An Unexpected Drop

The Argentine leaders first thought the British landing at San Carlos on May 21st might he a diversion, hut they were wrong; this was the landing. Their nearest ground forces, in Darwin and Groose Green, were too far away to …

1982-05-22

ROH01

The Argentine leaders first thought the British landing at San Carlos on May 21st might he a diversion, hut they were wrong; this was the landing. Their nearest ground forces, in Darwin and Groose Green, were too far away to launch a counterattack, but they decided that air attacks, combined with a clandestine drop of paras from Regimiento de Parachutist 1 and an insertion of commandos from Compahia de Commando Anfihios, could provide their forces on the rest of the island more time to prepare for the upcoming land battles. In reality, the British landing was only met with trace resistance from the ground, hut this scenario makes things much more difficult.

San Carlos Water, Falkland Islands

Operation Sutton was the code name for the British landings on the shores of San Carlos Water, at Ajax Bay and Port San Carlos, near San Carlos on East Falkland. During the night, 3 Commando Brigade along with attached units of the Parachute Regiment were landed from the liner SS Canberra and the LPD HMS Fearless. There was very limited enemy resistance on the ground. The Argentine Army force on site was a section from the 25th Infantry Regiment named Combat Team Güemes, or EC Güemes, located at Fanning Head. After the British fleet was spotted at 02:50, EC Güemes opened fire with 81mm mortars and two 105mm recoilless rifles. The British warships replied with naval gunfire, and a 25-man SBS team also returned fire. During the firefight, two British helicopters, a Sea King and a Gazelle, passed overhead, and the Argentine troops fired at them with machine guns.

Wikipedia: Operation Sutton

British

Argentina