The briefing started with Major Southby-Tailyour RM. giving a short briefing on the terrain the battalion commanders could expect to find on the Falkland Islands. Southby-Tailyour had commanded NP 8901 from 1977 to 1979. NP 8901 was the small Royal Marine detachment, which had been the unit stationed on the Falklands before the Argentine invasion. Southby-Tailyour had spent many hours exploring the Islands from a small boat during his posting to NP 8901 and had gathered crucial information about the lay of the land. He had mapped every major bay on the Falkland Islands 10,000-mile coastline placing the information in a 126-page notebook. Thompson had asked Southby-Tailyour to hand over the notebook to his staff before leaving the UK, but Southby-Tailyour refused to do so unless he was allowed to accompany the Task Force. Thompson made sure Southby-Tailyour was part of his planning staff before 3 Commando sailed south. Southby-Tailyour had been instrumental in choosing the location of the landing of troops on the Islands. The location picked by Thompson and his planners was San Carlos on East Falkland.
After Southby-Tailyour's briefing, Thompson's Intelligence Officer, Captain Rowe, gave a briefing on the known locations and strength of the Argentine troops on the Islands. Next Thompson's Chief of staff, Major Chester, gave all the officers present a briefing on the air and naval forces that would be available during the landings. The mastermind of the whole amphibious landing was Commander Clapp RN.
After these briefings Thompson stood up and gave the main briefing for the landing of 3 Commando at San Carlos. "Mission. To land at Port San Carlos, San Carlos and Ajax Bay to establish a beachhead for mounting offensive operations leading to the recapture of the Falkland Islands". He then repeated what he had just stated and continued "Design for battle, a silent night attack by landing craft with the objective of securing all high ground by first light". Thompson then addressed each of his unit commanders individually, regarding their units' role in the landings. The plans were thus:
The SBS would be the first in to secure the landing beaches and mark them for the approaching landing craft.
First Wave would consist of 40 and 45 Commandos. 40 would land on "Blue Beach" at San Carlos from H.M.S. Canberra while 45 would land on "Red Beach" at Ajax Bay from Stromness
Second Wave would consist of the 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions. 2 Para would come ashore from MV Norland and pass through 45 to secure Sussex Mountain and resist any Argentine attempt to attack the beachhead from Goose Green. 3 Para would come ashore from H.M.S. Canberra and land on "Green Beach" and secure Port San Carlos.
42 Commando would act as a floating reserve aboard H.M.S. Canberra.
D Squadron of the SAS would cause a diversion for the landing by flying ashore from H.M.S. Intrepid and using noise and heavy fire power would try to convince "Task force Mercedes" (the Argentine troops stationed at Goose Green) that they were being attacked by a regiment, keeping the Argentines occupied while the landings took place.
Various other members of Thompson's staff then took over the briefing to give detailed instruction on logistics and landing craft arrangements. Thompson then closed the briefing by reminding his officers that in the event of an opposed landing, the killed and wounded were to be left, otherwise the momentum of the assault would be lost. He went on to say, " May I remind you that this will be no picnic. Good Luck and stay flexible" With that the two hour long briefing ended. The only thing Thompson had not shared with his officers was the date and time of the landings.
By the next morning Thompson's plans were out the window. During the night Northwood (the operations centre for the task force in England) intercepted an Argentine radio signal from "EC Hermes" The signal originated from Port San Carlos. Thompson's staff was worried by this information. What was EC Hermes? Had the Argentines discovered the location of the British landings? Before now British Intelligence had thought that San Carlos was unoccupied by the Argentines. A 4-man SBS team had been active in the San Carlos area since May the 1st and reported no signs of Argentine activity. Captain Rod Bell came up with the answers. Bell was one of 3 Commando Brigade's Spanish interpreters. He had been raised in Costa Rica and Spanish was his first language. Bell suggested that EC stood for "Equipo Combate" or Combat Team, which would be no more than a company in strength.
Combat Team Eagle (EC Hermes) was in fact only platoon strength. It was commanded by 1st Lieutenant Carlos Esteban of the 25th Infantry Regiment. His unit consisted of 60 men. Esteban had been ordered to set up an OP overlooking San Carlos Water to observe any attempt by the British to land there. Combat Team Eagle had been flown into the San Carlos area by helicopter from Goose Green on the 14th of May. Their arrival was confirmed later in the day by a SBS sergeant making a covert recon of the landing beaches. Esteban made his headquarters at Port San Carlos and sent 20 men under 2nd Lieutenant Roberto Oscar Reyes to Fanning Head to set up an OP over looking San Carlos Water. This group of Argentineans became known as 'The Fanning Head Mob". They were armed with an 81 mm mortar and 105 mm recoilless rifle. Reyes and his 'Fanning Head Mob' were to remain a thorn in the side of the British bridgehead for the next week. Reyes had also made himself known to the civilian population at San Carlos when he struck the manager of the settlement, Alan Miller, in the face with the butt of his pistol.
Unknowingly, Esteban had put a spanner in the works and Thompson and his staff had to re-think their plan. Over night they re-wrote the plans to "Operation Sutton" The new plan was as follows.
First wave
2 Para would land at "Blue beach 2" from MV Norland and advance 8 km to Sussex Mountain.
40 Commando would land at "Blue Beach" from H.M.S. Fearless.
Second wave
45 Commando would land at "Red Beach 1" from Stromness and secure Ajax Bay
3 Para would land at "Green Beach" from H.M.S. Intrepid and secure Sandy Bay
3 SBS would be put ashore well before the main invasion to deal with the 'Fanning Head Mob'.
D squadron SAS would stick to their original role of keeping "Task force Mercedes" (the Argentine troops stationed at Goose Green) occupied.
Thompson now issued his new orders to his field commanders and set the date for D-Day as Friday the 21st of May. H-Hour would be 3.30am local time. The next day 3 Para suffered the unpleasant experience of being transferred by landing craft from H.M.S. Canberra to the assault ship H.M.S. Intrepid. 40 Commando also transferred from H.M.S. Canberra to H.M.S. Fearless. The troops had to lower themselves by rope from a side door on H.M.S. Canberra into the swaying landing craft below. Each man had to time the moment just right because one moment the landing craft would be just 3 feet away; the next it might be 15 feet away. One Royal Marine got it wrong and fell into the sea; Luckily he was quickly plucked out of the cold water unharmed.
Just after midnight 3,000 troops aboard a fleet of eleven ships entered the narrows guarding San Carlos Water. H.M.S. Antrim launched its Wessex helicopter to make a quick reconnaissance of what the 'Fanning Head Mob' was up to. The Wessex (in fact the same aircraft that had played a major roll in the re-taking of South Georgia) was fitted with a thermal image camera. After a quick sweep of San Carlos the Wessex returned to H.M.S. Antrim and the SBS viewed the videotape from the thermal image camera. Several clusters of what looked like bright glow-worms were observed, giving the exact location of the Argentines. The SBS set off to deal with them. Captain Bell (one of 3 Commando Brigade's Spanish interpreters) accompanied them armed with a battery driven loudspeaker he had found aboard H.M.S. Antrim. The plan was for Bell to try and persuade the Argentines to surrender without blood being spilled.
Around 12.30 the troops started to board their landing craft. Almost at once the detailed invasion plans started to go awry. H.M.S. Fearless's ballast pump packed up. The pump controlled the water levels in the landing dock allowing the LCUs to enter and depart safely. With out water in the dock the LCUs remained high and dry. Reacting quickly, H.M.S. Fearless's Captain Jeremy Larken knew there was no time to waste waiting for the pump to be repaired and ordered the ships dock gate to be opened allowing the sea to rush in and float the LCUs. This was a very dangerous thing to do but Larken knew he had few other options. The LCUs were soon able to pull out from the dock and head for the beaches.
Meanwhile the other landing ship H.M.S. Intrepid anchored and her four LCUs (Tango 1, 2, 3 and 4) left the dock and headed for MV Norland to pick up 2 Para. Because of the enforced radio silence the LCUs had a hard time locating MV Norland amongst the ships in San Carlos Water. Colour Sergeant Davies at the helm of the leading LCU, Tango 1, had to identify each ship with shielded signal lamp before he located MV Norland. While the other LCUs circled waiting their turn, Davis pulled along side MV Norland only to find that there were no mooring points for the LCUs to use. The helmsmen had to constantly keep station alongside MV Norland as the Paras climbed down several ten-foot rope ladders onto the LCUs. Because of their late arrival at Ascension Island 2 Para had missed out on the rehearsals for this type of troop transfer. Now here they were in the dark, loaded down with equipment, trying to do something they never expected to have to do and on top of all that their mortal enemies, the Marines, were in charge. It took time and a lot of swearing but 2 Para started to slowly board the LCUs. One Para fell into a LCU breaking his pelvis.
The plan had been for 2 Para's boats to cross the start line at 1.45am but due to the embarkation problems on MV Norland, Thompson slipped the schedule forward by one hour. After what seemed like an age, the last LCU, Tango 4 commanded by Csgt Kiwi Sherrin ( Second coxn Cpl Mick Angel ), pulled along side MV Norland to embark the last of 2 Para. While this was happening, the other three LCUs circled waiting for Tango 4 before heading for the beaches. Southby-Tailyour, whose task was to guide the landing craft in, located Col. "H" Jones, 2 Paras CO, onboard Tango 1, which was carrying B Company. Southby-Tailyour suggested to Jones that if they left now without Tango 4 and steamed at full speed with the other three LCUs they would be able to beach only forty minutes behind H-hour. Jones replied, "let's go"
SBS
Meanwhile the SBS were having their own problems. The Sea King aboard H.M.S. Antrim, which was going to fly the SBS in, was going nowhere. The aircraft could not lift off because of the weight of all the gear the SBS wanted to take with them. A quick reorganization of men and equipment had to take place before the load was lightened. The pilots told the SBS that it would still take four lifts to get all 35 men and their equipment to the drop off point, which was only 10 minutes flying time from H.M.S. Antrim. Eventually the SBS were landed 2,500 meters from their target. Equipment was sorted and the men headed in single file towards Fanning Head.
The noise of the helicopters depositing the SBS alerted the 'Fanning Head Mob' and one of the sentries awoke Lt. Reyes saying that something was happening in the bay. Reyes ordered the recoilless rifle to be fired into San Carlos Water, but there was no reaction. He then radioed Esteban at Port San Carlos telling him that there was possible British activity in San Carlos. After speaking to Esteban, Reyes went back to sleep.
The march to Fanning Head was proving to be hard going for the SBS and by 2.15 they were still 1,000 yards short of their objective. Captain Hugh McManners radioed H.M.S. Antrim to open fire on Fanning Head with her 4.5 main gun. Unfortunately the weapon refused to cooperate so the SBS opened fire with their 60 mm mortar. At 4.30 am H.M.S. Antrim informed McManners that the 4.5 was now operational again. He ordered twenty air bursts to be laid over the Argentineans. Reyes was fully awake by now and after failing to contact Esteban, decided to abandon the OP. McManners spotted them as they moved towards Partridge Valley. The SBS formed a fire line and opened up on the Argentines with everything they had. Some of the Argentines were killed before McManners ordered cease-fire and handed command over to Captain Bell and his loudspeaker. Bell cleared his throat and began to speak into the loudspeaker, but nothing came out. The batteries were dead. Throwing the loudspeaker aside in disgust Bell shouted as hard as he could in Spanish telling the Argentines to surrender. Four of the Argentines raised their hands but Reyes and the rest of his men slipped into the darkness back towards Fanning Head were they opened fire on the SBS with a MAG. McManners ordered more shelling from H.M.S. Antrim, which forced four more Argentines to surrender. Reyes now moved further away from Fanning Head taking what was left of his platoon with him. Bell and some of the SBS gave chase but lost them in the darkness.
The troops heading towards the beaches witnessed the firefight going on at Fanning Head as they rowed towards the shore. 2 Para were having a rough time in the LCUs that "H" Jones had packed with as many men as he could. One soldier accidentally discharged his weapon wounding another Para in the foot. As Southby-Tailyour approached "Blue Beach 2" he started looking for the prearranged signal from the SBS who had gone in ahead to secure the beach. The SBS were to use a red light flashing pre-arranged signals in Morse such as:
Alpha: Beach safe
Bravo: Be careful
Charlie: enemy on beach
No light at all: Cock up or enemy on beach.
Go!Southby-Tailyour searched the landing beach but could see no light at all. Did this mean the enemy was waiting for them, or had the SBS not made it to the right beach? Southby-Tailyour walked up to the bridge of Tango 1 to speak to "H" Jones about his problem, but found that Jones had already made his decision for him. Jones said although he could not see the SBS, the enemy were nowhere to be seen. There fore he gave the order, "Prepare to beach" Colour Sergeant Davies drove Tango 1 onto the beach, lowered the ramp and shouted, "Troops out" Nobody moved. He shouted again " Troops out ". Still nobody moved. The order, "troops out" would be understood by a Royal Marine but to a Para it means nothing. Realizing what the trouble was, a Para officer screamed, "GO" See Map
At 4.30am local time B Company 2 Para stormed ashore at "Blue Beach 1". The British had returned to the
Falklands. B Company's CO, Major John Crossland, was one of the first ashore. As he walked ashore he was confronted by a member of the SBS saying, "Who the hell are you?"
"2 Para, who the bloody hell are you?"
"3 SBS .We thought you were coming on the 24th."
This did not go down well with Crossland, nor did it improve relationships between the Paras and the Marines.
2 Para TAB to Sussex MountainTangos 1, 2 and 3 disgorged their troops onto "Blue Beach 2". Tango 4 soon arrived after steaming at full speed from MV Norland. There was much confusion on the beach as the troops poured shore and were separated from their units. Jones was so angry about the delay in getting ashore that he broke radio silence and ordered his company commanders to get the Battalion sorted out. The Paras soon sorted themselves out and C Company led the way as the Battalion headed towards Sussex Mountain. See Map
40 Commando land40 Commando, who had been waiting offshore, now headed towards "Blue Beach 2". The Marines landed without any problems and C Company secured San Carlos settlement and raised the Union Jack flag. The Marines found 30 Islanders at the settlement. A and B Companies checked out the area to their front before climbing Verde Mountain to establish defensive positions on the reverse slope, while C Company checked the area of the settlement. Lt Col. Hunt and Capt. A. Pillar knocked on the door of Mr. P. Short to announce their arrival. The two officers were somewhat surprised when Mr. Short opened the door and said very calmly, "Oh! You're here. We wondered when you were going to come".
The Recce Troop moved forward to establish OPs on Verde Mountain but found progress slow due to their heavy loads and difficult terrain. The SAS diversion at Darwin had proved effective and the San Carlos Landings continued undisturbed. See Map
The Union Flag is raised at Port San Carlos45 Commando was put ashore at Ajax Bay and 3 Para at the Port San Carlos settlement. Darkness gave way to clear blue skies as the amphibious ships moved into San Carlos Water while everything was going to plan. The Rapier air defence systems started to come ashore with the 105 mm light artillery batteries. A dawn bombardment of the Goose Green airstrip prevented Argentine Puccara aircraft from taking off, but a lone Aermacchi, bravely flown by Lieutenant Guillermo Crippa from Port Stanley, strafed H.M.S. Argonaut inflicting casualties among the men on the upper deck, one of whom lost an eye. Every gun and missile now opened up on Crippa's aircraft as he calmly flew the length of the bay counting the Task Force's ships. He then banked and returned unharmed to Port Stanley. Crippa was awarded Argentina's highest award for gallantry.
Combat Team Eagle at Port San Carlos was retreating in front of 3 Para. Some Argentineans managed to evade capture for the next few days. The Argentine Air Force started to retaliate against the task force at about 0900 hrs, with a series of sorties flown from Stanley and long-range sorties from the mainland. H.M.S. Ardent and H.M.S. Argonaut were singled out for attack with both being badly damaged. The Ardent had to be abandoned, and the Argonaut, with two 1,000 lb unexploded bombs aboard, was towed into San Carlos Water.
Gazelle2nd Lieutenant Reyes and what remained of the 'Fanning Head Mob' were still at large in the area and soon pulled off the only Argentine success of the day. A Sea King helicopter, carrying Rapier missiles and escorted by a light Gazelle helicopter armed with a pintle-mounted machine gun and pod mounted SNEB rockets, flew straight over Reyes party as they fled the area. The Argentines opened fire and heavy accurate machine gun fire struck the Gazelle, mortally wounding her pilot Sergeant Andy Evans. Even so, he managed to turn away from the fire and ditch in the water. The two crewmen were thrown from the aircraft when it hit the water. As they struggled in the water, the same Argentines who had shot the helicopter down opened fire on the two crewmen in the water, despite Reyes ordering them to cease-fire. The Argentine troops continued to fire on the two helpless men struggling in the water for 15 minutes. When the shooting stopped Sergeant Ed Chandlish, managed to drag Evans ashore, where he died in his arms. The Sea King they were escorting had managed to avoid the fire.
Minutes later a second Gazelle, unaware of the peril ahead, followed the same route and was raked by machine gun fire from below. The helicopter crashed to the ground in flames. When rescuers dragged the crew, Lt. Ken France and Lance Corporal Pat Griffin, from the burning wreckage they found them dead. Surgeon Commander Rick Jolly arrived at the crash site soon after in a Wessex from H.M.S. Canberra. There was nothing he could do for France or Griffin, but he decided to return the bodies of the two men back to the Task Force, which was against orders, but he did so mainly out of respect. That evening aboard the landing ship Sir Galahad, the Brigade Air Squadron held a memorial service for their three dead colleagues.
This shooting of unarmed men in the water had a marked effect on the British troops in the Task Force. Reyes and his party made it back to Goose Green four days later although stragglers from the 'Fanning Head Mob' were still being rounded up around the San Carlos area a week after the landings.
After enduring the cramped conditions aboard H.M.S. Intrepid, 3 Para had landed safely, if not a little wet at "Green Beach". As the lead LCU neared the beach, the Paras watched in horror as the Royal Marine Coxswain tested the depth of the water with a white stick. This brought the comment from one Para, "F### me, he's bloody blind"! Some of the LCUs were unable to get right in and some of 3 Para ended up getting wet as they waded ashore. These men claimed that from that moment until the end of the war, their feet never fully dried out. See Map
Col. Hew Pike of 3 Para was ordered by Thompson to clear the area of any remaining members of Combat Team Eagle. Pike sent out patrols from his A and C Companies to hunt down the Argentines. Sadly this brought about the first "Blue on Blue" incident of the campaign when A Company opened fire on a group of figures in the dark who had failed to respond to a challenge. They poured small arms fire into what they thought was the enemy and even called for 105 mm fire support. Two Scimitars of the Blues and Royals opened up with their 30 mm cannon as well. At 3 Para HQ Pike, who was listening to the reports, suddenly realized that two of his companies were firing at each other and ordered an immediate cease-fire. By then the firefight had been going on for 62 minutes. The enemy turned out to be a patrol from C Company commanded by Lieutenant Peter Osbourn. Two of his Toms (Paras) lay badly wounded. Col. Pike flew in a helicopter to the contact area and was nearly killed when the Sea King he was flying in crashed. 3 Para sorted themselves out and managed to round up what was left of Combat Team Eagle over the next few days.
The picture above shows a captured NCO from Combat Team Eagle being escorted by Sergeant Watson of 3 Para. The Argentine NCO is still wearing a Royal Marine jersey that he had looted from Moody Brook Barracks in Port Stanley.
Lieutenant Commander Dante Camilettie Combat Team Eagle was not the only Argentine unit in the area that week. On May the 23rd Lieutenant Commander Dante Camilettie and ten Argentine Marines had landed by helicopter on Chata Hill. Their task was to destroy British anti-aircraft defences on Mount Usborne. Camilettie and his Marines laid up for one day trying to observe the British but saw nothing. He then moved his patrol nearer to San Carlos. Camilettie spread his men out around the beachhead and installed himself on Mount Verde. From here he observed the British beachhead and reported back to Stanley all he saw, until he was captured, while hiding under a rock, by a patrol from 40 Commando. The Royal Marines "invited" Camilettie back to 3rd Commando Brigade HQ to have a little chat about what he was doing in the hills.
May 22nd was clear and fine over the Falklands and no Argentine sorties were flown from Goose Green or Stanley. 3rd Commando Brigade took full advantage of this break to establish a Brigade support area with hundreds of tons of ammunition and stores ferried ashore and a casualty clearing station was set up in a disused mutton factory. Responsibility for the defence of the Rapier battery was given to A Company on Lookout Hill. The landings had been achieved. Now for the Breakout!
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