Three Days in June, page 10
Cpl Graham Heaton
Eventually B Company HQ arrived up on the western slope. I remember hearing someone shouting, ‘It’s the FOO party.’ I then saw in this order: CSM Johnny Weeks; [Sgt] Johnny Pettinger; the FOO party Pte Duncan Daly; Major Argue and Captain Logan. We now handed our prisoner over to B Company HQ.
Captain Adrian Logan, 28 yrs – B Company 2ic
I can speak a bit of Spanish, and I began to ask the prisoner questions about the strength of the enemy on the mountain, where they were, etc. The prisoner was telling me everything we needed to know, even before I could finish my questions.
2.2 ‘It doesn’t matter what fucking call sign they are, all I want you to do is grab whoever you can and push forward’
B Company HQ arrive on the western slope approximately 02.10hrs (zt). Shortly after this the prisoner (Pedro) is escorted down to the RAP area, but during this move he breaks loose and runs. Warnings are shouted, but unfortunately lethal force is used and he is shot dead. At the same time up on Fly Half, Pte Andy Steadman watches an Argentine running around on fire.
Pte Andy Steadman
I am not sure what time it was, but I do remember watching an Argentine who was running around screaming in the darkness on fire. I wasn’t sure what happened to him, but I do remember him.
LCpl Lenny Carver
I remember seeing CSM Johnny Weeks and Lt Mark Cox having a discussion. Just seeing John Weeks was very reassuring to all of us. Captain McCracken had also arrived and we briefed him what we could see up on Fly Half. We took him up to Fly Half to the trench/latrine we had last occupied. Once we had all squeezed into the trench, we put our heads up and could see the incoming fire from the Full Back position. Captain McCracken said, ‘Right, I’m going to call in some naval gunfire.’ He busied himself giving coordinates, etc. Then ‘Shot out!’ followed shortly by the whistling noise of naval gunfire coming in. It dropped not far in front of us. The noise was absolutely deafening and the whole area shook violently. Immediately after the explosion, Captain McCracken turned and said, ‘Run for it, there are another five more in the air.’ We ran for all our worth back into cover while the shells landed boom, boom one after another, just above the bowl.
Captain Adrian Logan
Captain McCracken told me he was about to bring in some naval gunfire. I asked him how accurate it would be in such rough sea conditions, and he said, ‘Plus or minus a kilometre.’ I hoped he was joking, but when those shells exploded, I wasn’t so sure.
02.31hrs (zt): from C/S 41B to C/S 29 FDC: ‘This target ZU7920 is at add 600.’
Target ZU7920 is the Full Back position, add 600 [metres] these rounds will land 100 metres from the forward troops and 50 metres from 6 Platoon’s wounded.
Pte Duncan Daly, 22 yrs – SP Company Signals Platoon attached to B Company HQ
Our group moved through the rocks up towards the western slope. As we progressed we could hear Sgt John Ross’s voice and soon met with 5 Platoon. Shortly after we met up we received a radio message from 4 Platoon stating that their Sunray [Lt Bickerdike] was wounded and Sunray Minor [Sgt Ian McKay] was missing, and that 4 Platoon had taken casualties. Shortly after this Sgt Des Fuller from our group was despatched to see what was happening with 4 Platoon, and we now went firm for a while.
CSM John Weeks
I heard from one of the signallers that now Sgt McKay was missing. As we had a spare sergeant with us, Sgt Des Fuller, I turned to Des and said, ‘Des, you’re now in charge of 4 Platoon. Go and check their situation.’
Pte Martyn Clarkson-Kearsley, 20 yrs – B Company HQ
Des Fuller then went off looking for 4 Platoon, and after about five minutes came back and said, ‘4 and 5 Platoon are strung out all over the place, they’ve taken a couple of wounded and I can’t find [Cpl] Ned Kelly.’ Johnny Weeks replied, ‘Des, I don’t give a fuck who you get, it doesn’t matter what platoon they’re from, it doesn’t matter what fucking call sign they are, all I want you to do is grab whoever you can and push forward.’ With this Des calmly went off into the darkness.
Captain McCracken is now up on Fly Half:
02.35hrs (zt): from C/S 41B to C/S 29 FDC: ‘Held up by sniper fire, but are trying to consolidate.’
Cpl Phil Skidmore
Looking for the sniper, we spotted a single muzzle flash quite forward of our position. I said to Kev Connery, ‘Give me your gun, I’ll put a burst into him.’ I began to engage where I had seen the muzzle flash with the GPMG but Cpl Jimmy Morham, who had heard this, immediately began shouting, ‘Fuck off, it’s me, stop firing,’ accompanied by ‘Skidmore, you bastard!’
Pte Mark (Zip) Hunt, 20 yrs – D Company Patrol Guide for B Company
As we began moving up towards Fly Half an Argentinian appeared from behind a rock on my left, and almost before he had time to recognize me, I shot and killed him. In the dark there was just no time to take prisoners, it was him or me. As soon as we moved through the rocks a bullet struck the rock, barely missing me; 6 Platoon were indeed receiving what seemed like very accurate sniper fire.
We located a group of 6 Platoon, and spotted Lt Shaw. He looked a bit shocked, and said, ‘Where’ve you come from?’ and Sgt John Pettinger said, ‘Back over there,’ pointing over to the western slope. ‘How many blokes have you lost? We’ve taken a hell of a lot of dead and wounded; Sgt Gray has just been shot, it’s chaos, we’ve got people stuck out to our front that are wounded but we just can’t reach them because of sniper fire, they’ve taken out two of my men who tried to rescue them; we can’t move.’ Sgt Johnny Pettinger told him, ‘Sir, I have an excellent sniper in my patrol [Dickie Absolon] that has an IWS, let me see what we can do.’ We then crawled over to the left of Fly Half, and I remember seeing the body of Pte Tony Greenwood laying there.
Pte Terry Bowdell
You could feel the blast of rounds whizzing past you; you could actually feel them passing overhead and around you. We could see Navy signaller Titch Barfoot’s radio aerial and it was attracting quite a lot of fire. Willie McCracken said, ‘I’m not having that,’ and we could hear him saying, ‘Adjust your fire, drop 200, 100 drop, add 50, fire for effect, that’ll teach the bastards!’ Willie was using a pair of Argentine night-vision goggles, but as soon as the aerial went up, there would be a burst of two or three rounds – they were lower than us, and we were silhouetted against the night sky.
Pte Chris Masterman
We now went forward: me, Terry Bowdell and some others. We had three GPMGs lined up on Fly Half with Kev Connery, Gaz Juliff and Dominic Gray. In front of us was Sgt Johnny Pettinger and Dickie Absolon scanning the area for any signs of movement. Dickie Absolon with his L42 sniper rifle fitted with an IWS would fire a tracer round, and we would fire at it with Johnny Pettinger calling corrections.
Sgt John Pettinger, 28 yrs – D Company attached, Guide with B Company HQ
I told Pte Connery to put that fucking gun on there [meaning, fire there], which he did, firing to the rocks to our front. We now had Captain Willie McCracken and his team up with us and he was bringing in naval gunfire. You could hear him saying, ‘Drop 50’, then ‘Drop 50’, and my eyes got a bit wider! Then he said, ‘Tell your lads to get their heads down and brace.’ And I thought, Fucking hell. The noise was tremendous, the ground was shaking; it was incredibly close, but he was very good at his job, and it worked.
B Company contact Support Company, asking for stretchers for 4 Platoon:
03.00hrs (zt): from C/S 29 to C/S 59: ‘Have taken quite a number of casualties and require a lot of stretchers, caused by heavy firefight.’
Then the CO, who is listening in to the radio traffic, asks Major Argue for a situation report:
03.02hrs (zt): from C/S 9 to C/S 29: ‘Send sit rep.’
Major Argue informs the CO what has just happened:
03.02hrs (zt): from C/S 29 to C/S 9: ‘Roger, Call Sign 21 did splinter assault on enemy position, have taken several casualties and a couple of prisoners.’
The CO and Tac HQ are now making their way up the western slope trying to make contact with Major Argue and find out what is happening.
CSgt Steve Knights, 31 yrs – Support Company Anti-Tank Platoon
I was on the western slope when B Company OC came on the radio saying they had taken casualties and they required stretchers. I said, ‘I don’t have the stretchers any more, they are with Captain Burgess at the western end of the feature with the RAP.’ Not long after, CO Hew Pike shouted across to me and said, ‘Can you tell me what’s happening?’ I told him that basically B Company had taken the western end of Longdon. We’d set up a firebase there and were returning fire at the Full Back location, but it would appear we’d slowly ground to a halt because of the return of heavy tracer fire from the enemy.
CSM John Weeks
Sgt Fuller came back to give me a situation report, saying, ‘Sgt McKay is dead, we have a number of blokes that are very badly wounded that need evacuating urgently, we also need more ammo, and we need more people back up there now.’ I turned to Pte Clarkson-Kearsley and [Pte] Clifton Lewis and said, ‘Right, lads, we have to go forward and collect casualties.’
Pte Martyn Clarkson-Kearsley
Des Fuller was a different man from the one I had seen earlier. His face looked completely different in some way; you could tell something terrible had happened.
Cpl Phil Skidmore
I remember Sgt Des Fuller coming back and telling us, ‘Ned Kelly is dying and Ian McKay is dead, Lt Bickerdike’s wounded, the platoon is fucked.’ That was the first we really knew about it, and we were gutted.
Pte Duncan Daly
Major Argue now went up to Fly Half and I followed. We were all behind a large boulder with an Argentine .50 Calibre firing at it and ricocheting off in all directions. You could feel the rock vibrating. Eventually we had to move back because there was nothing we could do from this location.
Pte Andy Steadman
Support Company arrived with Milan teams and SF machine guns. The FOO officer Captain McCracken, who was not far from me, was giving his coordinates and calling in fire missions onto positions forward of Fly Half. Before long the firebase was established and they were suppressing the incoming fire.
Major Dennison now informs the CO that four of 6 Platoon’s wounded are being moved:
03.20hrs (zt): from C/S 59 to C/S 9: ‘Four casualties, taken by call sign 59 stretcher party.’
Pte Terry Bowdell
Everyone was firing blindly into the First Bowl, and after a while nothing came back. Either everyone was dead or had bugged out.
The CO is talking to Major Argue over the radio. They are both up on the western slope, but in the darkness it is hard to locate anyone:
03.30hrs (zt): from C/S 9 to C/S 29: ‘Can you assess the situation?’
Major Argue replies to the CO:
03.30hrs (zt): from C/S 29 to C/S 9: ‘Roger, I am now with Call Sign 2/3 [6 Platoon] There are a few well-sited automatic weapons, but believe little resistance left, do not think it necessary for Call Sign 3 [C Company] to pass through us yet. We will keep knocking the enemy bit by bit.’
Captain McCracken calls in more danger close [close proximity] artillery:
03.34hrs (zt): from C/S 41B to C/S 29FDC: ‘C/S 3 Fire mission battery ZU7920 add 600 metres.’
Cpl Graham Heaton
Sometime after the CO turned up, we were asked to clear the First Bowl. There was no fighting as everyone appeared to be dead, but we checked positions by tossing grenades and firing a couple of 66mm’s into bunkers just make sure they were clear. The FOO party now reaches the top eastern end of the First Bowl, the CO’s party were also in the First Bowl with Major Argue, and my gun team and Lenny Carver’s gun team were now at the forward edge of the bowl putting fire down towards Full Back.
LCpl Lenny Carver
We went into the First Bowl and I realized that there were lots of small bunkers in this very dark area, and a bunker immediately to our front had radio chatter coming from it in Spanish. Ben Gough and Dominic fire 66s into it which exploded. Our group consisting of Dominic, Ben, Terry and Gaz Juliff now moved across the bowl area, clearing the various positions in the usual manner.
Pte Duncan Daly
I remember the SF machine guns were asking for more ammunition, but we were told it was in the BVs and would not be coming until first light.
The CO locates Major Argue. The time is now approximately 03.45hrs (zt).
Acting Captain Orpen-Smellie
A short while later the CO moved forward with a much smaller group – probably himself, the Battery Commander Major John Patrick and the Mortar Platoon Commander Captain Julian James and their signallers – to join Major Mike Argue. I remained with the rump of Tac HQ in our original position on Fly Half.
2.3 ‘This is going to be a close one, tell your blokes to get their heads down’
04.16hrs (zt): from C/S 41B to C/S 29FDC: ‘C/S 3 End of mission ZU7920 at add 600 metres 55 rounds expended.’
Captain Adrian Logan
We moved into the First Bowl. There were dead and dying Argentines lying about, moaning and groaning, asking for ‘Mama’. There were a few who were completely broken gibbering wrecks, crying, and some were praying. It was awful. However, at this moment in time, we had no sympathy for them; some of the Toms told them to ‘fucking shut up’. The CO said, ‘Okay, Adrian, tell your guys to secure the area.’
The time is now approximately 05.00hrs (zt). CSM John Weeks has now returned from assisting 4 Platoon.
Pte Martyn Clarkson-Kearsley
I remember being in the First Bowl with Captain McCracken, and he turned to CSM Johnny Weeks and said, ‘Right, this is going to be a close one, tell your blokes to get their heads down.’ The naval gunfire came in, and I thought he had got it wrong it was that close; he was trying to take the .50 Cal out in the Third Bowl, which was only about 100 metres away.
LCpl Lenny Carver
CSM John Weeks said to Cpl Graham Heaton and me, ‘Get your lads into positions around the edge of the bowl, just in case we get a counter-attack.’ I then heard Major Argue come into the bowl with us with the CO and various head sheds, including Major Collett and Major Pat Butler. Major Argue said, ‘Right, we’re going to do a flanking attack along the northern side,’ i.e. the sheep track. Major Argue was told in no uncertain terms that we’d been down there once, and this was not the way to go, but he insisted.
Sgt John Ross
Major Argue suggested that we form a fighting group and that we would attempt to take the enemy positions to our front by going left-flanking; I was not amused by this. I called all my Section Commanders in and told them what was happening, that we were basically going to attempt to go down the same route that Cpl McLaughlin had been before. This time we would take the naval gunfire team with us, a totally professional group of guys led by another Ulsterman, Captain McCracken. We also had our MFCs Cpl Ronnie Cooper and Cpl Terry McGlasson up with us, and I specifically remember asking Terry for a Dolly mix [white phosphorus fired after each High Explosive bomb]. They were trying to neutralize an enemy position, which when we moved was only 20 to 30 yards in front of us, an almost impossible task without taking friendly-fire casualties.
Pte Ben Gough
The next thing I remember is hearing CSM Johnny Weeks’ voice. He was calling everyone in and saying, ‘We’re going to go left-flanking.’ We were not in sections, just a large group of 5 Platoon.
Pte Chris Masterman
I remember CSM Johnny Weeks being sent to gather as many people as he could find for the forthcoming push. We had been briefed that we were now going along the northern side of the mountain. The Anti-Tanks, for some reason, were put at the front of 5 Platoon with Lt Cox who would take the lead. People were saying, ‘I don’t fucking like this; this is a bad idea.’
Cpl Phil Skidmore
The OC B Company said, ‘I want the machine guns leading, put the support element at the front.’ I said to Jon Crow and Kev Connery, ‘Fucking hell, lads; I don’t like the sound of this – we’ve got to lead 5 Platoon.’
3 PARA HQ informs Brigade:
06.10hrs (zt): from C/S 0 to C/S 99: ‘At present winning firefight on last known position on eastern end of Mount Longdon, from Prisoners, there are 6 x 120mm mortars at grid 338748 our call sign investigating.’
The Argentine mortar position is situated on the south-eastern end of Full Back.
Pte Mark (Zip) Hunt
Now that Support Company were dominating Fly Half, Sgt John Pettinger located a bunker and told Pte Dickie Absolon, Pte John (Jock) Wilson and me to take cover here as he would leave us to meet up with Sgt Mac French, who was leading A Company across from Wing Forward.
