Falklands War Archives
The Battle to Recapture South Georgia
By Lt Col P
Within a week of the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982, a naval task force had been assembled and dispatched from Great Britain. It contained not only the major combatants of the Royal Navy-- two carriers, plus destroyers, frigates and three submarines-- but the all-important amphibious assault ships without which a landing was unthinkable. Also included were "STUFT," Ships Taken Up Front Trade; these were civilian container ships, North Sea ferries and even SS Canberra, a luxury liner, all hastily modified to accept men and material. The last transported a large part of the landing force, including 42 Commando, RM (see Vaux's Take That Hill! for a description of going to war aboard a cruise ship). At the end of a supply line some eight thousand miles long, with the closest air link in Ascension Island, and in the onset of the antarctic winter, operating in these conditions would test the Royal Navy's famed ability to hold on station until the job was done.
Almost immediately a smaller task force was broken out and sent on a separate mission to re-take the island of South Georgia, which had been stoutly defended by a small Royal Marine garrison only a few weeks before. This small force consisted of two surface combatants, HMS Antrim and HMS Plymouth, one support ship, FRA Tidespring, the redoubtable Arctic vessel, HMS Endurance. Embarked were a handful of helicopters, one reinforced company of Royal Marines from Vaux's 42 Commando, and units from the SAS and SBS.
The story of the recapture of this lonely island not one of disasters narrowly averted, but one of disasters sustained and surmounted. Awful weather, pressure from higher headquarters, confused command relationships, uncertain intelligence about the enemy, missed opportunities and botched attempts culminated in a rapidly planned but violently executed attack on the Argentine positions, with accurately delivered naval gunfire playing a starring role.
Operations began at South Georgia on 21 April 1982, and by 26 April the Argentine garrison had surrendered. Great Britain had gained a small but important victory; the Royal Navy's task force could now turn its attention to the main objective.
The Defense of South Georgia
By Slab
In light of recent events in the Northern Arabian Gulf, I thought it might be appropriate to call your attention to another occasion where a hostile Navy decided to "bow up" on the Royal Marines, 25 years ago today. Things went a bit differently for the Argies, however.
Near the Falkland Islands was another island, known as South Georgia, that was uninhabited except for a team of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, stationed at Grytviken. However, the Argentines had decided to make a point on South Georgia. Their point would not be as well-taken as the one made by a small detachment of Royal Marines guarding the BAS station on the island.
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Falklands War; Recommended Reading
By Lt Col P
I have a short reading list below, four book that I think are not only well written and authoritative, but when read as a set paint a reasonably complete picture of the whole conflict, from the strategic to the tactical.
But before I list them, let me address one other issue. The Royal Navy and Royal Marines, with whom we have stood and fought side by side for many years now, are taking it on the chin over the mess with Iran. Lots of bloggers have pointed out that they should have fought it out (correct), that Nelson is probably spinning in his grave (correct), and that the UK today probably couldn't mount another Falklands op independently (correct, unfortunately). I don't want to pile on, but would rather send this note to them: We need you in the fight, because the list of the able and the willing is short indeed. So let's take our lumps, boys, and resolve to get back in action. Your fellow Marines of Naval Party 8901 fought like hell on the Falklands, and even more so on South Georgia where they nearly pulled off a mini Wake Island, with a true Nelsonian Royal Navy captain alongside them.
Now the reading list.
The Battle for the Falklands (Hastings & Jenkins). This is the first and still probably the best, an A to Z view of the war, its origins and conduct. I have been grubbing around for my copy, but have since forlornly realized that I lent it to someone years ago and never got it back.
One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander (Adm Sandy Woodward). I didn't read this one til 1994, when I was aboard the 2nd Fleet flagship off Haiti as the LNO from 24th MEU SOC. And it's a good thing I didn't because I wouldn't have been able to appreciate fully the expeditionary challenges that lay before the British task force, without having had three full floats under my (then) non-reg riggers belt.
No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic (Julian Thompson). A very good view by the Commando Brigade commander, detailing both tactical and operational issues, with a good bit about having to execute a full landing and then a bold movement across the island into the teeth of the enemy's defenses. Add in that Thompson's span of control increased from three RM Commandos and supporting units to five maneuver units with the addition of two Army parachute battalions, that at no time could the task force guarantee him immunity from air attack, and that the logistics of his advance eastward were, to put it mildly, strained, and you begin to appreciate his enormous task. This too, I lent to someone and can't lay my hand on it.
Last but absolutely not least, Take That Hill! Royal Marines in the Falklands War, by (then) LtCol Nick Vaux, who commanded 42 Commando. This book ranks as one of the finest books a young officer, or an older one, can read to gain insights on his trade. I bought it when I was a cadet and have jealously guarded it ever since, reading it over and over again. Among Vaux's challenges were having a whole compnay group yanked from him at embarkation-- they went to retake South Georgia-- and having to build a new company with wherever he could get people and gear. In doing so they proved the worth of the "every Marine a rifleman" philosophy that colors the Royal Marines as deeply as it does the US Marines. Military readers will also appreciate the detail he provides about preparations for major actions, the imperative for brilliance in the basics, and how a good commander sets himself up for success in battle. (I was privileged to meet one of his provisional rifle company Marines later on, in 1994, in a NATO exercise in Sardinia. I happened to have the book with me on that float, recognized him from a photograph and his name from the text. Damn good guy, he was as surprised as I that I figured out who he was.)
Go forth, read, and enjoy. You'll learn a lot.
