Three Days in June, page 15
Pte Andy Stone
I was still with Dave Kempster, there were still odd shots ringing out, and now Argentine mortar rounds were beginning to land quite close to us. I remember Cpl Phil Probets turning up and he immediately began treating Dave.
Lt Andrew Bickerdike
I remember CSM Johnny Weeks appeared, and he put me over his shoulder and ran with me to the Company Aid Post, which I found extremely painful.
Pte Martyn Clarkson-Kearsley
Our small Company HQ group now began to make our way east. There were about five of us. We cautiously made our way towards the Third Bowl. There was still a lot of fire coming from further east. We were all crouching as we moved, trying to keep a low profile. We could hear Cpl McLaughlin calling out orders to his section, and to anyone else in the area. When we got to the area of the Third Bowl, we found some members of 4 Platoon lying on the ground.
CSM Johnny Weeks
I told my lads to stay where they were while I went forward and assessed the situation.
Pte Mark Eyles-Thomas
I had crawled across to Neil Grose, to help Ian Scrivens, who was treating him. When I reached Scrivs he was feeling Neil’s back and said, ‘I think he’s been shot in the chest, but I can’t find an exit wound.’ Scrivs then asked, ‘How is Jason?’ I decided not to go into detail, slowly shook my head and my face said it all. We began to remove Neil’s webbing, trying to be as delicate as possible; Neil was in great pain and was struggling to breathe. I checked that the dressing on Neil’s chest was sealed and said to Scrivs, ‘We’ve got to move him onto his injured side to help him breathe.’ But Neil begged us not to do it. I turned to Scrivs, put my hand on his shoulder and whispered, ‘We can’t stay here, we’ve got to move him.’
At that precise moment a bullet hit Scrivs and he died instantly. Simon Ward, who was also lying by us, said, ‘Check his pulse,’ but I replied, ‘There’s no need, he’s dead.’ I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Neil groaned, and I had one of them moments when you think, What the fuck am I going to do now? I turned to Neil and said, ‘You’ll be okay, mate, I’ll look after you.’ Neil then asked, ‘Where’s the helicopters?’ as we had been told a totally unrealistic casualty evacuation time of 20 minutes. I lied and said, ‘It’s on its way, just stay with me.’
Cpl Ned Kelly
I remember CSM John Weeks and Sgt John Ross appearing and shouting across to me, ‘Ned, we’re going to get you out.’ It was about this time that Ian Scrivens was shot whilst helping with the casualties.
Pte Grant Grinham
I helped carry Ned Kelly. He was lying on his back, and I took his left leg and Mick Swain took his left arm, and on his other side were Mark Eisler and John [Taff] Hedges. Even with the four of us, we were still struggling to pick him up. I said to Mick Swain, ‘Let’s swap over.’ We changed position and within a split second Mick got shot in the leg. I heard the round hit him. It sounded like someone had hit him with a cricket bat or something. It was weird because he didn’t even shout out. He just said, ‘Oh, I’ve been shot!’ I can’t remember who took over from Mick, but we carried on moving.
It was clear that Ned was in great pain, but he never moaned or complained at all. He just let us get on with what we needed to do to move him. Luckily, we didn’t have to carry him too far. We put Ned down by some other casualties. Most of them were sitting or lying in the protection of a large wall of rocks along the sheep track. I remember seeing Mick Cullen, who, despite the wound to his mouth, was reluctant to be evacuated. Cpl McLaughlin then said, ‘Right, lads, start taking the ammunition off the wounded, we’re going to need it.’
4.6 ‘We’re going to have to move you; it’s not safe here’
The wounded are moved initially on to the sheep track running between the Second and First Bowls.
Radio operator Pte Mick Cullen, although wounded in the mouth, with his lips split and teeth missing, directs an artillery barrage to cover the withdrawal of the wounded, through FOO Captain Willie McCracken, who is based up on Fly Half.
Pte Mick Cullen
During this period I was on the radio to Company HQ. I was trying to coordinate a casevac by sending our location and the numbers of casualties. I also helped to bring in some artillery support. However, I had no map, I wasn’t sure where I was, I had forgotten any code words and had no reference points that I knew of. I was trying to remember the Fly Half and Full Back code words from the briefing. I also had a gunshot wound to the mouth, and we were under fire! And I thought that maybe Captain McCracken should have cut me some slack, as the Argentines were only 50 to 60 metres away.
Captain Willie McCracken, 31 yrs – Forward Observation Officer, Commando Regiment Royal Artillery
I was talking to the forward left platoon by a series of chats, which resembled the ‘Golden Shot phone-in’ rather than Infantry Artillery Target Indication Procedures. However, it did work. The platoon was able to withdraw under cover of a heavy artillery barrage.4
Captain Willie McCracken also mentions this same incident in the 148 (Meiktila) Commando Battery operational report, saying:
We ended up having a very, very basic Arty Target Procedure, worked out with the forward platoon, and it was simply, ‘How’s that?’ And they said, ‘Fine, that’s about 50 metres away.’ Or whatever, or, ‘You can afford to come a little closer.’ And we’d creep it back and creep it back, and I was doing this blind at the time, and it seemed to work very effectively.
Pte Mark Eisler
After we left Ned Kelly in the Company Aid Post I made my way back to help with the rest of the wounded; I came across Mick Swain and helped move him back. I then returned and came across Ian Bailey, who was being carried back, and I gave a hand with him. He had multiple gunshot wounds. It was around this time I found out about Sgt McKay’s death. I’d noticed that he wasn’t around, but I just thought he was elsewhere, as it was dark.
Pte Gordon Ellse
I helped carry Cpl Bailey, but I thought it unlikely that he would survive, due to the amount of blood coming out of him.
CSM Johnny Weeks
I could hear Cpl McLaughlin shouting out orders. He was trying to bring more fire down on enemy positions to the east. I now took charge of the situation and asked, ‘Who’ve you got there?’ and Pte Mark Eyles-Thomas replied, ‘It’s Grose, Sir.’ I shouted, ‘Not his last name, you knob! What’s his first name?’ Eyles-Thomas replied, ‘It’s Neil, Sir, but we call him Grose.’ I bent down and whispered, ‘Right, Neil, we’re going to have to move you; it’s not safe here, so just bear with us and we’ll get you out of here.’ I then turned and said to the rest of the group, ‘Right, you lot, get him in a poncho and let’s start moving him back.’
Pte Martyn Clarkson-Kearsley
Cpl Ian Bailey was already lying in a poncho when I got to him. I was lying by his head; we were wary about standing up because of the incoming fire. Suddenly in the middle of all this carnage Cpl McLaughlin stood up with a pistol in his hand and screamed at the top of his voice, ‘Right, you fuckers, get up – get up – everyone get up now!’ He was waving his pistol in the air about three metres in front of me, and I was more scared of him than I was of the Argies shooting at me.
We all stood up in the middle of this intense enemy fire and began to pick up the ponchos with casualties. As we began to move off, I stepped on the sleeve of Cpl Bailey’s smock as it was hanging out of the poncho and trailing on the floor. Ian screamed in pain. I said, ‘Sorry about that, Beetle.’ Every time I took a step with my right foot I seemed to step on it again. In the dark I couldn’t see where his sleeve was.
Rounds were flying past on our left and right. I remember hearing Mick Swain say, ‘Ugh!’ I said, ‘What’s the matter?’ He replied, ‘I’ve just been shot in the leg.’ I said, ‘Oh, fuck off.’ I wasn’t quite sure whether to believe him; he didn’t cry out or fall over. I then said, ‘You’re fucking joking?’ and he just said, ‘No.’
The wounded were placed against a rocky feature slightly out of line of sight of the enemy troops situated further to the east. I remember sitting with my back up against a large rock, next to Jeff Logan, who had lost a finger and was in a slight state of shock. I leaned over in order to hear what he was saying and put my hand down in a heap of shit. It was then that I discovered we were in some type of latrine area. There was shit everywhere.
Pte Mark Eyles-Thomas
Someone appeared with a poncho: as slowly and as gently as possible, we slid Neil onto it. Then Pte Dave Wakelin, Pte Simon Ward, Lt Cox and I each took a corner of the poncho and lifted him. We had barely taken two or three steps when Lt Cox, who had taken the rear left corner, was struggling to hold it and it slipped through his hands. His corner hit the ground, and Neil screamed in pain.
I heard CSM Johnny Weeks tell Lt Cox to go and look after his own platoon. After he went, Mick Southall took his place. While this was going on I took off my webbing and placed my weapon on the ground. Once again we picked Neil up. But we had to stop again as Neil was quite distressed. We now set him down on the ground and then sat him up with his back against the rocks. He seemed to settle, and then he started to make a low groaning noise. All around us were other wounded men.
Pte Mick Southall
Dave Wakelin, Steve Jelf and I took all our heavy kit off, as Johnny Weeks was telling everyone to ditch anything we didn’t need. We set off in search of our friends. We found Neil Grose with Mark Eyles-Thomas. Ian Scrivens was dead, but he looked like he was sleeping. It was hard to take in. Neil was in great pain, which made it difficult for us to move quickly, and we had to stop several times. I’m convinced that some of the carriers changed over as we paused. It was quite exhausting work given the conditions and terrain.
The wounded are moved from the sheep track to a position further west into a clump of rocks just below the First Bowl. But they will be moved again and again until they eventually reach an area that is the B Company Aid Post. The distance from the Third Bowl, where the 4 Platoon were wounded, to the location they eventually end up in, is approximately 300 yards, and as this move is done in stages, there will be multiple changes in the carrying order.
Pte Mark Eyles-Thomas
Neil seemed to settle and made a low groaning noise. Cpl Bailey was in extreme pain and was being very vocal. He kept saying he needed more morphine. Cpl Phil Probets appeared, did a quick triage along the line of wounded and announced, ‘He [Neil] is number one. We have to get him out of here.’
Cpl Phil Probets
It was chaos; I was calling out in the darkness for Sgt Fuller, and at the same time I was attracting fire. I eventually linked up with Des Fuller and found a group of wounded; Cpl Ned Kelly was in great pain with a stomach wound. Cpl Ian Bailey had various gunshot wounds, there was Pte Jeff Logan with a gunshot wound to his hand and Pte Neil Grose with a gunshot wound to the chest. I did a quick triage and decided that Neil was number one, the highest priority. This young man was in a bad way. I said, ‘We need to move him further back.’ This area was still under fire, and it was impossible to put a torch on, as the incoming fire was at such close quarters. We loaded him onto a poncho, laying him on his injured side, allowing him to breathe with his good lung. However, with the movement of carrying him, he rolled onto his back and started to panic as he was unable to breathe.
Pte Andy Stone
The next thing I remember was seeing Neil Grose being carried back. I was shocked because he was my trench mate and we were good friends. We had paired up together all the way across, and now he was in great pain, and was being told to lie down, but he protested, saying, ‘No, I want to sit up.’
Pte Mark Eyles-Thomas
I was trying my best to reassure Neil: ‘The choppers are on their way, try to stay awake or you’ll miss them. Come on, keep your eyes open.’ But Neil whispered, ‘It’s all right, Tomo; I know they’re not coming.’ I spluttered, ‘No, no, that’s not true, they’re just delayed, in a couple of hours you’ll have nurses all over you, you lucky sod.’
Lt Andrew Bickerdike
I remember Neil Grose being carried in and placed next to me. He’d been hit in the chest, and his breathing was heavy and laboured.
Pte Mark Eyles-Thomas
Cpl Phil Probets came over to check Neil’s condition. Phil tried to open Neil’s smock, but there was a problem with the zip. He got his torch out, checked Neil’s mouth and began to clear it. As he did this, Neil died. We were all shocked at the suddenness of it.
Cpl Phil Probets
I went over to Neil Grose, and he whispered, ‘When’s the chopper coming?’ I replied, ‘They’re on their way.’ I was just trying to reassure him. I said, ‘Keep calm, kid, keep calm.’ This seemed to work; and he goes quiet, I then asked him, ‘Are you okay, Neil?’ and he murmured, ‘Yes.’ I was trying to keep him calm, so as to not raise his blood pressure. Neil again went quiet, and after a short time I asked again, ‘Are you okay, Neil?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He once again went quiet, and seemed to settle. Then suddenly he grabbed me, and started asking for his mum. It was then that Neil died. I tried desperately doing CPR, but sadly, I could not save him.
Sgt John Ross
I watched as Phil Probets tried his utmost to save Neil. Eventually I had to tell him, ‘Phil, enough, he’s gone, leave it.’
Pte Mick Southall
I didn’t realize that Neil was dying. He was still and silent for a moment, and I thought, God, his pain has eased. Then someone said, ‘That’s it; he’s gone.’ It took a moment for it to register in my head what had just been said and my heart just sank. We had risked a lot to save him and now it seemed it was all in vain. I felt cheated and angry. I asked Phil Probets, ‘Are you sure there’s nothing else we can do?’ Phil snapped, ‘Of course I’m fucking sure.’ I stood there for God knows how long, just looking down at my friend who was now lying there, covered over with a poncho. Neil had only celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday.
Cpl Phil Probets
I was shocked at the suddenness of Neil’s death. However, I then turned my attention to the rest of the wounded. I gave Ian Bailey and Ned Kelly another Syrette of morphine, but Ian kept asking, ‘Have you got any more morphine?’ He was in such severe pain. I had to tell him, ‘I’m sorry, Beetle, it’s all gone.’ The situation here was really quite desperate.
We have not been able to put a time on Neil’s death, but it is generally thought to be not more than one hour after he was wounded.
Pte Martyn Clarkson-Kearsley
CSM Weeks said he needed some volunteers to retrieve any of the ammunition that had been left behind by the wounded and to remove it from the men who were dead. Our ammunition was getting low to say the least. It had been impossible to recover the ammunition during the evacuation, due to the amount of casualties being moved and the lack of people to move them, and the GPMG ammunition was now in especially short supply.
The group consisted of CSM Weeks, Pte Clifton Lewis, a couple of other guys from B Company and me. We moved down the same route as before, so we knew the general area where the equipment would be. Thankfully, all the kit was where it had been left. We immediately started to take the ammunition out of the discarded webbing, and packed as much of it as we could in our own webbing. The majority of ammo I recovered was stuffed into my windproof smock. I’m not a big guy, but I looked like the Michelin Man. We only took the ammunition that had already been loaded into magazines, plus bandoliers of link ammunition for the GPMGs. As I lay there waiting for the remainder of the group to finish I remember thinking that it was only a matter of time until one of us got shot.
Sgt John Ross
Ned Kelly was in an extremely bad way. I honestly thought he would die, and I just kept talking to him and warned him, ‘Ned, don’t fall asleep. Listen to me; you’ve got to stay awake!’ I knew if he fell asleep, we might lose him.
Pte Craig (Harry) Harrison
When I came across Pte Pete Hindmarsh, he was lying face down on some rocks. I said, ‘What’s up, Pete?’ He replied ‘I’ve been shot in the arse, Harry.’ I gave him my quilted trousers to keep him warm, and I tried to speak to Ned Kelly, but he was in a bad way, and I don’t think he recognized me.
It was absolutely freezing. The wounded were feeling the cold more than us and we all started to look for blankets, Argentine sleeping bags or anything that would keep them warm. Pte Sulle Alhaji and I began looking in abandoned or destroyed bunkers. It was while we were doing this we came across Sgt McKay’s body. He was slumped against a bunker surrounded by a number of dead Argentines. I knew immediately it was him.
Cpl Phil Probets
I carried out a check on Sgt McKay, he was lying against the edge of a built-up trench. It was quite obvious that he was dead and could not have lived with the wounds that he’d received.
Also during this period, once the wounded reach the shelter of the base of the First Bowl, Sgt Des Fuller sends Cpl McLaughlin’s 2 Section back along the sheep track into the Second Bowl.
