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| | Mount Longdon was secure by 09.30 am on June 12. By this time, 3 PARA had been fighting for 12 hours and they would remain under heavy fire for a further 48 hours from Marine Artillery Observation Officers and Mortar Fire Controllers (MFCs) on Mount Tumbledown. During this period an additional four British Paratroopers were killed in action and several more wounded or injured. | | Mount Longdon was secure by 09.30 am on June 12. By this time, 3 PARA had been fighting for 12 hours and they would remain under heavy fire for a further 48 hours from Marine Artillery Observation Officers and Mortar Fire Controllers (MFCs) on Mount Tumbledown. During this period an additional four British Paratroopers were killed in action and several more wounded or injured. |
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| − | The Argentinians lost thirty-one dead, 120 wounded and fifty prisoners. The night battle, previous patrol actions and retaliatory artillery bombardment cost 3 PARA 23 killed and about 70 wounded or injured<ref>''"We'd lost something like twenty-two guys up to that point, dead, but three times more than that were wounded."'' Bloody Hell: The Price Soldiers Pay, Daniel Hallock, pg. 60, Plough Publishing House, 1999</ref><ref>''"Our battalion had lost twenty-three men there, with more than sixty wounded."'' Forward Into Hell, Vincent Bramley, John Blake Publishing</ref>with Private Mick Southall estimating that only 30 British Paratroopers in 'B' Company escaped death or some type of injury in the fierce night action:{{cquote|The enemy soldiers were resolute to say the least ... That's why my company suffered 60 or 70 percent casualties ... My company was down to 30 blokes ... They were as patriotic and keen on their cause as we were on ours. They firmly believed they were fighting for the right thing and so did we ... They didn't run off, I'm sure that some did but a lot of them didn't.<ref>Private Southall, 3 Para - Memories of the Falklands War (available on YouTube)</ref>}} | + | The Argentinians lost thirty-one dead, 120 wounded and fifty prisoners. The night battle, previous patrol actions and retaliatory artillery bombardment cost 3 PARA, and attached units, 23 killed and about 70 wounded or injured<ref>''"We'd lost something like twenty-two guys up to that point, dead, but three times more than that were wounded."'' Bloody Hell: The Price Soldiers Pay, Daniel Hallock, pg. 60, Plough Publishing House, 1999</ref><ref>''"Our battalion had lost twenty-three men there, with more than sixty wounded."'' Forward Into Hell, Vincent Bramley, John Blake Publishing</ref>with Private Mick Southall estimating that only 30 British Paratroopers in 'B' Company escaped death or some type of injury in the fierce night action:{{cquote|The enemy soldiers were resolute to say the least ... That's why my company suffered 60 or 70 percent casualties ... My company was down to 30 blokes ... They were as patriotic and keen on their cause as we were on ours. They firmly believed they were fighting for the right thing and so did we ... They didn't run off, I'm sure that some did but a lot of them didn't.<ref>Private Southall, 3 Para - Memories of the Falklands War (available on YouTube)</ref>}} |
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| | The failure on the part of 3 PARA's C Company to secure the nearby 'Rough Diamond' strongpoint, was not considered too serious. Brigadier Julian Thompson has written that:{{cquote|A feature north-east of Longdon thought to be held by 3 Para seemed to be occupied by the enemy. A short altercation took place between 2 and 3 Para about who did hold the feature and was settled by 2 Para having it comprehensively shelled without complaint from 3 Para.<ref>Ready for Anything: The Parachute Regiment at War, Julian Thompson, p. 452, Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited, 1989</ref>}} | | The failure on the part of 3 PARA's C Company to secure the nearby 'Rough Diamond' strongpoint, was not considered too serious. Brigadier Julian Thompson has written that:{{cquote|A feature north-east of Longdon thought to be held by 3 Para seemed to be occupied by the enemy. A short altercation took place between 2 and 3 Para about who did hold the feature and was settled by 2 Para having it comprehensively shelled without complaint from 3 Para.<ref>Ready for Anything: The Parachute Regiment at War, Julian Thompson, p. 452, Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited, 1989</ref>}} |
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| − | Several Paras, unwilling to believe that the Argentinian conscripts could be capable of being good shots and fighting so fiercely, thought the Argentinians might have hired American mercenaries in the form of Vietnam Veterans. Some British officers claimed Argentinian Army Green Beret snipers had been present in the fighting. According to the Intelligence Officer (Captain Giles Orpen-Smellie) of 3 PARA, who examined all the evidence, no Argentinian Army Special Forces took part in the battle{cquote|However, notwithstanding the mention in 3 PARA's Post Operational Report that 7 Infantry Regiment had been 'reinforced by specialist elements and snipers from 601 Commando Company', I have found no evidence to substantiate the suggestion that Argentine special forces were deployed on Mount Longdon ... Carrizo-Salvadores also denies that Argentine special forces were present ...My reading suggests that that much of the damage done to 3 PARA was inflicted by a small number of Argentine marine conscripts ... A number of 3 PARA's casualties were inflicted by Argentine snipers, although Carrizo-Salvadores claims that some of this 'devilishly accurate aiming I have read about in British accounts was achieved as a result of the markmanship training on the rifle ranges and the good aim of the riflemen, nothing more'.<ref>igsaw Puzzles: Tactical Intelligence in the Falklands Campaign, Giles Orpen-Smellie, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2022</ref>}} | + | Several Paras, unwilling to believe that the Argentinian conscripts could be capable of being good shots and fighting so fiercely, thought the Argentinians might have hired American mercenaries in the form of Vietnam Veterans. Some British officers claimed Argentinian Army Green Beret snipers had been present in the fighting. According to the Intelligence Officer (Captain Giles Orpen-Smellie) of 3 PARA, who examined all the evidence, no Argentinian Army Special Forces took part in the battle{cquote|:However, notwithstanding the mention in 3 PARA's Post Operational Report that 7 Infantry Regiment had been 'reinforced by specialist elements and snipers from 601 Commando Company', I have found no evidence to substantiate the suggestion that Argentine special forces were deployed on Mount Longdon ... Carrizo-Salvadores also denies that Argentine special forces were present ...My reading suggests that that much of the damage done to 3 PARA was inflicted by a small number of Argentine marine conscripts ... A number of 3 PARA's casualties were inflicted by Argentine snipers, although Carrizo-Salvadores claims that some of this 'devilishly accurate aiming I have read about in British accounts was achieved as a result of the markmanship training on the rifle ranges and the good aim of the riflemen, nothing more'.<ref>igsaw Puzzles: Tactical Intelligence in the Falklands Campaign, Giles Orpen-Smellie, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2022</ref>}} |
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| | 19-year-old Private Grant Grinham, badly wounded in the action, in an interview with the 'Leicester Mercury' in 2017, reported that the Argentinian conscripts had indeed fought very hard:{{cquote|Those Argentinian lads on Mount Longdon fought their hearts out. They were determined defenders. The battle was in the balance. We fought for every inch of ground. The Heavy Machine Gunners were regular Marines and their confidence was high. They were armed with .50-cal machine guns which would stop a car, and were well up for the fight. They're a big heavy weapon, mostly used in an anti-aircraft role. It was a formidable defensive weapon for us to engage. They also had snipers all along Mount Longdon who were very accurate. They had night sights and were far superior to anything we had - contrary to reports. It was a very difficult battle.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170406200039/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/the-falklands-war-paratrooper-lost-a-leg-and-saw-friends-killed-but-would-do-it-all-again/story-30241617-detail/story.html The Falklands War: Paratrooper 'lost a leg and saw friends killed but would do it all again']</ref>}} | | 19-year-old Private Grant Grinham, badly wounded in the action, in an interview with the 'Leicester Mercury' in 2017, reported that the Argentinian conscripts had indeed fought very hard:{{cquote|Those Argentinian lads on Mount Longdon fought their hearts out. They were determined defenders. The battle was in the balance. We fought for every inch of ground. The Heavy Machine Gunners were regular Marines and their confidence was high. They were armed with .50-cal machine guns which would stop a car, and were well up for the fight. They're a big heavy weapon, mostly used in an anti-aircraft role. It was a formidable defensive weapon for us to engage. They also had snipers all along Mount Longdon who were very accurate. They had night sights and were far superior to anything we had - contrary to reports. It was a very difficult battle.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170406200039/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/the-falklands-war-paratrooper-lost-a-leg-and-saw-friends-killed-but-would-do-it-all-again/story-30241617-detail/story.html The Falklands War: Paratrooper 'lost a leg and saw friends killed but would do it all again']</ref>}} |