British Forces Make Daring Leapfrog Move from Goose Green to Fitzroy

Dear Fellow Earthlings, On the 2nd of June 1982 the firing from the mountains west of Port Stanley could be heard all the day long. Clearly something was going on up there as British forces continued to reinforce their control of the heights. Back at United Nations headquarters in New York City Argentine military envoys were intimating that they might be ready to surrender, but the British commanders in the Falklands could see firsthand that the Argentine forces there were not going to just give up. As British forces continued to advance from the west toward Port Stanley and to secure positions in the mountains west of the capital, on this particular day, one of Major-General Moore's officers, Major Chris Keeble (who had inherited command of the 2nd Battalion of 2 Para -- the 2nd Battalion of The Parachute Regiment -- when Lieutenant-Colonel H. Jones was killed in action at the Battle of Goose Green) decided to leapfrog to a place called Swan Inlet to see if by chance the telephone landline connection to Fitzroy, only 15 miles from Port Stanley, was still working, with the hope of checking on Argentine troop concentrations in Fitzroy. This action was taken without Major Chris Keeble's notifying Major-General Moore's headquarters of his plan -- but with the approval of Major Keeble's immediate commander Brigadier Tony Wilson. Things fell into place nicely for Major Keeble and his men. They had not only 5 Scout

helicopters available on this day, but also the repaired only remaining Chinook heavy duty

troop carrying one as well. The Scouts flew quickly to Swan Inlet and found that the phones

WERE working.

They used the phones to contact Fitzroy, where they learned that there were NO ARGENTINE troops present. Then the Scouts returned to Goose Green, where each was boarded by 4

troopers. In addition, the Chinook was taken off of its load-carrying assignment and some 50 fighting

men boarded it! Ammunition and other supplies were also loaded on board the Chinook. Then the

six helicopters made a bee-line for Fitzroy. By nightfall, both Fitzroy and nearby Bluff Cove (some 5 kilometers away) had been secured by

2 Para. This success, however, began a chain of events, which on the 8th of June1982, would lead to the single greatest one-day loss of British fighters during the Falklands War. Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

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