Post by Chips on Apr 15, 2009 3:57:12 GMT 9.5
Untold story of how 22 Marines held off hundreds of Argentinians and disabled a warship on eve of Falklands War
By Matthew Hickley
14th April 2009
A small group of Royal Marines pose for a final picture in the freezing silence of the island of South Georgia.
Thousands of miles from home, few of them expected to live until nightfall.
Moments after this photograph was taken on April 3 1982, the peace was shattered as the first helicopter of the large Argentine invasion force arrived - and was promptly shot down by the Marines' rifle and machine gun fire.
Heroes: Section Commander George Thomsen (standing centre, with a moustache) has recalled how he and 21 other Royal Marines held off an Argentine invasion of the island of South Georgia. This picture was taken seconds before the 1982 day-long conflict began
The full details of the heroic but doomed defence of South Georgia which followed has been revealed for the first time in a book by one of those who fought in the battle - described as a modern day 'Rorke's Drift'.
Facing impossible odds, the tiny garrison fought on ferociously for hours to inflict heavy casualties, even crippling a 260ft Argentine warship with rifle and bazooka fire.
Like their comrades defending the Falkland Islands 800 miles away, the British Commandos on South Georgia were eventually forced to surrender - but not before giving the invasion force a bloody nose.
The Falklands War began shortly after the Marines successfully guarded South Georgia. Here, British soldiers disembark at a jetty at San Carlos Bay in June 1982
Now 26 years on former Royal Marine George Thomsen, a section commander during the battle, has revealed the extraordinary story in a book which casts doubts on the official Argentine claims that only three of their men were killed seizing South Georgia, suggesting instead that dozens were killed by the tiny British force.
Back in Britain the humiliation of the loss of the Falklands and South Georgia - coupled with accounts of the heroic resistance at Port Stanley - helped Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher persuade her Cabinet that the islands could be recaptured, and that a Task Force must be sent.
In March 1982 George Thomsen was just days from returning home following a tour of duty with the small Royal Marine Falklands garrison when he was ordered to take eight men on board the patrol ship HMS Endurance and sail to South Georgia, to monitor a small group of Argentinian scrap dealers who had landed illegally and raised the Argentine flag.
Along with 12 other Marines under the command of Lieutenant Keith Mills they arrived on the freezing, desolate and mountainous island in mid-March.
Two weeks later the crisis erupted when the Argentines invaded the Falklands.
Former marine George Thomsen
Thomsen and his comrades knew a large enemy force would descend on them within hours.
With no hope of reinforcements they faced a hopeless battle, but set about doing everything possible to prepare for battle.
They booby-trapped the shore and fashioned an enormous bomb beneath the jetty, packed with nuts, bolts and harpoon heads.
Seconds after they posed for this picture on the jetty they heard the first Argentinian helicopter flying into the bay to land its troops.
Scurrying for cover they opened fire with rifles and machine guns and shot down the Puma gunship as it approached.
As the battle raged another Argentine helicopter was put out of action, but the Marines could not hold back the tide as hundreds of enemy soldiers swarmed ashore around the settlement of Grytviken.
Still they kept up a fierce resistance, and when the Argentinian Corvette the AVA Guerrico steamed into the bay, bristling with missiles and firing its 40mm cannons, rather than take cover the Marines launched an audacious attack.
Within minutes the warship was forced to turn tail and limp away, listing heavily, holed beneath the waterline by thousands of rifle rounds and five bazooka shells - its main gun out of action and its bridge raked by sniper fire.
The fierce fighting only ended thanks to a 'brilliant bit of British bluff' when Lt Mills calmly walked towards the Argentinians and threatened to go on killing them unless they agreed to his terms - including safe passage off the island.
The Argentinians were astonished and suspicious when only 22 Royal Marines emerged from their trenches, believing they had been fighting a much larger enemy force.
Thomsen, who was 24 at the time, said: 'There wasn’t a single one of us that wasn’t prepared to fight it out to the last man.
'We weren't expected to come back. It was a one-way ticket for me.
'It was just 30 seconds after we had that photo taken that the helicopter came in.
'We legged it and then took out the Puma that was trying to land combat troops. That was like a gift.
Aftermath: HMS Antelope sinks off Ajax Bay in May 1982. She sank after an unexploded Argentine bomb went off during an attempt to defuse it
'That kicked off the battle, and we were 16-nil up from the start.
'Then later we took out a ship, the Guerrico. It was raking us with its 40mm anti-aircraft gun until we wiped out the gun crew.
'We then used a bazooka, but three out of five rounds didn't go off. If they had we'd have sunk it. But we put it out of action and it was listing at 30 degrees.
'We whacked out its Exocet launchers with rocket launchers and hit the four inch gun on the front and disabled it.
'We were putting sniper fire through the bridge so they didn't know where they were going. It was the first time in history anything like that had been done.
'At the same time they were landing troops from two or three other ships and we were outnumbered 50-1, or 100-1 if you count everyone on their ships.
Malcolm Angel's Too Few Too Far: Royal Marine Commando George Thomsen's True Story is available now
'It was like Rorke's Drift, except the enemy was well armed.
'At the end our escape route had been cut off and one of us was hit in the arm. I was about to put some mortars down on the shore when I saw the boss walking towards the enemy.
'He just went up to them and said that we'd fight to the last and carry on killing them. It was the Argies who called it a day.'
The Marines were flown off the island and eventually back to Britain. They later joined the British Task Force which liberated the Falklands.
South Georgia was recaptured by UK troops on April 25 - Britain's first military success of the Falklands War
George, now 51, from Poole in Dorset, rose to the rank of sergeant and was later team leader of the Royal Marines parachute display team. He is married with two children and runs a specialist firm making hi-fi record turntables.
His book, Too Few Too Far, is published by Amberley.
The Battle of Rorke's Drift during the 1879 Zulu War remains one of the British Army's most celebrated actions. A tiny force of just 139 British soldiers successfully fought off some 5,000 Zulu Warriors attacking a small supply depot.
By Matthew Hickley
14th April 2009
A small group of Royal Marines pose for a final picture in the freezing silence of the island of South Georgia.
Thousands of miles from home, few of them expected to live until nightfall.
Moments after this photograph was taken on April 3 1982, the peace was shattered as the first helicopter of the large Argentine invasion force arrived - and was promptly shot down by the Marines' rifle and machine gun fire.
Heroes: Section Commander George Thomsen (standing centre, with a moustache) has recalled how he and 21 other Royal Marines held off an Argentine invasion of the island of South Georgia. This picture was taken seconds before the 1982 day-long conflict began
The full details of the heroic but doomed defence of South Georgia which followed has been revealed for the first time in a book by one of those who fought in the battle - described as a modern day 'Rorke's Drift'.
Facing impossible odds, the tiny garrison fought on ferociously for hours to inflict heavy casualties, even crippling a 260ft Argentine warship with rifle and bazooka fire.
Like their comrades defending the Falkland Islands 800 miles away, the British Commandos on South Georgia were eventually forced to surrender - but not before giving the invasion force a bloody nose.
The Falklands War began shortly after the Marines successfully guarded South Georgia. Here, British soldiers disembark at a jetty at San Carlos Bay in June 1982
Now 26 years on former Royal Marine George Thomsen, a section commander during the battle, has revealed the extraordinary story in a book which casts doubts on the official Argentine claims that only three of their men were killed seizing South Georgia, suggesting instead that dozens were killed by the tiny British force.
Back in Britain the humiliation of the loss of the Falklands and South Georgia - coupled with accounts of the heroic resistance at Port Stanley - helped Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher persuade her Cabinet that the islands could be recaptured, and that a Task Force must be sent.
In March 1982 George Thomsen was just days from returning home following a tour of duty with the small Royal Marine Falklands garrison when he was ordered to take eight men on board the patrol ship HMS Endurance and sail to South Georgia, to monitor a small group of Argentinian scrap dealers who had landed illegally and raised the Argentine flag.
Along with 12 other Marines under the command of Lieutenant Keith Mills they arrived on the freezing, desolate and mountainous island in mid-March.
Two weeks later the crisis erupted when the Argentines invaded the Falklands.
Former marine George Thomsen
Thomsen and his comrades knew a large enemy force would descend on them within hours.
With no hope of reinforcements they faced a hopeless battle, but set about doing everything possible to prepare for battle.
They booby-trapped the shore and fashioned an enormous bomb beneath the jetty, packed with nuts, bolts and harpoon heads.
Seconds after they posed for this picture on the jetty they heard the first Argentinian helicopter flying into the bay to land its troops.
Scurrying for cover they opened fire with rifles and machine guns and shot down the Puma gunship as it approached.
As the battle raged another Argentine helicopter was put out of action, but the Marines could not hold back the tide as hundreds of enemy soldiers swarmed ashore around the settlement of Grytviken.
Still they kept up a fierce resistance, and when the Argentinian Corvette the AVA Guerrico steamed into the bay, bristling with missiles and firing its 40mm cannons, rather than take cover the Marines launched an audacious attack.
Within minutes the warship was forced to turn tail and limp away, listing heavily, holed beneath the waterline by thousands of rifle rounds and five bazooka shells - its main gun out of action and its bridge raked by sniper fire.
The fierce fighting only ended thanks to a 'brilliant bit of British bluff' when Lt Mills calmly walked towards the Argentinians and threatened to go on killing them unless they agreed to his terms - including safe passage off the island.
The Argentinians were astonished and suspicious when only 22 Royal Marines emerged from their trenches, believing they had been fighting a much larger enemy force.
Thomsen, who was 24 at the time, said: 'There wasn’t a single one of us that wasn’t prepared to fight it out to the last man.
'We weren't expected to come back. It was a one-way ticket for me.
'It was just 30 seconds after we had that photo taken that the helicopter came in.
'We legged it and then took out the Puma that was trying to land combat troops. That was like a gift.
Aftermath: HMS Antelope sinks off Ajax Bay in May 1982. She sank after an unexploded Argentine bomb went off during an attempt to defuse it
'That kicked off the battle, and we were 16-nil up from the start.
'Then later we took out a ship, the Guerrico. It was raking us with its 40mm anti-aircraft gun until we wiped out the gun crew.
'We then used a bazooka, but three out of five rounds didn't go off. If they had we'd have sunk it. But we put it out of action and it was listing at 30 degrees.
'We whacked out its Exocet launchers with rocket launchers and hit the four inch gun on the front and disabled it.
'We were putting sniper fire through the bridge so they didn't know where they were going. It was the first time in history anything like that had been done.
'At the same time they were landing troops from two or three other ships and we were outnumbered 50-1, or 100-1 if you count everyone on their ships.
Malcolm Angel's Too Few Too Far: Royal Marine Commando George Thomsen's True Story is available now
'It was like Rorke's Drift, except the enemy was well armed.
'At the end our escape route had been cut off and one of us was hit in the arm. I was about to put some mortars down on the shore when I saw the boss walking towards the enemy.
'He just went up to them and said that we'd fight to the last and carry on killing them. It was the Argies who called it a day.'
The Marines were flown off the island and eventually back to Britain. They later joined the British Task Force which liberated the Falklands.
South Georgia was recaptured by UK troops on April 25 - Britain's first military success of the Falklands War
George, now 51, from Poole in Dorset, rose to the rank of sergeant and was later team leader of the Royal Marines parachute display team. He is married with two children and runs a specialist firm making hi-fi record turntables.
His book, Too Few Too Far, is published by Amberley.
The Battle of Rorke's Drift during the 1879 Zulu War remains one of the British Army's most celebrated actions. A tiny force of just 139 British soldiers successfully fought off some 5,000 Zulu Warriors attacking a small supply depot.