As 2 Para fought the
battle for Goose Green, 45 Cdo 'yomped' and 3 Para 'tabbed'
across the rough, boggy ground towards Stanley by the
northern route. Often in the dark and wet, and heavily
laden, they moved at a fast rate first for Teal Inlet. 3
CBAS helicopters supported 45 Cdo on the way and 3 Para was
followed by 4 Troop of The Blues and Royals with two
Scimitars and two Scorpions.
Starting on the morning of
Thursday 27th, Lt Col Whitehead's 45 Cdo first moved by
LCU from Ajax Bay to Port San Carlos before setting out
the 12 miles to New House, reaching there late that night.
After resting up they completed the eight miles
to Douglas on Friday and dug in ready to move to Teal. Lt
Col Pike and 3 Para were to follow behind, but instead
took a more southerly, direct route in two columns. After
marching for 24 hours they met up on Friday a few miles
short of Teal Inlet, and when darkness fell, completed the
journey late that night and stayed throughout Saturday.
On Sunday, 45 Cdo pushed on to join them at Teal
Inlet, but 3 Para and the light tanks
were ordered to head for Mount Estancia as part of the
plan to occupy the heights to the west of Stanley, and by
the end of the day had reached Lower Malo House. 45 Cdo
stayed put for now.
On Friday 28th, with J Coy 42
Cdo flying down towards Darwin, the rest of 42 Commando
prepared for the Mount Kent operation. K Coy was already
at Port San Carlos, and was joined from
Sussex Mountains by L Coy, after they in turn had been
relieved by B Coy of 40 Cdo which had to
stay in defence of the beachhead. That
same night, D Sqdn SAS finally completed its helicopter
move below Mount Kent, but an attempt to follow them up
with 42 Cdo Tac HQ, K Coy and three 105's of 7 Bty over
Saturday night was stopped by blizzards. Late on Sunday,
No.846 Sea Kings and the lone RAF Chinook managed to get
in, but in the middle of an SAS fire-fight with Argentine
troops, after which K Coy moved on to the summit. The
Chinook was slightly damaged on the flight back, but
support helicopter strength was increasing. The first
No.825 Sea Kings flew ashore from "Atlantic Causeway" on
Saturday and joined the other Navy, Marine and Army
helicopters as well as the Chinook already flying from the
Forward Operating Bases (FOB's) scattered around San
Carlos Water.
Although there were few Argentine
aircraft attacks between now and the second week in June,
they nevertheless chose Thursday afternoon (27th) for their
first strike against land targets, when two pairs of Grupo 5
Skyhawks bombed and strafed troop and supply positions.
Coming in over the Brigade Maintenance Area at Ajax Bay, one
pair killed six men of 45 Cdo and the Cdo Logistics Regt,
wounded others and landed UXB's near the Field Dressing
Station. This is where Flt Lt Swan later slept beside the
bombs to reassure the staff and patients. The second pair
hit San Carlos and killed one man each from 40 Cdo and the
59 Ind Cdo Sqdn RE; but during the attacks, one of the
Skyhawks was hit by 40mm Bofor fire from "Fearless" or
"Intrepid" and crashed over West Falkland near Port Howard
[a57].
More sorties took place over
the weekend. Early Saturday morning (29th), Canberras of
Grupo 2 carried out the first of a series of night time
harrassing attacks on San Carlos Water, followed in June
by raids on the Mount Kent area, and at mid-day when
Daggers of Grupo 6 reached the anchorage, one was shot
down by the defending Rapiers [a61]. On Sunday morning an
Argentine Army Puma was lost near Mount Kent, possibly to
its own forces [a62]. And that afternoon, two A-4C
Skyhawks were brought down in the first coordinated
CANA/FAA mission. The plan was for two Super Etendards to
launch the last airborne Exocet at the Task Force
carriers, and for four Grupo 4 Skyhawks to finish off the
target with bombs. Coming in from the south after tanker
refuelling, the aircraft mistakenly released the missile
from 20 miles at "Avenger", then east of the Falklands.
The Exocet was apparently deflected by chaff, and although
the Etendards escaped, two of the Skyhawks were destroyed
by Sea Darts from "Exeter" as they went in to attack,
although "Avenger's" 4.5 inch may have hit one of them
[a63, a64].
As the Sea Harriers continued
to fly CAP and drop bombs on Stanley airfield and the
GR.3's fly ground support from the carriers, a total of
three were lost over these few days. Apart from the GR.3
near Goose Green on Thursday, next to go on Saturday
afternoon (29th) was a Sea Harrier of No.801 NAS which
slid of "Invincible's" deck as she turned into wind in
heavy weather, although fortunately the pilot ejected and
was rescued from the water [b29]. Then at midday on
Sunday, the RAF found itself down to just three GR.3's.
One of four aircraft over the Stanley area was hit by
small arms fire from Argentine troops, and on the way back
to "Hermes" ran out of fuel [b30]. Sqdn Ldr Pook
parachuted into the sea and was soon rescued by a No.826
Sea King.
Apart from all the shipping
activity around South Georgia, Task Force warships
continued to bombard Argentine positions and escort supply
ships into and out of San Carlos Water, where only now
were "Argonaut" and "Sir Lancelot" finally relieved of
their UXB's. "Elk" went in Thursday night (27th) to
continue unloading her ammo, and over the weekend,
"Argonaut" and "Plymouth" finally left, with only
"Yarmouth" of the original escorts remaining for a few
days more. And now 5th Inf Bde started
to arrive. "Fearless" left San Carlos Water on Thursday to
later meet "Antrim" to the east of the TEZ, and with
General Moore on board arrived back early Sunday. When
Brigadier Thompson returned to San Carlos from Teal Inlet
to find his commander there, final plans were made to
receive 5th Inf, put 2 Para under Brigadier Wilson's
command, and move 3 Cdo Bde HQ to the Inlet.