# Battle of Mount Longdon

The Battle of Mount Longdon was fought between the British 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment and elements of the Argentine 7th Infantry Regiment on 11–12 June 1982, towards the end of the Falklands War. It was one of three engagements in a Brigade-size operation that night, along with the Battle of Mount Harriet and the Battle of Two Sisters.
A mixture of hand-to-hand fighting and ranged combat resulted in the British occupying this position above Port Stanley, allowing its capture and the surrender of Argentine forces on the islands.

## Background
### British forces

The British force consisted of the Third Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA), under Lieutenant Colonel Hew Pike. Artillery support came from six 105mm light guns of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and the 4.5-in gun of HMS Avenger, Second Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) were in reserve.
British paratroopers carried the semi-automatic L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) and the L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). Longer-range precision fire was provided by the bolt-action L42A1 sniper rifle, which was especially valuable during pre-battle reconnaissance engagements.
For clearing bunkers, the M72 LAW, 84mm Carl Gustaf & L2 fragmentation grenades, were widely used and the battalions MILAN anti-tank guided missiles, played a critical role in neutralizing Argentine defensive positions.

### Argentine forces

The Argentine forces included B Company of the 7th Infantry Regiment (RI 7), part of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, along with detachments from other units. Paratroop-trained Major Carlos Carrizo Salvadores, served as RI 7’s second-in-command. The regiment, reinforced by two Marine Infantry platoons, defended positions at Mount Longdon, Wireless Ridge, Port Stanley, and Cortley Ridge. At San Miguel del Monte, they had prepared for a potential conflict with Chile, training with the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion where about 50, were trained in commando tactics by Commando-trained Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet.
The defenders, mostly reservists with a year of training, were equipped with FN FAL rifles, including the heavier-barrelled, FAP light machine gun, PAM submachine guns and FN MAG general-purpose machine guns. Teniente de Navío ( Marine Captain) Sergio Andrés Dachary oversaw the heavy machine guns teams and protecting rifle squads from the Puerto Belgrano-based Batallón Infantería Comando (BICO, Marine Headquarters Battalion) and Military Police.

## Battle
### British advance

3 PARA and the supporting Royal Engineers from the 9 Parachute Squadron RE crossed the hills North of Mount Simon to seize the high ground above the settlement known as Estancia House. The weather conditions were atrocious, with the Paras traversing steep slippery hillocks to the objective. Private Nick Rose, 6 Platoon, B Company under Lieutenant Jonathan Shaw:
   The terrain dictated exactly how we advanced. A lot of the time if we were going along on tracks – what few we did go on – we used Indian file, which is staggered file on either side of the track, like a zig-zag. But there are great rivers of rock – big white boulders – and you have to cross them and then there's the heather and the gorse and its constantly wet. So the wind chill factor was – I think somebody said minus 40 degrees – and storm force winds and horizontal rain – a nightmare scenario. ... We are horrible, we're miserable as sin, all of us – we're missing home, want a dry fag [cigarette], warm, dry boots, a cheese and onion sandwich and a bottle of blue top milk. I used to dream of these.
Captain Matthew Selfridge from 3 PARA's B Company and Captain Robbie Burns from the 9th Parachute Squadron (Royal Engineers) set up a patrol base near Murrell Bridge, two kilometres west of Mount Longdon on 3 June, protected by 4 Platoon (under Lieutenant Ian Bickerdike) also from B Company. From their forward operating base, Selfridge and Burns sent out patrols to scout and disrupt the Argentine positions on Mount Longdon. During one of these missions, Lance-Corporal John Hare of 2 Troop, Royal Engineers, was seriously wounded.
Terry Peck, a former member of the Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF), participated in these reconnaissance and patrol operations. In early June, while pretending to have lost his way while riding his motorbike, he engaged in conversation with a group of five conscripts under the command of Corporal Remigio Gerónimo Díaz of the 1st Platoon. These soldiers had been assigned to guard supplies that had been airlifted forward and were resting in the sun after consuming several cans of beer at the eastern end of Mount Longdon.
Shortly after this, Peck, while leading a close-target reconnaissance patrol under Corporal Peter Hadden, mistakenly opened fire on Sergeant John Pettinger's standing patrol, which also belonged to 3 PARA's D Company. No British casualties were recorded in this particular case of friendly fire.
During the night of June 4–5, a three-man British patrol from D Company, comprising Corporal Jerry Phillips with Privates Richard Absolon and Bill Hayward, was deployed to the northern slopes of Mount Longdon. Their objective was to infiltrate the position then held by Sub-Lieutenant Juan Baldini's 1st Platoon on the western slopes and capture a prisoner. The patrol was supported by a battery of six 105mm field guns, to provided covering fire. The British snipers targeted Baldini's platoon and fired a 66mm anti-tank rocket at a mortar position under the command of Corporal Óscar Carrizo. In response, the Argentine forces returned fire, subjecting the British patrol to machine gun and mortar fire. Despite this exchange, no casualties were reported on either side.
The Argentine 7th Infantry Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon, led by Second Lieutenant Francisco Ramón Galíndez Matienzo, was stationed on Wireless Ridge but could not carry out their own patrols, as they had been designated as the reserve force for the area. Instead, Argentine Commando units, typically assigned to deep reconnaissance missions, assumed this responsibility.
In the early hours of June 7, a combined patrol from the 601 Commando Company and the 601 National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron advanced toward the Murrell Bridge following intelligence reports from Major Jaimet indicating enemy activity in the area. At the same time, two British patrols, led by Corporals Peter Hadden and Mark Brown, had just arrived at a bluff on the western bank of the Murrell River, where Sergeant Ian Addle's patrol had established a base.
Shortly after, a sentry detected movement near the bridge, prompting the British forces to open fire. A chaotic firefight ensued in the darkness, with both sides exchanging small arms fire, British LAW rockets and Argentine Energa rifle grenades. The engagement escalated when Captain Rubén Teófilo Figueroa's 2nd Assault Section of the 601 Commando Company initiated a counterattack. Under mounting pressure and unable to sustain their position, the British forces were forced to retreat before dawn, leaving behind a substantial quantity of their equipment. The official history of the Parachute Regiment later acknowledged the outcome of the engagement.
   They were forced to evacuate their position rapidly, leaving behind their packs and radio, but succeeded in withdrawing without suffering any casualties. The location was checked on the evening of 8 June by another patrol, but there was no sign of the packs or radio, which meant the battalion's radio net could have been compromised.
From then on, British patrols were mounted closer to their own lines.
That same night, an eight-man section led by Corporal Oscar Nicolás Albornoz-Guevara from the 4th Regiment's C Company, stationed on Two Sisters, attempted to scout and map the British positions near Estancia House. However, they were spotted by British sentrys and 3 PARA's Mortar Platoon successfully repelled the Argentine patrol.
Nevertheless, despite evidence of Argentine patrolling, Colonel Pike and his company commanders on the eve of battle still held the Argentine regulars in low regard and did not expect them to put up much resistance. For this reason, the British hoped to surprise the Argentine commanders by advancing as close to their forward platoon as possible under cover of darkness, before rushing the Argentine trenches. The three major objectives – 'Fly Half', 'Full Back' and 'Wing Forward' – were named after positions in Rugby football. B Company would attack through 'Fly Half' and proceed to 'Full Back', while A Company, followed by C Company if necessary, would do the same on Wireless Ridge.
Private Fabián Passaro of B Company served on Mount Longdon with Baldini's 1st Platoon and remembers life at the time:
   Most of us had adjusted to what we'd been landed in, we'd adjusted to the war. But some boys [identified in the book "Two Sides of Hell/Los Dos Lados Del Infierno"] were still very depressed and, in many cases, were getting worse all the time. Of course, we were very fed up with wearing the same clothes for so many days, going without a shower, being so cold, eating badly. It was too many things together, quite apart from our natural fear of the war, the shelling and all that. But I think some of us were adapting better than others. There were kids who were very worried, and I tried to buoy them up a bit. 'Don't worry,' I told them. 'Nothing will happen, we're safe here. 'Don't you see they could never get right up here? There's one thousand of us; if they try to climb, we'll see them, we'll shoot the shit out of them."
When 3 PARA's B Company (under Major Mike Argue) fixed bayonets to storm the Argentine 1st Platoon positions on Mount Longdon, they found themselves trapped in a minefield. British sappers subsequently counted some 1,500 anti-personnel mines that Lieutenant Diego Arreseigor's platoon of Sappers from the 10th Mechanized Engineer Company had laid along the western and northern slopes of Mount Longdon. Corporal Peter Cuxson recalled,
   but only two exploded because the rest were frozen. Otherwise, the final battle for Port Stanley would have been an altogether different story.

### Assault on Mount Longdon

As dusk fell, 3 PARA advanced to their start lines and commenced a four-hour march toward their objectives. While B Company approached Mount Longdon, Corporal Brian Milne triggered a mine, alerting Sub-Lieutenant Baldini's platoon. The Argentine troops emerged from their tents and opened fire just as Lieutenant Bickerdike's No. 4 Platoon arrived at their positions. During the engagement, Corporal Stewart McLaughlin was spotted eliminating an Argentine 7.62mm machine gun positioned on high ground overlooking the western slopes.
Lieutenant Jonathan Shaw's No. 6 Platoon, positioned on B Company's right flank, secured the summit of 'Fly Half' without resistance. However, they had overlooked several Argentine soldiers from the 3rd Platoon, who later fired on the platoon's rear, causing several casualties before the area was finally secured. Meanwhile, intense hand-to-hand combat combat erupted in the 1st Platoon sector, lasting three hours until the Paras successfully forced the defenders out.
Across the 1st Platoon's position, small groups of soldiers were locked in desperate combat. B Company methodically eliminated the Argentine defensive positions. Privates Ben Gough and Dominic Gray managed to crawl to an Argentine bunker and position themselves beside it as the Argentine Marines inside fired at the British. The two Paras each "posted" a grenade through the firing slit before storming the bunker. Both soldiers were mentioned in despatches for their actions during the battle.
Marine Corporal Carlos Rafael Colemil was part of the forward defence and fought as a sniper:
   A British soldier climbed over the rock which supported the accommodation bunker of the 105mm gun crew, and from there he was silhouetted. He screamed like he was giving out orders. I aimed and fired and he fell, then Conscript Daniel Ferrandis alerted me to the approach of three British soldiers on the flank. I observed with a night sight; they were very close. I saw one of them was carrying a gun with a bipod; he fell at the first shot and shouted. Another man approached him and I fired again and also got him ... Many people fell to the ground screaming, but soon the enemy was aware of my presence and every time I fired a shot I received a great deal of fire in response. Not long after my main action, I was wounded ... We could also hear the cries for help from the Rasit radar operator Sergeant Roque Nista, who was wounded. I could hear Sergeant Omar Cabral, who was a sniper: he was also firing.
According to the account of Private Victor José Bruno, Sub-Lieutenant Baldini was killed as he tried to clear a stopage from a machine gun. "The Lieutenant pushed us back and stood up trying to unlock the barrel but then he was shot in his belly by enemy fire", he recalled in an interview with Eduardo César Gerding of the Nottingham Malvinas Group. Corporal Dario Ríos was found lying dead with his platoon commander and Baldini's weapon and boots were removed for the use of British soldiers. Also killed in the initial fighting was Cavalry Sergeant Jorge Alberto Ron (according to Private Altieri who was wounded in the blast that killed the NCO) and the Argentine forward artillery observation officer, Lieutenant Alberto Rolando Ramos, whose last message was that his position was surrounded. Sub-Lieutenant Baldini was awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal.

#### Argentine reinforcements

When 2nd Lieutenant Enrique Neirotti's 3rd Platoon in the southern half and Staff Sergeant Raúl González's 2nd Platoon in the northern half of the mountain were on the verge of being overrun, reinforcements arrived from 2nd Lieutenant Hugo Quiroga's 1st Platoon of the 10th Engineer Company stationed at 'Full Back.' Despite intense fighting in this sector, many Argentine positions on the mountain's saddle held firm. The recently arrived engineers' rifle-mounted night sights were particularly effective, causing heavy losses among the advancing Paras.
Private Nick Rose in 6 Platoon recalls:
   Pete Gray stood up and went to throw a grenade and he was shot by a sniper in his left forearm. We thought the grenade had gone off. We punched his arm down onto the ground to staunch the bleeding, believing he'd lost half his right forearm and hand, but it was still there and his arm bent at the forearm instead of the elbow – a horrible thing to watch. ...There's 'incoming' everywhere, loads of stuff going down the range and then 'bang' my pal "Fester" [Tony Greenwood], gets it just above his left eye, only a yard away from me. That was a terrible thing. 'Fester' was such a lovely guy. Then it was 'Baz' Barratt. 'Baz' had gone back to try to get field dressings for Pete Gray and [as] he was coming back, 'bang', he got it in the back. This was when we just stalled as a platoon. (Jon Cooksey, op. cit., p. 66)
Argentine resistance was strong and well organized. At the centre of the mountain were Marine conscripts Jorge Maciel and Claudio Scaglione in a bunker with a machine gun, and Marine conscripts Luis Fernández and Sergio Giuseppetti with night-scope equipped rifles.

#### Action of Sergeant Ian McKay

After 3 Para had secured their initial objective, 4 Platoon was ordered to clear the enemy from the northern flank of a long east–west ridge, which was defended by well-concealed machine gun positions. As the platoon advanced, they came under heavy fire, suffering casualties. Realising that no further progress could be made from their exposed position, the Platoon Commander, Lieutenant Ian Bickerdike, ordered a withdrawal to the ridge’s rocky outcrops, where elements of 5 Platoon were regrouping.
While moving forward to reconnoitre the position, Lieutenant Bickerdike and his signaller were both wounded, and command passed to Sergeant McKay. Recognising the critical nature of the situation, he led an assault on the enemy position with Corporal Bailey, 17-year-old Jason Burt, and another private. The attack was met with intense fire, wounding Corporal Bailey and the private. Demonstrating exceptional bravery, Sergeant McKay continued the assault, throwing grenades at the enemy position until he was killed, his body falling onto the bunker. This act relieved the pressure on both 4 and 5 Platoons, allowing them to reposition with a measure of safety. For his gallantry, Sergeant McKay was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, while Corporal Bailey received the Military Medal.
Peter Harclerode,a noted British historian of the Parachute Regiment who had access to the war diary of the 3rd Battalion and later authored PARA! (Arms & Armour Press, 1993), noted that McKay and his team successfully eliminated several Marine riflemen but failed to neutralize the heavy machine gun.
After Sergeant McKay’s death, Sergeant Fuller, the Senior NCO in the Company HQ, volunteered to take command of 4 Platoon, which included Jason Burt, the only soldier who escaped Sergeant McKay’s action unscathed and combined them with a section from 5 Platoon. Positioning a gun team on the right flank, he led another assault but without success. In recognition of his leadership, Sergeant Fuller was awarded the Military Medal. Later, Corporal McLaughlin crawled to within grenade-throwing range of the machine gun but despite repeated attempts with fragmentation grenades and 66mm rockets, was unable to silence the weapon.
Major Argue's B Company ceased firing and devoted their efforts to a withdrawal from 'Fly Half' due to the difficult situation. Peter Harclerode, went on record, saying that:
   Under covering fire, Nos. 4 and 5 Platoons withdrew, but another man was killed and others wounded in the process. At that point, Lieutenant Colonel Hew Pike and his 'R' Group arrived on the scene and Major Argue briefed him on the situation. Shortly afterwards, Company Sergeant-Major Weeks reported that both platoons had pulled back to a safe distance and that all the wounded had been recovered. The dead, however, had to be left where they had fallen. Meanwhile, on the southern slope of the objective, the wounded from No. 6 Platoon were being evacuated while the rest remained under cover of the rocks.
The British 3rd Commando Brigade commander, Brigadier Julian Thompson was reported to have said:
   "I was on the point of withdrawing my Paras from Mount Longdon. We couldn't believe that these teenagers disguised as soldiers were causing us to suffer many casualties."

#### Argentine counterattack

Major Carrizo-Salvadores on 'Full Back' had remained in touch with the Argentine commanders in Port Stanley:
   Around midnight I asked RHQ for infantry reinforcements, and I was given a rifle platoon from Captain Hugo García's C Company. First Lieutenant Raúl Fernando Castañeda gathered the sections of his platoon, hooked around First Sergeant Raúl González's 2nd Platoon that was already fighting and delivered a counterattack [at about 2am local time]. The Platoon fought with great courage in fierce hand-to-hand combat and the battle raged for two more hours, but gradually the enemy broke contact and withdrew while being engaged by artillery strikes.
Major Carrizo-Salvadores manoeuvred Castañeda's reinforced platoon to close with 4 and 5 Platoons; meanwhile, under the direction of Corporal Jorge Daniel Arribas, part of Castañeda's platoon converged on the British aid post. Colour Sergeant Brian Faulkner, seeing that more than 20 wounded Paras on the western slopes of the mountain were about to fall into the hands of Corporal Arribas, deployed anyone fit enough to defend the position.
   "I picked four blokes and got up on this high feature, and as I did so this troop of twenty or thirty Argentines [in fact a reinforced section of 12 to 15 riflemen under Corporal Arribas] were coming towards us. We just opened fire on them. We don't know how many we killed, but they got what they deserved because none of them were left standing when we'd finished with them." said Faulkner.
For his conduct, Colour Sergeant Faulkner was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
According to Corporal Jorge Arribas, two men (Privates Jose Luis Del Hierro and Alfredo Gatton) in his rifle section were killed in this action. In fact the Argentines were able to do little more than move forwards and stabilise their existing line.

#### British resume the attack

Following the fighting on 'Fly Half' and the withdrawal of Nos. 4 and 5 Platoons, 29 Commando Regiment provided artillery support from Mount Kent. Subsequently, the area was flanked, where despite being under heavy fire, the remnants of 4 and 5 Platoons, led by Lieutenant Cox, advanced toward their objective, 'Full Back'. During this push, they encountered resistance from Casteñeda's platoon, specifically Corporal Julio Nardielo Mamani's section, sustaining several casualties. Undeterred, Lieutenant Cox and Private Kevin Connery stormed an Argentine bunker, neutralizing three enemy combatants. As this position was being cleared, Private Gray suffered a headshot injury but refused evacuation until Major Argue had successfully consolidated the troops' positions on 'Fly Half'.
Recognising the risk of further losses, the Paras were unable to advance further and were ordered to fall back to the western end of Mount Longdon. Major David Collett's A Company was then tasked with moving through B Company to launch an assault on the heavily defended eastern objective, 'Full Back', from the west. Support Company provided covering fire during this operation. This coordinated effort aimed to maintain momentum while minimizing further casualties in the face of determined Argentine resistance. Lieutenant David Wright and Second Lieutenant Ian Moore mustered their platoons near the western summit then cleared the Argentine positions.
During the clearing of these positions by A Company, Corporal McLaughlin was injured by a recoilless gun fired from "Rough Diamond" and while en route to the aid post, both Corporal McLaughlin and Lance Corporal Higgs were killed by an 81mm mortar round fired by First Sergeant Mario Ricardo Alcaide's platoon.
The Argentines mounted a strong defence of "Full Back", where, despite being wounded, Corporal Medina from Castañeda's platoon took charge of the recoilless rifle and targeted a MILAN launcher near the western summit killing three Paratroopers: Corporal "Ginge" McCarthy, Privates West and Heddicker.
By the time the survivors of Castañeda's 46-man platoon managed to retreat from the mountain, they were utterly exhausted, having suffered six killed and twenty-one wounded during the counterattack. Among them, Private Leonardo Rondi stood out as he wore a maroon beret taken from a dead of Parachute Regiment soldier. Rondi, who had evaded groups of Paras to deliver messages to Castañeda's section leaders after the radio operator was lost, found the body of a Para behind a rock and took the fallen soldier's beret and rifle, which he later presented to the Argentine commanders as war trophies.
For his courage and dedication, Rondi was awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal.
Lieutenant Hugo Quiroga's platoon of engineers suffered half-a-dozen wounded, Platoon Sergeant Juan Carlos Insaurralde badly wounded in the chest, Corporal Walter Calderon wounded in the hand, Private Claudio Jesús Hefner (the radio operator) wounded in the arm and Private Jorge Alejandro Lezcano badly wounded in the hand. The Platoon Commander and Corporal Julio César Oviedo were tossed into the air and knocked unconscious by an explosion with Quiroga only recovering his wits after being given some whisky in the freezing night.

## Aftermath

The twelve-hour battle was costly for both sides. 3 PARA lost 17 soldiers, including a Royal Engineer attached to the unit. Among the dead, Privates Ian Scrivens and Jason Burt were just 17, and Private Neil Grose was killed on his 18th birthday. Forty British paratroopers were initially reported wounded, with B Company's Private Mick Southall noting that only one NCO, Colin Edwards, remained standing in Major Mike Argue's company after the intense fighting.
"We took a hammering," Southall said, with soldiers promoted in the field to replace fallen leaders.
Subsequent Argentine shelling over two days killed four more Paras, a REME craftsman and wounded another seven. Argentine counter-fire on Wireless Ridge during the night of 13–14 June also caused injuries. Earlier on 12 June, Royal Marine Sergeant Peter Thorpe was wounded while assisting injured artillerymen trapped in a Snowcat disabled in a minefield.
The Argentines suffered 31 dead, 120 wounded, and 50 taken prisoner.
Lance-Corporal Vincent Bramley was patrolling the western half of Mount Longdon when he was confronted with the full horror of the night combat. The 3 PARA NCO and keen writer stumbled upon the bodies of five Paratroopers killed by Neirotti's 3rd Platoon.
   A few bullets whizzed overhead and smashed into the rocks. A corporal shouted that Tumbledown was firing at us. We ran into a tight gap in the path [and] came to an abrupt halt, as it was a dead end. Four or five bodies lay sprawled there, close together. This time they were our own men: the camouflaged Para smocks hit my eyes immediately. CSM [Company-Sergeant-Major] Weeks was standing over them like a guardian, screaming at some of his men to cover the further end of the path and a small crest. The CSM and Sergeant P [Pettinger] exchanged quick words. I wasn't listening; my mind was totally occupied with looking into the crags for the enemy. I turned and looked at our own lads, dead on the ground, mowed down when they tried to rush through this gap. I felt both anger and sadness. The CSM's face showed the strain of having seen most of his company either wounded or shot dead. That night's fighting was written in every line of his face.

### Decorations

The 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment won numerous decorations for this action:
* One Victoria Cross (Sergeant Ian McKay) †
* One Distinguished Service Order (Lieutenant-Colonel Hew Pike)
* Two Military Crosses (Majors Mike Argue and David Collett)
* Two Distinguished Conduct Medal (Colour Sergeant Brian Faulkner and Sergeant John Pettinger)
* Three Military Medals (Sergeant Des Fuller, Corporal Ian Bailey, and Private Richard Absolon)
* Numerous Mentioned in dispatches