Mount Tumbledown

Mount Tumbledown
Falkland Islands
Mount Tumbledown, Two Sisters, and Wireless Ridge from Stanley Harbour
51°40’1"S, 57°58’0"W

Mount Tumbledown is a mountain in the east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It overlooks Stanley, the islands' capital.

Tumbledown is best known as the site of the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, which concluded the Falklands War in 1982: once the Argentine positions on Tumbledown had been overwhelmed they enemy fled in disorder towards Stanley and the surrender was signed the next day.

The Falklands War

The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement in the Falklands War, one of a series of battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley. During the night of 13–14 June 1982 the British launched an assault on Mount Tumbledown, one of the highest points near Stanley and succeeded in driving Argentinian forces from the mountain. This close-quarters night battle was later dramatized in the BBC film Tumbledown.

The attack on Tumbledown was made by the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, mortar detachments from 42 Commando, Royal Marines and the 1st Battalion, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles, as well as support from a troop of the Blues and Royals equipped with two Scorpion and two Scimitar armoured vehicles. The Argentinian forces defending the mountains were Commander Carlos Robacio's 5th Marine Infantry Battalion. The defending Argentines were dug in and shelling British positions even before the assault.

The Gurkhas were tasked with capturing Mount William, a subsidiary hill, held by the Argentines' O Company, to allow the Welsh Guards to seize Sapper Hill, the final obstacle before Stanley. Off-shore, HMS Active provided fire from its 4.5 inch gun.

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. During this day, a dispatch rider from the 1st Welsh Guards Battalion was mortally wounded by Argentine shellfire directed from Tumbledown. The 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, whilst the main attack came as a three-phase silent advance from the west of Mount Tumbledown.

At 8:30 p.m. on 13 June the diversionary attack began. The 2nd Bn Scots Guards' Reconnaissance Platoon under Major Richard Bethell, and supported by the Blues and Royals' armour, struck the Argentines on the lower slopes of Mount William. The initial advance was unopposed, but a heavy firefight ensued as the Argentinian defences were reached: after two hours of hard fighting, the Argentine marines withdrew to their main defences and the Bethell secured the position. However the position was precarious and the Guards withdrew through what they found to be a minefield: four men were lost to mines, and the explosions alerted the enemy to open fire on the withdrawal route from Mount William, a barrage lasting for forty minutes.

Final Actions, 13 to 14 June 1982

At 9 p.m., half an hour after the start of the diversionary attack, Major Iain Dalzel-Job's G Company started its advance of nearly two miles. Reaching its objective undetected, the company found the western end of the mountain undefended and occupied it easily, but later came under heavy shellfire that wounded Major Dalzel-Job in the head. Major John Kiszely's Left Flank passed through them and reached the central region of the peak unopposed, but then came under heavy fire.

For four or five hours, three platoons of Argentinian riflemen, machine gunners, and mortar men pinned the Scots Guards down from their positions: the Guardsmen traded 66 mm rockets and 84 mm anti-tank rounds with the Argentinians, who were protected in rock bunkers.

Meanwhile, HMS Yarmouth and HMS Active pounded Tumbledown with their 4.5 inch guns.

The fighting was hard going for Left Flank. The Argentinians were well dug-in and resisted until 2:30 a.m., when a second British assault overwhelmed them: the bulk of the Argentine platoon though would continue fighting till about 7:00 am. The British soldiers swarmed over the mountaintop, at times fighting 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 the 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 was the first man into the Argentine position, personally shooting two Argentinian conscripts and bayoneting a third, his bayonet breaking in two. Seeing their company commander among the Argentinians inspired 14 and 15 Platoons to make the final dash across open ground to get within bayoneting distance of the remaining 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. The Argentinians attempted a counter-attack but were repulsed.

Lieutenant Robert Lawrence led 3 Platoon around to the right of the Argentinian platoons, hoping to take the Argentinians by surprise. They were detected, but a bayonet charge overwhelmed the Argentinian defenders. Lance-Corporal Graham Rennie of 3 Platoon later described the British attack:

Our assault was initiated by a Guardsman killing a sniper, which was followed by a volley of 66 mm anti-tank rounds. We ran forward in extended line, machine-gunners and riflemen firing from the hip to keep the enemy heads down, enabling us to cover the open ground in the shortest possible time. Halfway across the open ground 2 Platoon went to ground to give covering fire support, enabling us to gain a foothold on the enemy position. From then on we fought from crag to crag, rock to rock, taking out pockets of enemy and lone riflemen, all of whom resisted fiercely.

By 9:00 a.m., the Scots Guards had gained the high ground east of Tumbledown Mountain and the Gurkhas commenced deploying across the heavily shelled saddle from Tumbledown south to Mount William, which they took with the loss of 13 wounded. The 2nd Battalion Scots Guards had lost eight dead and 43 wounded. The Welsh Guards had lost one dead, the Royal Engineers had also lost one dead, and the Gurkhas had sustained altogether 13 wounded, including the artillery observation officer, Captain Keith Swinton. According to Dhanbahadur Rai, a Gurkha:

At the foot of the hill there was an enormous minefield. A group of Sappers went ahead to clear a path through the mines, but when the Welsh Guardsmen advanced they found Sapper Hill abandoned. The delay caused by the mines probably saved many lives.

With Tumbledown and Sapper taken, the Argentines fled the field, streaming towards Stanley. The surrender was signed the next day.

References

• Sky News: Return to the Falklands [1]
• In his first interview in 20 years, Robert Lawrence tells Mark Townsend how the trauma of battle reshaped his life
• [2] As part of his journey of reconciliation Mike Seers travels to Argentina to interview Marine artillery fire controllers and gunners whom he fought against
• Reassessing the Fighting Performance of the Argentine 5th Marines
• Taken from the diary of Guardsman Tracy Evens