| Line 154: |
Line 154: |
| | It was 5.30 pm when Combat Team 'Solari' (B Company from the 12th Regiment) landed by helicopters at Ramsground. Mindful of the possibility of being counterattacked, Major John Crosland decided to pull back B Company and go firm on high ground near Boca Hill. A fierce sniper battle ensued with 2d Lieutenant Orlando Lucero's 12th Regiment platoon, now dug in Goose Green Settlement's outskirt. There were some close calls, and Private John Burridge from 12 Platoon, D Company, was wounded and a Sea King helicopter was hit by machine-gun fire from Lucero's men and forced to seek shelter in San Carlos. | | It was 5.30 pm when Combat Team 'Solari' (B Company from the 12th Regiment) landed by helicopters at Ramsground. Mindful of the possibility of being counterattacked, Major John Crosland decided to pull back B Company and go firm on high ground near Boca Hill. A fierce sniper battle ensued with 2d Lieutenant Orlando Lucero's 12th Regiment platoon, now dug in Goose Green Settlement's outskirt. There were some close calls, and Private John Burridge from 12 Platoon, D Company, was wounded and a Sea King helicopter was hit by machine-gun fire from Lucero's men and forced to seek shelter in San Carlos. |
| | | | |
| − | Time was running out for 'Task Force Mercedes'. The settlement was encircled, artillery shells and mortar rounds were pounding the outskirts. The situation at Goose Green was such that Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet's B Company, 6th 'General Viamontes' Regiment at Stanley Common (Outskirts), was ordered to concentrate near Murrell River and given a warning order to be prepared to move by helicopter to Cerritos Arroyo at first light. By then, however, Piaggi, surrounded and threatened with aerial attack, offered to surrender his force to the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment and the helicopter-borne operation was cancelled. Piaggi had recieved orders from Parada to resist as long as his troops were physically capable of doing so, but allowing Piaggi to be the judge. | + | Time was running out for 'Task Force Mercedes'. The settlement was encircled, artillery shells and mortar rounds were pounding the outskirts. The situation at Goose Green was such that Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet's B Company from the 6th 'General Viamontes' Regiment at Stanley Common (Outskirts), was ordered to concentrate near Murrell River and given a warning order to be prepared to move by helicopter to Cerritos Arroyo at first light. By then, however, Piaggi, surrounded and threatened with aerial attack, offered to surrender his force to the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment and the helicopter-borne operation was cancelled. Piaggi had received orders from Parada to resist as long as his troops were physically capable of doing so, but allowing Piaggi to be the judge. |
| | | | |
| − | Negotiations with the Argentinians produced their surrender the next day. The Argentinian troops had a short parade, burned their regimental flag and lay down their weapons. Around 50 Argentinians were killed and 140 wounded, with the ''The Official History of the Falklands Campaign'' reporting that 961 Argentinians were captured. The British Paratroopers at the time reported a much larger count of 250 Argentinians killed and 1,600 prisoners. British losses in 2 PARA were 15 killed and 64 wounded. A Sea Harrier pilot (Lieutenant Nick Taylor on 4 May), a Royal Engineer (Corporal Michael Melia), a Scout pilot (Lieutenant Richard Nunn) and a Gurkha (Lance-Corporal Budhaprasad Limbu) were also reported killed taking and clearing Goose Green. | + | Negotiations with the Argentinians produced their surrender the next day. The Argentinian troops had a short parade, burned their regimental flag and lay down their weapons. Around 50 Argentinians were killed and 140 wounded<ref> Malvinas: Otras Historias, Rubén Oscar Palazzi, p. 202, Claridad, 2006</ref>, with the ''The Official History of the Falklands Campaign'' reporting that 961 Argentinians were captured. The British Paratroopers at the time reported a much larger count of 250 Argentinians killed and 1,600 prisoners. British losses in 2 PARA were 15 killed and 64 wounded. A Sea Harrier pilot (Lieutenant Nick Taylor on May 4), a Royal Engineer (Corporal Michael Melia on May 28), a Scout pilot (Lieutenant Richard Nunn on May 28) and a Gurkha (Lance-Corporal Budhaprasad Limbu on June 24) were also reported killed taking and clearing Goose Green. |
| | | | |
| | ==Aftermath== | | ==Aftermath== |