The Battle of Mount Harriet was a military engagement of the Falklands War, which took place on the night of 11/12 June 1982 between British and Argentine forces. It was one of three battles in a Brigade-size operation all on the same night, the other two being the Battle of Mount Longdon and the Battle of Two Sisters.
One of a number of night battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley, the battle led to British troops capturing all the heights above the town, forcing the surrender of Argentine forces on the islands.
Background
The British force consisted of 42 Commando Royal Marines (42 Cdo RM) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Nick Vaux Royal Marines, with artillery support from a battery of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery, engineer support from 2Tp, 59 Independent Commando Squadron (59 Indep Cdo Sqn), Royal Engineers. The 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards (1WG) and two companies from 40 Commando (40 CDO) were in reserve. HMS Yarmouth provided naval gunfire support.
The Argentine defenders consisted of former Argentine Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's B Company from Lieutenant Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th Monte Caseros (Jungle) Infantry Regiment (RI 4). On 1 June, the Argentine defenders on Harriet and Two Sisters, after having abandoned their field kitchens in their original positions on Mount Challenger, were given permission by their officers to consume their cold-weather ration packs, which helped raise the morale of the conscripts.
Brigadier Julian Thompson, Commander 3 Commando Brigade, later commented on the quality and abundance of these Argentine tinned meals and how they kept his men going when supplies failed to arrive, "The Argentine rations were excellent and plentiful, as many British soldiers and Marines were to discover when they were forced to live on them in captured positions, for lack of helicopter to provide their own."
On the night of 30 May elements of K Company, led by Captain Peter Babbington of 42 Cdo RM boarded three Sea King helicopters and moved forward of San Carlos to secure Mount Kent at 1,093 ft (333 m), one of the tallest of the peaks surrounding Stanley where Major Cedric Delves' D Squadron from the Special Air Service (SAS) had established a presence. When the Royal Marines reinforcements in the Sea Kings, and 7 'Sphinx' Battery of the 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery aboard a Chinook helicopter arrived at the landing zone, 3 kilometres (2 miles) behind the ridge of the mountain, they were met by gun-flashes, mortar fire and tracer rounds as another clash involving D Squadron was taking place. Captain Gavin Hamilton's Mountain Troop had this time spotted enemy movement in the form of Argentine Army Green Berets from Captain Tomás Fernández' 2nd Assault Section, 602 Commando Company trying to exit the area after having taking cover on Bluff Cove Peak the day before.
By the end of May, D Squadron had secured Mount Kent at the cost of two wounded in Air Troop (Dick Palmer and Carl Rhodes) from small-arms fire with another SAS man having broken his hand taking cover during the engagement, and Boat Troop with Tactical HQ started patrolling Bluff Cove Peak, which they took with the loss of another two SAS wounded (Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters) hit by hand grenade splinters or rock fragments, including a Spanish-speaking Warrant Officer attached from 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) who had joined Delves to interrogate any captured Argentine Army Green Berets. At the same time, Captain Matthew Selfridge's D Company, 3 PARA took Teal Inlet Settlement, at the cost of one wounded through an accidental discharge. The SAS soldiers claim coming under mortar bombardment on the night of 30/31 May while evacuating their wounded and 7 'Sphinx' Battery 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery reported the loss of one gunner (Van Rooyen), who suffered a broken arm while taking cover among the rocks during the bombardment.
The rest of 42 Commando made a march across the hills north of Mount Simon to reinforce Mounts Kent and Challenger overlooking Port Stanley. The weather conditions were atrocious, with the marines advancing through steep slippery hillocks and stone-runs to their objectives. Lou Armour was a corporal in J Company under Major Mike Norman:
Because of the weather and lack of equipment, we just had to carry all our heavy equipment back to Mount Kent, instead of being flown there. That was psychologically the toughest thing I'd ever done. You're walking and falling, walking and falling—some of the lads carrying up to a hundred pounds—and if you fell over, it took two guys to lift you back up. Then there was the lack of sleep, the wet, the cold, the diarrhoea.
The final attack was preceded by several days of observation and nights of patrolling. Some night-fighting patrols were part of a deception to convince the Argentines that the attack would come from a westerly direction. Other, more covert patrols were to find a route through a minefield around the south of Mount Harriet. Sniping and naval artillery were used to harass the defenders and deny them sleep.
On 3 June, Lieutenant Chris Mawhood's Reconnaissance Troop of 42 Cdo RM on Mount Wall, accompanying the 3 Commando Brigade Forward Air Control team commanded by Flight Lieutenant Dennis Marshall-Hasdell, encountered two rifle sections from the 4th Monte Caseros Regiment (Second Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Platoon of B Company from Mount Harriet). The night before, the section under Corporal Elvio Alberto Balcaza had detected the presence of British troops on Mount Wall and the section under Corporal Nicolas Víctor Odorcic moved forward to assist under the cover of the early morning mist. However, at around 11.00 hours (local time) the Recce Troop opened fire and two conscripts (Privates Celso Paez and Roberto Ledesma) were instantly killed, and their NCO (Odorcic) went down, concussed when shot in the helmet by one of the Marine snipers.
This action drew attention to their exposed forward position, and Argentine reinforcements in the form of a rifle section under Corporal Walter Ariel Pintos from Second Lieutenant Marcelo Llambías Pravaz's 3rd Platoon on Two Sisters joined the action with a counterattack firing rifle-grenades. The Primary Forward Air Controller, commando-trained Flight Lieutenant Dennis Marshal-Hasdell, remembers:
We were separated from our heavy bergens with the radios and all our gear. The patrol was spread over quite a large area, with lots of shouting, noise and firing going on. The Marines abandoned all their equipment, and although no one told us, it became clear that we were to withdraw. With no information and the likelihood of having to fight our way out, Dave Greedus and I decided to abandon our equipment, destroying as much as we could. The two radio sets (HF and UHF) were tough enough, but the HAZE unit of the laser target marker was designed to withstand the weight of a tank!
The Ferranti laser-target-designator retrieved in the contact showed that the Royal Marines were seeking to destroy the Argentine bunkers on Mount Harriet with 1,000-pound GBU-16 Paveway II dropped by RAF Harriers. The next day, Lieutenant Tony Hornby's 11 Troop re-occupied the Mount Wall observation post against no opposition. However, on the night of 5–6 June, Captain Andrés Ferrero's 3rd Assault Section from 602 Commando Company attacked Lieutenant Hornby's men on Mount Wall and the Royal Marines were forced to withdraw.
That same night (5–6 June), a British Gazelle helicopter, XX377 of 656 Squadron, which was transporting communications equipment to support the planned advance of the 5th Infantry Brigade, was shot down in a friendly fire incident by a Sea Dart missile launched from HMS Cardiff. All four personnel on board were killed.
As a reward for their efforts, the Argentine Land Forces Commander (Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre) who had been visiting the Commanding Officer of the 4th Regiment during the gun-battle on 3 June, ordered that the recently arrived boxes of chocolate bars from the Argentine hospital ship Bahía Paraiso to be distributed among the Mount Harriet defenders, regardless of rank.
Initial actions
On 8 June, the British troopships Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram were attacked by Argentine aircraft at Bluff Cove. Lieutenant-Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria sought permission to attack the British beachhead with the 4th Regiment, but his request was denied. The Rifle Company Commander on Harriet, Captain Carlos Arroyo recalled, "It seem to us to be the optimum moment to leave our positions and go to the attack when we saw the vulnerability of the English ships. Initially I was a little afraid but when I saw the battle was going in our favour due to the action of the aircraft, I was longing to go and attack the English."
That day, reinforcements in the form of machine-gunners, mortarmen and protecting riflemen from the 1st 'Patricios' Infantry Regiment, Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers and 17th Airborne Infantry Regiment arrived from Comodoro Rivadavia to support the 4th Infantry Regiment. On the night of 8–9 June, action on the outer defence zone flared when Lieutenant Mark Townsend's 1 Troop (K Company, 42 CDO) probed Mount Harriet, killing two Argentines (Corporal Hipolito Gonzalez and Private Martiniano Gomez) from Second Lieutenant Jiménez-Corbalán's 3rd Platoon. At the same time, two platoon-sized fighting patrols from 45 Cdo RM attempted the same on Two Sisters Mountain, but the Argentine RASIT ground surveillance radar on Mount Longdon was able to detect the 45 Cdo RM troops, and artillery fire dispersed the British force. In all, Second Lieutenant Lautaro Jiménez-Corbalán would report the loss of 6 killed and 14 wounded fighting off Lieutenant Mawhood's Recce Troop on Mount Wall and the raid of Lieutenant Townsend's 1 Troop, including losses suffered during the final British assault on Mount Harriet on the night of 11–12 June.
Around dusk on 9 June, Lieutenant-Colonel Soria's men detected the presence of British troops who had taken up positions in Port Harriet House on the southern approaches to Mount Harriet. The 4th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon, under Sub-Lieutenant Jorge Pasolli, received orders to move forward and clear at bayonet point if necessary the British from the farmhouse and the Scots Guards Reconnaissance Platoon that had moved into the area was forced to withdraw when the Argentine force, with Paratroop-trained First Lieutenant Francisco Pablo D'Aloia (adjutant of RI 4's Commanding Officer) at the head, radioed fire support from the 120-mm Mortar Platoon dug in on Mount Harriet. Sub-Lieutenant Pasolli's men attacked and the Scots Guards returned fire with two Bren machine guns but were forced to abandon their rucksacks and radios. As the Guardsmen retreated, under small arms and mortar fire, they sustained three wounded, including Sergeant Ian Allum.
On the morning of 11 June, the orders for the attack were given to 42 Cdo RM by Lieutenant Colonel Vaux. K Company was ordered to attack the eastern end of the mountain, while L Company would attack the southern side an hour later, where if the mountain was secured, would move North to occupy Goat Ridge. J Company would launch a diversionary attack (code-named Vesuvius) on the western end of Mount Harriet. If these objectives fell quickly, 42 Cdo RM would proceed to capture Mount William.
In the closing hours of 11 June, K and L Companies moved from their assembly area on Mount Challenger (which lay to the west of Mount Harriet) and made their way south, around their objective, across the minefield, to their respective start lines. As they moved around the feature in the dark, J Company with supporting Welsh Guards launched a loud diversionary "attack" from the west.
Battle
The battle for Mount Harriet began on the evening of 11 June with a heavy naval softening-up bombardment that killed two Argentinians and wounded twenty-five.
John Witheroe, one of the British war correspondents, later recalled the heavy Royal Navy bombardment: