Themes

Conflict and Change

• Introduction

• In Focus: 1900

• In Focus: World War One

• In Focus: Interwar

• In Focus: World War Two

• In Focus: Post War Conflict

• In Focus: Cold War Climate

• In Focus: Falklands and Beyond

  • Surface Fleet

  • Submarines

  • Royal Marines

  • Fleet Air Arm

• Special Exhibition: Falklands 25

Learning

• How To: Understand Propaganda

• Propaganda Image Galleries

• Education Project: Sea With Your Own Eyes

The Falklands War

Article highlights

• War in the South Atlantic

• The Amphibious Task Force

• San Carlos landings

• Beginning the land campaign

• Battling for the high grounds

• The Battle of Two Sisters

• Towards Port Stanley

San Carlos landings

Commanding Officer of 3 Commando Brigade, Brigadier Julian Thompson realised that only his landing force could ultimately regain the Falklands for Britain.

He ruled out a direct assault on Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, as the British had such a limited assault capability and helicopter assets.

Instead, he envisaged the Commandos landing at some distance from the capital and securing beachhead into which reinforcements the Army could feed their re-enforcement troops.

42 Commando heading for San Carlos Beach in an LCU. Falklands War 1982. (RMM)

Thompson also planned advanced phase operations with the landing of SAS and SBS teams in small craft in order to secure the area prior to the main troop landings.

The Amphibious Task Force sailed down to Ascension Island on 17 April for training before heading into Falklands Waters.

There they practiced embarking the landing craft and getting ashore whilst Brigadier Julian Thompson and the Commander of Amphibious Forces, Mike Clapp, finalised plans for the landings.

Luckily, Royal Marine Major Ewen Southby-Tailyour had spent much time on his detachment to the Falkland Islands mapping the coastal areas surrounding the Falkland Islands.

This knowledge gave the landing crews a distinct advantage of knowing what they were likely to expect.

Thompson chose the beaches at San Carlos Waters as the destination for the landing due to its more favourable shoreline.

On 19 May the Commander-in-Chief Fleet at Norwood decided that it was too dangerous for SS Canberra to enter the Total Exclusion Zone.

He gave orders to move the landing parties onto the two LPDs. 40 Commando boarded HMS Fearless whilst 3 Para moved to HMS Intrepid via the assault ship’s Landing Craft Utilities (LCUs).

Mexeflot and an LCU Mark 9 deployed from HMS Fearless for landing troops and vehicles, c.1990s. (RMM)

Fearless anchored in Falkland Sound around midnight on 21 May ready to deploy its landing troops ashore.

40, 45 Commando and 3 Para landed. 42 Commando remained on SS Canberra in reserve and landed later in order to aid 3 Para with skirmishes on their beach.

Due to delays 3 Para landed almost an hour later than scheduled, but by 0730 in the morning phase one of the landings was successfully completed.