Argentine ground forces in the Falklands War

This is a list of the ground forces from Argentina that took part in the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas). For a list of ground forces from the United Kingdom, see British ground forces in the Falklands War.

Operation Rosario (April 2)
Main article: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

South Georgia (April 3)
Main article: 1982 invasion of South Georgia

Preparations for war

Argentina had eight complete infantry brigades: 4th Airborne Infantry Brigade in Córdoba; 5th Mountain Brigade in Tucumán; 9th Brigade in the Santa Cruz Province close to the Falklands; the well-equipped 6th and 8th Mountain Infantry Brigades along the Chilean border; 11th Brigade, (cold-adapted) in the extreme south; and 3rd (Jungle) and 7th (Jungle) Brigades facing Brazil and Uruguay. The Argentine Army also had the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the capital guarding against a theoretical seaborne invasion along the Buenos Aires coastline. Two assumptions governed the deployment of the Argentine ground forces on the islands (Spanish: Guarnición Militar Malvinas):

  • the junta did not believe that the British would use military force to retake the islands, so the initial landing force had been withdrawn shortly after April 3, and was not reinforced until after the British recaptured South Georgia. The intent was to place a large number of troops onto the islands to dissuade the British from any military action. As the Royal Navy had submarines patrolling the immediate area, reinforcements had to be airlifted in, which limited the heavy equipment that could be deployed.
  • an attack was feared from Chile due to the ongoing Beagle Channel dispute. As Chile was marshalling troops close to its Southern Argentine border, the Argentinian High Command had to deploy their better trained forces to deter a Chilean attack. As a result, neither the mountain warfare regiments, nor the paratroop brigade were available. Furthermore, only a fifth of the cold-adapted marine infantry was sent to the islands. The majority of the troops deployed were from sub-tropical areas, the Argentine Mesopotamia region and Buenos Aires Province, and not trained for action in the terrain (they were trained to avoid snakes and sunstroke, not frostbite). These two incorrect assumptions led to inappropriate troops being sent to the islands.[2]

In the Argentine Army, the bulk of the national servicemen were demobilized in late December. The Soldados Clase ’63 (SC 63) were conscripts born in 1963. On April 2, 1982 the SC 63 inducted into the army in February had started their 45 days of boot camp training. When the Royal Navy set sail for the South Atlantic, the army tried to replace their SC 63 intake with the recently demobilized SC '62 reservists.[3]

The conscripts inducted in February and March 1982 in Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín's 25th Infantry Regiment from the 9th Infantry Brigade in Santa Cruz Province, received Commando training in a crash 4-week course. British Warrant Officer Nick Van Der Bijl, who interviewed key captured Argentine officers in the fighting has written:

When warned that his regiment was earmarked for deployment to the Falklands, Seineldín renamed it the '25th Special Infantry Regiment' although Argentine journalists later christened it the 'Seineldín Commando Regiment'. In Stanley, he enlarged it to five companies of about 100 men each with D (under Captain Hernán Garay) and E (under Captain Eduardo Jesús Olmos) Companies. Most of the Officers and NCOs were commandos or paratroopers and with a highly trained and motivated training team, he brought out the best of his conscripts in a tough but short commando course.

In all, some fifty conscripts in the 12th Regiment from the 3rd Infantry Brigade in Corrientes Province had also been put through a compressed commando course organized by visiting Argentine Army Green Berets in 1981. Private Esteban Roberto Ávalos who fought in the Falklands as a sniper recalls:

In my particular case, I ended up being a sharpshooter for which I had been preparing since the time we were out in the field, where I had the opportunity to shoot with a FAL. During the 45 days we spent there, we had to practice shooting three or four times a week and those moments were taken advantage of to learn the shooting positions and familiarize ourselves with the weapon.

The dealings with the superiors, in general, were good, although if somebody screwed up we all paid the price The most common punishments were taking us to the showers at night, forcing us to do push-ups or demand from us heaps of frog leaps and crawling. If someone took the wrong step, for example, it was normal to be pulled out of training and they would make you "dance" a little with push-ups on the thistles or on the mud.

Now, going back to the subject of instruction, I would say that it was generally satisfactory, at least as far as our group is concerned, since we had basic training in the use of explosives and we were even given some classes of self-defense.[4]

During 1981, a Commando course was squeezed in the 10th Mechanised Infantry Brigade in Buenos Aires. The brigade commander, Brigadier Oscar Luis Jofré had decided that an airlanding special operations platoon would be formed for each of his regiments. Major Oscar Ramón Jaimet, the Operations Officer of the 6th Regiment, took over command of the formation of these helicopter-borne platoons of mainly conscripts. Jaimet, a dedicated professional soldier had served behind Marxist separatist guerrilla lines as a Commando in the Tucumán Province in 1975. Private Santiago Fabián Gauto was selected to be part of the Commando platoon for the 7th Regiment:

We had instruction at night in all weathers. It was fucking freezing in winter. We were taught how to make and plant booby-traps, we did lots of extra shooting and had to strip and assemble weapons while blindfolded. They even taught us how to stop an electric train, which was fuck-all use to us. Maybe one day I'll go to the station and stop one![5]

Major Carlos Carrizo Salvadores, second-in-command of the 7th Regiment confirms that:

During 1981 the Regiment was selected to take part in an exercise with 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. This was a terrific opportunity for the rifle companies to work with the Army Aviation and it was excellent value.[6]

Theatre of Operations in the Falkland Islands (April 7 – June 14)
See also: List of Argentine Army Regiments

Guarnición Militar Malvinas

  • Commander: Brigade General Mario Menéndez (governor). RI (Infantry Regiments) were about 800 men.

3rd (Jungle) Infantry Brigade

It was on 2 April 1982 when Brigadier-General Omar Edgardo Parada learned that the Falklands/Malvinas had been occupied. This brigade commander did not have much time to take part in the official celebrations held in the capital city of Corrientes Province; he soon received orders to prepare his brigade for transfer to southern Argentina, with one of his units, the 3rd Artillery Regiment ordered to Port Stanley. At this juncture most of the 3rd Brigade conscripts had completed their national service and had returned to civilian life, and the new batch of conscripts had just been incorporated. Parada immediately went about the task of rounding up all the reservists, which he was able to achieve in great numbers by sending messengers in vehicles. Thus a substantial part of the trained reservists from the provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, and Misiones, were mobilized, many of the recalled soldiers scrambling aboard the trains laden with the brigade's regulars on their southbound journey. After crossing the Colorado River, Parada received new instructions to reinforce Brigadier-General Américo Daher's 9th Infantry Brigade in Santa Cruz Province that had already sent the 8th and 25th Regiments to the Falklands. Before this request could be met, the 3rd Brigade received orders to board the transport planes heading to Port Stanley.[7]

Private Pablo Vicente Córdoba from the new arrivals (Soldados Clase '63) in the 4th Infantry Regiment recalls the accelerated boot-camp training he received under Sub-Lieutenant Oscar Augusto Silva (Killed in action on Mount Tumbledown):

In an outing to Camp Ávalos to carry out practice shooting with live ammunition I had to open fire with an Instalaza 88.9mm anti-tank rocket-launcher. He showed me the proper technique of shooting, with me hitting the target 200 meters in front and was congratulated by the Regimental Commander, for being the only soldier to hit the target in the first go. From that moment my combat role in the company was that of a rocket-launcher operator.[8]

Commander: Brigade General Omar Parada. Brigade home base: Mesopotamia

Private Dacio Agretti, serving in B Company from the 4th Infantry Regiment, recalls events leading up to the Battle of Two Sisters:

There we had hot food, built excellent positions and were quite ready for when the British attacked. Then around the 27th May we were suddenly told that we were to abandon Wall Mountain and that we would have to defend Dos Hermanas instead. Nobody explained why, we were just ordered to move. Some walked to the mountain and some of us were taken by truck. It was a crazy decision because we never really had time to build good positions on Dos Hermanas, also we did not have a Field Kitchen so we never had any hot food anymore. We had to eat from our ration packs and it was terrible having no hot food day after day. I was in charge of a gun, but I never had any sights to fit on the weapon to practice firing. Then just one day before the British attacked us, a vehicle arrived with a set of sights, but it was too late and no time for me to get accustomed to the gun with the sights fitted.[13]

During the Battle of Mount Harriet, 42 Commando Group discovered a path through a frozen minefield, according to the 4th Regiment's Intelligence Officer First Lieutenant Jorge Echeverría,[14] allowing the Royal Marines to attack the two Argentine 4th Regiment companies on Harriet from the rear. The British marines were in among the 120mm heavy mortar platoon (under Second Lieutenant Mario Hector Juárez) and 12th Regiment reserve platoon (under Second Lieutenant Celestino Mosteirin) positions very early in the battle, and they took the position after a 15-minute gun-fight and scattered the defenders. The 12th Regiment company commander present, First Lieutenant Ignacio Gorriti and First Lieutenant Jorge Echeverría tried to pull troops from Mosteirin's reinforced rifle platoon to counterattack the British, but many of the soldiers initially refused to obey any commands to stand and fight. A 4th Regiment B Company platoon commander, Second Lieutenant Eugenio César Bruny, managed to pull together his rifle platoon for a counterattack but it was pinned and dispersed almost immediately by British artillery and mortar fire.[15]

10th Mechanised Infantry Brigade

Agrupación Puerto Argentino (Stanley Sector) Commander: Brigadier-General Oscar Luis Jofre. Brigade home base: Buenos Aires Province

Brigadier Jofre, aged 53, had converted his 10th Brigade into a well-trained formation. The culmination of the training cycle for the conscripts consisted of a full-scale mechanized infantry assault with supporting aircraft from the Argentine Air Force in the General Acha Desert in La Pampa Province in October 1981.[16] Private Claudio Alberto Carbone from the 7th Mechanized Regiment recalls the major exercise that also involved the 1st Armoured Cavalry Brigade:

Halfway through my service there was a really big exercise involving the 10th Brigade. I don't know what the top brass had in mind at the time - whether it was a rehearsal for the Malvinas or not - but it was big. There were at least 10,000 troops involved and I had to drive a vehicle with a big cannon on it. I couldn't find the exercise area at first, then I got lost trying to find the regiment and then I got lost trying to find my company. I got there in the end and they sent me off to get a truck out with a field kitchen and drive that around delivering food to the infantry. When I got to the front line all the big guns were firing and the heat was unbelievable. They were holding this exercise in a desert. If it was a practice for the Malvinas, they were holding it in a very strange place. The infantry soldiers were in a very bad way. They were in a dreadful state from hunger and thirst. They were so bad with thirst they even tried to get water from the radiator of my truck. I'll never forget the dreadful state they were in.[17]

In an interview with Private Manuel Valenzuela from the 6th Mechanized Regiment in 2015, the Argentine newspaper Publicable confirmed that the exercises in the General Acha training area (716 kilometres north of Buenos Aires) were designed to toughen up the conscripts nearing the completion of their national service, with very little food and water provided to the participating units in the first burst of heatwave conditions in the Argentine summer of 1981:

Towards the end of 1981, B Company, in which Valenzuela was attached, conducted survival training in General Acha, La Pampa. There the resistance of the person was measured through the prohibition of food and water.[18]

The 10th Brigade mobilized with creditable speed. The Argentine reservists were sustained by patriotism and indignation. Private Patricio Pérez from the 3rd Regiment:

Before the war I had just finished my secondary education. I wasn't working. I did a lot of sports and played music. I lived really like a student with my family. We rejoiced when the Islands were reoccupied but there was also concern. A week went by before I was called up. A letter arrived from my regiment telling me where to go, but at the barracks it turned out that I hadn't been included in the combat list. Some of us protested and said we should replace the soldiers who had just started military conscription because we were fully trained. For us it was very important because all our mates were going and we felt that we had to defend the Fatherland also. None of our superiors expected a war - we were just going to fortify the Islands. At the same time we knew there was a possibility of war; but because our friends were there, we thought that if we died we would all die together. Ever since we were kids we learned the Malvinas were part of our territory, part of Argentina, and therefore we had to defend them.[19]

Private Horacio Benítez from the 3rd Regiment:

I had eight days left with the Army before I was due to return to civilian life. I remember that we got up that morning and I found a newspaper announcing the invasion. There was a picture of soldiers climbing into a Hercules transport plane. We were not invaders, we were going to recover what was ours. We knew that we had to go, although we did not know whether our unit would be sent. They began calling up the rest. I think we wanted to go because we felt it was now our turn to defend the Fatherland. Also, because we were so young, we were very naive. We didn't quite realise what it all meant. All your friends were going so you had to go too. It was a sort of party atmosphere: only our mothers were really worried and they were crying.[20]

The 10th Brigade assumed responsibility for the defence of Port Stanley with Moody Brook Barracks initially serving as the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Headquarters.[21][22]

  • 3rd Regiment (RI 3) — Stanley - aborted urban warfare (†five and 85 wounded [23])
    • Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel David U. Comini.
  • 6th Regiment (RI 6) — Stanley Common (†12 and 35 wounded [24])
    • Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Jorge Halperin.
  • 7th Regiment (RI 7) — Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge (Stanley) (†36 and 152 wounded [25])
    • Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Omar Giménez.
  • 25th Infantry Regiment (Argentina) (RI 25), 9th Infantry Brigade (attach to 10th Brigade) — Stanley Airport, Goose Green and San Carlos (†13 and 67 wounded [26])
  • Panhard Armoured Cars Squadron (Esc Panhard/Destacamento de Exploración de Caballería Blindada 181), 9th Infantry Brigade (attached to 10th Infantry Brigade) - Moody Brook
  • 10th Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (dismounted), 10th Infantry Brigade (attached to reserve) - Moody Brook (†six and 68 wounded [27])
    • Commander: Captain Rodrigo A. Soloaga.

The first elements of the La Tablada-based 3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment arrived in Port Stanley on 9 April and from 13-21 would spend their time digging in Sector Cobre (Copper) covering the southern beaches. The Commanding Officer of the 3rd Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel David Ubaldo Comini attended his first briefing inside the ex-Royal Marine Barracks on 10 April[28] with Comini that night giving a patriotic speech in the presence of Brigadier-General Mario Benjamin Menéndez that welcomed the new arrivals with a giant chocolate easter egg and bottles of French wine seized from the Royal Marine cellars, a televised event that Argentine war correspondent Eduardo Rotondo claims he captured on film.[29]

The 3rd Infantry Regiment from the La Tablada suburb of Buenos Aires, was allocated two warehouses in Port Stanley for the drying of wet clothes left hanging inside and to get some proper sleep, 200 men per night; this luxury of course ended, with the British San Carlos landings and an increase of British air activity and naval shelling.[30]

On the night of 12–13 June, Captain Rubén Oscar Zunino's A Company from the 3rd Regiment was detached to 'Reserva Z' ready to reinforce Commander Carlos Hugo Robacio's 5th Marine Battalion or Lieutenant-Colonel Omar Giménez's 7th Regiment. Robacio did not use the company but Giménez called for it to regain Wireless Ridge; this attack failed in spite of a determined effort. The platoons involved withdrew under covering fire from the Oto Melara 105mm pack howitzers from the 4th Airborne Artillery Group.[31]

During its defence of Port Stanley, the 10th Brigade had suffered the loss of 66 killed in action or died of wounds and 370 wounded in action.[32]

Artillery
  • 3rd Artillery Group[33] (GA3), 3rd Infantry Brigade (†two and 21 wounded)
  • 4th Airborne Artillery Group (GA4), 4th Airborne Brigade (†3 and 42 wounded) (Stanley).
    • Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Carlos A. Quevedo
    • 18 x 105 mm guns.

Miscellaneous Army Units

I Corps

  • 181st Military Police and Intelligence Coy (Stanley).

Army Chief of Staff Troops

Under the orders of Brigadier-General Menéndez, the Argentine Military Governor at Port Stanley, the army engineers (under Colonel Manuel Dorrego) in the Falklands capital built field showers for the 10th Brigade, that allowed the 3rd, 6th, 7th and supporting 4th and 25th Regiments before the British landings, to send companies into town on a rotating basis to get a hot shower.[38]

'Reserva Z'

Reserva Z (Z Reserve) was established on 7 April 1982. Initially comprising Major Alejandro Carullo's 181st Armoured Cavalry Squadron, it was located on Stanley Racecourse with orders to reinforce Fox Bay or Goose Green if required via helicopters or ships.[39]

  • 181st Armoured Car Squadron (Stanley Racecourse).
  • 10th Armoured Squadron (Moody Valley).
  • 6th Regiment's 'Piribebuy' Company (The Saddle).
    • Commander: First Lieutenant Raúl Daniel Abella.
  • 3rd Regiment's 'Tacuari' Company
    • Commander: Captain Rubén Oscar Zunino.

With the arrival of the 10th Brigade, 'Reserva Z' was reinforced by Captain Rodrigo Alejandro Soloaga's 10th Armoured Cavalry Squadron and the 3rd Regiment's 'Tacuari' Company and the 6th Infantry Regiment's 'Piribebuy' Company. By the end of April, 'Reserva Z' received clear instructions to defend the Stanley sector. The two armoured car units were ordered to patrol the Stanley-Estancia track. The 6th Regiment's B Company occupied The Saddle in support of the 4th 'Monte Caseros' Regiment digging in on Mount Challenger and Wall Mountain. It was also warned to be ready to reinforce the 3rd and 6th Infantry Regiments in the event of a seaborne landing on the southern beaches. In late April, 'Equipo de Combate Solari' in the form of the 12th Infantry Regiment's B Company joined 'Reserva Z', bringing it to a regimental-size grouping.

Marines
  • 5th Marine Infantry Btn. (BIM 5) attached to Army — Mount Tumbledown, Mount William and Sapper Hill (Stanley) (†16 and 68 wounded[40])
    • Commander: Capitan de Fragata (commander) Carlos Hugo Robacio.
  • Heavy Machine-Gun Company; 27 x 12.7 mm MGs
    • Commander: Teniente de Navio (Marine Captain) Sergio Dachary. Stanley Common (†seven and 17 wounded [41])
  • Amphibious Engineer Company Stanley Common (†four)
    • Commander: Capitan de Corbeta Luis A. Menghini
  • 1st Marine Field Artillery Battalion's B Battery (Batería B/BlAC) Stanley Common (†two and two wounded)
  • Commander: Teniente de Navio Mario R. Abadal
    • 1,800 men
  • Dog platoon Naval Base Puerto Belgrano Teniente de fragata Miguel A. Paz [42][43]
    • 18 dogs (†two), 22 men

On the night of 13–14 June, the British 5th Infantry Brigade carried out their attacks. The 2nd Scots Guards Battalion attacked Tumbledown Mountain in the centre. The Argentines defending Tumbledown were Marines from N Company from Commander Carlos Hugo Robacio's 5th Marine Battalion. They were supported on the forward slopes of Mount William with O Company of the 5th Marines. Although its men were conscripts too, the marines were well fed and well clothed for the Falklands. The battalion had been based in Tierra del Fuego in the far south of the Patagonia and the soldiers were used to the harsh terrain and cold climate.

Gendarmería (Border Guards)

Escuadrón de Fuerzas Especiales 601 de Gendarmería Nacional The following Gendarmeria combat patrols in the form of the 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron operated in the Falklands:

  • Special Forces Combat Patrols: (†seven) 6 died and 11 injured in the Puma helicopter crash on 30 May
    • Atucha Squad - Mount Kent (East Falkland).
    • Bariloche Squad.
    • Calafate Squad.
    • Esquel Squad - Smoko Mount (East Falkland).

The 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron under Major José Ricardo Spadaro along with the 181st Military Police Company carried out several cordon-and-search operations in Port Stanley, to ensure that British special forces were not hiding among the civilian population in the Falklands capital. Port Stanley resident John Smith recalls the surprise inspection his family received on the night of 9–10 June from the Gendarmerie commando patrol squad under Captain Hugo Díaz:

We were just about to set the table for supper when the security police arrived at the back door to check that all of us in the house had documents. A most odd sensation to hear a knock on the door after dark. We shouted to ask who it was before opening the door; all very sinister, rather like the sort of things you read about in books but never expect to happen to you.[44]

Army
  • 601st Air Defence Artillery Group (GADA-601). (†six and 23 wounded [45]) 4 by Shrike 3rd June
    • Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Héctor L. Arias
    • Cardion AN/TPS-44 long range radar
    • Roland SAM system
    • 4 x Tigercat SAM triple launchers
    • 6 x Skyguard fire control radars, each controlling 2 Oerlikon GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons. (One Skyguard radar and two GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons deployed to BAM Cóndor/Goose Green.)
    • 12 x GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons for the Argentine Army. 3 x GDF-002 35 mm twin cannons for the (FAA) Air Force. The FAA Oerlikon GDF-002 guns were sited on the Southwest side of Port Stanley Airport.
    • 3 x Oerlikon 20 mm single barrel Anti-Aircraft Cannons.
  • B Battery, 101st Anti-Aircraft group (GADA 101), I Corps.(†three and nine wounded [46])
    • Commander: Major Jorge Monge.
    • 8 x Hispano Suiza 30 mm guns.
    • 10 x 12.7 mm machine guns.
  • Some Infantry units

Air Force
A captured Air Force Rheinmetall 20 mm Twin Anti-Aircraft Cannon from Goose Green in the Imperial War Museum
  • Stanley Airfield defence group
  • Goose Green Airfield defence group (BAM Cóndor)
  • Special Operations Group:
    • Westinghouse TPS-43F long range radar
    • 3 x Oerlikon twin 35 mm guns
    • Super Fledermaus fire control radar
    • Elta short ranged radar at Goose Green
    • 15 x Rheinmetall Rh-202 twin 20 mm anti-aircraft guns (9 deployed to defend Port Stanley Airbase, 6 deployed to defend Goose Green Airbase)
    • A number of SA-7 man portable short ranged SAMs.
  • 1st Marine Anti-Aircraft Battalion Stanley Common (†2).
    • Commander: capitan de corbeta (Marine Major) Hector E. Silva .
    • 3 x Tigercat SAM triple launchers
    • 12 x Hispano HS-831 30 mm anti-aircraft guns

Infantry weapons
A silenced Sterling submachine gun, used by commandos in Operation Rosario
A display in the Imperial War Museum, showing an Argentine mortar

Casualties

References

Notes
  1. Martin Middlebrook: Argentine Fight for the Falklands, 1989, Pen & Sword military classics, ISBN 0-85052-978-6, chapt.: The First Steps to War, p. 19
  2. Commodore Ruben Oscar Moro La Guerra Inaudita, 2000 ISBN 987-96007-3-8
  3. Martin Middlebrook: "The Argentine fight for the Malvinas - The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War", Pen and Sword Books, 1989, ISBN 0-670-82106-3, p. 51: Every Argentine young man became liable for a twelve-month period of military service in the year that he celebrated his 19th birthday. The military year in Argentina began in January when the regiments received the young conscripts. During the year, the recruits were trained and released in the last months of that annum. Soldados Clase ’63 were conscripts born in 1963. It was possible to wait up to seven years for military service, so Soldados Clase ’59 in 1982 were both lingering conscripts and recalled reservists. Since SC ’63 only had four months of training, the army tried to replace them with SC ’62 reservists; two-thirds had been changed by the time the British arrived.
  4. Guerra de Malvinas Regimiento de Infanteria 12
  5. Two Sides of Hell, Vincent Bramley, Bloomsbury, 1994
  6. 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands 1982,Nicholas Van der Bijl, David Aldea, p.29, Leo Cooper, 2003
  7. It was only then that Brigadier General Parada learned the Malvinas had been reclaimed. This brigade commander did not have much time to concern himself with bedecking the city with flags or even to celebrate the event; he soon received official orders to prepare his brigade for transfer to the south, and one of his units, the 3rd Artillery Group, to be sent to the theater of operations on the Malvinas. At this juncture most of the draftees of the contingent born in 1962 had completed their service and had been mustered out, and the 1963 contingent had just been sworn in. He immediately went about the task of rounding up all the "veterans," which he was able to achieve in large numbers by sending messengers in all directions. Thus the all-too-recently demobilized conscripts from Corrientes, from the Chaco, from Misiones, from all over the country were once again herded front and center, many of them scrambling aboard trains laden with the brigade's regulars on their southbound trek. As they rumbled across the Colorado River, the 3rd Brigade had not mustered its full strength, but it had already accomplished its primary mission: a dragnet had brought in able bodied men along the coast of Patagonia. While this was going on, it received a new assignment: reinforce the 9th Brigade in Santa Cruz Province. Before this latest mission was accomplished, it was burdened with yet a third: ship out to the Malvinas Islands. History of the South Atlantic Conflict, Rubén Oscar Moro, Praager, 1990
  8. Malvinas: Relatos de Guerra de Los Avá-N̋aro, Indios Bravos, Pablo Vicente Córdoba, Centro de Veteranos de Guerra Avá N̋aro, Monte Caseros, 2007
  9. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  10. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  11. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  12. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  13. Argentine conscripts re-live Falklands' nightmare
  14. Evidentemente fue una infiltración grandísima. Por los informes que tengo hasta ahora no puedo precisar exactamente el punto por donde entraron, pero sí sé que entraron por el flanco que teníamos totalmente cubierto, que era el de la costa que iba para Puerto Argentino. Lo teníamos- minado, ese campo minado costó mucho tiempo, costó sudor, costó bajas, y se pusieron esas minas que pesan veinte kilos. Lo que pasa es que es como todo. Aunque a uno le pongan campos minados, si tenemos que atacar, atacamos igual y ya veremos por dónde pasamos. Esa misma determinación —pienso— la tenían ellos. Así lucharon, Carlos M. Túrolo, p. 144, Editorial Subamericana, 1982
  15. In the last attack of the night, the British 42nd Commando Battalion found a way through an undefended minefield, allowing them to attack the two Argentine companies on Mt. Harriet from the rear. The British soldiers were in among the Argentine reserves, headquarters, and mortar positions before the fight ever began, and they took the position and quickly scattered the defenders. Several Argentine junior officers tried to pull troops from the front lines to counterattack the British in the rear, but many of their soldiers panicked and fled, while others simply refused to obey any commands to fight or move. One officer managed to pull together a platoon for a counterattack but it was pinned and dispersed almost immediately by British artillery and mortar fire. Kenneth M. Pollack, p. 212, Oxford University Press, 2019
  16. "Aged fifty-three when the Falklands War broke out, he had converted his Brigade into a useful infantry formation ... The climax came with a brigade mechanized infantry assault, while overhead Skyhawks, representing both friendly and enemy air support, strafed target hulks with rockets. The Argentinian Army Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant-General Roberto Viola, paid close attention to the performance of the brigade." 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, David Aldea, p.29, Leo Cooper, 2003
  17. Two Sides of Hell, Vincent Bramley, Bloomsbury, 1994
  18. La colimba en tiempos de guerra y dictadura
  19. Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p.191, Andre Deutsch Limited, 1989
  20. Speaking Out: Untold Stories from the Falklands War, Michael Bilton, Peter Kosminsky, p.181, Andre Deutsch Limited, 1989
  21. "Luego de atravesar el pueblo y andar unos 10 minutos más en dirección Oeste, llegamos al ex-cuartel de los ROYAL MARINES, donde el Cte. Br. había establecido su Puesto de Comando. Ya entonces, se había hecho cargo el Cte. Br. I Mec. X., Grl. Br. D. OSCAR JOFFRE, quien habia remplazado al Cte. Br.I IX, Grl. Br. D. AMERICO DAHER ." Horacio Rodríguez Mottino, p. 161, La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas, Clio, 1984
  22. "EL ESCALÓN AVANZADO DE LA COMPAÑÍA 601 pasó su primera noche en Malvinas precariamente instalado en los altillos de Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los Royal Marines, en donde funcionaba el puesto de mando de la Brigada de Infantería X y en el cual se encontraron con los barbudos y cansados jefes de Regimiento que habían llegado desde la primera línea para reforzar la defensa de Puerto Argentino." Comandos en acción: el Ejército en Malvinas, Isidoro Ruiz Moreno, p. 23, Emecé Editores, 1986
  23. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  24. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  25. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  26. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  27. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  28. "Llegamos a Malvinas aproximadamente a las 10 de la mañana, luego se llevó a cabo una exposición en el ex cuartel de los marines (Moody Brook) donde el General Daher (Comandante de la X Brigada) tenía su comando. En la misma estuvo presente el General Menéndez quien hizo la introducción." No Vencidos: Relato de Las Operaciones Navales en el Conflicto Del Atlántico Sur, Horacio Mayorga, p. 119, Planeta, 1998
  29. "Esa noche, en el "casino" improvisado en Moody Brook, antiguo cuartel de los "marines" ingleses, junto a oficiales, suboficiales y soldados argentinos festejamos Pascua de Resurrección. Sencillas palabras de un Teniente Coronel, un trozo de un gigantesco huevo de pascua llegado desde el continente y un brindis con vino francés proveniente de las bodegas de los "marines" sellaron este festejo que coincidía con el inicio del bloque naval." Alerta Roja, Eduardo Rotondo, p. 3, Baipress, 1982
  30. "3rd Infantry Regiment was allocated two warehouses in Stanley to rest the men at 200 per day; there was, of course, a huge difference between living in the bunkers compared to the relative safety and comfort of the town." 9 Battles To Stanley, Nick Van Der Bijl, p. 81, Pen & Sword, 2014
  31. "On the night of 12 June A/RI 3 was detached to Reserva Z ready to reinforce 5 BIM on Mt Tumbledown or RI 7 on Wireless Ridge. 5 BIM did not use the company but RI 7 called for it to regain Wireless Ridge; this attack failed in spite of several attempts. The troops withdrew under covering fire from GA Aerot 4." Argentine Forces in the Falklands, Nick van der Bijl, Paul Hannon, p. 10, Osprey, 1992
  32. 5th Infantry Brigade in the Falklands, Nicholas Van Der Bijl, David Aldea, p.30, Leo Cooper, 2003
  33. Grupo= three batteries ≈ artillery regiment
  34. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  35. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  36. Martin Middlebrook: "The Argentine fight for the Malvinas - The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War", Pen and Sword Books, 1989, ISBN 0-670-82106-3, p. 62 "The Argentine army did not have Special Forces. In the early 70s, commandos were formed but subsequently disbanded because of the fear of the highly trained groups being used in a coup d’état. In 1975, they were reformed for the 'dirty' war and disbanded again after participating in security during the 1978 Football World Cup. The trained commandos were dispersed throughout the army. About 80 men were assembled in the 601st and 602nd Commando companies and send to the Falkland Islands. They were beefed up with SWAT-like teams from the Gendarmería Nacional – paramilitary frontier guards."
  37. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  38. "Los soldados tenían la posibilidad de bañarse, por cuanto en Puerto Argentino los ingenieros habían construído una ducha que operaba con agua salada extraída directamente de la bahía. Toda unidad podía tener acceso a ese baño." Malvinas a sangre y fuego, Nicolás Kasanzew, p. 35, Editorial Abril, 1982
  39. "Agrupacion de Ejercito Malvinas Reserva Z Agrupacion de Ejercito Malvinas Reserva Z (Reserva Z) was established on 7 April 1982. Initially drawn from Esc Exp C Bl 181, it was located on the Racecourse with orders that it would be committed to Stanley, Fox Bay and Goose Green in that order. The lift would be Amphibious Force shipping or helicopters." Argentine Forces in the Falklands, Nick Van Der Bijl, Paul Hannon, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012
  40. Historia Marítima Argentina, Volume 10, p. 137, Argentina. Departamento de Estudios Históricos Navales, Cuántica Editora, 1993
  41. Desde El Frente: Batallon de Infanteria de Marina No. 5, Carlos Hugo Robacio, Jorge Hernández, p. 380, Centro Naval, Instituto de Publicaciones Navales, 1996
  42. "Perros en Malvinas". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  43. "Los Perros de Malvinas". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  44. 74 Days: An Islander's Diary of the Falklands Occupation, John Smith, p. 219, Century, 1984
  45. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  46. Informe Oficial del Ejército Argentino: Conflicto Malvinas; (Volume II, annex 64); Buenos Aires., 1983.
  47. 1.657 heridos 1.308 del Ejército 303 de la Armada 46 de la Fuerza Aérea. Historia Marítima Argentina, p. 137, Argentina. Departamento de Estudios Históricos Navales Cuántica Editora, 1993
  48. El 3 de junio fallecio un heroe de malvinas

Sources
  • The Battle For The Falklands, Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins, ISBN 0-330-35284-9
  • Falklands Air War, Chris Hobson, ISBN 1-85780-126-1
  • The Falklands War 1982, Duncan Anderson, ISBN 1-84176-422-1
  • (in Spanish) Argentine Order of Battle
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