Battle of Goose Green

British forces kept Zulu time (UTC), and many news reports were dated accordingly. However, times on this page are according to local, Falkland Island time (UTC−3), the same as that kept in Argentina. On the day of the battle, sunrise was at 08:39 and sunset at 16:58.[8] To avoid confusion between similar company designations, Argentine companies are referred to in the form "Company A" while British forces are referred to as "A Company."

Vegetation and terrain: Low tussock covered hills with gorse filled valleys

Goose Green and Darwin are on a narrow isthmus connecting Lafonia, to the south, with Wickham Heights, to the north. The isthmus has two settlements, both on the eastern coast: Darwin, to the north, and Goose Green, to the south. The terrain is rolling and treeless and is covered with grassy outcrops, areas of thick gorse, and peat bogs, making effective camouflage and concealment extremely difficult.

The islands have a cold, damp climate. From May to August, winter in the southern hemisphere, the ground is saturated and frequently covered with salty water, making walking slow and exhausting, especially at night. Drizzly rains occur two out of every three days, with continuous winds. Periods of rain, snow, fog, and sun change rapidly, and sunshine is minimal, leaving few opportunities for troops to warm up and dry out.[9]

The bulk of the Argentine forces were in positions around Port Stanley, about 50 miles (80 km) to the east of the isthmus and San Carlos, site of the main British landings. The Argentine positions at Goose Green and Darwin were well defended by a force equipped with artillery, mortars, 35 mm cannon, and machine guns.[10] British intelligence indicated that the Argentine force presented limited offensive capabilities and did not pose a major threat to the landing area at San Carlos. Consequently, Goose Green seemed to have no strategic military value for the British in their campaign to recapture the islands; and initial plans for land operations had called for Goose Green to be isolated and bypassed.[11]

After the British landings at San Carlos on 21 May and while the bridgehead was being consolidated, no offensive ground operations had been conducted and activities were limited to digging fortified positions, patrolling, and waiting;[12] during this time Argentine air attacks caused significant damage to, and loss of, British ships in the area around the landing grounds. These attacks and the lack of movement of the landed forces out of the San Carlos area, led to a feeling among senior commanders and politicians in the UK that the momentum of the campaign was being lost.[13] As a result, British Joint Headquarters in the UK came under increasing pressure from the British government for an early ground offensive, for its political and propaganda value.[14] If the Darwin–Goose Green isthmus could be taken before such a decision, British forces would control access to the entire Lafonia and thus a significant portion of East Falkland.[15] On 25 May Brigadier Julian Thompson, ground forces commander, commanding 3 Commando Brigade, was ordered to mount an attack on Argentine positions around Goose Green and Darwin.[13]

The defending Argentine forces, known as Task Force Mercedes, consisted of two companies of Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Piaggi's 12th Infantry Regiment (RI 12)—his third company (Company B) was still deployed on Mount Kent as "Combat Team Solari" and was only to re-join RI 12 after the fall of Goose Green airfield.[16] The task force also contained a company of the ranger-type 25th Infantry Regiment (25th Special Infantry Regiment or RI 25).[17]

Air defence was provided by a battery of six 20 mm Rheinmetalls, manned by air force personnel, and two radar-guided Oerlikon 35 mm anti-aircraft guns from the 601st Anti-Aircraft Battalion, which would be employed in a ground support role in the last stages of the fighting. There was also one battery of three OTO Melara Mod 56 105 mm pack howitzers from the 4th Airborne Artillery Regiment. Pucará aircraft, based at Stanley and armed with rockets and napalm, provided close air support.[18] Total forces under Piaggi's command numbered 1,083 men.[19]

Piaggi's orders required him to provide a reserve battle group (Task Force Mercedes) in support of other forces deployed to the west of Stanley, to occupy and defend the Darwin isthmus, and to defend Military Air Base Condor located at Goose Green. He assumed an all-round defence posture, with Company A IR12 the key to his defence; they were deployed along a gorse hedge running across the Darwin isthmus from Darwin Hill to Boca House.[16] Piaggi deployed his recce platoon (under Lieutenant Carlos Marcelo Morales) as an advance screen forward of RI 12's A Company, towards Coronation Ridge, while RI 12's C Company were deployed south of Goose Green to cover the approaches from Lafonia. To substitute for B Company, which was kept on Mount Kent, he created a composite company from headquarters and other staff and deployed them in Goose Green. RI 25's C (Ranger) Company (under Paratroop-trained First Lieutenant Carlos Daniel Esteban) provided a mobile reserve. It was billeted at the schoolhouse in Goose Green.[16] Elements were also deployed to Darwin settlement, Salinas Beach, and Boca House; and the air force security cadets, together with the anti-aircraft elements, were charged with protecting the airfield. Minefields had been laid in areas deemed tactically important, to provide further defence against attack.[20]

On paper, Piaggi had a full regiment, but it consisted of units from three separate regiments from two different brigades, none of whom had ever worked together. RI 12 consisted mostly of conscripts from the northern, sub-tropical province of Corrientes, while RI 25 Company was considered an elite formation and had received commando training.[21] At the start of the battle, the Argentinian forces had about the same number of effective combatants as the British paratroopers.[22] Some elements were well trained and displayed a high degree of morale and motivation (C Company 25th Regiment and A Battery 4th Airborne Artillery Group); with Lieutenant Ignacio Gorriti of the 12th Regiment's B Company remarking that "there was no need for speeches. From the beginning, we knew how important the Malvinas were. It was a kind of love; we were going to defend something that was ours."[23][22] Other units were less well-motivated, with the 12th Regiment chaplain, Santiago Mora writing:

The conscripts of 25th Infantry wanted to fight and cover themselves in glory. The conscripts of the 12th Infantry Regiment fought because they were told to do so. This did not make them any less brave. On the whole, they remained admirably calm.[24]

Private Esteban Roberto Avalos fought in the Falklands as a sniper in RI 12's B Company. In all, some fifty hand-picked 12th Regiment conscripts and NCOs had received ranger training from visiting Halcón 8 (Falcon 8) army commandos in 1981, and then returned to their respective companies:

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 excellent, 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 reasonable to be pulled out of training, and they would make you 'dance' a little with push-ups on the thistles or 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 was concerned, since we had basic training in the use of explosives and we were even given some classes in self-defence."[25]

The Argentine positions were well selected, and officers well briefed.[22] In the weeks before the British invasion, airstrikes, naval bombardments, their own poor logistic support, and inclement conditions had contributed to its reduction,[26] Argentine morale remained strong among the 4th Airborne Artillery Regiment gunners present and the officers, NCOs, and ranger-trained conscripts of the 12th and 25th Regiments.[27]On 19 May, morale had been raised in Task Force Mercedes, when an Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules parachuted in eight tons of tinned provisions.[28]

Milan missile, similar to those used in the battle by British paratroopers

Thompson ordered 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (2 Para) to prepare for and execute an attack south, as they were the unit closest to the isthmus in the San Carlos defensive perimeter.[29] He ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert 'H' Jones, the commanding officer of 2 Para, to "carry out a raid on Goose Green isthmus and capture the settlements before withdrawing to be in reserve for the main thrust to the north." The "capture" component appealed more to Jones than the "raid" component, although Thompson later acknowledged that he had assigned insufficient forces to rapidly execute the "capture" part of the orders.[30]

Two Para consisted of three rifle companies, one patrol company, one support company, and an HQ company. Thompson had assigned three 105 mm artillery pieces, with 960 shells, from 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery; one MILAN anti-tank missile platoon; and Scout helicopters as support elements. Close air support was available from three Royal Air Force Harriers, and naval gunfire support was to be provided by HMS Arrow in the hours of darkness.[31]

An SAS survey had reported that the Darwin–Goose Green area was occupied by one Argentine company. Brigade intelligence reported that enemy forces consisted of three infantry companies (two from RI 12 and one from RI 25), one platoon from RI 8, plus a possible amphibious platoon together with artillery and helicopter support. Jones was not too perturbed by the conflicting intelligence reports and, incorrectly, tended to believe the SAS reports, on the assumption that they were actually "on the spot" and were able to provide more accurate information than the brigade intelligence staff.[32] Based on this intelligence and the orders from Thompson, Jones planned the operation to be conducted in six phases, as a complicated night-day, silent-noisy attack. C Company was to secure the start line, and then A Company was to launch the attack from the start line on the left (Darwin) side of the isthmus. B Company would launch their attack from the start line directly after A Company had initiated contact and would advance on the right (Boca House) side of the isthmus. Once A and B companies had secured their initial objectives, D Company would then advance from the start line between A and B companies and were to "go firm" on having exploited their objective. This would be followed by C Company, who were required to pass through D Company and neutralise any Argentine reserves. C Company would then advance again and clear the Goose Green airfield, after which the settlements of Darwin and Goose Green would be secured by A and D companies respectively.[33]

As most of the helicopter airlift capability had been lost with the sinking of SS Atlantic Conveyor, 2 Para were required to march the 13 miles (21 km) from San Carlos to the forming-up place at Camilla Creek House.[34] C Company and the commando engineers moved out from there at 22:00 on 27 May to clear the route to the start line for the other companies. A firebase (consisting of air and naval fire controllers, mortars, and snipers) was established by Support Company west of Camilla Creek, who were in position by 02:00 on the morning of 28 May.[35] The three guns from 8 Battery, their crew, and ammunition had been flown into Camilla Creek House by 20 Sea King helicopter sorties after last light on the evening of 27 May. The attack, to be initiated by A Company, was scheduled to start at 03:00, but because of delays in registering the support fire from HMS Arrow, only commenced at 03:35.[36]

Remains of Harrier XZ998

On 4 May three Royal Navy Sea Harriers, operating from HMS Hermes, attacked the airfield and installations at Goose Green. During the operation, a Sea Harrier was shot down by Argentine 35 mm anti-aircraft fire; its pilot, RN Lieutenant Nick Taylor, was killed.[37]

As part of the diversionary raids to cover the British landings in the San Carlos area on 21 May, which involved naval shelling and air attacks, 'D' Squadron of the SAS, from their assembly point on Mount Usborne,[38] mounted a major raid to simulate a battalion-sized attack on Company A (under First Lieutenant Jorge Antonio Manresa), 12th Regiment, the company at the time being dug in on Darwin Ridge.[39]

On 22 May, four RAF Harriers, armed with cluster bombs, were launched from Hermes, their intended targets being the fuel dumps and Pucaras at Goose Green. The formation met intense anti-aircraft fire during their attack.[40] Captain Pablo Santiago Llanos of 601 Commando Company (escorting a shot down Royal Air Force Harrier pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jeffrey Glover, from Port Howard to Port Stanley) was present during the strike and observed:

I can assure you that it was the place I saw the best of people, especially my junior rank colleagues when it came to fighting spirit. Everyone in Goose Green would leave the houses, they would position themselves behind whatever cover there was, and would fire against the planes.[41]

On the night of 26-27 May, two rifle platoons from Manresa's A Company were ready to mount a retaliatory raid on Mount Usborne, but on reaching the summit were surprised to find that the SAS had already vacated the feature.[42][43] The next day, Ernesto Orlando Peluffo, on Darwin Ridge, with his binoculars spotted British forward troops; and his RI 12 platoon repelled with long-range machine-gun fire a British reconnaissance patrol in the hours before the final attack.

Throughout 27 May, Royal Air Force Harriers were active over Goose Green. One of them, responding to a call for help from Captain Paul Farrar's C (Patrols) Company, was lost to 35 mm fire while attacking Darwin Ridge.[44][45][46] The Harrier attacks, the sighting of the forward British paratroopers, and the BBC announcing that the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment was poised and ready to assault Darwin and Goose Green the day before the assault alerted the Argentine garrison to the impending attack.[47]

Goose Green, 28–29 May 1982

At 03:35 HMS Arrow opened fire, firing a total of 22 star shells and 135 rounds of 4.5" high-explosive (HE) shells during a 90-minute bombardment, signalling the start of the attack.[48] In the ensuing night battle about twelve Argentines were killed.[17] Under heavy fire, the platoons of Sub-Lieutenants Marcelo Martin Bracco and Alejandro Garra withdrew after the initial clashes, reporting the loss of fifty per cent of their men, killed, wounded, captured, or missing. The platoon under Sub-Lieutenant Gustavo Adolfo Malacalza fought a delaying action against the British paratroopers on Burntside Hill before taking up combat positions again on Darwin Ridge.[17]

The Coronation Ridge position temporarily halted Major Philip Neame's D Company. Two of his men, 24-year-old Lance-Corporal Gary Bingley and 19-year-old Private Barry Grayling, darted out from cover to charge the enemy machine gun nest and to protect advancing riflemen. Both were hit 10 metres (11 yd) from the machine gun, but shot two of the gun's crew before collapsing. Bingley was hit in the head and killed, while Grayling sustained a wound to the hip which he survived.[49] Bingley was posthumously awarded the Military Medal, and Grayling was decorated with the Queen's Gallantry Medal. With the enemy machine gun out of action, the paras were able to clear the Argentine platoon position, which was under Lieutenant Horacio Muñoz Cabrera, but at the cost of three Paras killed.[17]

2 Para continued its advance south via Darwin Parks. Around 7:30 am local time, the 1st Rifle Platoon from the 25th Regiment's C Company, under the command of 2nd Lieutenant Roberto Estévez, received orders to counterattack against 2 Para's B Company.[50] The Argentine platoon was able to block the British advance by taking up positions on Darwin Hill, from which, although wounded, Lieutenant Estévez started calling down fire support from Argentine 105 mm artillery and 120 mm mortars. He thus succeeded in holding up the advance of 2 Para's A Company, dispersing the attackers, as his men, caught out in the forward slopes as they prepared to renew their progress, sought cover in the nearby trenches. Estévez fell, mortally wounded by sniper fire. His dying order was to his radio operator Private Fabricio Edgar Carrascul, who continued to direct Argentine fire support. Bullets were riddling the Argentine position, and Carrascul was soon killed.[51] Both were posthumously decorated for this action: Estévez with the Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross (CHVC) and Private Carrascul with the Medal of Valour in Combat.[52] Private Guillermo Huircapán from Estévez's platoon describes the morning action:

Lieutenant Estévez went from one side to the other organizing the defence until all at once they got him in the shoulder. But with that and everything, badly wounded, he kept crawling along the trenches, giving orders, encouraging the soldiers, asking for everyone. A little later, they got him in the side, but just the same, from the trench, he continued directing the artillery fire by radio. There was a little pause, and then the English began the attack again, trying to advance, and again we beat them off.[53]

The first British assault was repulsed by fire from Sub-Lieutenant Ernesto Orlando Peluffo's RI 12 platoon, after the platoon sergeant, Buenaventura Jumilla, warned that the British were approaching. Major Farrar-Hockley spotted Argentine reinforcements on the hills before them. He shouted, "Ambush! Take cover!" just as the machine-guns opened fire.[54] The Royal Engineer officer attached to Farrar-Hockley's company, Lieutenant Clive Livingstone, wrote about the initial fight for Darwin Hill:

A massive volume of medium machine-gun fire was unleashed on us from a range of about 400 metres. The light now rapidly appearing enabled the enemy to identify targets and bring down very effective fire. Although this too would work for us, the weight of fire we could produce was not in proportion to the massive response it brought. We stopped firing – our main concern was to move away whenever pauses occurred in the attention being paid to us. The two platoons were not able to suppress the trenches, which were giving us so much trouble. We took about 45 minutes to extract ourselves through the use of smoke and pauses in the firing.[54]

The Paras were pinned down by heavy machine gun and automatic rifle fire. Between 9 and 10 that morning, 2 Para's A and B Companies broke off their attacks. They began to withdraw to the reverse side of Middle Hill and the base of Coronation Point.[55] "We were outraged. We just couldn't get across the open ground to get at their machine-guns, and after five hours of fighting, ammunition was critical," explained Major John Crosland in an interview with British war correspondent Max Hastings.[56] Corporal David Abols later said that an Argentine sniper who killed seven paras with shots to the head during the morning fighting was mainly responsible for holding up A Company.[lower-alpha 1] Nevertheless, the paras called on the Argentines to surrender.

At this juncture of the battle, A Company was in the gorse line at the bottom of Darwin Hill, and against the entrenched Argentines, who were looking down the hill at them. As it was now daylight, Lieutenant Colonel Jones led an unsuccessful charge up a small gully. Three of his men, his adjutant Captain Wood, A Company's second-in-command Captain Dent, and Corporal Hardman, were killed.[57] Shortly after that, Jones was seen to run west along the base of Darwin Ridge to a small re-entrant, followed by his bodyguard. He checked his Sterling submachine gun, then ran up the hill towards an Argentine trench. He was seen to be hit once, then fell, got up, and was hit again from the side. He fell metres short of the trench, shot in the back and the groin, and died within minutes.[57][lower-alpha 2] Jones was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

As Jones lay dying, his men radioed for urgent casualty evacuation. However, the British Scout helicopter sent to evacuate Jones was shot down by an Argentine FMA IA 58 Pucara ground-attack aircraft. The pilot, Lieutenant Richard Nunn RM was killed and posthumously received the DFC; and the aircrewman, Sergeant Bill Belcher RM was severely wounded in both legs.[57]

The death of Lieutenant-Colonel Jones was attributed to a sniper identified as an Argentine Army commando, Corporal Osvaldo Faustino Olmos, who was interviewed by the British newspaper Daily Express in 1996.[58] Olmos, of RI 25, had refused to leave his foxhole and his section fired at Jones and the five paratroopers who accompanied him as he moved forward.[lower-alpha 3] However, historian Hugh Bicheno attributed Jones' death to Corporal José Luis Ríos of the 12th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon.[59] Ríos was later fatally wounded manning a machine-gun in his trench by Abols, who fired a 66 mm rocket.

With the death of Jones, command passed to Major Chris Keeble. Following the failure of this initial attack and the death of Jones, it took Keeble two hours to reorganize and resume the attack.[55]

Remnants of Argentine defensive positions along gorse hedge on Darwin Hill

By the time of Jones' death, it was 10:30, and Major Dair Farrar-Hockley's A Company made a third attempt to advance, but this petered out. Eventually, the British company, hampered by the morning fog as they advanced up the slope of Darwin Ridge, were driven back to the gully by the fire of the survivors of the 1st Platoon from RI 25's C Company. During the morning fighting, 2 Para's mortar crews fired 1,000 rounds to keep the enemy at bay, and prevented the Argentines' fire being properly aimed. Many of the Argentine fatalities during the fighting were caused by mortar fire.[lower-alpha 4][60]

Expecting a low-level strike from Argentine Air Force Skyhawk fighter-bombers to materialise in support of the Darwin Ridge defenders, Company Sergeant-Major Juan Coelho spread out white bedsheets in front of the trenches to help guide in the pilots and was severely wounded in the process. The Argentine flight of five Skyhawks instead encountered the British hospital ship Uganda, losing valuable time reporting the incident and returning to investigate the boat further before continuing with their mission. The Skyhawk pilots, having lost much fuel and flying in bad weather, carried out a poorly executed bomb run, firing on Argentine positions as they released their bombs and being engaged by Argentine anti-aircraft fire that damaged the lead plane.[61][62]

It was almost noon before the British advance resumed. A Company soon cleared the eastern end of the Argentine position and opened the way forward. There had been two battles for the Darwin hillocks—one around Darwin Hill (Black strong point) looking down on Darwin Bay, and an equally fierce one in front of Boca Hill (White strong point), also known as Boca House Ruins. Sub-Lieutenant Guillermo Ricardo Aliaga's 3rd Platoon of RI 8's C Company held Boca Hill. The position of Boca Hill was reported taken at 13.47 local time,[63] after heavy fighting by Major John Crosland's B Company, with support from the MILAN anti-tank platoon. Sub-lieutenants Aliaga and Peluffo were gravely wounded in the battle. Crosland was the most experienced British officer; and, as the events of the day unfolded, it was later said that Crosland's cool and calm leadership turned the Boca House section of the front line.

About the time of the final attack on the Boca House position, A Company overcame the Argentine defenders on Darwin Hill, finally reporting taking the Black strong point at 13:13 local time,[64] with the defenders having resisted for nearly six hours,[lower-alpha 5][65] with many Argentine and British casualties. Majors Farrar-Hockley and Crosland each won the Military Cross for their efforts. Corporal David Abols was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his daring charges, which turned the Darwin Hill battle.

An FMA Pucara, returning from the battle, crashed about 10:00 AM in high ground between Goose Green and Stanley. Its pilot, Lieutenant Gimenez, was killed. The cause is not known, either from battle damage or flight accident. It was the 58th Argentine aircraft lost in the war.

35mm Oerlikon, similar to the two guns deployed by Argentinean forces at the airfield

After the victory on Darwin Ridge, C and D Companies began to make their way to the small airfield, as well as to Darwin School, which was east of the airfield, while B Company made their way south of Goose Green Settlement. A Company remained on Darwin Hill. C Company took heavy losses when they became the target of intense direct fire from 35 mm anti-aircraft guns that caused 20 per cent casualties.[66] Private Mark Holman-Smith, a signaler in the company headquarters, was killed by the anti-aircraft guns while trying to recover a heavy machine gun from wounded Private Steve Russell.[67]

Argentine Air Force anti-aircraft gunners under Lieutenant Darío Del Valle Valazza, and the RI 12 platoon under Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Oslvaldo Aldao, attempted to halt the renewed advance that commenced at 2:25 pm from Boca Hill,[68] but were forced to abandon their positions, including the five remaining 20 mm Rheinmetall guns at Cóndor airfield, reporting the loss of two arms and an Elta radar to MILAN missiles or mortar fire, with three defenders from Grupo 1 de Artillería Antiaérea de la Fuerza Aérea Argentina (G1AA) killed (Privates Mario Ramón Luna, Luis Guillermo Sevilla and Héctor Walter Aguirre from G1AA[69] and Privates Roque Evaristo Sánchez and Avelino Néstor Oscar Pegoraro from Aldao's platoon) and several wounded, including Lieutenant Valazza. A large part of the RI 12 platoon was overrun and forced to surrender, but Aldao, along with a corporal, managed to escape[68][70] in the confusion of the Argentine airstrikes that materialised later that afternoon.

Lieutenant James Barry's No. 12 Platoon, D Company, saw some violent action at the airfield. They were ambushed by Sub-Lieutenant Juan José Gómez-Centurión's 2nd Romeo Rifle Platoon of the 25th Regiment's Company C.[17] Still, Private Geordie Knight shot dead two of the attackers (Privates José Luis Allende and Ricardo Andrés Austin) that had crawled forward,[71] and then reported the events to Major Neame.[lower-alpha 6] Private Graham Carter from No. 12 Platoon describes the airfield action:

In the first volley of shots, Mr. Barry was hit quite badly and got tangled in the barbed wire fence. They then used him as target practice. In the same instance, [Corporal] Paul Sullivan got hit directly behind me in the knee, and then he got hit several more times in the head. I was really lucky, as with two others I was protected by a small scoop in the ground. The other gunner, Brummy [Private Brummie Mountford], got hit directly after the first volley of shots, ricochets off the GPMG, which hit him in the shoulder and the back, so he was in quite a bad way. Smudge [Lance-Corporal Nigel Smith], our section 2ic, fired a 66 mm into the trenches that were giving us trouble, but it must have been damaged in some way as the whole thing went off and damaged him badly in the face and chest. As he was only a few feet away, I went across to administer first aid to him, but as I moved, I got a bullet in my helmet, which took a chunk of it away. There was no way I was going to try going across there again.[72]

Private John Graham, from Lieutenant Chris Waddington's No. 11 Platoon, claimed that Lieutenant Barry and Corporal Sullivan, during a local truce, went forward to accept the Argentine surrender and that the defenders suddenly opened fire without warning, killing Barry and wounding Sullivan, with one Argentine crawling forward to Sullivan and shooting him at point-blank range:

I saw the white flag incident; I was in 11 Platoon. We were going up the hill, and the flag went up. The officer [Barry] called the sergeant [sic] and then got halfway up the hill. Bang! They let rip into them, Killed them. One guy [Corporal Paul Sullivan] was hit in the knee, and one of the bastards came forward and shot him in the head. He moved forward out of his position and shot him.[73]

Private Carter won the Military Medal by rallying the survivors in No. 12 Platoon and leading them forward at bayonet point to take the airfield.[17][lower-alpha 7] The platoon sergeant had earlier charged the enemy's Romeo platoon with his belt-fed machine-gun, killing four of them.

According to Sub-Lieutenant Gómez-Centurión:

I set out with thirty-six men toward the north. Passing the school, we entered a depression from which we saw the hill. I sent a scouting party ahead, and they told me that the British were advancing from the other side of the low ridge, some one hundred and fifty men. [My] men were very tense; there was a brutal cold; we shivered with cold, with fear. When they were about fifty metres away, we opened fire. We kept firing for at least forty minutes. They started to attack our flank, my soldiers had to take cover, the firing went down, and the situation started to become critical. Then we were surrounded, we had wounded, people started to lose control. I began to ask about casualties, each time, more casualties. There was no way out behind because we had been flanked, nearly surrounded. So when there was a pause in the firing, I decided that it was the time to stop, and I gave the order to disengage.[53]

The RI 25 platoon defending the airfield fell back into the Darwin-Goose Green track and was able to escape. Sergeant Sergio Ismael Garcia of RI 25 single-handedly covered the withdrawal of his platoon during the British counterattack. He was posthumously awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal. Under orders from Major Carlos Alberto Frontera (second in command of RI 12), Sub-Lieutenant César Álvarez Berro's RI 12 platoon took up new positions and helped cover the retreat of Gómez-Centurión's platoon along the Darwin-Goose Green track.[70]

Four Paras of D Company and approximately a dozen Argentines were killed in these engagements. Among the British dead were 29-year-old Lieutenant Barry and two NCOs, Lance-Corporal Smith and Corporal Sullivan, who were killed after Barry's attempt to convince Sub-Lieutenant Gómez-Centurión to surrender was rebuffed.[17][lower-alpha 8][74][75] C Company did not lose a single man in the Darwin School fighting, but Private Steve Dixon, from D Company, died when a splinter from a 35 mm anti-aircraft shell struck him in the chest.[76] The Argentine 35 mm anti-aircraft guns under the command of Sub-Lieutenant Claudio Oscar Braghini reduced the schoolhouse to rubble after sergeants Mario Abel Tarditti and Roberto Amado Fernandez reported to him that sniper fire was coming from there.[77][78]

At around this time, three British Harriers attacked the Argentine 35 mm gun positions; the army radar-guided guns were unable to respond effectively because a piece of mortar shrapnel had earlier struck the generator for the firearms and fire-control radar. This attack considerably lifted morale among the British paras. Although it was not known at the time, the Harriers came close to being shot down in their bomb run after being misidentified as enemy aircraft by Lieutenant-Commander Nigel Ward and Flight Lieutenant Ian Mortimer of 801 Squadron.[lower-alpha 9] According to Lieutenant Braghini's report,[79] and at least one British account,[80] the Harrier strike missed their intended target; but the Argentine antiaircraft guns were already out of action anyway.

Meanwhile, the RI 12 platoon—under Sub-Lieutenant Orlando Lucero, a platoon that Lieutenant-Colonel Piaggi and Major Frontera had organised, using survivors from the earlier fighting—took up positions on Goose Green's outskirts and continued to resist, while supporting air force Pucara and navy Aermacchi aircraft struck the forward British companies. The Argentine pilots did not have much effect, suffering two losses: at 5:00, when a Macchi 339A (CANA 1 squadron) was shot down by a Blowpipe missile from the Royal Marines' air defence troop, killing Sub-Lieutenant Daniel Miguel.

Just about 10 minutes later, another Pucara was shot down by small arms fire from 2 Para, drenching several paratroopers with fuel and napalm, which did not ignite.[81] Lieutenant Miguel Cruzado survived and was captured by British forces on the ground.

By last light, the situation for 2 Para was critical. A Company was still on Darwin Hill, north of the gorse hedge; B Company had penetrated much further south and had swung in a wide arc from the western shore of the isthmus eastwards towards Goose Green. They were isolated and under fire from an Argentinian platoon and unable to receive mutual support from the other companies.[82] To worsen their predicament, Argentine helicopters—a Puma, a Chinook and six Hueys—landed southwest of their position, just after last light, bringing in the remaining Company B of RI 12 (Combat Team Solari) from Mount Kent.[83]

B Company managed to bring in artillery fire on these new enemy reinforcements, forcing them to disperse towards the Goose Green settlement, while some re-embarked and left with the departing helicopters.[84] For C Company, the attack had also fizzled out after the battle at the school-house, with the company commander injured, the second-in-command unaccounted for, no radio contact, and the platoons scattered with up to 1,200 metres between them.[85] D Company had regrouped just before last light, and they were deployed to the west of the dairy—exhausted, hungry, low on ammunition, and without water.[86] Food was redistributed, for A and C Companies to share one ration-pack between two men; but B and D Companies could not be reached. At this time, a British helicopter casualty evacuation flight took place, successfully extracting C Company casualties from the forward slope of Darwin Hill, while under fire from Argentine positions.[87]

To Keeble, the situation looked precarious: the settlements had been surrounded but not captured, and his companies were exhausted, cold, and low on water, food, and ammunition. His concern was that the Argentine Company B's reinforcements, dropped by helicopter, would either be used in an early morning counter-attack or used to stiffen the defences around Goose Green. He had seen the C Company assault stopped in its tracks by the anti-aircraft fire from Goose Green, and had seen the Harrier strikes of earlier that afternoon missing their intended targets. In an order group with the A and C Company commanders, he indicated his preference for calling for an Argentine surrender, rather than facing an ongoing battle the following morning. His alternative plan, if the Argentines did not surrender, was to "flatten Goose Green" with all available fire-power and then launch an assault with all forces possible, including reinforcements he had requested from Thompson. On Thompson's orders, J Company of 42 Commando, Royal Marines, the remaining guns of 8 Battery, and additional mortars were helicoptered in to provide the necessary support.[88]

Once Thompson and 3 Brigade had agreed to the approach, a message was relayed by CB radio from San Carlos to Mr. Eric Goss, the farm manager in Goose Green—who, in turn, delivered it to Piaggi. The call explained the details of a planned delegation who would go forward from the British lines, bearing a message, to the Argentine positions in Goose Green. Piaggi agreed to receive the delegation.[89] Soon after midnight, two Argentine Air Force warrant-officer prisoners of war (PW) were sent to meet with Piaggi and to hand over the proposed terms of surrender:

1. That you unconditionally surrender your force to us by leaving the township, forming up aggressively, removing your helmets, and laying down your weapons. You will give prior notice of this intention by returning the PW under a white flag with him briefed as to the formalities by no later than 0830 hrs local time.
2. You refuse in the first case to surrender and take the inevitable consequences. You will give prior notice of this intention by returning the PW without his flag (although his neutrality will be respected) no later than 0830 hrs local time.
3. In the event and by the terms and conditions of the Geneva Convention and Laws of War, you will be held responsible for the fate of any civilians in Darwin and Goose Green, and we by these terms do give notice of our intention to bombard Darwin and Goose Green.

On receiving the terms, Piaggi concluded:

The battle had turned into a sniping contest. They could sit well out of range of our soldiers' fire and, if they wanted to, raze the settlement. I knew that there was no longer any chance of reinforcements from the 6th Regiment's B Company (Compañía B 'Piribebuy'). So I suggested to Wing Commander [Vice Commodore] Wilson Pedrozo that he talk to the British. He agreed reluctantly.[90]

Taking advantage of the local ceasefire, Second Lieutenant Juan Gómez Centurión—at the head of two air force stretcher-bearers, Privates David Alejandro Díaz and Reynaldo Dardo Romacho and an accompanying air force medical officer, Lieutenant Carlos Beranek—found and rescued Corporal Juan Fernández who had been severely wounded and left behind British lines.[91] The next morning, agreement for an unconditional surrender was reached. Pedrozo held a short parade, and those on show then laid down their weapons. After burning the regimental flag, Piaggi led the troops and officers, carrying their personal belongings, into captivity.[92]

Initial burial place of British casualties at Ajax Bay

Between 45[93][94] and 55 Argentines were killed[95] (32 from RI 12, 13 from Company C RI 25, five killed in the platoon from RI R8, 4 Air Force staff, and one Navy service member),[96] and about 86 wounded.[95]

The British lost 18 killed (16 Paras, one Royal Marine pilot, and one commando sapper)[3] and 64 wounded. The seriously injured were evacuated to the hospital ship SS Uganda.[97]

Contrary to the claim in various British books that the Argentine 8th Regiment lost five killed defending Boca House, other sources indicate that Corporal Juan Waudrik was mortally wounded in late May after the tractor he was riding detonated a mine at Fox Bay;[98] likewise, Privates Simón Oscar Antieco, Jorge Daniel Ludueña, Sergio Fabián Nosikoski and Eduardo Sosa—the four conscripts reportedly killed fighting alongside Waudrik—were killed in the same locality on West Falkland during a naval bombardment on 9 May. In all, RI 8 lost 5 killed during the Falklands War.)

The remainder of the Argentine force was taken prisoner, and 140[99][100] wounded were evacuated to hospital ships via the medical post in San Carlos. Argentine dead were buried in a cemetery to the north of Darwin; military chaplain Mora and sub-lieutenants Bracco and Gómez-Centurión assisted burying the dead. Prisoners were used to clear the battlefield. In an incident while moving artillery ammunition, the RI 12 C Company platoon (under Sub-Lieutenant Leonardo Durán) was engulfed in a massive explosion that left 5 dead or missing and 10 seriously wounded.[3][101] After clearing the area, the prisoners were marched to, and interned in, San Carlos.[102]

By 3 June, the Gurkhas were deployed at Darwin and Goose Green. They were used in helicopter-borne operations to find Argentine patrols operating on the southern flank of the British advance to Port Stanley. This resulted in an encounter with a 10-man army–air force patrol (under Lieutenant Jaime Enrique Ugarte from the Argentine Air Force's 1st Anti-Aircraft Group, and Sergeant Roberto Daniel Berdugo from the 12th Regiment) that had been helicoptered to Egg Harbour House, an abandoned farmhouse in Lafonia, to shoot down British aircraft with SA-7 shoulder-launched missiles. On 7 June, a Sea King arrived with 20 Gurkhas to clear this outpost. On being ordered to lie down to be searched by the Gurkhas, all the wet and hungry Argentine soldiers, including Sergeant Berdugo, did so, except the air force officer. A Gurkha rifleman, brandishing a 10" Kukri blade, threatened the air force officer with beheading, then Lieutenant Ugarte obeyed.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Ángel Piaggi surrendered his forces in Goose Green on the Argentinian National Army Day (29 May). After the war, he was forced to resign from the army, and faced ongoing trials questioning his competence at Goose Green. In 1986, he wrote a book titled Ganso Verde, in which he strongly defended his decisions during the war and criticised the lack of logistical support from Stanley. In his book, he said that Task Force Mercedes had plenty of 7.62 mm rifle ammunition left, but had run out of 81 mm mortar rounds; and there were only 394 shells left for the 105 mm artillery guns.[103] On 24 February 1992, after a long fight in both civil and military courts, Piaggi had his retired military rank and pay reinstated, as a full colonel.[104] He died in July 2012.[105]

Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert 'H' Jones was buried at Ajax Bay on 30 May; after the war, his body was exhumed and transferred to the British cemetery in San Carlos.[106] He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.[107]

Major Chris Keeble, who took over command of 2 Para when Jones was killed, was awarded the DSO for his actions at Goose Green.[108] Keeble's leadership was one of the key factors that led to the British victory, in that his flexible style of command and the autonomy he afforded to his company commanders were much more successful than the rigid control, and adherence to plan, exercised by Jones.[109] Despite sentiment among the soldiers of 2 Para for him to remain in command, he was superseded by Lieutenant-Colonel David Robert Chaundler, who was flown in from the UK to take command of the battalion.[110]