Gaining the High Ground Puts British Forces in Advantageous Position

Dear Fellow Earthlings, On the 31st of May 1982 the residents of Port Stanley were learning that British forces now occupied at least some of the mountains just to their west. This meant that their town could now be observed from on high. At this point only a trickle of fighters had reached the mountains in the vicinity of Port Stanley. But further reinforcements were on their way, including 5 Brigade, which would soon be arriving on troop carriers that had departed South Georgia and were now approaching San Carlos. Their numbers would be very important when it came time for the British assault to capture Port Stanley from the Argentines. The leading elements of K Company, 42 Commando were brought in by helicopter to the base of Mount Kent on the evening of the 31st. Not long afterward they met up with some British Forces that had arrived before them and set up a bivouac nearby. Later they called in the sole surviving Chinook helicopter (of 4 that had been on the ill-fated Atlantic Conveyor) to bring up three 105 mm guns from San Carlos, along with 300 rounds of ammunition. The delivery completed, the Chinook set out for San Carlos to pick up more equipment. Unfortunately, the craft crash landed as it was nearing San Carlos -- and would be out of action for many days. So the K Company personnel now present on Mount Kent would have to hold out by themselves without any reinforcement for the foreseeable future. Now that General Jeremy Moore had arrived in the Falklands, the British forces were under

HIS command. In view of the many logistical problems the British forces were contending with,

General Moore would be hard pressed to solve them -- even with his wealth of expertise in

various aspects of the art and science of ground warfare.

Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.