Three Days in June, page 46
Pte Ashley Wright
I was working on auto pilot, prepping people ready to go. Reassuring them, telling them that the helicopters were on their way, they wouldn’t be long. No one believed me. A prisoner holding-area had been established not far from the RAP area. Eventually the helicopters began to arrive at the mountain and I remember helping to carry Julian [Baz] Barrett to one of the aircraft; he’d been shot in the hips. After that I decided to go back to A Company, as they now had no medics with them.
Cpl Ian Mousette, Aircrewman
It was quite a surreal scene. I was cocooned from the noise of battle with my flight helmet. Everything was done with hand signals and gestures. I quickly loaded the wounded on board while Sgt Dick Kalinski was keeping a lookout. Incoming artillery rounds were beginning to land extremely close to the helicopter. As soon as I’d fastened down the casualty pod on the side of the chopper, I gave Dick the all-clear [thumbs up], he immediately wound the throttle up and took off. He backed out of the RAP and then flew fast and low, contour flying so we wouldn’t be silhouetted, and then set off at a pace.
The speed that people were loaded was amazing. We were on the ground for no more than two or three minutes at a time since we were a prime target for artillery and mortar spotters.
Acting Captain Giles Orpen-Smellie
I returned to the RAP and the first person I met was Dr John Burgess. He had a very quick look at my injury and told me to get on the next helicopter to Teal Inlet. I was then grabbed by Major Patton and put on the next Wessex that came in. He was quite impressive on that helicopter LS. Artillery rounds were landing close by at irregular but frequent intervals, but Roger Patton stood his ground, in the open, and directed helicopters regardless.
Cpl Graham Heaton
I was carried to a Scout helicopter. I noticed that the pilot was my old next-door neighbour, Sgt Dick Kalinski from Salamanca Park in Aldershot. They loaded me into the stretcher pod and covered me with a blanket, although I was still extremely cold. They closed the pod and fastened it down. I looked out the small viewing window of the pod and saw Dick Kalinski smiling and mouthing, ‘All right, Graham.’ A couple of minutes into the journey, I noticed that some of the blanket was hanging out of the pod. It had started flapping in the slipstream and was gradually being pulled off me. The pod was beginning to shake violently, and my hands were freezing. I was trying to grip on to the blanket. I was thinking that if the blanket gets sucked out of the pod and gets tangled in the rotors, we’re fucked! [From wounding to theatre, seven hours; right leg amputated.]
Pte Simon Clark
Someone shouted, ‘Any walking wounded for the helicopter?’ I shouted back, ‘Me, I’ll go.’ Kev Eaton looked at me and said, ‘You fucking good bloke!’ in a good-humoured, ‘Airborne’ sort of a way. I got up and fell over, but Pte Harry Gannon and someone else picked me up, carried me to the chopper and lifted me in. I was taken to Ajax Bay, and then transferred to the SS Uganda, where I had a cardiac arrest. Luckily, I was brought back by the excellent team of doctors and medics of whom I cannot speak highly enough. [From wounding to theatre,14 hours; left leg amputated back in the UK.]
Pte Grant Grinham
I kept saying to myself, Don’t fall asleep, but I did, a couple of times. The next thing I remember was waking up in a Scout helicopter pod and reading the yellow writing on the inside, explaining that I was being evacuated in a helicopter casualty pod. I remember that when we landed I was taken towards what looked like a shed. When we got inside it was nice and warm. They put me on a table; there was the padre at one end and a doctor at the other. I think while I was there I began to realize the full extent of my injuries. I resigned myself to the fact that my leg was coming off. [From wounding to theatre, four hours; right leg amputated.]
Spr Tommy Trindall
The Troop Commander, Captain Burns said, ‘Right, lads, we need to go and get Scotty [Wilson].’ A group of us made our way back to First Bowl and we carefully placed his body onto a stretcher. Then Cpl Jock Ferry, LCpl Derek Broadbent, LCpl Mick Humphries, Spr Mark Thomas, Spr Sam Robson and myself carried Scotty’s body down to the RAP. It was solely 9 Squadron that manned the stretcher, carrying one of our own.
Cpl James Morham
During the reorganization, I saw groups of blokes gathering discarded weapons. I noticed a body being carried down on a stretcher, and I said, ‘Who is that?’ One of the Toms said, ‘It’s Jon Crow.’ I thought, Oh no, not another bloke from the Anti-Tank Platoon. Then another stretcher came down, this time being carried by members of 9 Squadron with their steel Para helmets, looking very solemn with their heads bowed. I was good friends with all the 9 Squadron lads, and again I asked, ‘Who’s that?’ They said, ‘It’s Scotty Wilson.’ This was another blow. I was good friends with Scotty, and he was the brother in-law of Ginge McCarthy, who I had tried to give the kiss of life to earlier on. These two men were married to a pair of sisters, Linda and Jean, who would now be widows.
Padre Derek Heaver
It was when the body of Cpl Scott Wilson [9 PARA Sqn RE] was brought in that I decided to take care of the preparation and documentation of the dead. Our dead were being brought to an area on the far side of rocks, near but just out of sight of the RAP. As a sign of respect, I placed each man’s beret in the body bag with him. With hindsight that was a mistake. When visiting next of kin after our return, the one thing that nearly all of them asked for was their loved one’s beret.
LCpl Paul (Ginge) Moore
After I had found out about Scotty Wilson’s death, I decided to go and tell his brother-in-law Cpl Keith McCarthy. I said to someone from 3 PARA, ‘Have you seen Ginge McCarthy?’ He asked why, and I said, ‘Well, I’ve got a bit of bad news for him about his brother-in-law Scotty Wilson: he’s been killed.’ The lad just sat down and said, ‘Fucking hell, mate, I’ve got news for you as well – I’m sorry, but Ginge McCarthy’s dead as well.’
Spr Martin (Spike) Glover
As I surveyed the scene, there were bodies lined up, blokes being treated and helicopters coming in and going out with the wounded. We were still getting shelled. I saw one Sea King helicopter coming in to take out the wounded, but it had to be waved away as the artillery was too intense.
Major Roderick Macdonald of 59 Commando, accompanied by WO2 Pete Ellis, flies in to see Captain Robby Burns concerning the welfare of his men and to speak to Lt Col Pike regarding updates on obstacles and mines. They also go to Full Back to view the ground leading up to Wireless Ridge. They then make their way back to the RAP, where Roddy films, although only briefly, the wounded being taken out by helicopter.
LCpl Lenny Carver
I heard the noise of a Scout helicopter, and someone said, ‘That’s it; this is going to be the last chopper.’ Then I heard CSgt Brian Faulkner saying, ‘Right, lads, check the area, pick all those blankets up...’ Then some bloke lifted the blankets covering me and said, ‘Fucking hell, there’s a bloke here.’ I said, ‘I’ve been here all the fucking time, you bastards!’ Then there was a big flap on to get me out. Someone ran across to the air crewman, Cpl Mousette, who in turn spoke to the pilot, Sgt Dick Kalinski. They had quite a few wounded crammed inside their chopper, so it was decided to put me in the stretcher pod on the pilot’s side of the helicopter. As they shut the lid, I remember seeing a sign saying something like, ‘You are not in a coffin, you are in a helicopter rescue pod.’ I remember looking up towards Dick Kalinski, who did thumbs up and mouthed, ‘All right, mate?’
As soon as we landed at Ajax Bay, I was taken into triage and put on a trestle table. They started cutting off my clothes and removing my personal possessions, my camera and my G10 army issue watch, etc. They were put into a plastic bag, and I never saw them again. On the table next to me was Kev Eaton. After triage, I was taken into the operating theatre, where I noticed a row of four operating tables, and quite a large bomb stuck in one of the walls! [Chest wound; from wounding to theatre, eight hours.]
Sgt Dick Kalinski, 33 yrs – AAC Scout Helicopter Pilot
On one of the trips to Ajax Bay, one of the wounded lads from 3 PARA, who had a chest wound, regained consciousness. In his confusion, he tried to climb out of the stretcher pod. He managed to break a couple of the retaining pins holding it down, but thankfully the other pins held him. We carried on evacuating all the 3 PARA wounded until eventually the task was completed. Then we started taking the Argentine wounded off. During one evacuation, I had to go back to the Europic Ferry [a roll-on/roll-off ferry requisitioned by the Task Force] to refuel. The ship’s crew were amazed to see real Argentinians.
Sgt Keith Hopper
One of the last wounded soldiers I helped on to a helicopter was an Argentine soldier. His head was heavily swathed in bandages. He had lain quietly against some rocks for quite some time. A photograph of this soldier was taken by Daily Express photographer Tom Smith and appeared in various publications. I have no idea if he survived or not.
This man was Cpl Oscar Carrizo and he did survive.
Captain Bob Darby
Just after mid-afternoon on Saturday, I had relocated to Longdon. Finally, I had an opportunity to eat, having not done so for almost 18 hours. The prisoners sat in among the rocks, completely accepting of their situation, except for one, who spent most of his time staring angrily at me. I then noticed he was looking at my rifle. He looked at me, I stared at him, and he sat back down. To this day, I think he made a good call.
One of the badly wounded prisoners was lying on a stretcher close by me, watching me eat. I carried on and then realized that he must also be hungry, but I had no spare rations for him. This went on until out of frustration I gave him half of my mess tin, which he gobbled up. Eventually, when he was being evacuated on board a Wessex helicopter, he called over to me, ‘Señor, señor.’ He spoke no English, and I spoke no Spanish. He took my hand and pressed his rosary beads into it and said, ‘Muchas gracias.’ Then he was gone.
Pte Kevin Eaton
When I arrived at Ajax Bay, they began cutting all my clothes off me. I watched as an officer struggled to find a vein in my arm, then this little bloke, a Staff Sergeant from 16 PFA with ‘bugger grips’ and a big moustache, came up and said, ‘Sir, I’ll do that.’ He said to me, ‘Are you all right, son?’ I replied, ‘Yeah,’ then he whacked my arm really hard and proceeded to rub ‘Deep Heat’ on it, saying, ‘That’ll be all right in a minute.’ He waited a minute, and then whacked my arm again and a vein popped straight up! He nonchalantly said, ‘There you go, Sir.’
I was moved on to an area where they categorized you. On my left was Lenny Carver and on my right was Frank O’Regan. To my surprise, an Argentine came around, handing out Benson & Hedges cigarettes! I thought, How the fuck has an Argy got Benson & Hedges cigarettes, and I’m using roll-ups? I got it into my head that he must have pinched them off one of our blokes. I grabbed him and he fell over, he fell onto Lenny Carver’s ribs. Lenny punched the Argy, and the drips fell over. The medics came over and pulled us apart. They started shouting, ‘We are all equal in here, there’s no fighting, and everyone’s treated the same.’ I said, ‘But he’s got British fags, he must have nicked them off our blokes!’ A medic said, ‘No, he hasn’t; I’ve just given him that packet to give to you lot.’ [From wounding to theatre, 14 hours.]
The CO contacts 3 PARA HQ asking for our dead to be removed from the mountain:
13.55hrs (zt): from C/S 9 to C/S 0: ‘Collection of fatalities from position, to be taken to a suitable place for temporary burial, or to a place Brigade suggest.’
13.55hrs (zt): from C/S 0 to C/S 9: ‘Kestrel to arrange. Sending stretcher-bearers to centralize at 9A, Hawkeye to collect.’
[‘Kestrel’ is the code name for the Operations Officer.]
14.00hrs (zt): from C/S 0 to C/S 99: ‘Reference our DEAD we would like to remove them off the mountain, could we do a lift to Teal OKAY.’
Due to increasing mortar and artillery fire around the RAP, an echelon area is set up in the area where the Mortar Platoon had been located the previous evening. This will be manned by Captain Bob Darby and HQ personnel:
14.05hrs (zt): from C/S 9A to C/S 0: ‘Send 9B to set up night LS on feature occupied by C/S 70 last night, approx grid 3075.’
Padre Derek Heaver
Caring for and documenting the bodies of our dead was difficult, emotionally. However, as one body followed another, I found myself getting almost hardened to it. I remember someone saying to me, ‘Padre, don’t do the next one, it’s Chris Lovett.’ It was very thoughtful of him.
Although I don’t remember this next incident taking place, a Sergeant from the MT Platoon came up behind me and apparently said to me, as I was dealing with the body of his friend LCpl Dave Scott, ‘How can you believe in God at a time like this?’ He related it to me after we had returned to Aldershot. He didn’t need to, but he also very graciously apologized. However, I must have been too absorbed with what I was doing.
Sgt Keith Hopper
Once all the wounded had been cleared, we were told to bring down our dead. I helped recover one body, I didn’t know who it was, we carried the body to an area that had been designated for the dead. I saw Padre Heaver; I looked at his face, and I thought that nobody should have to do that on their own. I decided I would help him. A short time later, a couple of guys said, ‘Can we help?’ I declined their offer; I didn’t think anyone else should be subjected to the task we were carrying out.
Soldier 01: ID disc, one notebook, one ruler, three letters, one toy bear, 32p in change, one toothbrush, one spoon, one pencil, compo [food], one Oris watch (broken).
Soldier 02: One P38 Walther pistol, two loaded magazines (one in leather case), one pair of glasses in leather case, one Charles cigarette lighter, two pens, one pencil, two batteries, two notebooks.
Soldier 03: ID disc, one torch, one pen, one notebook.
Soldier 04: ID disc, torch, two pens, one watch, one length of Para cord, one notebook.
Soldier 05: No possessions.
Soldier 06: ID disc, no possessions.
Soldier 07: ID disc, one pen, one black Para cap badge, one sewing kit, ring.
Soldier 08: ID disc, one fishing kit, one SOS talisman, three chains and one St Christopher medal, one pair of scissors, three letters, one watch.
Soldier 09: ID disc, one Seiko watch, £20.50p.
Soldier 10: ID disc, one optical cleaning cloth, one pack of playing cards, one fork, one whistle, three photos, one notebook.
Soldier 11: ID disc, no possessions, one army watch (signed by CSgt B Faulkner).
Soldier 12: ID disc, one pencil sharpener, five pens, one pencil, one whistle.
Soldier 13: ID disc, one photographic film, three letters, two drawings, one camera, one wedding ring, two pens, one notebook.
Soldier 14: ID disc, one Happy Eater toy, spoon, two pens, £4.00 to follow.
Soldier 15: ID disc, notebook, one Timex watch with leather case.
Soldier 16: ID disc, one cigarette lighter.
Soldier 17: ID disc, one photo, nine pens.
Soldier 18: ID disc, no possessions.
Sgt Keith Hopper
I began helping Padre Derek Heaver remove the personal effects from our dead, then placing the bodies into body bags. It was harrowing, as some of the fatal wounds sustained were quite horrific, and it hurt even more when I recognized a dead friend. Sadly, with one or two of the soldiers, there was precious little to identify them by, except for their identity discs. Of all the personal effects removed from them, I shall never forget the toy bear that one young soldier carried.
Captain Mike (Doctor) Von Bertele
On Saturday afternoon, I delegated two men to go and dig a latrine about 40 metres from the RAP area, it was a hole just in between two rocks. When they had finished, I decided I would go and christen it. As I was leaving the RAP, a salvo of artillery rounds came rushing in and one scored a direct hit on the latrine. The Argentine artillery observers had obviously watched the men working and by the grace of God, they had just finished and had walked away, but a close call indeed.
Sgt Bob Whitehill
Padre Derek Heaver asked if I and a couple of the cooks could double-check the deceased personnel for any personal effects, photos, etc., that may have been missed. He also wanted us to double-check name tags against the names on the bags. I spoke to the lads and told them, ‘Look, I’ve never done this before, but it’s a job we’ve got to do, so brace yourselves and let’s get on with it.’
CSM Johnny Weeks walked past and asked us how we were. I said, ‘We’re okay,’ but in truth, we weren’t, it was probably the most awful task I have ever done. I noticed that all the senior ranks, the CO, RSM and CSM Weeks, were more human after the battle. They were speaking to people by their first names as if somehow we had all been made equal.
Evacuation of enemy prisoners.
14.25hrs (zt): from C/S 0 to C/S 99: ‘Reference POWs 39 to be flown back.’
14.34hrs (zt): from C/S E16 to C/S 0: ‘Inform our Molar, our number 9223 is fatal [Cpl Scotty Wilson].’
[Molar is the code name for Admin staff.]
14.34hrs (zt): from C/S 0 to C/S E16: ‘Passed to Molar.’
14.35hrs (zt): from C/S 99 to C/S 0: ‘Reference POWs, Sunray watchdog [Officer Commanding Provost staff] will be coming up there shortly to coordinate prisoner movement back. He will give RV when organized. It will be your responsibility to get prisoners held to the RV. 42 Commando will then take them off your hands and move them back to the Welsh Guards for onward escort to Fitzroy.’
