12th June 1982:
Saturday 12th June events are summarised here by the BBC News which provides a decent summary of the days events but for more detail please read on.
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12th June 1982:
After midnight in the Falklands, the Royal Navy pound Argentine positions.
“The results were impressive, marred by a stray round landing in Stanley, killing two civilians and wounding some others. A third died three nights later …”
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12th June 1982:
HMS Avenger had fired the shot and a defect was found in a secondary tracking radar. Avenger was pulled off the gun line. Argentine Cpt Hussey apologises, "We've come here, messed up your existence, and now we're causing you to be killed."
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12th June 1982:
“An awful day. James came in early this morning to tell us the terrible news that Sue Whitley and Doreen Bonner were killed during the night when shrapnel from a shell went through John and Veronica Fowler’s house, in which they were staying."
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12th June 1982:
"Old Mrs Mary Goodwin, well into her eighties, has also been very badly injured. So has Steve Whitley (Sue’s husband)… it is impossible to think straight and form a proper picture.” (Diary entry in Smith 1984)
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12th June 1982:
The three fatalities are commemorated as members of the Falkland Islanders Resistance commemorative plaque.
The "Spirit of Resistance" the Falkland Islanders adopted, marked the first British Resistance Movement since the Second World War.
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12th June 1982:
Valerie Bennett’s diary mentions stray shell.
“Shell hit John Fowlers' house last night. Sue Whitley, Mary Goodwin and Doreen Bonner killed. RIP. Uncle Harold's house taken over by the Argies. They're also using the fire station to sleep in.”
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12th June 1982:
More from Neville Bennett's diary:
"The air strike was repeated, a Unimog truck came towards my line of vision on the Two Sisters track. I could make out three men shapes in the front...... It vanished in a puff of smoke."
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twitter.com/RDPHistory/status/1668204374416302081?s=20
12th June 1982:
Neville Bennett's diary:
"Went upstairs to look westwards. Gosh it was like 5th November! Star shells, signal flares, parachute illuminations, tracer bullets. Explosions all round, firing across the valley north to south, and south to north."
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12th June 1982:
As the intense battles still rage, and naval gunfire pounds away, Black Buck 7 bombs the airfield around Stanley. The 21 iron bombs were fused for air burst but fail, exploding on impact or some not at all in the soft, rain-soaked soil.
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12th June 1982:
“By 0530Z (0130 local) Arrow had completed its task, and Glamorgan and Yarmouth stopped just over half an hour later. Avenger remained on the gun line.”
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12th June 1982:
As HMS Glamorgan moves away from East Falkland, the ship is targeted by Argentina's shore-based MM38 Exocet missile platform.
Glamorgan's crew see the missile coming and attempt a high speed turn to present the stern to the incoming Exocet.
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12th June 1982:
The missile strikes the ship's port side near the stern hanger, skids onto the deck and explodes making a hole in the hanger deck and causing a fire in the galley area below. The Wessex helicopter explodes and creates a fire in the rear hanger.
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12th June 1982:
Despite being damaged, and on fire, Glamorgan is still seaworthy and moves out of range. All fires are extinguished by 11.00am local time.
Glamorgan is the first warship to survive an Exocet strike, but at a cost of 14 dead and 15 injured.
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12th June 1982:
The Falklands War - From the War Diaries of Admiral Woodward
HMS Yarmouth (Crazy Y) was allocated to conduct the bombardment of the Mounts Harriet & Tumbledown positions in support of the Marines of 42 Commando and fired 261 rounds of 4.5in.
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12th June 1982:
HMS Avenger supported 3 Para on the other flank, bombarding the reinforcement route to Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge.
Both flanks were also supported by 105mm artillery of 29th Commando Regiment - 6 guns for each.
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12th June 1982:
Marines and Paras crossed their start lines at 10.00pm on 11th June. They had three major objectives.
Mount Longdon (3 Para with 2 Para on standby)
Two Sisters (45 Cdo)
Mount Harriet & Goat Ridge (42 Cdo & Welsh Guards)
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12th June 1982:
Major General Moore (right, with Brigadier Thompson next to him) had hoped to launch this final offensive on June 6 to coincide with the anniversary of D-Day.
Troops were ready, but bad weather, Bluff Cove, and lack of ammunition delayed it.
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12th June 1982:
3 Para's CO Lt Col Hew Pike gave his orders on 10 June.
He's seen here alongside the BBC's Robert Fox with a rough model of the area. The white tape is the start line.
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12th June 1982:
3 PARA was tasked with taking Mount Longdon to coincide with attacks on the Two Sisters by 45 Commando and Mount Harriet by 42 Commando.
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12th June 1982:
With 42 Commando
On Mount Harriet, 42 Commando achieved complete surprise. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Nick Vaux, who had named the peak 'Zoya' after his daughter. Goat Ridge he named 'Tara' after his younger daughter.
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12th June 1982:
CO Lt Col Nick Vaux: "The enemy are well dug-in in very strong positions but I believe that once we get among them they will crack pretty quickly"
The determination from 42 Cdo meant most of the Argentine troops either retreated or surrendered.
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12th June 1982:
The Argentines were, logically, expecting an attack from the West, but 42 Commando crept along the road running South off the Hill and then same up its South East face.
The enemy raked the attack route with browning machine guns.
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12th June 1982:
Vaux decided to use Milan wire guided missiles, firing up the slope to blast each bunker in turn.
"Pretty expensive", he said later "they cost £22,000 each, but our job was to get rid of them."
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12th June 1982:
Any Brownings still intact were turned on the enemy as was a 120mm mortar which they soon have back in action
Mount Harriet cost the Commando's one man.
Two Sisters cost them 4 dead and 11 wounded
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12th June 1982:
J Coy 42 Commando include men of NP8901 who defended the Falklands on April 2nd. Here Wilf Smith & Butch Urand, originally in Section 4 on invasion day, man a GPMG on Mount Harriet 40 years ago today.
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12th June 1982:
Mount Harriet, 42 Cdo find an enemy 120mm mortar, bigger than their own, and soon have it in action, taking out an Argentine position in a Quarry near Pony's Pass. Argentine Artillery replies, wounding several men including Steve Chubb badly.
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12th June 1982:
They captured 300 prisoners in the attack.
Once the battle ended, a search began for hiding Argentines. To their surprise, 40 appeared....
The wounded were given water and first aid.
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12th June 1982:
With 3 Para & 45 Commando
The attack started at 2am on the morning of 12th June.
3 Para pressed towards Mount Longdon, which dominated the Northern route.
The 45 Commando would attack Two Sisters.
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12th June 1982:
3 Para crossed the start line 15 minutes late, they were heading for 'Full back' and 'Fly Half', as they had named the East and West peaks of Longdon.
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12th June 1982:
It was to have been a silent advance but on Full back the Corporal of the most forward section of B Company stepped on a mine 600 yards short of the Argentine positions & the enemy opened fire.
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12th June 1982:
One man was killed and four wounded, including 4 Platoon's commander.
Sgt Ian McKay (pictured) then took command of 4 Platoon.
Taking three others with him, they broke cover and charged the nearest enemy bunker.
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12th June 1982:
The Corporal was seriously wounded, a Private killed and another wounded.
Despite these losses Sergeant McKay, with complete disregard for his own safety, continued to charge the enemy position alone.
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12th June 1982:
He despatched the enemy with grenades, aiding the position of beleagured 4 and 5 Platoons, who were now able to redeploy with relative safety. Sergeant McKay, however, was killed at the moment of victory, his body falling on the bunker.
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12th June 1982:
Without doubt Sergeant McKay's action retrieved a most dangerous situation.
With a complete disregard for his own safety, he displayed courage and leadership of the highest order, and was an inspiration to all those around him.
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The Argentines could see at night, they had hundreds of pairs of 'passive night goggles', which are infra red spectacles.
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12th June 1982:
The British had nothing as good. To clear the enemy positions 3 Para were calling in artillery and 300 salvoes of naval gunfire from Avenger on targets only 50 yards ahead of them.
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12th June 1982:
It took 3 Para six hours to clear 'Fly Half' and another 4 hours to capture 'Full Back'. They finished the job with bayonets. The Paras lost 22 killed, 47 wounded.
The Argentines lost more than 50 dead, 10 wounded and 39 prisoners.
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12th June 1982:
Two soldiers of 3Para catch a break after the Battle of Mount Longdon.
A veteran of the battle made this video tribute on YouTube.
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twitter.com/fab87f/status/1667532250450210817?s=61&t=Z8DOQrlkKpTGjHMz8xIskA
12th June 1982:
Private James O’Connell was wounded in the battle for Mount Longdon.
“We got caught in artillery and machine gun fire.
“I was hit in the head and face – a bullet went through my nose and took out my cheekbone and right eye.”
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twitter.com/fab87f/status/1668178013572288512?s=61&t=Z8DOQrlkKpTGjHMz8xIskA
12th June 1982:
If you want more information about the battle for Mount Longdon, there are a lot of documentaries on YouTube and elsewhere.
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twitter.com/fab87f/status/1667528058008481793?s=61&t=Z8DOQrlkKpTGjHMz8xIskA
12th June 1982:
45 Commando advanced from Mount Kent on to Two Sisters.
HMS Glamorgan was offshore to provide fire support. Having been in the area since 4 June, they had a fairly good idea of where the Argentine positions were.
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12th June 1982:
The attack was to be silent. It started two hours late: they had to cross one of the stone runs - a bizarre rock feature, found hardly anywhere else in the world, that basically just look like rivers of rock.
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12th June 1982:
Assisted by accurate support fire from artillery and HMS Glamorgan, 45 Cdo made good ground. By 0230 on June 12 they'd secured the first summit. That was just three hours after the attack began.
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12th June 1982:
Argentine soldiers now fall back from Two Sisters with their own artillery pounding the ground including their own side. A platoon from B Company IR6 puts up a last staunch defence with machine guns before running the gauntlet back to Tumbledown.
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12th June 1982:
Lieutenant Dytor (left) won a Military Cross:
"Listening to our rate of fire I realised we were going to run out of ammunition. The next thing I knew I was up and running on my own, shouting, 'Zulu, Zulu, Zulu’, which was our company battle cry"
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12th June 1982:
His Troop followed him, bayonets fixed.
By dawn, Two Sisters was complete. By any standards, the attack by 45 Commando had been a resounding success.
They lost three Royal Marines and a Royal Engineer Commando.
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twitter.com/fab87f/status/1667532973237760000?s=61&t=Z8DOQrlkKpTGjHMz8xIskA
12th June 1982:
Glamorgan and Yarmouth fired 428 HE shells at Two Sisters, Mount Harriet and Tumbledown, began their withdrawal at 2.15 am leaving Avenger on the gun line to support 3 Para's struggle on Mount Longdon.
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12th June 1982:
At 2.35 am Glamorgan detected a radar contact, initially suspecting it was an Argentine 155mm howitzer shell. It was however an MM38 Exocet launched from the metalled road behind Port Harriet.
Glamorgan fired a SeaCat missile.
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12th June 1982:
The SeaCat was guided close enough to the Exocet to deflect it upwards but not by enough to cause it to miss and at 2.37 am it struck the port upper deck edge, and exploded in the hanger, destroying the Wessex 3 in the process.
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12th June 1982:
HMS Glamorgans crew fight to control the fires which are confined to the area of the hanger and its immediate vicinity.
Forty minutes after the impact the ship was making 18 knots, still ablaze but with fires contained.
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12th June 1982:
She had an 8 degree list caused by flooding due to firefighting but was seaworthy and still capable of fighting.
The fires were extinguished by 6.40am. Thirteen men had died and another thirteen wounded, one of whom would later succumb.
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12th June 1982:
In memorial to the men who lost their lives on HMS Glamorgan on 12th June 1982.
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12th June 1982:
As the sun begins to come up, the Argentine Army is streaming back towards Tumbledown, but on Mount Harriet, the wide flank march of 42 Commando RM takes the defenders from behind, and hundreds now throw down their weapons and surrender...
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12th June 1982:
In the pre-dawn grey of the morning, Mount Longdon has fallen, with 3 Para throwing back a counter attack by 601 Commando, whilst on Two Sisters, 45 Cdo rout the IR4 and are now only facing B Coy IR6, all tough men...
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12th June 1982:
Morning finds British forces dealing with the Argentine wounded & prisoners. The battles combined cost the Argentine army 69 killed, 220 wounded & 404 captured. British losses are 37 killed and 105 wounded by comparison. Both sides are exhausted.
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12th June 1982:
Argentine prisoners being marched to the rear under guard from the men of 42 Commando. Over 400 Argentine PoWs have been taken, three-quarters of those at Mount Harriet, where a search of bunkers finds forty more who have gone to ground.
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12th June 1982:
On Tumbledown & Wireless Ridge, Argentine soldiers, exhausted and frozen, brave sleet and wind, waiting for the British assault they are sure is coming tonight. The British, equally shattered, take the night off to let the Navy do their thing.
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12th June 1982:
Both sides rest after a punishing night's work. As the Harriers take over bombing of the enemy, guns of both sides hammer at each other relentlessly throughout the day. The first ring of Argentine defences is broken, but there is one more...
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12th June 1982:
The artillery battle rages between the lines once again as at 09:00 Harriers fly in and start pounding the Argentines around Stanley with cluster bombs, focusing on areas south of town over Stanley Common where hundreds of troops are dug in...
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12th June 1982:
As the artillery battle intensifies, a Harrier dives in over the Argentine 155mm battery and unleashes cannon and rockets. Men run for their bunkers as fragments fly everywhere, wounding seven men...
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12th June 1982:
Harriers hit Argentine targets ceaselessly as Argentine AA guns fail to track. Two of them, over the airport, begin to actually taunt the gunners, playing 'noughts & crosses' with the vapour trails as the frustrated gunners fail to come close!
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12th June 1982:
In Argentina, the junta announces that the British attacked the hospital ship Bahia Paraiso yesterday... The two men of the ICRC on board the ship swiftly deny any such thing happened.
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12th June 1982:
Menendez orders as many troops as possible into Stanley, including his twelve Panhard armoured cars, lined up on Ross Road until a bomb hits a pile of Calor Gas bottles which erupt, and sees them moving to Villiers Street right in the centre.
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twitter.com/RDPHistory/status/1668201397098102784?s=20
12th June 1982:
Harriers, are now hitting anything at will, with an uncanny accuracy. Moody Brook barracks is soon hit by a bomb and burning fiercely, with three men killed and their commander seriously wounded: the battering will go on all day
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12th June 1982:
As a result of the fierce fighting on Mount Longdon, Two Sisters and Mount Harriet it was decided that the planned attack on Mount Tumbledown, Wireless Ridge and Mount William would be postponed by twenty four hours.
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12th June 1982:
In an interview with Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, Galtieri denies the Falklands are almost back in British hands. Argentina will fight on: “The
future must see the Argentine flag on the Malvinas. And it will".
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12th June 1982:
FCO Situation Report for June 12th
Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross have visited Port Stanley. They have proposed the establishment of a neutral zone in the Anglican Cathedral in Stanley.
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12th June 1982:
Message from SS Uganda with further information on the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. They were denied permission from General Menendez to remain in Port Stanley. It's almost as if they had something to hide.
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12th June 1982:
Note of protest passed onto the British Embassy in Brazil over the alleged attack on the Argentine Hospital Ship whereby two rockets were fired at the ship.
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12th June 1982:
These rockets were fired by the Wessex helicopter on June 11th and one had hit the police station and the other landed in the harbour. Interesting description of the police station as belonging to a local inhabitant.
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12th June 1982:
Message from British Hospital Ship HMS Hecla which is passing on communication from the ICRC representatives on board HMS Hydra who had been on board Bahia Paraiso at the time of the missiles impact which came nowhere near the hospital ship.
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12th June 1982:
Argentine soldiers in Stanley erupt into a savage half-hour gunfight in the streets. There was a similar one last night. British special forces in town have them firing at everything, and many casualties are recorded from these and other events.
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12th June 1982:
As night falls, HMS Arrow & Active take up the bombardment from the stricken Glamorgan, and hammer 166 4.5" shells into the Argentine positions: 103 from HMS Arrow and 63 from HMS Active. Meanwhile, artillery rumbles on in the mountains...
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12th June 1982:
Diary entry written by Petty Officer Iain Shickle serving on board HMS Hermes.
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twitter.com/TheShickle/status/1403653586458980355?s=20
12th June 1982:
The New York Times reports a British air attack that they say was aimed at the hospital ship Bahia Paraiso while it was in Port Stanley harbour.
However the two members of the International Red Cross on board deny the claims.
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12th June 1982:
NYT:
British intelligence has intercepted a pessimistic message from the commander of the Argentine garrison in the Falkland Islands.
Gen. Menendez, reportedly told his superiors, "If things go on like this our situation could crumble rapidly.”
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