Cold hell can kill, injure, and disfigure just as readily as hot hell can!

Dear Fellow Earthlings, On the 10th of June 1982 British troops who controlled forward positions leading from the mountains west of Port Stanley were eager to make their move to retake the capital of the Falkland Islands from the Argentines. The front line of the force was made up of four units: 1) 3 Para 2) 45 Commando 3) 42 Commando 4) 5 Brigade 3 Para, 45 Commando, and 42 Commando were out on Mounts Vernet, Kent, and Challenger, where the wind was horrifically fierce. All of the British commanders knew that these forces had to make a move for Port Stanley sooner rather than later. Unlike the Argentine forces, who were well dug in, the British forces did not even have tents. Their only "shelter" were the clothes they wore! As for the troops of 5 Brigade, they were down on the flat land, forward of Bluff Cove, where access to resupply was easier, few Argentine troops were in the area, and the cold was not yet so bad as it would be by the end of June -- or as it already was up on the mountains! As someone who experienced first hand the chilling, penetrating winds whipping the Falklands (in the winter of 2013), I cannot even imagine how those British forces could have survived out in the elements that long! At the bases of the mountains, helicopters were -- despite the winds -- able to bring in food for

the troops who occupied their summits But each day a contingent of the men "up top" would have to

battle their way downhill, pick up their food and other essentials, and then carry everything back up

to their waiting comrades. The distance traveled was, on average about 1 kilometer each way -- each round trip effort took

between 2 and 3 hours over rough terrain that had to be climbed. The wind, ice, and bitter cold made

each trek agonizing. Through all this frosty, pellet-sized hailstone punctuated weather, the British forces and Argentine forces

were patrolling the upper reaches of all the mountains in the area, so there WERE casualties in the form of death and the loss of body parts. There were not only Argentine patrols to contend with,

but also land mines aplenty! Also, most unfortunately, both the British and the Argentines sometimes mistakenly

fired on (sometimes killing and/or wounding) members of their own forces. Cold hell can kill, injure, and disfigure just as readily as hot hell can! Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

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