The Falklands War - Advance by telephone

On 1 June the Fifth Infantry Brigade, which consisted of the Gurkha Rifles, Scots Guards and the Welsh Guards landed at San Carlos. The Gurkhas moved first, being flown down to Goose Green by Chinook to take over the responsibilities there from 2 Para. The Gurkhas were also tasked with clearing the southern half of East Falkland, the vast open land called Lafonia. Ten Argentine troops were captured in this operation, but Lafonia was largely unoccupied. In a re-organisation of the units ashore, the command of 2 Para and 29 Battery of 4 Field Regiment now swapped to 5 Infantry Brigade instead of 3 Commando Brigade. It had not been decided how to transport 5 Brigade nearer Stanley, due to the lack of helicopters and the fact that there were doubts that the two Guards Battalions could stand the hardships of a long march. As a solution, on 2 June Major Chris Keeble of 2 Para suggested that a small party be flown to Swan Inlet House, about halfway between Goose Green and Fitzroy, as it was thought a telephone link to Fitzroy might still be intact there.

 The settlement at Fitzroy

Westland Scouts, here refuelling at Teal Inlet, carried the troops of 2 Para to Swan Inlet 

The Scout helicopters of 656 Squadron were at Goose Green because a raid had been planned on the Argentine outpost on Mount Usborne, but this operation had been prevented by bad weather. The Chinook was also at Goose Green that day as it had been allocated to supply runs to 5 Brigade from San Carlos. The plan was quickly approved as all the elements were in place to start a rapid advance if Fitzroy could be contacted. The five Scouts were split into two units, two armed with missiles and machine guns, the other three carrying four men from 2 Para each. The first pair of Scouts fired their missiles to explode close to Swan Inlet House, having first flown low up the Inlet to try to attract Argentine fire if any were present. Since there was no reply to the flyby or the missiles, the twelve Paras were landed and found the house deserted. Major John Crosland, the leader of the team, used the telephone in the house to call the settlement manager at Fitzroy, Mr Reg Binney. Mr Binney reported that all the Argentines occupying Bluff Cove and Fitzroy settlements had recently left, and that no troops were in either town. The Paras re-boarded the Scouts and returned to Goose Green, having established that the path was clear all the way to Fitzroy in under an hour.

2 Para dig in at Fitzroy 

The two gunship Scouts had their guns removed, and all five could now carry four fully equipped Paras. A Company of 2 Para, under the command of Major Farrar-Hockley, along with a mortar platoon, boarded the Scouts and Chinook and flew straight to Fitzroy. Two more Companies followed during the day, as well as the Headquarters unit, who also occupied Bluff Cove, about three miles from Fitzroy. The remaining men of 2 Para were flown in from Goose Green by Sea King the following day, and as both settlements had been secured, it was decided to bring the Scots and Welsh Guards around by sea. Given the proximity of the settlements to Argentine positions on the mountains to the south of Stanley, it was decided that the larger amphibious ships, HMS Intrepid and Fearless could not be risked at Fitzroy in daylight, so they would only transport troops round at night. On the night of 5/6 June HMS Intrepid transported the Scots Guards as far as Lively Island, where they transferred to four landing craft carried by Intrepid, which took them to Bluff Cove.