Three Days in June, page 29
Pte Clint McMillon
We then tried to move Cpl Hope back down the slope but we found it difficult, because Steve was a huge bear of a man and it was not possible to stand due to the amount of incoming fire. Fortunately I was carrying a sleeping bag strapped to my webbing. I unrolled my sleeping bag and somehow we managed to get Cpl Hope into it; we now half dragged and half carried him down the slope into cover.
Pte Len Baines
We eventually took cover behind some peat banks. It was here I found out that Cpl Stevie Hope had been wounded. Phil Jones was now told to make his way across and take over Cpl Hope’s role as radio operator. I quickly took all the stuff that Phil Jones had been carrying. I really wanted to ditch his kit, but the OC wouldn’t let me, so now my Bergen was twice as heavy.
Pte Mike Carr, 19 yrs – 3 Platoon
Sgt Jim McCallum shouted, ‘I need two big lads to help move a wounded man.’ Immediately Pte Pete Lygo and Pte Larry (Doc) Halliday volunteered – although there were bullets flying everywhere they both ran back to help Cpl Hope. The remainder of us waited there, keeping as low as possible.
Captain Willy McCracken Call Sign 41B informs the Fire Direction Centre he is unsure of the position of forward troops:
01.44hrs (zt): from C/S 41B to C/S 29FDC: ‘Call sign 3 [HMS Avenger] finished ZU7920 91 rounds; HE expended Z7920 + ZU7918 now unsafe.’
01.50hrs (zt): from C/S 41B to C/S 29FDC: ‘ZU7910 unsafe for GA.’
Major Collett informs the CO Hew Pike that they have taken one casualty:
01.52hrs (zt): from C/S 19 to C/S 9: ‘This call sign has one casualty, we are pinned down by sniper fire and are staying put until (objective) cleared by Call Sign 2 [Cpl Hope].’
01.52hrs (zt): from C/S 9 to C/S 19: ‘Roger.’
Pte Steve Gaines, 25 yrs – Support Company, Machine Gun Platoon
As we moved around the back of A Company we came across Cpl Hope. There was someone with him, and I remember he was still breathing, I could see his breath on the cold night air. We paused for a moment while Captain Mason spoke to someone; we then carried on and eventually took cover in some peat banks with members of A Company.
Shortly after Captain Mason leaves Cpl Hope, C Company, who are now in their ‘Reserve Position’, about 100 metres to the rear of A Company, send a section forward to help recover Cpl Hope back into C Company’s aid post.
Captain Mason arrives at Wing Forward at approximately 02.00hrs (zt). From this new location he will support B Company. On arrival, he makes contact over the radio with Major Collett and Captain Adrian Freer. He is told to go firm and await further instructions.
Pte Dean (Jasper) Coady, 18 yrs – 2 Section, 2 Platoon
We took cover behind a small peat bank that ran across our front. The bank was higher in some places than others depending on your luck; the part that Tim Jenkins and I found ourselves taking cover behind was about two feet high. The Argentine fire from Longdon was really heavy. Some of it was going just above our heads and some was hitting the top of the peat bank, throwing dust and dirt everywhere. The sight of tracer passing over and around us, and the noise of the rounds zipping through the air, is something I will never forget.
Pte Trevor Bradshaw
The majority of 2 Platoon had managed to run to a small peat bank, but a few of us, including Privates Stuart Dover, Jez Dillon, Eddie Cookson, Paul Johnstone and myself, were pinned down in a small depression. We were probably about ten metres behind everyone else. At this stage there was a lot of incoming fire. Stuart Dover shouted that he’d been hit by a piece of shrapnel. It was decided that 2 Platoon was going to give us covering fire to enable us to run for cover. As we ran across, Eddie Cookson disappeared up to his chest in the bog water. We all managed to reach the peat bank apart from Eddie, whose boots were stuck deep into the bog, cursing and swearing at us to come back and give him a hand. We all ran back and pulled him out. Strange as it may seem, it was extremely funny at the time.
Pte Jeremy (Jez) Dillon, 23 yrs – 2 Section, 2 Platoon
At some point we reached the peat bank and were told to set up our GPMGs up on the embankment. Cpl Sturge came over to me, he took over my gun and he said to me, ‘Watch my tracer.’ He opened up on a position he had identified. He then said to me, ‘Are you watching where this is landing?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He stopped and I took over and began firing. Cpl Sturge then went across to Pte Dave Herbert, who was the other GPMG gunner, and did the exact same thing with his gun.
Pte Stuart Dover, 21 yrs – 3 Section, 2 Platoon
Our machine guns were told to engage Longdon, but as soon as they opened up we attracted even more direct fire. The Argentine artillery was firing on pre-registered targets, dropping rounds all around us. I got hit in the leg and let out a yell. We were in fairly open ground at that stage. I shouted, ‘I’ve been hit.’ Jez Dillon said, ‘Fucking hell, I knew something like this would happen to one of us.’ Trev Bradshaw, who was with us, began shouting, ‘Medic!’
After a short while, one of our medics, Chris Lovett, crawled quite some distance to reach me. He slid in beside me and asked, ‘Where’ve you been hit?’ I said, ‘It’s my leg.’ He cut open my trousers from hip to ankle and began feeling my leg for the wound. He said, ‘You twat, it’s barely broken the skin!’ I had been hit by a piece of shrapnel on the tail end of its journey, and although it was painful, my leg was okay. My mates then started to take the piss. The flapping tear in my windproof trousers proved to be a chilly reminder for the rest of the night.
Cpl Louie Sturge
I could see green muzzle flashes coming from the top of the mountain which I knew to be Argy, and I said, ‘2 Section, on my command, rapid fire.’ What a mistake that was! After we fired, 2 Platoon got a wallop load of shit, as it seemed like every Argentine locked on to us, from what seemed like every gun position along the mountain. But all the fire was going just over the top of us. I had Pte Tim Jenkins with his mate Pte Dean Coady along with my gun team on my left. We were pinned down there for a good 40 minutes to an hour.
Pte Davie Barclay, 23 yrs – 2 Section, 2 Platoon
I vividly remember watching the tracer rounds streaking towards the mountain; they bounced off the rocks in all directions. Schermuly flares were being fired. It was scary and exciting at the same time. We had a Forward Observation Officer, Lt John Lee, with us and he was trying to call in artillery fire in support of B Company, but at this stage we weren’t sure where B Company was. Eventually the GPMG gunners were told to stop firing for the same reason.
Cpl Louie Sturge
I was using an IWS [night sight]. I looked up at the mountain and could see all the gunfire coming from B Company, then I scanned back along to the east, where I could see a cluster of active night sights. They were giving off scope signatures, about four of them. I decided to take them on with the two machine guns that I had in my section. I told my lads to put their guns on the peat bank, and I was directing fire using target indication.
Pte Dean (Jasper) Coady
There was a lull. The incoming fire seemed to have paused for a moment. Tim Jenkins and I peered over the top of the peat bank to watch the battle taking place on Mount Longdon. As we were watching I sort of felt the rounds come in. They made me jump; they were really close, zipping right past me. I ducked down and immediately noticed a burning smell. I looked over to Tim, he had not moved from his position, but his head had slumped forward onto the peat bank and I knew he’d been hit. I reached over and pulled him down and shouted to Cpl Sturge, ‘Tim’s been hit!’ I started shouting for a medic, but by the time LCpl Lovett eventually reached us, Tim had died.
Only the day before we had been celebrating Tim’s 19th birthday and mine the week before. I thought, What the fuck am I doing here? Tim’s dead, I’m 8,000 miles away from home, I’m being shot at and my mate is lying dead next to me. I felt numb. I lay by Tim’s body for some time after he had died, and then someone gave me a mug of tea.
Pte Jeremy (Jez) Dillon
The next thing I remember is Cpl Louie Sturge shouting across to Lt Ian Moore, ‘Sir, we’ve taken a casualty.’ Ian Moore shouted back, ‘Who is it?’ Louie said, ‘It’s Tim Jenkins, he’s dead.’ Ian Moore shouted back, ‘Are you sure he’s dead?’ and Louie said, ‘Yes, I’m sure.’ It sounds daft now, but it suddenly dawned on me, that this was the real thing, and I thought, Fucking hell, this is happening.
Captain Adrian Freer, 29 yrs – 2ic A Company/Support Group Commander
There was a certain amount of confusion and the company became split. We had an uncertain 45 minutes till we finally linked up with Company HQ. At that stage we were taking cover behind the peat bank and folds in the ground as the enemy had our assault route well covered with defensive fire. The rounds were landing very close indeed. I met up with David Collett who told me that Cpl Hope, one of the company signallers, had been shot in the head, and Pte Tim Jenkins was dead, also that both 1 and 2 Platoons were pinned down.
LCpl Graham Tolson, 23 yrs – Anti-Tank Platoon attached to A Company
WO2 Sammy Dougherty’s radio was turned up to full volume. I could hear it broadcasting clearly over the battle noises. It was choked with chatter from the B Company call signs. The Section Commanders in B Company were obviously under extreme duress, one in particular, Cpl McLaughlin, had come on the air several times. It seemed his section was pinned down by fire coming from two bunkers at the top of a gully. Another call sign, this time from A Company 2 Platoon, reported he had taken a casualty. To my left Tony Bojko said, ‘I know him, he’s a young lad with blond hair.’ But he was cut short by the whoosh of a 105mm artillery salvo that landed close by. There was a flash and a huge explosion, the ground vibrated; the soft peat soil was thrown high in the air before dropping down around us with a splat. As each shell exploded I thought to myself, Please don’t let me die.
Pte Bill Metcalfe
I particularly remember hearing someone screaming out in agony, and then I heard a voice shouting, ‘Will someone shut that fucker up!’ We were here for quite some time, it was bitterly cold but the artillery kept us on our toes. If it hadn’t been for the cover of the peat banks, we would have taken a lot more wounded.
Pte Davie Barclay
We were extremely lucky not to take more casualties. I was listening to the whistle of the shells as they approached and then the roar as it rushed in to impact. I curled up into a ball and hoped for the best. Some landed only yards away, exploding and throwing huge piles of earth and bog water into the air. Twenty-year-old Pte James [Jock] Brebner, who was wounded in the leg, was given morphine to ease the pain, but when the morphine kicked in he started singing at the top of his voice, ‘Oh, flower of Scotland…’ CSM Alec Munro shouted, ‘Who the fuck’s that? For fuck’s sake, someone shut him up!’
CSM Alec Munro
While we were in the cover of the peat bank, Major Dave Collett was on the radio giving a situation report to the battalion. There was heavy fire being returned from 1 Platoon to our left. We were busy trying to establish how far B Company had advanced without getting our heads shot off and the only indication to go by was the flashes of grenade explosions, which we knew indicated close-quarter engagements. There was a real danger that our fire could be too close to B Company.
Pte Craig (Tommy) Onions
As we reached A Company there was a lot of incoming fire from the mountain, also there was quite a bit of incoming artillery fire. A Company were sheltering under the cover of some peat banks to the north of Mount Longdon. Shortly after we arrived, Cpl McCarthy’s Milan team was sent forward to set up and fire two Milan missiles at positions on the north face of Longdon. After that we then just sat and waited; it was bitterly cold.
6.2 ‘I was fucked if I was going to take A Company through a minefield’
At approximately 02.15hrs (zt), the Milan team fire two Milan missiles at the enemy .50 Cal machine-gun position in the Third Bowl on the northern side of Longdon.
Captain Tony Mason
I made contact with Captain Adrian Freer, who gave me the coordinates for a target. It was a .50 Calibre machine gun, which was firing in our direction. The rounds from it were passing just over our heads. We were located in a small defile which gave us some decent cover. We waited as 4 Platoon confirmed their position. Then Cpl Ginge McCarthy, Pte Phil West, Pte Pete Hedicker and I moved forward and set up the Milan. We opened fire and put two missiles into the target area. This was good for morale as the lads felt at last they had done something. I also recall a mug of tea materializing from thin air – how they managed to brew up without me seeing them or even smelling the hexamine was an absolute mystery.
Pte Steve Gaines
Cpl McCarthy’s group crawled forward and began setting up their Milan post. We were approximately 600 metres from Longdon and they were trying to take out a gun position. They fired the first missile, it impacted in the target area, and then they quickly withdrew, as the launch signature drew a huge amount of return fire. Not long after, they crawled back out and fired a second missile, but I think this one went high. They quickly withdrew and came back to us, and we now all sat and waited till we received orders to move around to Mount Longdon.
LCpl Graham Tolson
I remember hearing the two Milan missiles being fired from behind us. I distinctly remember the popping noise and then the whoosh as each missile passed over our heads, travelling towards Longdon.
1 Platoon have established themselves in a good covered position along a peat bank and they have initially identified some of the sniper positions using their IWS night sights: Pte Stephen Evans engages initially, and then Pte Edward Dennis engages using his GPMG. The fire has to be carefully controlled due to the danger of hitting B Company and in the end has to be stopped; the risk is too great:
02.18hrs (zt): from C/S 19 to C/S 9: ‘Picked up a sniper using infrared: we will try and take him out.’
02.18hrs (zt): from C/S 9 to C/S 19: ‘Roger.’
Lt John Lee, the Forward Observation Officer, and his party move forward to 2 Platoon’s location. He needed to get a better view of the targets to bring fire down on. However, both direct and indirect fire have to be stopped due to the proximity of B Company. While occupying Wing Forward the company begin to come under increasingly accurate artillery fire. Initially the enemy concentrates its fire on planned DFs. They then begin to adjust their fire onto A Company and C Company positions, with some accuracy. The company is unable to advance any further over such open ground without risking heavy casualties. There is accurate and sustained heavy machine-gun and sniper fire from the high ground. A Company tries to contact B Company regarding three gun positions around the Third Bowl including one .50 Calibre, but it seems B Company is uncontactable at the time:
02.38hrs (zt): from C/S 19 to C/S 29: ‘Have now identified three positions, with one controlling two machine guns.’
02.50hrs (zt): from C/S 9 to C/S 19: ‘Lost contact with Call Sign 2.’
02.50hrs (zt): from C/S 19 to C/S 9: ‘Roger.’
At some stage the wounded Pte James (Jock) Brebner is passed back to C Company, located approximately 100 metres to A Company’s rear.
Cpl Mark Brown
I heard an order being given over the radio for people with night scopes to engage targets, if they could identify them. But lots of people were opening up, and then an order was given to ‘check firing’. From our position we could hear shouting and screaming from B Company as they fought through positions.
Shortly before 05.00hrs (zt), I heard a radio transmission: it was the CO, Hew Pike, talking to Major Collett. He said, ‘I want you to advance directly forward.’ I thought, Shit. You could see from the amount of gunfire coming from the mountain that we would get hammered. Major Collett replied, ‘No, the company will be going right-flanking and we are going to come up behind B Company.’ I could have kissed David Collett when he said that.
CSM Alec Munro
Dave Collett’s opinion was that there was no way he was going to advance A Company across that ground. Without doubt we would have suffered heavy casualties. He said to me, ‘It’s not going to happen.’ I thought that was pretty ballsy, but he was dead right. After a short conversation with the CO, Dave Collett turned to me and said, ‘Sgt Major, I want you to hold the position, I’m going across for an “O” Group with the CO.’ It seemed to me that the CO was trying to maintain the momentum of the attack, but didn’t quite grasp the situation we were in. It was going to be an interesting conversation.
Major David Collett, 36 yrs – Officer Commanding A Company
Hew Pike suggested, ‘I want you to advance directly forward and attack the northern side.’ I refused to attack uphill, over open ground, as A Company would have been wiped out. There was a minefield in front of us. Hew Pike was insistent because he was bogged down; however, I was fucked if I was going to take A Company through a minefield. I said, ‘The Company will be going right-flanking and we are going to come up behind B Company.’ That was followed by a short period of silence. Then the CO said, ‘David, come over and see me now.’
I skirted around the minefield, went past the RAP and somehow made my way into the First Bowl. It was here that I met up with the CO. There were bodies lying everywhere. B Company looked absolutely shattered – it was chaos. I could hear captured Argentines crying and praying. I didn’t want my men to see this; I decided that I would get them in and out as quickly as possible. We tried to work out what we were going to do since we were in a very vulnerable position at that moment.
