His charge reached the top of the mountain, although it absorbed a massive amount of his men, and in the end he and a group of six others were on top of Mount Tumbledown, three of whom were, however, injured. "Battle for Mount Tumbledown". Fue impresionante su actitud ofensiva.". "Fue destacada para su reconocimiento la primera seccin del teniente primero Jos M. Duarte, la cual desde temprano esper en el antiguo cuartel de los Royal Marines, en Moody Brook, que las condiciones meteorolgicas permitieran la salida de los helicpteros asignados a la operacin. Its mission completed, the diversionary force withdrew, in the process losing one of its tanks to a booby trap. [38] Due to this delay, it was decided that 45 Commando should move forward from Two Sisters to occupy Sapper Hill. 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. Major Simon Price sent 2 and 3 Platoons forward, preceded by a barrage of 66mm rockets to clear the Argentine reinforcements. I assumed the enemy was withdrawing to regroup on Sapper Hill and the last thing I wanted was another major battle. Throughout the fight the mountain was bathed in unearthly light as star shell illumination rounds fired by British naval vessels fell slowly to earth on parachutes, casting long, eerie shadows over the craggy landscape. Nor the memory of our dead neglect, 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". After two hours of hard fighting, the British secured the position. With Colin Firth, Paul Rhys, David Calder, Barbara Leigh-Hunt. BRITISH AIRCRAFT LOST 22nd April 12th June 1982", Un ejemplo de opreracin conjunta: Hrcules y Panhard, "The Crags of Mount Tumbledown (Jimmy Riddell)", "Tumbledown Veterans And Families Association > Home", "Notes - Band of the Scots Guards - the Household Division - Official site", "Crags of Tumbledown Mountain, the | Pipetunes", In his first interview in 20 years, Robert Lawrence tells Mark Townsend how the trauma of battle reshaped his life, Reassessing the Fighting Performance of the Argentine 5th Marines, Taken from the diary of Guardsman Tracy Evens, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Mount_Tumbledown&oldid=1117859240, The 1st Platoon, under by Marine Second Lieutenant (. [8] Major John Kiszely's Left Flank passed through them and reached the central region of the peak unopposed, but then came under heavy fire.[9]. Teaching sessions combining archaeology and art in the community's museum and schools were also led by the project's artist - Sergeant-Major (Retired) Douglas Farthing MBE. Lying around four miles west of the Falkland Islands capital, Port Stanley, Mount Tumbledown was seen by the British Task Force as being of primary importance in their breaking down of the Argentine threat. The British battle plan was straightforward and hinged on Scots Guards rifle units divided into three companies. As he gazed down at the lights of Port Stanley some 4 miles distant, an enemy rifle in each hand, a 7.62mm high-velocity armor-piercing round slammed into his head at 3,800 feet per second, destroying nearly 45 percent of his brain. I reorganized and found that I was down to sixteen men. Max Arthur. A 155 mm howitzer was lightly damaged and six soldiers injured. 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. 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. A daytime assault was initially planned, but was postponed at the British battalion commander's request. At 8:30p.m. on 13 June the diversionary attack began. On the night of 1314 June 1982 the British launched an assault on Mount Tumbledown, one of the highest points near the town of Stanley, the capital, and succeeded in driving Argentinian forces from the mountain. The project "opened my eyes to a whole bigger picture of what happened in all areas of Tumbledown during battle," he added. Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins. The project is a joint enterprise between Oxford University, Glasgow University, the veteran well-being charity Waterloo Uncovered and the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust. The number and variety of features had been a surprise, he added, and the survey had made it clear that events on other battlefields towards the end of the war, such as on Mount Longdon, had an effect on the Argentine defence of Tumbledown. Singly and in small contingents, the rest of the Scots Guards clawed their way to the summit. These men earned his respect and the respect of the nation. Also present on Sapper Hill were 155mm guns from the 101st Artillery Group, the 120mm Heavy Mortar Platoon from Captain Ramn Alberto Varela's C Company, and the Reconnaissance Platoon (under Lieutenant Norman Osvaldo Reynoso) from the 3rd General Manuel Belgrano Mechanized Infantry Regiment. Then the FOO was standing and looking and the second shot hit him in the chest.[19]. We ran over a mine. "I was 33 and I had been serving for around 15 years. [50], After the battle, Pipe Major James Riddell of 2 SG stood near the top of the mountain and played his bagpipes. What's he waiting for? 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. While this might well describe a scenario from World War I, the date was in fact June 13, 1982, and the trenches in which the British troops huddled were carved not across some stretch of French countryside but into near-frozen tundra by the base of Mount Tumbledown in the subarctic Falkland Islands. The third phase began at 06:00, when RF Company began attacking their designated targets. By this time we had ten or twelve dead including one officer [Second Lieutenant Oscar Silva, Argentine Army]. Here was a golden opportunity being missed. The film won several awards including the RTS Television Award 1989 for best male actor for Colin Firth's performance in the role of Lieutenant Lawrence. The Argentine marines, noted Lawrence, were wearing American-style uniform: big green parkas with webbing over the top.. They had been grievously misinformed. We ran forward in extended line, machine-gunners and riflemen firing from the hip to keep the enemy heads down, enabling us to cover the open ground in the shortest possible time. The fight for Mount Tumbledown was the last battle in a conflict that was, by modern standards, a small warand to many an unnecessary one. 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 . Once they had secured the western side of the island, the British would fight their way east to seize Port Stanley and effectively end the conflict. The height advantage that the Argentine troops were given as a result of being based on the Mount meant that British troops were not able to advance close to it without being seen by the enemy. 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. This battle saw 43 British soldiers injured and 9 men killed, while Argentinas 5thMarine Infantry Brigade lost 30 men and saw a further 30 taken as prisoners of war. At 8:30p.m. on 13 June the diversionary attack began. He was immediately replaced on the machine gun and two Royal Marines gave him morphine and first aid." They skirmished on, numbed by shock. According to the South Atlantic Medal Association (SAMA), a nongovernmental organization representing and supporting Falklands veterans, within 20 years of the end of the fighting an estimated 264 British veteransmore than had been killed in combathad committed suicide, possibly as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. Unwilling to abandon the hill, Commander Carlos Robacio on Sapper Hill was planning to counter-attack and drive back the Guardsmen. 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