Mount Tumbledown, Mount William, and Sapper Hill are located to the west of Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands. Due to their proximity to the capital, these positions held strategic importance during the 1982 Falklands War. On the night of 13–14 June, British forces launched an offensive against Mount Tumbledown and the surrounding high ground. The operation was successful, forcing the retreat of the Argentine force. This engagement, one of several night battles during the British advance toward Stanley, allowed British troops to secure a dominant position over the town, leading to the fall of Stanley and the surrender of Argentine forces on the islands.
British forces were the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, 42 Commandos Mortars and four light tanks of the Blues and Royals. The 7th Gurkha Rifles were in reserve with the task of capturing Mount William, allowing the Welsh Guards through to take Sapper Hill. The attack was supported by gunfire from HMS Active.
The Argentinian forces defending the mountains around Port Stanley were Commander Carlos Hugo Robacio's 5th Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM 5), a reinforced, cold-weather-trained and equipped Marine battalion. Prior to the British landings, the Argentine Marines battalion had been brought up to brigade strength by a company of the Amphibious Engineers Company, a heavy machine-gun company of the Headquarters Battalion, half a battery comprising three Tigercat SAM launchers of the 1st Marine Field Artillery Battalion (Batallón de Artillería de Campaña N.º 1 or BIAC), two anti-aircraft batteries comprising 12 Hispano-Suiz, HS-831 30mm AA guns of the 1st Marine Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Batallón Antiaéreo or BIAA), a 2nd (under Lieutenant Alfredo José Imboden) Marine Infantry Battalion platoon and a 3rd (under Second Lieutenant Héctor Edgardo Gazzolo) Marine Infantry Battalion platoon, military police, a small platoon of Marine Special Forces in the form of Tactical Divers (under Lieutenant Emilio Safi) and a canine platoon.
Tumbledown defenders
Marine Captain Eduardo Villarraza's N Company from the 5th Marine Battalion would defend Mounts Tumbledown and William
- 1st Platoon, Marine Second Lieutenant (Guardiamarina) Carlos Bianchi, was dug in on Mount William
- 2nd Platoon, Marine Second Lieutenant Marcelo Oruezabala, between Tumbledown and William
- 3rd Platoon, Marine Sergeant Suboficial or Chief Petty Officer Jorge Lucero, on the Northern slopes of Tumbledown, overlooking Moody Brook
- 4th Platoon, Marine Lieutenant Carlos Daniel Vázquez, dug in near the summit, covering the Western approaches
- Marine Engineers 5th Platoon, Lieutenant Héctor Omar Miño, behind the 4th Platoon, facing North in support of Lucero's men
- Heavy machine guns and dogs from the Marine Corps Headquarters Battalion on Mount Tumbledown and Sapper Hill
- Marine Tigercat SAM launchers and Marine anti-tank guns, one on Mount William in support of Bianchi's platoon and Lucero's men.
- Marine SAM Platoon, with British Blowpipe and Russian SA-7 MPADS on Sapper Hill
- Marine 60mm Mortar Platoon, split in two sections near the Tumbledown summit, under Marine Sergeants David Ramos and Lucio Monzón.
- Lieutenant Emilio Safi and his small Marine Special Forces platoon located in the Cambers Peninsula would first reconnoitre San Carlos after the British landings on 21 May and then monitor British ship movements from an observation post in Lively Island from the start of June.
At the time of the battle, Marine Teniente de Navio Eduardo Villarraza's N Company was stationed on Tumbledown, Mount William was occupied by O Company of the Marine battalion, commanded by Marine Captain Ricardo Quiroga. In reserve behind N Company was B (Bravo) Company of the 6th Army Regiment, under Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet, M Company, led by Marine Captain Rodolfo Oscar Cionchi, was stationed on Sapper Hill.
Early moves
On the morning of 13 June, the Scots Guards were moved by helicopter from their position at Bluff Cove to an assembly area near Goat Ridge, west of Mount Tumbledown. The British plan called for a diversionary attack south of Mount Tumbledown by a small number of the Scots Guards, assisted by the four light tanks of the Blues and Royals, while the main attack came as a three-phase silent advance from the west of Mount Tumbledown.
In the first phase, G company would take the western end of the mountain. In the second phase, Left Flank (company) would pass through the area taken by G company to capture the centre of the summit. In the third phase, Right Flank would pass through Left Flank to secure the eastern end of Tumbledown.
A daytime assault was initially planned but was postponed at the British battalion commander's request. In a meeting with his company commanders, the consensus was that the long uphill assault across the harsh ground of Tumbledown would be suicidal in daylight.
The British 'softening up' bombardment began at 7:30 local time, Major Jaimet later recalled:
I heard the cries of the wounded calling for their comrades, twelve men wounded before nightfall. We thought we had suffered before, but what luxury and comfort compared to this.
During the battle, the 5th Marines Command Post took five direct hits, but Commander Robacio emerged unscathed.
Diversion
At 8:30 p.m. on 13 June, the diversionary attack began. The 2nd Battalion Scots Guards' Reconnaissance Platoon and Pipes & Drums Platoon, commanded by Major Richard Bethell (a former SAS officer) and supported by four light tanks of the Blues and Royals clashed with the Argentine Marine O Company under Marine Captain Quiroga in a blocking position on the lower slopes of Mount William. On William's southern slopes, an anti-tank mine detonation disabled one of the light tanks, causing minor injuries to its three-man crew.
The initial advance was unopposed, but a heavy firefight broke out when British troops made contact with Argentinian defences. The Argentinians opened fire, killing two British soldiers (Drill Sergeant Daniel Wight and Lance-Corporal John Pashley) and wounding four others. After two hours of hard fighting, the Argentinian company withdrew to its main defences on William and the British secured the position. Marine First Class Private José Luis Fazio fought against Bethell's force:
At about 22:30 hours our battalion had its first intensive gun battle with British companies which appeared out of nowhere. I heard Private Roberto Barboza yell "The English are here!" ... I remember our Operations Officer requested the artillery to assist at 23.00 with star shells. The close quarter battle was such that the Argentine artillery was unable to drop shells on to the British attackers. I was shooting, doing my work. I don't know if I killed anyone. We just fired our rifles, that's all. Contact was maintained for over an hour before battalion headquarters ordered Obra Company to fall back ... What we did not realise at the time was that a wounded (Argentine) Marine made his way to the amphibious engineer platoon and threw a grenade, wounding a (British) Major (Richard Bethell). Simultaneously, the Major opened fire, killing him.
After the successful diversion, the British force withdrew, carrying their wounded with them. During the withdrawal, two additional soldiers were injured by shellfire and four more after inadvertently entering a minefield. The explosions of the mines prompted Argentine Marine Major Antonio Pernías (Operations Officer, 5th Marines) to instruct the 81 mm mortar platoon stationed on Mount William, as well as the longer-range 120mm mortar pieces from to 'C' Company, 3rd Infantry Regiment on Sapper Hill, to open fire on both the minefield and the potential withdrawal route of any forces attacking Mount William. The barrage lasted approximately forty minutes. British casualties were slightly mitigated as the mortar shells predominantly landed on soft peat, which lessened the impact of the explosion. The diversion suffered a total of 2 killed, Lance Corporal Pashley of 9 Parachute Squadron and WO2 Danny Wight, with 16 more wounded, according to Guardsmen Steven William Duffy and Peter Alexander MacInnes from the Pipes & Drums Platoon, during a televised interview conducted in the site in 2007.
Marines Privates Omar Iñiguez, Aldo Osmar Patrone and Juan Francisco from O Company were killed fighting Major Bethell's force.
Night attack
At 9 p.m., half an hour after the start of the diversionary attack, Major Iain Dalzel-Job's G Company started its two-mile advance. Reaching its objective undetected, the company found the western end of the mountain undefended and occupied it easily, but later came under shellfire that wounded 10.
Major John Kiszely's Left Flank passed through them and reached the central region of the peak unopposed, but then came under heavy fire.
The Argentinians, later learned to be of company strength, directed mortar, grenade, machine gun and small arms fire from close range at the British company, killing three British soldiers (Guardsman Ronald Tanbini, Guardsman Archibald Stirling and Sergeant John Simeon). Marine Sub-Lieutenant Héctor Mino's 5th Platoon (1st Amphibious Engineer Company), held the rocks behind Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Vázquez's 4th Platoon, N Company. In the centre of the 4th Marine Platoon position were the remnants of Second Lieutenants Óscar Silva's and Marcelo Llambías-Pravaz's RI 4 platoons as well as the remnants of Second Lieutenants Celestino Mosteirín's and Marcelo Dorigón's RI 12 platoons, which had recently fought on Two Sisters, Goat Ridge and Mount Harriet. Backing them near the summit were two sections of mortamen (under Sergeants David Ramos and Lucio Monzón) from the 5th Marines 60-mm Mortar Platoon.
For between four and five hours, a contingent of Argentine defenders, including a composite force of Marine and Army personnel from six infantry platoons, engineers and a platoon of mortar operators, held their positions on Tumbledown, preventing the advance of British forces. To identify enemy bunkers, British Guardsmen fired Illuminating Parachute flares toward the summit. Both sides engaged in a sustained exchange of fire, with the Guardsmen deploying 66mm and 84mm anti-tank rounds, while the Argentine forces, firing from cover, retaliated using rifle grenades. Despite the assault, the Argentine defenders remained resolute, shouting obscenities in English and even singing the Marcha de las Malvinas.
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Scott, the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, considered the possibility of withdrawing and launching another assault the following night. Reflecting on the situation, he later remarked,
The old nails were being bitten a bit, if we hadn't held on to Tumbledown, it might have encouraged them to keep on fighting.
Left flank
The fighting was hard going for Left Flank, as Argentine forces were well prepared with entrenched machine guns and snipers. However, at 2:30 a.m., a renewed British assault succeeded in overwhelming the troops of the 4th and 12th Regiments. Despite this, the surviving members of Vazquez's 4th Platoon continued to resist until approximately 7:00 a.m. British forces ultimately secured control of the mountaintop, inflicting casualties, capturing numerous defenders from the 4th and 12th Regiments, and, in some instances, engaging in close-quarters combat with fixed bayonets. Marine Private Jorge Sanchez recalled:
The fighting was sporadic, but at times fierce, as we tried to maintain our position. By this time we had ten or twelve dead, including one officer [Second Lieutenant Oscar Silva, Argentine Army]. I hadn't fired directly at a British soldier, as they had been too hard to get a clear shot at. I can remember lying there with all this firing going over my head. They were everywhere. The platoon commander [Marine Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Daniel Vazquez] then called Private Ramon Rotela, manning a 60-millimetre mortar and Rotela fired it straight up into the air so that the bombs landed on ourselves. At this point I had been up and in actual combat for over six hours. It was snowing and we were tired. Some of the guys had surrendered, but I didn't want to do this. I had only twenty rounds left and I decided to continue the fight from Mount William. I popped up, fired a rifle grenade in the direction of 8 to 10 British soldiers to keep their heads down, and then ran for the 2nd Platoon. I can remember saying some type of prayer hoping the British wouldn't shoot me in the back.
Major Kiszely, who was to become a senior general after the war, was the first man into the Argentine position, shooting two Argentine conscripts and bayoneting a third. Seeing their company commander among the enemy inspired 14 and 15 Platoons to make the final dash across open ground to of the remaining Argentine Marines. Kiszely and six other Guardsmen suddenly found themselves standing on top of the mountain, looking down on Stanley, which was under street lighting and vehicles could be seen moving along the roads.
Argentine forces, consisting of Second Lieutenant Augusto La Madrid's platoon from Major Jaimet's B Company and Marine Lieutenant Héctor Miño's amphibious engineer platoon reinforced by Marine Lieutenant Waldemar Aquino and Marine Second Lieutenant De Marco, launched a counterattack. During the assault, a burst of machine-gun fire from La Madrid’s unit wounded three Guardsmen, including Lieutenant Alasdair Mitchell, commander of 15 Platoon and a bullet struck the compass attached to the belt of Major Kiszely.
For his role in leading a bayonet charge during the engagement, Kiszely was awarded the Military Cross.