The Battle of Mount Kent was a series of engagements during the Falklands War, primarily between British and Argentine special forces.
Mount Kent and the surrounding hills is an area of high ground on East Falkland, five miles West of the capital Stanley. At Mount Kent - Falkland Islands at Peakery.com it dominated the British axis of advance from San Carlos to Stanley and its proximity to the capital, made it of strategic interest to both British and Argentinian Forces.
Background In late May 1982 Special Air Service patrols from G Squadron found that a number of high peaks overlooking the Argentine defences around Port Stanley were largely undefended, after the Argentine heliborne reserve 'Combat Team Solari' (B Company, 12th Infantry Regiment) had been dispatched to support the fighting at Goose Green and the 4th Infantry Regiment had received orders to abandon Mount Challenger and take up positions on Mounts Two Sisters and Harriet.
An initial reconnaissance by Major Cedric Delves' 'D' Squadron was deployed by helicopter on 25 May, with the remaining of the squadron arriving on 27 May in time to counter the arrival of an Argentine Special Forces unit under the command of Captain Eduardo Marcelo Villarruel, second-in-command of 602 Commando Company."Two Argentine Chinooks landed near Mount Kent and the forty commandos divided into three teams and advanced. The point man of a SAS patrol didn't notice the Argentines who crawled around to flank of the British patrol for an L-shaped ambush and opened fire at 20 Meters range. The SAS man was hit and the other three dived for cover, returning fire but were overwhelmed by automatic fire and grenades which injured another, who was carried away as the SAS withdrew." Arostegui, Martin, Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces, Like A Thief In The Night (chapter), St. Martin's Press, 1997 His commander, Major Aldo Rico, had instructed Argentine patrol leaders to move into positions around Mount Kent, secure the area and await reinforcement by Major Jose Ricardo Spadaro's 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron, and Major Oscar Ramon Jaimet's heliborne trained."He was an Army commando who had fought against the People's Revolutionary Army in Tucuman province during the 'Dirty War'. Thoroughly professional and a dedicated soldier, he expected high standards and exercised rigid but fair discipline. It was to Jaimet that Brigadier-General Jofre turned when he wanted a heliborne company." Van der Bijl, Aldea, 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands, p. 161, Leo Cooper, 2003 B Company, 6th Infantry Regiment who had also undergone night-combat training the previous year.http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1362425-un-heroe-todos-los-heroes Un héroe, todos los héroes lanacion.com, 03/04/2011
SAS patrols from Air and Boat Troops and Major Delves' tactical headquarters (THQ) fought a number of actions with the Argentine Special Forces before the Argentines were forced to withdraw. The SAS's Air Troop patrol was at first driven but managed to hold onto the summit of Mount Kent until Royal Marine reinforcements arrived.
Battle The first engagement occurred during the night of the 29–30 May 1982 when the 3rd Assault Section of 602 Commando Company, led by Captain Andrés Ferrero, ran into Air Troop from D Squadron, 22nd SAS, on the slopes of Mount Kent, sustaining one badly wounded (First-Sergeant Raimundo Viltes), abandoning much of its equipment to the anger of Major Aldo Rico, their Commanding Officer."Ferrero's men advanced up the steep slopes, the thought of bumping into a British patrol or walking into an ambush keeping them alert. After about 500 metres Ferrero went forward with two men to investigate a noise. They covered 50 metres when they came under machine-gun and mortar fire. First-Sergeant Raimundo Viltes was wounded when a bullet shattered his heel." Van Der Bijl, Aldea, 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands, p. 63 The SAS sustained two wounded during the contact."Two SAS men had been flown in with gunshot wounds that were quite obviously more than 24 hours old. We knew better than to ask them about the circumstances of their injuries, and instead simply operated on them." The Red and Green Life Machine: A Diary of the Falklands Field Hospital, Rick Jolly, pp. 87-88, Century Publishing, 1983 Another SAS man suffered a broken hand in the confusion of battle."We had three of our own injured in the fight. Karl and Dick both had shrapnel wounds, but nothing critical. Digger had broken his hand and so I placed a back slap (a splint of sorts) on it to hold it firm." Born For War: One SAS Trooper's Extraordinary Account of the Falklands War, p. ?, Tony Hoare, Hachette, 2022
That night, shelled Wing Commander Esteban Correa's 40-man Argentine Air Force Special Operations Group (GOE) at Stanley Airfield guarding the Skyguard fire-control radars, killing Lieutenant Luis Castagnari and wounding four others who were preparing to take part in the occupation of Smoko Mount in support of Argentine Army commandos. The Argentine survivors thought the missile was a Shrike anti-radar missile,Primer Teniente Luis Castagnari “Vincere Aut Mori” but it was a Seaslug missile launched in the surface to surface role.
The next day, around 11.00 local time, Captain Tomás Fernández's 12-man, 2nd Assault Section attempted to seize Bluff Cove Peak. The radio operator, First Sergeant Vicente Alfredo Flores, sent out the following radio message from the slopes of Bluff Cove Peak at about 5 PM on 30 May: "We are in trouble" and then forty minutes later: "There are English all around us... you had better hurry up".Comandos en acción: El Ejército en Malvinas, Isidoro Ruiz Moreno, p. 258, Emecé Editores, 1986
First Lieutenant Rubén Eduardo Márquez and Sergeant Oscar Humberto Blas were both killed and showed great personal courage in the firefightMalvinas: El Ocaso de un Sueño, Enrique Stel, p. 128, Ediciones Lilium, 2022 and were posthumously awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal. The Argentine Commandos under Captain Fernández confronted a camp occupied by 15 SAS troopers, with the SAS reporting two wounded (Corporals Ewen Pearcy and Don Masters) repelling Fernández's patrol."Two more men were wounded, but the SAS remained in control of its main positions by the morning of 30 May." Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces. Martin C. Arostegui. p. 205. St. Martin's Press, 15/01/1997"Suddenly there was a burst of firing, and the distinct crack of at least one grenade going off ... One of the blokes took splinter wounds from the grenade in his back and was brought up to our position to be looked after ... The other casualty's shrapnel wounds were unpleasant but not serious." SAS: Sea King Down, Mark Aston & Stuart Tootal, Penguin Books, 2021"At about 11 am, May 30th, Captain Fernandez and his 2nd Assault Section, emerged from their hide intending to occupy Bluff Cove Peak. With Sergeant Humberto Bias, First-Lieutenants Daniel Oneto and Ruben Marquez scouting ahead, the section was engaged by 22 SAS' THQ and a firefight developed. Marquez threw grenades but was killed as he was wearing gloves and unable to operate his rifle. Sergeant Blas was also killed." Van Der Bijl, Aldea, 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands, p. 63, Leo Cooper, 2003
On Mount Simon, Captain Jose Arnobio Verseci's 1st Assault Section, listening to Captain Fernández's patrol attempt to escape British encirclement, decided to abandon the feature and attempt to link up with the platoon under Lieutenant Darío Horacio Blanco from the 601st Combat Engineer Company that was guarding Fitzroy.Nine battles to Stanley, Nicholas Van der Bijl, p. 149, Leo Cooper, 30/09/1999
That following day, another SAS ambush took place when Lieutenant-Commander Dante Camiletti's Marine Special Forces patrol (minus Camilletti and Corporal Juan Carrasco who had been captured at Verde Mountain and Teal Inlet respectively) were returning from reconnoitring San Carlos and were ambushed by Captain Gavin Hamilton's Mountain Troop on the lower slopes of Estancia Mountain. Sergeants Jesús Pereyra and Ramón López were seriously wounded and captured along with Corporals Pablo Alvarado and Pedro Verón who were unwounded.La fracciones Pereyra y Basualdo de la APCA During their reconnaissance of San Carlos, a British gunner, (George Joblin) was shot and wounded by friendly fire.George Joblin was hit in the shoulder and wounded with small arms fire from one of our own weapons. Commando Gunner Regroup
On the night of 30 May, Captain Peter Babbington's K Company of 42 Commando, Royal Marines and a supporting field artillery battery boarded three Sea King helicopters and the surviving RAF Chinook (Bravo November) and moved forward from San Carlos. At about the same time, the 2nd Assault Section under Captain Fernández, having hidden all day, emerged from their hides intending to withdraw from the area under the cover of darkness but came under prompt and heavy fire from Mountain Troop.5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands 1982, Nicholas Van der Bijl, David Aldea p. 65, Leo Cooper, 2003 The Marines took cover and after the firefight had died down Major Cedric Delves of D Squadron, 22 SAS appeared and assured them that all was well. There were no Argentine casualties, although one member, Sergeant Vicente Alfredo Flores with the Thompson Manpack Radio, was captured after knocking himself out in a fall."Fernandez broke contact and in the scramble down the hill Sergeant Alfredo Flores, the section radio operator, fell and was knocked out. When he came to his senses he was the prisoner of a SAS patrol and was later interrogated at 'Hotel Galtieri' in the farmyard at San Carlos along with the commandos captured at Top Malo House." Van Der Bijl, Aldea, 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands, p. 65 One Spanish-speaking British Intelligence Corps NCO on loan to the SAS is reported wounded in this action."Among prisoners captured by the Commando Brigade were five 602 Commando Company at Top Malo House and an Argentine Special forces Group sergeant knocked unconscious during a clash with the SAS on Mount Kent. During this engagement, a member of the Intelligence Corps badged as Special Air Service was wounded." Sharing the Secret: The History of the Intelligence Corps 1940-2010, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 293, Pen and Sword, 2003 The SAS claim to have come under mortar bombardment while evacuating their wounded, and the Royal Marines from 7 'Sphinx' Battery of the 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery report the loss of one gunner (Van Rooyen), who suffered a broken arm while taking cover among the rocks during the bombardment.The National Archives
Flight-Lieutenant Andy Lawless, the co-pilot of the sole surviving RAF Chinook, took part in the mission to deliver artillery guns and ammunition to the SAS and describes the crash of the helicopter as a result of severed wires;
We had three 105-mm guns inside and ammunition pallets under-slung. Then the fog of war intervened, we could not find anywhere to land and spent time manoeuvring as we had to put them exactly where the gunners wanted because they could not roll the guns across the terrain. Once we dropped off the guns we went straight back to San Carlos to bring in more guns and ammo. Then we hit the water at 100 knots. The bow wave came over the cockpit window as we settled and the engines partially flamed out. I knew we had ditched but I was not sure if we had been hit. Dick said he thought we had been hit by ground fire. As the helicopter settled the bow wave reduced and the engine wound up as we came out of the water like a cork out of a bottle.16 Air Assault Brigade: The History of Britain's Rapid Reaction Force, Tim Ripley, pp. 45-46, Casemate Publishers, 2008