• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

British Army Documentary - The Falklands War: The Land Battle

daftandbarmy

Army.ca Dinosaur
Reaction score
25,803
Points
1,160
I hadn't seen these documentaries before, made by the British Army, but they're excellent, and all with a nice 'plummy' accent :) :

The Falklands War – The Land Battle Part 1 – The Landings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shJLud0yz2k

The Falklands War – The Land Battle Part 2 – Towards Stanley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uGmYtoYD2k

The Falklands War – The Land Battle Part 3 – The Final Battle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofIfuLhMoEQ

The Falklands War – The Land Battle Part 4 – In the Light of Experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1uH1YnFvgk
 
Hey D&B,

Finally had a chance to watch these. Thx for the links.
 
tomahawk6 said:
Could the UK replicate a similar op today ?

Absolutely, especially if you consider that the UK now (I reference T6's date here of November 2019)  has a real carrier again, modern landing ships and a support fleet infrastructure that they built in partnership with the merchant marine of the UK as a result of the actual Falkland war.

And it would be even easier right now since with the Covid crisis, there are tons of cruise ships available for pressing into service as troop carriers.  :nod:
 
Weinie said:
Hey D&B,

Finally had a chance to watch these. Thx for the links.

My pleasure.

The one concrete lesson of the Falklands that I recall being driven home following the war, in the British Military, was that we needed to get better at all the things we considered to be 'the basics'. Especially fitness, tactics at the BGp level and below, leadership, and all/combined arms operations.

All the courses and exercises got much, much harder as a result.
 
Same thing occurred for the Royal Navy.

Suddenly, the work-up periods and Sea Training evolutions evaluated by outside organizations (our equivalent to Operational Readiness Inspections) became very much higher level and more realistic, with seriously simulated fire/floods/mass casualties and equipment failures.
 
Watched an interesting recording of a lecture given by Dr Peter Johnston on the Falklands War. https://www.danhillmilitaryhistorian.com/archive. It is an hour and half long with just over an hour the lecture and last bit him answering questions. Worth checking out.

There is also a bunch of other lectures that have been given as part of historian Dan Hill's #HistoryFromHome lectures that he has been presenting during the pandemic.
 
Lessons learned? 12 x GPMGS, plus 2 x MILAN firing posts, per rifle company is just about right to win the firefight.....

Fix Bayonets: The Battle for Goose Green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhsAYXghaNg

 
daftandbarmy said:
My pleasure.

The one concrete lesson of the Falklands that I recall being driven home following the war, in the British Military, was that we needed to get better at all the things we considered to be 'the basics'. Especially fitness, tactics at the BGp level and below, leadership, and all/combined arms operations.

All the courses and exercises got much, much harder as a result.

I as well - thanks.  There is another 4-part series that appears to have been created for internal/training purposes a couple of years after.

Part I (remainder appear on the sidebar):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXsD2tRYNJc

There is also an interesting presentation given by RN  RAdm (retd) Chris Parry who served there.  Later in the video he gets into some interesting discussions regarding current (2015) geopolitics and international strategic situations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGaSmvSv8jI
 
And to dig back 38 years to 1982, I was the Canadian Force Liaison Officer to TRADOC, then located in Fort Monroe, VA, at the time of the Falklands War. A retired American officer i knew fairly well was employed in one of the ops research organizations that did contract work for both TRADOC and USAF Tactical Air Command, located close by at Langley AFB. He told me his organization had war gamed the Falklands several times, using all sorts of scenarios, and the Argies had won every time. He even offered to wager a case of scotch on the result, which I declined.

He looked at me as if I was some kind of idiot, when I asked how did they factor in the  "Nelson Touch", which I explained, would drive the RN. I added that the RN would land the RM and the Paras regardless of cost, and then it was game over. He pooh poohed me then, but in a few weeks avoided bringing the subject up, and I was polite enough not to mention it,
 
Old Sweat said:
And to dig back 38 years to 1982, I was the Canadian Force Liaison Officer to TRADOC, then located in Fort Monroe, VA, at the time of the Falklands War. A retired American officer i knew fairly well was employed in one of the ops research organizations that did contract work for both TRADOC and USAF Tactical Air Command, located close by at Langley AFB. He told me his organization had war gamed the Falklands several times, using all sorts of scenarios, and the Argies had won every time. He even offered to wager a case of scotch on the result, which I declined.

He looked at me as if I was some kind of idiot, when I asked how did they factor in the  "Nelson Touch", which I explained, would drive the RN. I added that the RN would land the RM and the Paras regardless of cost, and then it was game over. He pooh poohed me then, but in a few weeks avoided bringing the subject up, and I was polite enough not to mention it,

Following the war, I heard Wellington quoted more often than Nelson.

Usually post Waterloo: 'It has been a damned nice thing — the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.' :)
 
I can remember visiting England that summer and my Grandfather took us to the Royal Tournament (I don't think they do it anymore) where they had a couple of captured Argentine vehicles which the announcer loved saying they had more than one reverse gear. As a side note I was also impressed that my Granddad knew how to operate the .50 cal HMG, I had no idea that in the future I would also be qualified on the weapon.
 
Coincidentally, I've just been following a discussion on LinkedIn regarding 'Dytor's Charge', at the Battle of Two Sisters.

Quotes from some of the participants, who all now seem well established in civvy jobs in the UK, are copied at the bottom. It gives a good sense of just how 'close run' things were. Dytor was Zulu Company, Four Five Commando. I served in Yankee Company, three years later, yet never heard a thing about the war, including this famous charge:

Dytor’s Charge

In the early hours of the morning, a young lieutenant and his troop of Royal Marines found themselves in a desperate situation.

Attempting to capture a heavily defended ridge known as Two Sisters, they were pinned down on its lower slopes. Trapped in the sights of an Argentine heavy machine gun, their assault lost all momentum.

“We were in the worst possible position, on a slope, totally exposed, taking casualties,” recalls Clive Dytor, who was commanding 8 Troop, Zulu Company, 45 Commando.

“The enemy opened up with a .50 Browning heavy machine gun, they were shooting at us with everything they had.”
Within minutes, three marines lay dead and another was seriously injured, his leg blown off by a mortar bomb. Artillery fire was called in to destroy the machine gun crew but resulted in the death of another marine.

What followed was an act of extraordinary courage that was to win the young lieutenant a Military Cross. More remarkable still was the path his life later took, for the war hero became first an Anglican clergyman, then left the Church, converted to Catholicism and went into teaching.
Sitting in his cosy study at The Oratory School near Reading, where he has been headmaster for the past 12 years, he relives that life-changing moment.

“I began listening to our rate of fire and I realised we were going to run out of ammunition. Then I remembered a line in a book about the Black Watch in the Second World War. They were pinned down and the adjutant stood up and shouted, 'Is this the Black Watch? Charge!’
“What I didn’t remember, until I read it again later,” he laughs, “was that he was actually cut in half at that point by a German machine gun.

“The next thing I knew I was up and running on my own, shouting, 'Zulu, Zulu, Zulu’, which was our company battle cry and also the battle cry of my father’s old regiment, South Wales Borderers.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9164691/Falklands-War-hero-explains-why-he-entered-the-church-after-being-awarded-the-Military-Cross.html


"We then got into the Argentine positions. What followed was a long night of close-range fighting. But by the end, 45 Commando had seized Two Sisters. The Argentine troops, though superior in numbers, had been overwhelmed by the fighting spirit of the British commandoes. The young men who a few hours earlier in the dark had began their yomp with destiny towards Two Sisters were now totally ruthless determined killing machines. We responded to orders, remained disciplined but the switch had been flicked. This is not hyperbole - this was the reality; kill or be killed - do or die. One Company Commander commented that he would not like to face his men in battle. HMS Glamorgan gave 45 NGS (Naval Gunfire Support) as did the Royal Artillery - God Bless them both. Glamorgan was hit by an Exocet that night and survived, the only ship to do so. 1500 shells were fired onto the feature in support of the attack. Losses - Argentine 20+, Glamorgan 13. Four Five - 4 or 8 depending on how the casualties are counted. A hard nights work and far from a walk over. It was tough going. PS: George and I remained friends and are to this day."

"To continue the story from one who was there. Mr Dytor was my OC in 8 Troop, Zulu Company, Four Five Commando. We were pinned down by a 50cal HMG and mortar fire was creeping over the hill during our attack on Two Sisters. Small arms fire was also coming down on us. Two men were KIA'd by the mortars and several badly wounded. At 19 years old I believed my time had come and mentally prepared for it. My only thoughts were the hope that it was quick and that mother would be ok. He then stood up and led the charge, with our Sgt. Yorkie Malone, kick starting us into action. Was me who shouted at him. We then 'pepper pottered' up the hill, two up running - two putting covering fire down, leap frogging each other. Finally within grenade range of the 50cal that had tormented us I was told to put a grenade into it. The pin was pulled as I lay on my back and I was up and down in a 10th of a nano second. The noise was horrendous. We could see marines coming in from the left doing a flanking movement towards the same machine gun. We screaming and gesturing to them to get down when the grenade exploded. My corporal, (now major RM) Darren 'George' Hunt, MBE,MM, had his arm up and was fragged by the grenades exploded shrapnel and casevacced."




 
Back
Top