Mount Harriet
| Mount Harriet | |||
| Falkland Islands | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| East Falkland | |||
| Summit: | 2,625 feet 51°42’30"S, 58°1’6"W | ||
Mount Harriet is a hill of 2,625 feet on East Falkland, to the west of Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands.
Harriet is joined by a ridge, Goat Ridge, to Two Sisters Mountain to the north. To the east, between it and Stanley, stands Mount Tumbledown which, Like Mount Harriet, was the site of a heavily fought battle in the last days of the Falklands War, that led the way to the liberation of Stanley and the final victory.
The Battle of Mount Harriet
In the closing satges of the Falklands War, an action took place on the slopes of Mount Harriet, to clear the Argentine forces holding the heights on the way to Stanley. It was one of three battles in a brigade-size operation on the same night.
On the night of 11/12 June 1982, British forces were advancing towards the liberation of Stanley. The force tasked with taking Mount Harriet consisted of 42 Commando (42 CDO) of the Royal Marines under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Nick Vaux, with artillery support from a battery of 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery. The 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards (1WG) and two companies from 40 Commando (40 CDO) were in reserve. HMS Yarmouth provided naval-gunfire support for the British forces. The Argentine defenders consisted of ex-Army Green Beret Captain Carlos Alberto Arroyo's B Company from Lieutenant Colonel Diego Alejandro Soria's 4th Monte Caseros Infantry Regiment (RI 4).
The battle was a textbook example of good planning and use of deception and surprise, and a further step towards the main objective of Stanley. Two Royal Marines, Corporal Laurence G Watts and Acting Corporal Jeremy Smith, were killed, and thirty were wounded, including fourteen wounded in L Company.[1] Another six Scots Guards and Gurkhas were wounded by Argentine artillery and mortar fire controllers on Mount Harriet. Eighteen Argentines were killed defending Mount Harriet. Royal Marine Warrant Officer 2 John Cartledge, who served with L Company during the battle, said of the Argentines:
They used the tactics which they had been taught along the way very well, they were quite prepared for an attack. They put up a strong fight from start to finish. They were also better equipped than we were. We had first generation night sights, which were large cumbersome pieces of equipment, while the Argentines had second-generation American night sights that were compact and so much better than what we had. The one deficiency which we exposed was that they had planned for a western end of the mountain attack and therefore had not bothered to extend their defensive positions to the eastern end, where we ultimately attacked.[2]
42 Commando captured 300 prisoners on Mount Harriet, and for the valour shown in the attack, the unit was awarded one DSO, one Military Cross, four Military Medals, and eight men were mentioned in dispatches.[3]
Outside links
- Mount Harriet Memorial - Falkland Islands Tourism
References
- ↑ Major David G Wheen, Royal Marines: 'A Rifle Company Commander's Perspective'
- ↑ British Royal Marine returns to Battlefield, Merco Press, South Atlantic News Agency, Monday, April 15th 2002
- ↑ Naval History.net
