The Falklands War - Breakout

Breakout

Royal Air Force Port San Carlos, looking east, with refuelling facilities at the top of the photograph

One of the items on board Atlantic Conveyor had been a complete sectionalised airstrip, intended to be the basis of a Forward Operating Base (FOB) for the Harriers. Fortunately, there were sufficient aluminium planks aboard the Stromness for a strip 850 feet long, as well as a set of emergency fuel handling equipment. These had been unloaded on 23 May, and the strip was set up just to the west of Port San Carlos with a small taxy area for refuelling. After a heroic effort by the engineers the first Harrier was able to operate from there on 5 June. The strip was know as HMS Sheathbill, or RAF Port San Carlos, dependent on which service you belonged too!

On 26 May the first troops left the beach-head at San Carlos. The men of 2 Para vacated their positions on the Sussex Mountains and trekked the eight miles to Camilla Creek House. Late on 27 May they left here and commenced an attack on Goose Green. This was the first major land battle of the campaign and a full description of the events during this time can be found on a separate map here.

On 27 May 45 Commando and 3 Para started the northward movement towards Stanley. Units of the SBS and the Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre of the Royal Marines had been inserted into the Douglas and Teal Inlet areas, and reported that no opposition was to be expected in either settlement, so the only real problem the troops might encounter would be from air attack. As the three Chinooks and five Wessex helicopters had been lost with the sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor, these units were forced to walk, carrying most of their equipment. 45 Commando were the first to go. They were taken from their positions surrounding Ajax Bay to the north side of San Carlos Water, near Port San Carlos, by landing craft, then they yomped for 13 hours continuously and covered 14 miles. They reached a deserted shepherd's house at around 2am where they stopped for the rest of the night. The next day they carried on to Douglas Settlement. They stayed here for two nights and a day and then moved on to Teal Inlet arriving late on 30 May.

Members of 45 Commando begin their epic yomp to Teal Inlet and then on to Mt Kent. Heavily loaded, their long march became a survival trek 

A note must be made of the weather conditions and the terrain the Marines were crossing at this point. The ground across this area is covered in tussock grass, and in the bitter winter weather, the ground was hard frozen in places, and treacherous bog in others. Given the uneven surface, it formed almost perfect ankle breaking territory for men loaded with 130 lbs of equipment and their weapon. Add to this a bitter freezing wind coupled with snow that occasionally reached whiteout conditions, and you had a route march that would have killed many a lesser man. The Marines on those three days of marching performed a feat of endurance seldom equalled and never bettered in the annals of military history. There were a few of the Volvo BV tracked vehicles, and a Scout helicopter in support of the march, but they had great difficulty in operating over the ground and in the weather, and most of their time was taken up in finding and rescuing the fifteen men who fell out of the march on the first night, victims of injuries and exposure in the incredibly tough conditions. For the 600 men who, almost staggering under their loads by the middle of the first night, there was to be no respite, as during the short rest period in the area of the hut snow turned to rain and their sleeping bags and equipment were soaked. By the time the Marines arrived in Douglas, they were exhausted, and still only just over half way there. That they made it at all is a testament to the good humour, stoicism and sheer toughness of the individual Marine.

Royal Marines yomping across East Falkland, note the loads each man carries, the broken rock, tussock grass, ice and snow.

The original plan called for 3 Para to follow 45 Commando along the track to Douglas, and then lead off to Teal Inlet. The settlement manager at Port San Carlos heard about the plan, and suggested an alternative to Lieutenant Colonel Hew Pike of 3 Para. Mr Miller knew of a direct route straight to Teal Inlet, which although had no track, was passable, and would cut out the long dog-leg to Douglas. He suggested that his son, Philip, accompany 3 Para, and loaned them his tractors to carry the battalion's mortars and other heavy equipment. Soon after 45 Commando left Port San Carlos, 3 Para moved out. They tabbed directly to Teal carrying lighter loads than the Marines, but this did not alleviate the terrible conditions. The 460 men covered the twenty miles in thirty three hours, breaking the 'tab', tabbing being the Para word for a long march, into two stages. Again, the conditions took their toll and fourteen of the Paras had to be evacuated as exposure cases. One tank troop of the Blues and Royals accompanied the march, picking their way with great care through the soft peat bogs, but successfully crossing the uneven trackless ground despite many doubts of their ability to operate over such terrain. The Paras were forced to spend one night in the open before making a tactical approach to Teal Inlet during the night of 28 May, but only one Argentinian was found in the settlement. Once the men of 45 Commando arrived on 30 May, the units were ready for the next phase of the advance, into the mountains overlooking Stanley itself.

Mount Kent

The settlement at Teal Inlet as it appears today, with a road connecting it to Port San Carlos and Stanley.

Members of 42 Commando patrolling Mt Kent 

The SAS team who had been ashore from 1 May had been observing Mount Kent, at 1,500 feet high it is the highest peak in the chain of mountains around Stanley, forming the head of the valley that leads down to the town. Not only and ideal vantage point for reconnaissance, Mount Kent was a logical start point to capture the two lines of mountains that ran to the north and south of Stanley forming the two sides of the valley, as the position commanded the lower mountains to either side, fire support could be provided from its slopes. Once these were in British hands, the Argentine forces would find themselves bottled up in Stanley with their backs to the sea and no way of being supplied or evacuated, as both the airport and the harbour approaches could be covered from the high ground.

By the end of May the SAS were established on the mountain in some strength, but moving cautiously due to the large Argentine presence in the area of the obviously strategically important mountain. On the 26 May, the Argentines moved most of their 12th Regiment from Mt Kent to Goose Green to take part in the defence of the settlement against 2 Para. This left the mountain relatively undefended and with the SAS units now the dominant force in the area, it was decided that this was the best time to get troops onto the mountain in force to secure the head of the valley. On 31 May, a flight of three Sea King helicopters from 846 Squadron carried K Company of 42 Commando to a landing zone just two miles short of Mt Kent. Accompanying them were 42 Commando's Tactical Headquarters unit, four heavy mortar teams for fire support, and a Blowpipe missile team for air defence. They arrived just as the SAS were having a short but vicious firefight with an enemy patrol, from which there were no British casualties. A Headquarters site was set up near the helicopter LZ, then K Company advanced on the mountain and found it deserted! General Menéndez was faced with a difficult situation due to the success of 2 Para at Goose Green. He simply did not have enough men to cover all eventualities and had been forced to send the last Company of the 12th Regiment to Goose Green, leaving only a light force on Mt Kent that the SAS had dealt with quickly. The Marines were quick to consolidate on this success, within two hours of the helicopters landing, not only was Mt Kent in British hands, but Mt Challenger to the south-west, Mt Wall and Bluff Cove Peak which overlooked the low ground near Estancia House had also all been secured.

Mount Kent dominates the west end of the valley of Stanley Harbour, and the other peaks of the surrounding hills

ZA718, up to the bottom of the fuselage in the long grass and soft peaty soil, prepares to carry another load forward 

Three 105 mm guns of 7 Battery 29 Commando Regiment and their crews were airlifted forward by the sole operational Chinook, ZA718 'Bravo November', which very nearly crashed in a snowstorm on the way back to pick up ammunition for the guns. The aircraft managed to get back to San Carlos with light damage, which prevented the helicopter from flying again that night. The Sea King crews, although fatigued and already at their flying hours limits for night operations, made another sortie to deliver the ammunition, and the guns were soon in action. With their long reach using a 'super charge', the 105 mm artillery could actually reach as far as the racecourse in Stanley itself, and engaged Argentine troop concentrations and other targets on the mountains and in the valley. In one leap this audacious and imaginative move had put British land forces in range of their goal for the first time.

Firefight at Top Malo

The next stage of the operation to encircle Stanley was to move 3 Para and 42 Commando up into the mountains, but at the same time avoid any major contact with the Argentines as the logistics train was badly stretched, and the supplies were moving forward slowly. Four-man teams from the Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre scouted the routes to Mounts Estancia and Vernet, and were followed by 3 Para. 3 Para reached Estancia House on 1 June, and shortly thereafter the two units had established themselves on the mountains, 3 Para to the north and 42 Commando to the south. During the move, one of the advance parties had seen a pair of Argentine helicopters landing a party of seventeen troops at Top Malo House, and isolated, and at the time deserted shepherd's house. This force lay in between the parallel lines of advance of the British troops, and had to be neutralised as it was behind the British forward units, and posed a threat to the supply lines. The location was out of range of the British artillery, and it was already getting dark, which ruled out a Harrier GR3 strike against the house. Captain Rod Boswell of the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre assembled a team of nineteen men from his unit which was airlifted from San Carlos by Sea King at low level to a position near the house early the next morning. They attacked about two hours after dawn, in what swiftly became a stand-up firefight between two well trained, skilled units. The Argentine Special Forces unit was from 602 Commando Company led by 2nd Lieutenant Luis Albert Brown who was wounded four times before his unit was forced to surrender. Five of the Argentine troops were killed and seven wounded, with three of the Royal Marines being wounded. All of the wounded survived, including the brave Lt. Brown. The professional manner in which the action was conducted prompted the Argentine second-in-command to congratulate Capt. Boswell on a job well done. Such was the effect of the fight at Top Malo House that fourteen other Argentine soldiers who had been in observation positions on Malo Hill and Mount Simon came in and surrendered to 3 Para the next day.

The remains of Top Malo house after the firefight

Members of 45 Commando digging in at Teal Inlet 

 45 Commando remained at Teal Inlet to help establish it as a forward base, and to build up the vital supplies and stores for the next stage of the advance. Several of the units involved came up with some novel ideas to help speed the flow of supplies, such as a landing craft turned into a minesweeper to clear the waterways all the way to Teal Inlet. From 1 June Sir Percivale and Sir Geraint were able to make regular supply runs directly to Teal, which made the movement of stores to the leading units far faster than was previously the case. With these developments, the Headquarters of 3 Commando Brigade were moved up to Teal Inlet from San Carlos, at which point 45 Commando moved out and reached the base of Mount Kent by 4 June.

The remains of the Argentine search radar positioned behing Government House in Stanley, the taget of the Black Buck mission.

On the nights of the 30/31 May and 2/3 June more Black Buck raids were launched from Ascension. This time, however, the Vulcans were armed with Shrike anti-radar missiles and their mission was to take out the air defence and surveillance radars around Stanley. The Argentine radars in the Stanley area consisted of a Westinghouse TPS 43, and possibly an advanced TPS 44, as well as several Skyguard radars that controlled the anti-aircraft guns. Several positions had been plotted for each of these sets, as the Argentines kept moving the equipment as a precautionary measure. The first mission was specifically aimed at the Westinghouse radar and produced limited results, the Argentine radar operators recognised the way the Vulcan was operating, so only kept their system on for limited periods. Two Shrikes were fired by Squadron Leader Neil McDougall and his crew from 50 Squadron, but only after a forty-five minute stalk of the radar. Although one Shrike struck the target, the radar was repaired within 36 hours with parts flown from the mainland. The second mission by the same crew had more success, destroying a Skyguard air defence radar set on Sapper Hill.