Battle of Two Sisters
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
The Battle of Two Sisters was an engagement of the Falklands War during the British advance towards the capital Stanley that took place on the 11th/12 June 1982.
Image:Map Falkland longdon small.png
The British force consisted of 45 Commando, Royal Marines under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Whitehead (who later became a general) with support from six 105 mm guns of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery. 2 Para was in reserve. Naval gunfire-support was provided by HMS Glamorgan's 2 x 4.5 inch (114 mm) guns. The Argentinian force consisted of the 4th Infantry Regiment (RI 4). Command of Two Sisters was entrusted to Major Ricardo Cordon, second in command of RI 4, with the bulk of the defenders drawn from C Company with the 1st Platoon (Second Lieutenant Miguel Mosquera) and 2nd Platoon (Second Lieutenant Jorge Perez-Grandi) on the northern peak and the 3rd Platoon and the 81 mm Mortar Platoon on the southern peak. B Company of the 6th Regiment occupied the saddle between Two Sisters and Mount Longdon.
On 4 June the three companies of 45 Commando advanced on Bluff Cove Peak, on the lower slopes of Mount Kent, and was able to occupy the feature without opposition and was met by patrols from the SAS. Enemy opposition was desultory but on the night of 29 May a fierce firefight developed in taking the two important hills, that were intended to form part of an Argentine Special Forces line. Captain Andres Ferrero's patrol (3rd Assault Section, 602nd Commando Company) made the base of Mount Kent but were then promptly pinned by machinegun and mortar fire. One Argentine NCO was wounded. Air Troop had two wounded from rifle fire. Probing attacks around the D Squadron positions continued throughout the night and at 11:00 AM on 30 May, about 12 Argentine Commandos tried to get up the summit of Bluff Cove Peak, but were driven off by D Squadron Tactical HQ which killed two of the party: First Lieutenant Ruben Eduardo Marquez and Sergeant Oscar Humberto Blas who were posthumously decorated for their part in this action. During this patrol battle the British suffered two casualties from grenades.
A heavy mist hung over the Murrell River area and this assisted the 45 Commando Recce Troop to reach and sometimes penetrate the Argentine 3rd Platoon position under Second Lieutenant Marcelo Llambias-Pravaz. Marine Andrew Tubb of Recce Troop was on these patrols:
We were actually inside the Argentine position, so we ended up shelling ourselves. We did a lot of patrols up to Two Sisters ... that time [6 june] we pepper-potted for about 400 metres to get out[the 3rd Platoon sergeant, Ramon Valdez, had launched a counterambush], through the Argy lines firing 66 [mm] rockets to fight through and regroup. We got artillery again to smoke us out. It took us well over an hour to get away and it seemed like a few minutes. We killed seventeen of them [two Army privates and three Sappers of a Marine mine-laying party were actually killed], and all we had was one bloke with a flesh wound. (Robin Neillands, By Sea & Land: The Story of the Royal Marine Commandos, p. 402, Cassell Military Paperbacks, 2000).
At about 2.10 am local time on 10 June a strong 45 Commando fighting patrol probed the 3rd Platoon position. In a fierce firefight, the British Marines killed two Argentine Commandos lying up in ambush positions and wounded two before withdrawing. The British military historian Bruce Quarrie wrote later:
A constant series of patrols was undertaken at night to scout out and harass the enemy. Typical was the patrol sent out in the early hours of the morning of 10 June. Lieutenant David Stewart of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando, had briefed his men during the previous afternoon, and by midnight they were ready. Heavily armed, with two machine-guns per section plus 66 mm rocket launchers and 2-inch [described by the British as 51 mm] mortars, the Troop moved off stealthily into the moonlit night towards a ridge some 4 km away where Argentine movement had been observed. Keeping well spaced out because of the good visibility, they moved across the rocky ground using the numerous shell holes for cover, and by 04.00 were set to cross the final stretch of open ground in front of the enemy positions. Using a shallow stream for cover, they moved up the slope and deployed into position among the rocks in front of the Argentine trenches. With the help of a light-intensifying night scope, they could see sentries moving about. Suddenly, an Argentine machine-gun opened fire and the Marines launched a couple of flares from their [51 mm] 2-inch mortars, firing back with their own machine-guns and rifles. Within seconds three Argentine soldiers and two Marines were dead. Other figures could be seen running on the hill to the left, and four more Argentine soldiers fell to the accuracy of the Marines' fire. By this time, the Argentine troops further up the slope were wide awake, and a hail of fire forced the Marines to crouch in the shelter of the rocks. The situation was becoming decidedly unhealthy and Lieutenant Stewart decided to retire, with the objective of killing and harassing the enemy well and truly accomplished. However, a machine-gun to the Marines' right was pouring fire over their getaway route, and Stewart sent his veteran Sergeant, Jolly, with a couple of other men to take it out [The Royal Marines found themeselves up against the best Argentina could offer: Commandos]. After a difficult approach with little cover, there was a short burst of fire and the Argentine machine-gun fell silent. Leapfrogging by sections, the Troop retreated to the stream, by which time the Argentine fire was falling short and there were no further casualties. (Bruce Quarrie, The Worlds Elite Forces, pp.53-54, Octopus Books Limited, 1985)
The plastic explosives retrieved in the contact showed that the Royal Marines were seeking to destroy the C Company heavy weapons.
Captian Ian Gardiner's X-Ray Company spearheaded the attack on Two Sisters. Lieutenant James Kelly's 1 Troop took the western third of the spineback on the southern peak of Two Sisters (Long Toenail)with no fighting taking place. However at 11:30 PM, Lieutenant David Stewart's 3 Troop ran up against a very determined defence on the spineback and were unable to get forward. Beaten from their attempt to dislodge the Argentine 3rd Platoon, Lieutenant Chris Caroe's 2 Troop threw themeselves at the platoon but the attack was dispersed with the help of artillery fire. Colonel Andrew Whitehead, realized that a single company could not hope to secure Two Sisters without massive casualties, and brought up the battalion's two other companies.
Captain Ian Gardiner in the book Above All, Courage (Cassell Military Paperbacks, 2002) would later praise the fighting abilities and spirit of the depleted 3rd Platoon:
"A hard cadre of some twenty men had stayed behind and fought, and they were brave men. Those who stayed and fought had something. I for one would not wish to face my Marines in battle."
At about 12:30 AM Yankee and Zulu Companies attacked the northern peak (Summer Days) and after a very hard two hour fight against two platoons and despite heavy machinegun and mortar fire, succeeded in capturing 'Summer Days'. The Z Company platoon commander, Lieutenant Clive Dytor, won the Military Cross by rallying his 8 Troop and leading it forward at bayonet point to take Summer Days. Yankee Company then advanced to attack the final objective capturing all of its objective all the way to the eastern end of Two Sisters. Major Oscar Jaimet and his RI 6 B Company successfully prevented Yankee Company from attacking the C Company as it withdrew from Two Sisters. Private Oscar Poltronieri who held up Yankee Company with accurate shooting with his rifle and a machinegun, was awarded the Heroic Valour Cross, the highest decoration for bravery. (Source Martin Middlebrook, The Fight For The Malvinas, Leo Cooper Paperbacks, 2003)
After the war had ended, many British officers were bitterly critical of the lack of leadership the Argentine officers had provided on the battlefield. Colonel Andrew Whitehead looked in wonderment at the strength of the positions the enemy had abandoned. 'With fifty Royals,' he said, "I could have died of old age holding this place.' (Max Hastings, Going To The Wars, p. 363, Macmillan 2000)
For Sergeant-Major George Meachin of Yankee Company, the battle for the northern peak had been no pushover:
We came under lots of effective fire from 0.50 calibre machineguns ...At the same time, mortars were coming down all over us, but the main threat was from those machinegunners who could see us in the open because of the moonlight. There were three machineguns and we brought down constant and effective salvoes of our own artillery fire on to them directly, 15 rounds at a time. There would be a pause, and they'd come back at us again. So we had to do it a second time, all over their positions. There'd be a pause, then 'boom, boom, boom,' they'd come back at us again. Conscripts don't do this, babies don't do this, men who are badly led and of low morale don't do this. They were good steadfast troops. I rate them. (Bruce Quarrie, op. cit., p. 55, Octopus Books Limited, 1985)
Three Royal Marine Commandos and one Marine from 59 Independent Commando Squadron, Royal Engineers were killed taking Two Sisters, but to these must be added the four Royal Marines which were killed in no-man's-land. Captain Mike Barrow, in HMS Glamorgan, had bravely remained later than ordered to support Captain Ian Gardiner's company of Marines who were having a tough time on the southern ridge of Two Sisters, and had paid the penalty for overstaying the night-she was hit by a land based Exocet missile when she cut across the Exocet danger zone area. Thirteen British sailors died.
The fighting on Two Sisters had lasted six hours, longer than Darwin Hill. The Argentines left behind 20 dead and 54 were taken prisoner. During the night the 105 mm gun battery supporting 45 Commando had fired 1,500 round into the key piece of high ground nicknamed Summer Days and the RI 6 Company-one of the heaviest in the mountain battles.
References
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- 602nd Commando Company website
- 45 COMMANDO'S approach to and Battle for TWO SISTERS
- Mount Harriet & Two Sisters: The Argentine Story