Battle of Goose Green

File:Darwin vegetation and terrain.JPG covered hills with gorse filled valleys]]

Goose Green and Darwin are on a narrow isthmus connecting Lafonia to the south with Wickham Heights in the north. The isthmus has two settlements: Darwin to the north, and Goose Green to the south. The terrain is rolling and treeless, and is covered with grassy outcrops, as well as areas of thick gorse and peat bogs, making camouflage and concealment extremely difficult. The islands have a cold, damp climate. From May to August (which is winter in the southern hemisphere), the ground is saturated and frequently covered with salty water, making walking slow and exhausting, particularly at night. Drizzly rains occur two out of every three days, with continuous winds, and with periods of rain, snow, fog, and sun changing rapidly. Sunshine is minimal, leaving few opportunities for troops to warm up and dry off.{{cite web|last1=Leone|first1=Vincent R. Major USMC|title=The Falkland Islands War: Winning With Infantry|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1991/LVR.htm|website=Globalsecurity.org|access-date=30 January 2015}}

The bulk of the Argentine forces on the islands were in positions around Port Stanley, {{convert|50|mi|km}} to the east of the isthmus and San Carlos, the site of the main British landings. An Argentinian force had been deployed to Goose Green and Darwin and was supported by artillery, mortars, 35 mm cannons, and machine guns.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=6}} British intelligence incorrectly indicated that the Argentine force presented possessed limited offensive capabilities and did not pose a major threat to the landing area at San Carlos. Consequently, the Goose Green garrison seemed to have no strategic military value for the British in their campaign to recapture the islands and the initial plans for land operations had called for Goose Green to be isolated and bypassed.{{cite web|last1=Moore|first1=Darren Maj.|title=Rear Admiral Woodward: Political Influences during the Falklands War|url=http://www.defence.gov.au/publications/dfj/adfj165.pdf|website= Australian Defence Force Journal: Issue 165, 2004|publisher=Australian Defence Force|ref=p. 20}}

After the British landings at San Carlos on 21 May and while the bridgehead was being consolidated, British activities were limited to digging fortified positions, patrolling, and waiting;{{sfn|Middlebrook|1985|p=249}} during this time Argentine air attacks caused significant damage to, and the loss of, British ships in the area around the landing grounds. These attacks and the lack of breakout by 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 waning.{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Julian |title=No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the Falklands |date=2008 |publisher=Pen and Sword Military |isbn=978-1-84415-879-9 |page=200}} As a result, British Joint Headquarters in the UK came under increasing pressure from the British government for an early ground offensive for political and propaganda value.{{sfn|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|pp=264–5}} There was also UN pressure for a cease-fire and the UK government position was that the taking of the Darwin–Goose Green isthmus was imperative before any such cease-fire decision as it would allow British forces to control access to the entire Lafonia and thus a significant portion of East Falkland.{{sfn|Freedman|2005|p=477}} 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.

The defending Argentine forces, known as Task Force Mercedes, consisted of two companies of Lieutenant-Colonel Ítalo Piaggi's 12th Infantry Regiment (12IR). His third company (Company B) was still deployed on Mount Kent as "Combat Team Solari" and only re-joined 12IR after the fall of Goose Green airfield.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=116}} The task force also contained a company of the Ranger-type 25th Infantry Regiment (25th Special Infantry Regiment or 25IR).[http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=fe2cf66a-1282-4cfb-afba-49b8f04923b6%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=6097379 Blood and Mud at Goose Green] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004223620/http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=fe2cf66a-1282-4cfb-afba-49b8f04923b6%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=6097379 |date=4 October 2018}}. David Aldea & Don Darnell, EBSCO Host Connection. Air defence was provided by a battery of six 20 mm Rheinmetall anti-aircraft guns, manned by air force personnel and two radar-guided Oerlikon 35 mm anti-aircraft guns from the 601st Anti-Aircraft Battalion. Both the 20mm and 35mm anti-aircraft cannon could also be used in a direct fire ground support role, and this was the case 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 could provide close air support.Andrada, pp. 86–90 The total forces under Piaggi's command numbered 1,083 men.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=4–5}}

Piaggi's role was to provide a reserve battle group (Task Force Mercedes) in support of other forces deployed to the west of Stanley and secondly to occupy and defend the Darwin isthmus as well as the Military Air Base Condor at Goose Green. He deployed the two companies in an all-round defence with A Company, 12IR the key to his defence; they were deployed along a gorse hedge running across the Darwin isthmus from Darwin Hill to Boca House.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=116}} He deployed his recce platoon (under Lieutenant Carlos Marcelo Morales) as an advance screen forward of 12IR's A Company, towards Coronation Ridge, while 12IR's C Company were deployed south of Goose Green to cover the approaches from Lafonia. To substitute for the absent B Company, he created a composite company from headquarters and other staff and deployed them in Goose Green hamlet. 25IR's C (Ranger) Company (under Paratroop-trained First Lieutenant Carlos Daniel Esteban) provided a mobile reserve, from the schoolhouse in Goose Green.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=116}} 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.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=117}}

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. 12IR consisted mostly of conscripts from the northern, sub-tropical province of Corrientes, while the 25IR Company was considered an elite formation and had received commando training.{{#tag:ref|The men of C Company 25IR fought with courage, perseverance, and effectiveness at San Carlos and Goose Green, having received a good deal of special forces training under the energetic command of Lt Col. Seineldín.The Military Sniper Since 1914, Martin Pegler, p. 63, Osprey Publishing, 2001|group="Note"}} Some elements were well trained and displayed a high degree of morale and motivation (C Company 25IR and A Battery 4th Airborne Artillery Group); with Lieutenant Ignacio Gorriti of B Company 12IR 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."{{sfn|Middlebrook|1990|p=64}}{{sfn|Boyce|2005|p=129}} 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.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=13}}

Private Esteban Roberto Avalos fought in the Falklands as a sniper in 12IR's B Company. In all, some fifty hand-picked 12th Regiment conscripts and NCOs had received Ranger-type 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."{{citation |url=http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/esteban-roberto-avalos-clase-1962/ |title=Esteban Roberto Avalos, clase 1962, Guerra de Malvinas |date=23 June 2019 |work=La Perla Austral}}

The Argentine positions were well selected, and officers well briefed.{{sfn|Boyce|2005|p=129}} In the weeks before the British invasion, airstrikes, naval bombardment, their own poor logistic support and inclement conditions had contributed to the erosion of morale amongst conscripts.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=6}} However, morale remained strong among the 4th Airborne Artillery Regiment gunners as well the officers, NCOs, and Ranger-trained conscripts of the 12th and 25th Regiments.Partes de Guerra, Graciela Speranza, Fernando Cittadinil, p. ?, Numa Ediciones, 2000 On 19 May, an Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules parachuted in eight tons of tinned provisions that significantly boosted the morale of Task Force Mercedes.{{#tag:ref|"The logistic chain from Stanley had failed and on 10 May Piaggi gave the companies permission to butcher sheep, which were in abundance. On 19 May morale had been raised when a C-130 flying from the mainland parachuted in eight tons of canned food."{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=129}}|group="Note"}}This parachute drop of supplies, according to Private Domingo Víctor Álamo, allowed the 25th Regiment's C Company to get two servings of rations and soft drinks on 25 May while celebrating Argentine independence day.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K6yZ7lcrmM Entrevista N° 327: Soldado Clase 59 VGM Domingo Álamo - RI 25]

At the start of the battle, the Argentinian forces had about the same number of effective combatants as the British paratroopers.{{sfn|Boyce|2005|p=129}}

Thompson ordered 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) to conduct an attack on Goose Green, as they were the unit closest to the isthmus in the San Carlos defensive perimeter.{{sfn|Middlebrook|1985|p=252}} 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.{{sfn|Freedman|2005|p=481}}

2 PARA comprised three rifle companies, a patrol company, a support company and a headquarters company. Thompson allocated three of 29 Commando Regiments, 105mm artillery pieces, with 960 rounds, a MILAN anti-tank missile platoon; and Scout helicopters for resupply and casualty evacuation (CASEVAC). Close air support was available from three Royal Air Force Harrier jets, while naval gunfire support was scheduled to be provided by {{HMS|Arrow|F173|6}} at the start of the battle.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=8}}

A survey by the SAS indicated that the Darwin Goose Green area was occupied by a single Argentine company. However, brigade intelligence assessed that the enemy force comprised three infantry companies, two from 12IR, one from 25IR, a platoon from 8IR and a possible amphibious platoon, supported by artillery. Despite these discrepancies, Lieutenant Colonel H. Jones appeared untroubled by the conflicting reports. He placed greater confidence in the SAS assessment, erroneously assuming that their presence on the ground enabled them to provide more accurate intelligence than brigade staff.{{sfn|Boyce|2005|p=128}} Based on this intelligence and orders from Brigadier Thompson, Jones devised a six-phase operation involving a combination of night and daylight manoeuvres, with alternating silent and noisy phases (see Map 1).

1. C Company was to secure the start line, and then;
2. A Company was to launch the attack from the start line on the left (Darwin) side of the isthmus;
3. B Company would then 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;
4. Once A and B companies had secured their initial objectives, D Company would advance from the start line between A and B companies and were to take defence positions once having reached their objective.
5. This would be followed by C Company, who would pass through D Company and neutralise any remaining Argentine reserves;
6. C Company would then advance again and clear the Goose Green airfield and the settlements of Darwin and Goose Green would be secured by A and D companies respectively.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=190–194}}

As the majority of helicopter airlift capability had been lost with the sinking of {{SS|Atlantic Conveyor}}, 2 PARA were required to march the {{convert|13|mi|km}} from San Carlos to their forming-up point at Camilla Creek House.{{sfn|Middlebrook|1985|pp=254}} C Company, along with the Commando engineers, departed the forming-up point at 22:00 on 27 May to clear the route to the start line. A fire support base, comprising air and naval fire controllers, mortars and snipers, was established by Support Company west of Camilla Creek, and was in position by 02:00 on the morning of 28 May.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=23}} The three 105mm guns, along with their crews and ammunition, were transported to Camilla Creek House by Sea King helicopters after last light on 27 May. The assault was to be initiated by A Company at 03:00, but due to delays in registering supporting fire from {{HMS|Arrow|F173|6}}, the attack commenced at 03:35.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=25}}

File:Gada-IvesonHarrier.jpg

As part of the diversionary raids to cover the British landings in the San Carlos area on 21 May the British conducted a naval bombardment and launched air attacks on Goose Green. In addition 'D' Squadron of the SAS mounted a major raid to simulate a battalion-sized attack on A Company 12IR, who were dug in on Darwin Ridge.Rodríguez Mottino, Héctor (1984). La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas. Ed. Clío, pp. 193–194. {{ISBN|950-9377-02-3}}. {{in lang|es}} The SAS raid was launched from their assembly point on Mount Usborne,We were landed to the East of Mount Usborne carrying huge weights of ammunition just after dark on the night of 20/21 May. Memories of the Falklands, Iain Dale, p. 36 Politico's, 2002

The following day, 22 May, four RAF Harriers armed with cluster bombs were launched from {{HMS|Hermes|R12|2}} to attack the fuel dumps and Pucarás at Condor airfield at Goose Green. The Harriers met intense anti-aircraft fire during their attack.Kev Darling, RAF Strike Command 1968–2007 p. 159, Casemate Publishers, 2012

On the night of 26–27 May, two rifle platoons from Manresa's A Company mounted a retaliatory raid on the SAS positions on Mount Usborne, but on reaching the summit were surprised to find that the SAS had already vacated the feature.{{Cite web|url=https://elrompehielos.com.ar/ese-27-fue-un-infierno|title=Ese 27 fue un infierno|date=4 May 2020}} The next day Sub-Lieutenant Ernesto Orlando Peluffo on Darwin Ridge spotted British troops conducting reconnaissance patrols and with his 12IR platoon fired on the patrol with long-range machine-gun fire in the hours before the start of the attack.Malvinas: Relatos de Soldados, Martín Antonio Balza, p. 30, Círculo Militar, 1986

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{{nbsp}}mm fire while attacking Darwin Ridge.{{sfn|Pook|2007|p=109}}{{sfn|Jackson|1985|p=156}}{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=127}} The preliminary fire, probing patrols and SAS raid, 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.{{sfn|Middlebrook|1985|p=257}}

File:Battle of Goose Green.png

At 3:35am {{HMS|Arrow|F173|6}} opened fire, firing a total of 22 star shells and 135 rounds of 4.5" high-explosive shells during a 90-minute bombardment, signalling the start of the attack.{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNbZAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT160 |title=Safeguarding the Nation: The Story of the Modern Royal Navy |date=2009 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-59114-812-8 |page=161}}

This is contradicted by Corporal John Geddes of 'C' Company however, who stated HMS Arrow fired one star shell then signalled 'gun out' and returned to the Task Force. The attacking British companies also received support from the gunners of 29 Corunna Battery, who fired about 1,000 rounds mostly in the night action."This operation was preceded by heavy NGS bombardment and by over 1000 artillery rounds." The British Army in the Falklands, John W. Stanier, p. 7, H.M. Stationery Office, 1983"By daybreak, 8 Commando Battery was practically out of ammunition." Firepower in Limited War, Robert H. Scales, p.200, DIANE Publishing, 1990 Major Philip Neame along with his D Company examined the forward Argentine platoon positions and concluded that several Argentines had been killed in the initial parachute infantry assault or softening up bombardment, "With nothing else to occupy us, we took closer stock of our immediate surroundings. Around us lay a dozen dead Argentinians – the product of B Company's earlier advance, or perhaps the work of HMS Arrow's gun before she cleared off."Penal Company on the Falklands: A Memoir of the Parachute Regiment at War 1982, Philip Neame, p. 146, Pen & Sword, 2022

2 PARA's A Company, under command of Major Dair Farrar-Hockley, were first to advance after the completion of the preparatory fire from HMS Arrow (which was off-target and ineffective).{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=27}} They were to take Burntside House as their first objective. They came under fire from Argentine positions close to the house but managed to reach the objective without any casualties, finding that it was occupied by four Falklanders and that the house itself had never been held by the Argentine forces. They were instructed to wait at Burntside House, instead of exploiting their favourable position and advancing further.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=28}}

B Company, under the command of Major John Crossland,{{Cite book |last=Geddes |first=John |title=Spearhead Assault}} followed in the next phase of the attack and were to secure Burntside Hill and then continue to Boca Hill. Where A Company had advanced down the left-side of the isthmus, B Company were to follow the coast on the right-side of the attack. After a significant delay, they advanced and initially encountered very little resistance in the forward trenches. Approaching Burntside Hill, they exchanged fire with the Argentine defenders and on reaching the top of the hill, they found the first positions empty.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=37}} The Argentine account states that the platoons of Sub-Lieutenants Marcelo Martin Bracco and Alejandro Garra from the 12th Regiment's A Company came under heavy probing fire and the platoons withdrew after the initial clashes. The 2nd Rifle Platoon (under Sub-Lieutenant Gustavo Adolfo Malacalza) from A Company fought a delaying action against the British paratroopers before withdrawing to new positions on Darwin Ridge. The Paras in No. 5 Platoon (under Lieutenant Geoffrey Weighell) from B Company were forced to use white phosphorus (WP) grenades against Malacalza's men after discovering their fragmentation grenades were largely ineffective in clearing trenches in the night action."The first attempts at clearing them had little impact. After we laid down some fire on each trench, Neil Dance's half section went forward and threw L2 grenades into it. These proved to be worse than useless and the Argentinians were soon firing back at us with machine-guns and FN rifles. With the weight of fire they threw up, who knows how none of us got killed ... Having no luck with the L2 grenades, some of the lads began throwing Willie Petes (white phosphorus grenades) into the Argie trenches. In a blinding flash, the chemicals burned and we heard the screams." CQB: Close Quarter Battle, Mike Curtis, p. 118, Random House, 1998

The Coronation Ridge position temporarily halted Major Neame's D Company as they advanced between A and B companies. They encountered heavy fire from an Argentine machine-gun which was attacked and silenced by two paratroopers, for which they would be awarded decorations for bravery.{{#tag:ref|Two of the D Company 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 {{convert|10|m|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.{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/09/Pasco/At_home_on_new_battle.shtml |title=At home on the new battlefront|author=Izzy Gould|website=Tampa Bay Times| access-date=9 February 2007}} Bingley was posthumously awarded the Military Medal, and Grayling was decorated with the Queen's Gallantry Medal.|group="Note"}} With this machine gun out of action, D Company were able to continue to clear the Argentine platoon position on Coronation Ridge (under 2nd Lieutenant Marcelo Bracco)Malvinas: La Batalla de Pradera del Ganso, Oscar Teves, p. 400, Argentinidad, 2016 but lost three men (Lance-Corporals Anthony Cork, Gary Bingley and Private Mark Fletcher) killed in taking the hill."Three men were killed in the night, by machine-gun fire when D Company walked into a trench position they did not know was there (Lance-Corporal Cork, Private Fletcher, Lance Corporal Bingley)." Our Boys: The Story of a Paratrooper, Helen Parr, p. ?, Penguin, 2018 According to Major Crossland, 2 PARA lost nearly 3 hours in the advance through Goose Green Parks, having to clear two Argentine platoon positions in the dark."We'd lost two hours of darkness due to D Company having a punch-up behind us, and we'd also hit another position that had taken forty-five minutes to clear." The Paras: Earth's Most Elite Fighting Unit, Max Arthur, p. ?, Hachette UK, 2017 During the night action, Major Crosland and his second-in-command (Captain John Young) were very nearly killed or seriously wounded when two Argentine artillery or mortar rounds landed between them but failed to explode."During this action, Major John Crosland and his company headquarters came under fire from enemy mortars and artillery; at one point two shells landed between Crosland and his second-in-command, Captain John Young, but fortunately they failed to explode." Task Force: The Illustrated History of the Falklands War, David Reynolds, p. 138, Sutton, 2002

At around 7:30 am the 1st Rifle Platoon from the 25IR C Company, under the command of 2nd Lieutenant Roberto Estévez, received orders to counterattack against 2 Para's B Company.{{#tag:ref|"It was still dark when Estevez moved north past the dairy, up the reverse slope of Darwin Hill, over the gorseline to join Pelufo's platoon on the ridge west of the settlement. The two officers conferred. Estevez explained that his orders were to counter-attack, to advance north to assist Manresa's A Company."{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=146}}|group="Note"}} The Argentine platoon was able to block the British advance by taking up positions on Darwin Hill, from which, although wounded, Estévez started calling down fire support from Argentine 105{{nbsp}}mm artillery and 120{{nbsp}}mm mortars. This indirect fire held up the advance of 2 Para's A Company, especially as they were in open ground on the forward slope of the hill as they prepared to take up their advance once again. A Company was forced to take cover in the nearby trenches. Estévez continued to direct the Argentine artillery fire until he was killed by sniper fire.{{#tag:ref|"He was hit in the leg, arm and left eye, while crouched with his radio operator, Private Carrascul, trying to adjust supporting artillery fire. Carrascul continued to fight the battle over the radio himself until he, too, was killed. It is an interesting example of the closeness that often develops, despite the differences in rank, between an officer and his operator. The officer relies heavily on the competence of his radio operator."{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=193}}|group="Note"}} 2nd Lieutenant Roberto Estévez and his radio operator, Private Fabricio Edgar Carrascul were both posthumously decorated for their actions{{#tag:ref|Estévez was awarded the Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross (CHVC) and Private Carrascul was cited for the Medal of Valour in Combat.{{cite web|url=http://www.aposmalvinas.com.ar/benef128.htm |title=Decreto Nacional 577/83 – Condecoraciones al personal que ha intervenido en el conflicto armado con el Reino Unido por la recuperación de las Islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur |access-date=14 April 2021}}|group="Note"}} 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.{{cite journal|url=https://ideas.repec.org/p/cem/doctra/271.html |title=Reassessing the Fighting Performance of Conscript Soldiers during the Malvinas/Falklands War (1982) |first1=Alejandro L. |last1=Corbacho |year=2004 |journal=CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo |issue=271}}

The British A Company assault had been stopped by fire from a 12IR platoon (under Sub-Lieutenant Ernesto Peluffo){{Cite web|url=https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/rumbo-los-40-anos-de-malvinas-el-combate-de-darwin-y-pradera-del-ganso|title=Rumbo a los 40 años de Malvinas: El combate de Darwin y Pradera del Ganso|date=28 May 2021|website=Argentina.gob.ar}} after their platoon sergeant (Buenaventura Jumilla) had observed the British approach and yelled out a warning.[https://www.infobae.com/sociedad/2019/01/24/son-107-los-identificados-de-malvinas-la-historia-del-soldado-que-cayo-buscando-alertar-a-sus-companeros-del-avance-de-las-tropas-britancias/ Son 107 los identificados de Malvinas: la historia del soldado que cayó buscando alertar a sus compañeros sobre el avance británico] Major Farrar-Hockley then spotted Argentine reinforcements on the hills before him and shouted, "Ambush! Take cover!" just as the 12IR platoon's machine-guns opened fire.{{sfn|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=243}} British reconnaissance patrols had reported wrongly that the Argentine defenders lacked overhead cover. In reality, their trenches had good roofing and all the reports of a demoralised and unwilling enemy proved to be unfounded. "All this rubbish about them not wanting to fight", Major Keeble told British reporters grudgingly. Admitting that "They were fighting hard.""Intelligence had reported specifically that the Argentnes lacked overhead protection. In reality, their trenches were strongly roofed, and all the reports of a demoralised and unmotivated garrison seemed confounded. "All this rubbish about them not wanting to fight", said Keeble witheringly. "They were fighting hard." The Battle for The Falklands, Max Hastings, Simon Jenkins, p. 242, W.W. Norton, 1983 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.{{sfn|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=243}}

The A Company Paras were in the gorse line at the bottom of Darwin Hill facing the entrenched Argentines, who were looking down the hill at them. They were pinned down by heavy machine gun and automatic rifle fire as well as sniper fire for an hour, between 9 and 10 am. 2 Para's B Company also broke off their attacks and began to withdraw to the reverse side of Middle Hill and the base of Coronation Point. Their defence and the re-organisation of the attack was organised by 2 Para's second-in-command.The Falklands War, D. George Boyce, p. 131, Macmillan International Higher Education, 2005 The British A and B Companies could not get across the open ground to get at the Argentine machine-guns and snipers{{#tag:ref|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. "This sniper fire was responsible for the deaths of at least seven paratroopers, according to Abols – 'all headshots. That is the main reason A Company was stuck'. He says the sniper was firing from about 500 metres behind the Darwin Hill position."{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=79}}|group="Note"}} and after five hours of fighting, their ammunition supply was becoming critical.{{sfn|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=244}} Nevertheless, the paras with Spanish-speaking Royal Marines Captain Roderick Bell forward with them, using a loudspeaker"Bell's equipment consisted of a loudspeaker borrowed from Fearless and a heavy, 24-volt dry-cell battery." The Falklands War, Martin Middlebrook, p 207, Viking, 1985 called on the Argentines to surrender."La conducta de Ernesto Peluffo causo la admiración de sus propios adversarios, uno de los cuales, el capitán Rod Bell le gritaba en castellano que se rindiera durante la lucha, sin resultado." Comandos en Acción: El Ejército en Malvinas, Isidoro Ruiz Moreno, p 237, Emecé Editores, 1986

With both A and B Companies' advance halted and the entire attack in jeopardy, the 2 Para Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jones led an unsuccessful charge up a small gully to try to regain the initiative. Three of his men, his adjutant Captain Wood, A Company's second-in-command Captain Dent, and Corporal Hardman, were killed when they followed his charge.{{Cite web |title=Lieutenant Richard J. Nunn, DFC |url=http://www.sama82.org/garden/1/3/0/index.php |date=1996–2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028070854/http://www.sama82.org/garden/1/3/0/index.php |archive-date=28 October 2009 |website=SAMA(82): Garden of Remembrance |url-status=dead|access-date=4 April 2020}} 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.According to Dan Snow and Peter Snow, "The Argentine corporal in that trench, Osvaldo Olmos, remembers seeing Jones charge past him alone, leaving his followers in the gully below. Olmos said he was astonished at Jones's reckless bravery: his shots, fired from behind, may have been the ones that brought Jones down." (20th Century Battlefields (Random House, 2012) p. 282.) Jones was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.{{cite journal |title=Honours and Awards: Army Department |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/49134/supplement/12831 |date=8 October 1982 |issue=49134 |page=12831 |journal=The London Gazette |department=Ministry of Defence |access-date=24 July 2022}}

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 Pucará ground-attack aircraft (this was to be the only Argentine air-to-air victory of the war).{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060031014|title=FUNERAL OF TENIENTE MIGUEL ANGEL GIMENEZ 4TH OCTOBER 1986 [Main Title]|website=Imperial War Museums}} 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. While returning from this attack, the Pucará (A-537) crashed into Blue Mountain{{Cite web|url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/54682|title=Accident FMA IA 58A Pucará A-537|website=aviation-safety.net}} and its pilot, {{ill|Miguel Ángel Giménez|es|lt=Lieutenant Miguel Giménez}}, was killed. His remains were not recovered until 1986 and the cause of the crash remains unknown.{{cite web|url=http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/argentine-aircraftlosses.html |title=One of their aircraft is missing |access-date=2009-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091107231634/http://britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/argentine-aircraftlosses.html |archive-date=7 November 2009 |url-status=dead }}

Jones' death was attributed to an Argentine Army commando sniper identified as Corporal Osvaldo Faustino Olmos.{{Cite web |url=http://edant.clarin.com/diario/96/06/18/malvin.html |title=La Muerte de un coronel británico en Malvinas.|access-date=26 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407061227/http://edant.clarin.com/diario/96/06/18/malvin.html |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead }} {{#tag:ref|Olmos, of 25IR, had refused to leave his foxhole and his section fired at Jones and the five paratroopers who accompanied him as he moved forward."Without telling anyone or looking back, he ran up the gully that Corporal Adams had attacked when A Company was first fired upon, past the seriously wounded Private Tuffen. Sergeant Barry Norman, his close escort, was the first to move, followed by Lance Corporal Beresford, who was part of his escort and had been Jones's driver, Major Rice, and two signallers. Jones advanced up a small re-entrant toward a trench, which Corporal Osvaldo Olmos, from Estevez's platoon, later claimed was held by his group."{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|pp=108–109}}|group="Note"}} However, historian Hugh Bicheno attributed Jones' death to Corporal José Luis Ríos of the 12th Regiment's Reconnaissance Platoon{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/apr/01/history.highereducation|title=Lost in the fog of war|first=Robert|last=Fox|date=1 April 2006|newspaper=The Guardian}} that had fallen back from the earlier fighting in Darwin Parks. Ríos was later fatally wounded manning a machine-gun in his trench by Abols, who fired a 66{{nbsp}}mm rocket."...Lance Corporal Jose Luis Rios shot Lt Col H Jones as he charged up a re-entrant gulley on the hill above Darwin, only to be killed minutes later when Corporal Dave Abols fired a 66mm anti-tank rocket into his bunker." [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/apr/01/history.highereducation Lost in the fog of war]

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 an additional two hours to reorganize and resume the attack. Former Para officer and military theorist Spencer Fitz-Gibbon wrote in 1995 that despite his undoubted courage, H. Jones did more to hinder than to help 2 Para, losing sight of the overall battle picture and failing to allow his sub-unit commanders to exercise mission command, before his fatal attempt to lead A Company forward from the position where they had become bogged down.Fitz-Gibbon, Spencer. Not mentioned in despatches : the history and mythology of the Battle of Goose Green. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0-7188-3016-4}}

File:Remnants of 1982 Argentinian defensive positions Darwin Falklands.JPG

By 10:30 and following the death of Lieutenant Colonel Jones, Major Dair Farrar-Hockley's A Company launched a third attempt to advance. However, this effort also faltered. The British troops, hindered by dense morning fog as they moved up the slope of Darwin Ridge, were driven back into the gully by fire from surviving elements of the 1st Platoon from 25IR's C Company. During the engagement, 2 Para's mortar teams fired more than 1,000 rounds in support of the assaults, effectively suppressing Argentine fire and contributing significantly to the enemy's casualties, many of which were caused by indirect fire.{{#tag:ref|"Nevertheless, the section's two mortar crews had fired over 1,000 bombs in the two hours of the A Company action, the mortars recoil driving them further and further into the soft peat."Harclerode, Peter. Para! Fifty Years of the Parachute Regiment. London: Caxton Editions, 2003, p. 329.|group="Note"}}{{#tag:ref|"Some of [the Argentine dead] seemed to be looking at us, their dead eyes full of reproach. Few looked peaceful. Some had died trying to escape back into the foxholes they'd poured from. Many had fallen to the pinpoint shower of mortar shells that had dropped on them."Geddes, John. Spearhead Assault: Blood, Guts and Glory on the Falklands Frontlines. London: Random House, 2008, p. 12.|group="Note"}}

The Argentines requested close air-support and were expecting a strike by 12 Argentine Air Force Skyhawks and four Dagger fighter-bombers in support of the Darwin Ridge defenders.Salvador Mafé Huertas, Dassault Mirage III/V, Osprey, 1990, pp. 140–163. The 12th Regiment's A Company Sergeant-Major, Juan Coelho, spread out white bedsheets in front of the trenches to mark the front line of Argentine troops but was severely wounded in the process."It is worth highlighting the actions of First Sergeant Juan Carlos Coelho of the 12th Regiment, who, upon learning at the command post that an Argentine air raid was imminent, volunteered to go forward and mark the forwardmost friendly line with bedsheets, sacks, etc., to clarify the target for the pilots. While carrying out this mission, he was strafed by the British and seriously wounded." — Isidoro Ruiz Moreno, Comandos en Acción: El Ejército en Malvinas, Emecé Editores, 1986, p. 228.

On their approach to the islands, a flight of five Skyhawks from the first wave observed the British hospital ship SS Uganda and lost time reporting and investigating the presence of the Red Cross-marked vessel. The pilots, flying in poor weather and low on fuel, carried out a hasty bomb run which mistakenly hit Argentine positions. The Skyhawks were engaged by Argentine anti-aircraft fire, which damaged the lead aircraft.Rubén O. Moro, La guerra inaudita: historia del conflicto del Atlántico Sur, Sudamericana, 1989, p. 244.{{#tag:ref|"They passed up the marked hospital ship Uganda and executed a turn into Darwin. Unknowingly, they made a pass over their positions, firing as they went, and were promptly repelled by their air defences. The first plane was hit but could still fly."|group="Note"}}{{#tag:ref|"1130/1150 hrs – Enemy air attack on the positions (Company A and Artillery Battery) from three directions, and in four waves, with bombs, machine guns and Beluga grenades. Our fire brings down a plane (to be confirmed)."Ítalo Ángel Piaggi, Ganso Verde, Sudamericana/Planeta, 1986, p. 94.|group="Note"}}

File:Euromissile Milan img 2355.jpg

The British advance resumed shortly before noon. A Company cleared the eastern sector of the Argentine positions, securing the route towards the settlement of Goose Green and Boca Hill, which was defended by Sub-Lieutenant Guillermo Ricardo Aliaga’s 3rd Platoon of C Company, 8th Mechanised Infantry Regiment.[https://fdra-malvinas.blogspot.com/2022/04/boca-house-el-valor-del-subteniente.html Well-known image of Sub-Lieutenant Guillermo Ricardo Aliaga] Following intense combat, the position was captured at 13:47 by Major John Crosland’s B Company, backed by Support Company’s anti-tank platoon using MILAN missiles in a direct-fire role.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=197}} The MILAN system was part of 2 Para’s organic anti-tank capability and subsequently saw action at Mount Longdon and Wireless Ridge.

About the time of the final attack on the Boca House position, A Company had overcome the Argentine defenders on Darwin Hill, reporting its capture at 13:13 local time, and advanced to take Boca Hill.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=197}}{{#tag:ref|"1613 Enemy have surrendered on BLACK. Now moving to WHITE."|group="Note"}} With Second Lieutenant Estévez killed and the other two platoon commanders, Sub-Lieutenants Peluffo and Aliaga, badly wounded, Corporal Osvaldo Olmos ordered the survivors of the rifle platoon from the 25th Regiment to wave a white T-shirt tied to a rifle and surrender, ending all resistance by the Argentine forces on Darwin Ridge."Corporal First Class Olmos assumed command of the group and said: 'We are going to surrender.' We took a white T-shirt, tied it to the end of a rifle, and one of us began waving it. It was the best decision, because continuing to fight would have meant dying. Olmos stayed behind with a loaded rifle and told us: 'You go ahead, and if they kill you, I'll take a couple of Englishmen with me.' On seeing the white flag, they approached in a crouch. At about ten metres, they shouted at us to come out. That’s what we did, and they took us as prisoners." [https://www.diariojornada.com.ar/301068/magazine/huircapan_combatio_en_malvinas_mato_a_un_coronel_y_fue_prisionero_de_los_ingleses Huircapan: combatió en Malvinas, mató a un coronel y fue prisionero de los ingleses] Under the watchful eyes of their captors, the remains of Estévez’s platoon were permitted to smoke from their army-issued cigarette packs and eat chocolate."I remember that in our positions the lads began to smoke or eat chocolate and caramels, overwhelmed with complete tranquillity and satisfaction for having fought bravely." [http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/yo-vi-morir-a-nuestro-querido-teniente-estevez/ Yo vi morir a nuestro querido Teniente Estévez]

After securing Boca Hill, the battle for Darwin Ridge was over, and the Paras had achieved their interim objectives following six hours of intense fighting, though at grievous cost: the commanding officer, the adjutant, A Company’s second-in-command, and nine non-commissioned officers and soldiers were killed, with a further 30 wounded.So ... after nearly six hours, the battle for Darwin Hill was over, but not without grievous loss: the Commanding Officer, the Adjutant, A Company Second-in-Command and nine junior non-commissioned officers and soldiers were killed and thirty wounded. No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic, 1982, Julian Thompson, p. 91, Leo Cooper, 1985."It had taken around six hours to dislodge the Argentinians from their vital ground – which says much for their tenacity." H. Jones VC: The Life and Death of an Unusual Hero, John Wilsey, Hutchinson, 2002.

Corporal David Abols later stated that an Argentine sniper, Corporal Osvaldo Olmos, who killed or wounded seven Paras during the morning fighting, was chiefly responsible for delaying the attack. "This sniper fire was responsible for the deaths of at least seven paratroopers," said Abols, "all headshots. That is the main reason A Company was stuck."{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|p=79}}

File:Oerlikon GDF-006 35mm Twin Cannon at Chiayi AFB 20120811a.jpg, similar to the two guns deployed by Argentine forces to defend the airfield]]

After securing Darwin Ridge, C Company and D Company advanced towards the airfield and Darwin School, east of the airfield, while B Company moved south of Goose Green Settlement and A Company held Darwin Hill.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=147–8}}

C Company took heavy losses after coming under intense direct fire from the 35 mm anti-aircraft guns positioned in Goose Green.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=147–8}} Private Mark Hollman-Smith, a signaller in the company headquarters, was killed by anti-aircraft fire while attempting to recover a machine gun from the wounded Private Steve Russell.{{sfn|Reynolds|2002|p=150}} C Company's commander, Major Roger Jenner, his signaller, and eight other men were also wounded.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=147–8}}"As the British C Company moved down the forward slope of Darwin Ridge, however, 2nd Lieutenant Braghini brought his 35mm guns into play, killing one man and wounding 11." Aldea, David (2002). Blood and Mud at Goose Green. Military History Magazine, April 2002

On the airfield itself, Argentine Air Force anti-aircraft gunners, under Lieutenant Darío Del Valle Valazza, from the 1st Anti-Aircraft Group (Grupo 1 de Artillería Antiaérea), along with a platoon from 12IR led by Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Aldao, attempted to halt the renewed British advance from Boca Hill.{{cite news |url=http://aveguema.org.ar/LGM/LGM-40/LGM-40.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714235951/http://aveguema.org.ar/LGM/LGM-40/LGM-40.PDF |archive-date=14 July 2016 |date=March 2012 |issue=40 |work=La Gaceta Malvinense |page=12 |title=Defensa y Caída de Darwin-Pradera del Ganso |trans-title=The defence and fall of Darwin–Goose Green |first1=Italo |last1=Piaggi |author-link=Ítalo Piaggi}} Despite their efforts, they were eventually forced to abandon their positions, including the five remaining 20mm Rheinmetall guns. One of the guns had already been lost to naval shelling, and the Elta radar destroyed by shrapnel.{{#tag:ref|Three members of Grupo 1 de Artillería Antiaérea (Privates Mario Ramón Luna, Luis Guillermo Sevilla, and Héctor Walter Aguirre) were killed, along with Privates Roque Evaristo Sánchez and Avelino Néstor Oscar Pegoraro from Aldao’s platoon. Several others were wounded, including Lieutenant Valazza.{{cite journal |url=http://www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/conflicto/caidos/28_5_bam.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515152815/http://www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/conflicto/caidos/28_5_bam.html |archive-date=15 May 2011 |title=Base Aérea Militar Cóndor |journal=Fuerza Aérea Argentina (Fuerzaaerea.mil.ar) |date=28 May 2004}} Excerpted from Historia de la Fuerza Aérea Argentina (History of the Argentine Air Force), Volume VI, La Fuerza Aérea en Malvinas (The Air Force in the Malvinas), Dirección de Estudios Históricos (Directorate of Historical Studies).|group="Note"}}

A large portion of the 12IR platoon was overrun and forced to surrender; however, Aldao and a corporal managed to escape amid the confusion caused by Argentine airstrikes later that afternoon.[https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/entrega-de-las-estatuillas-malvinas-argentinas Entrega de las Estatuillas “Malvinas Argentinas”] With Lieutenant Valazza wounded, command of the 1st Anti-Aircraft Group passed to Second Lieutenant Arnaldo Favre, who ordered the destruction of the remaining anti-aircraft guns with hand grenades before withdrawing to Goose Green Settlement.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtmB1b4ZONY|title=Entrevista Nº131: Comodoro Mayor (R) VGM Arnaldo Favre - 7ma Batería Artillería Antiaérea BAM Cóndor|date=5 September 2022 |via=www.youtube.com}}

Private John Graham, of Lieutenant Chris Waddington's No. 11 Platoon, later claimed that Lieutenant Barry and Corporal Sullivan had advanced under a local truce to accept the Argentine surrender at the airfield. According to Graham, the Argentine defenders opened fire without warning, killing Barry and wounding Sullivan, before an Argentine soldier crawled forward and shot Sullivan at close 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.The World's Elite Forces, Bruce Quarrie, p. 18, Berkley Books, 1988

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.

Sergeant John Meredith as second-in-command of No. 12 Platoon conducted a counterambush, saving the lives of five of his men pinned down be enemy fire. The citation for his Distinguished Conduct Medal reads:

With conspicuous gallantry and presence of mind, Meredith rapidly assumed command of the platoon, organised covering fire for the trapped men and stabilised the situation. He then personally took a machine gun and moved forward under heavy enemy fire to where he could neutralise the remainder of the enemy and give directions to extricate the trapped men. There is no doubt that these five men owe their lives to Meredith's prompt and gallant action. Subsequently the platoon under his direction captured the enemy position.[https://en.mercopress.com/2020/12/07/falklands-war-para-hero-s-medals-sell-for-150-000 Falklands War Para hero’s medals sell for £150,000][https://www.specialforcesroh.com/index.php?threads/meredith-john-clifford.31201/ Special Forces Roll Of Honour]

The 25IR platoon defending the airfield fell back into the Darwin-Goose Green track and was able to escape. Sergeant Sergio Garcia of 25IR armed with a machine-gun, single-handedly covered the withdrawal of his platoon during the British counterattack."Contraatacar con su Grupo a enemigo superior. Al quedar fuera de combate el servicio de una ametralladora, hacerse cargo de ella y abrir el fuego con eficacia deteniendo el avance enemigo en su Sector y posteriormente, al maniobrar para silenciar armas pesadas enemigas que lo que lo batían, próximo a alcanzar el objetivo, ofrenda su vida." JEFE DESIGNADO: ¿LÍDER? Ocho sugerencias para liderar en una organización, José Luis Giró Martín, p. ?, Editorial Dunken, 2022 He was posthumously awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal. Under orders from Major Carlos Alberto Frontera (second in command of 12IR), Sub-Lieutenant César Álvarez Berro's 12IR platoon took up new positions and helped cover the retreat of Gómez-Centurión's platoon still dragging their wounded along the Darwin-Goose Green track.{{Cite web |url=http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/file/1290-mm-19-16?tmpl=component&start=15 |title=Malvinas Banda de Hermanos Regimiento de Infantería 12 (Programa 19 – Martes 19 de Julio 2016) |access-date=13 March 2017 |archive-date=13 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313214122/http://www.malvinasenlaradio.com/desajoomla/test/file/1290-mm-19-16?tmpl=component&start=15 |url-status=dead }}

Four Paras of D Company and approximately a ten 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 Juan Centuriónto surrender was disregarded. {{#tag:ref|"The newspapers inevitably made much of this, however, both sides agreed that this was a tragic misunderstanding. The Argentines later claimed that when Barry offered Second Lieutenant Centurión terms, he replied, 'Son of a bitch! You have got two minutes to return to your lines before I open fire. Get out!' {{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=113}}{{sfn|Middlebrook|1990|p=189}}{{sfn|Moro|1989|p=264}}|group="Note"}} C Company did not anyone in the School fighting, but Private Steve Dixon of D Company died when a splinter from a 35 mm anti-aircraft shell struck him in the chest.[http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/David/Goosegreen.htm "Goose Green: The Argentinian Story"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202548/http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/David/Goosegreen.htm |date=29 October 2013}} by David Aldea. British Small Wars website

The Argentine 35 mm guns, under the command of Sub-Lieutenant Claudio Braghini, reduced the schoolhouse to rubble after reports of sniper fire coming from the building.{{#tag:ref|"I looked through the viewer and confirmed the presence of the English. I aimed at the base of the two-storey structure and opened fire. Whole pieces of it disappeared upon being hit by the projectiles and then it caught fire."Malvinas: Relatos de Soldados, Martín Antonio Balza, p. 149, Círculo Militar, 1983|group="Note"}}{{Cite web|title=Batalla de Darwin Goose Green – La Perla Austral|date=24 June 2019 |url=http://laperlaaustral.com.ar/guerra-malvinas/batalla-de-darwin-goose-green/|access-date=2021-02-17|language=es}}

At around this time, three British Harriers attacked the Argentine 35 mm gun positions on Burntside Hill, radar-guided guns were unable to respond effectively because shrapnel had earlier struck the generator for the weapons and associated fire-control radar. Although it was not known at the time, the Harrier strike missed their intended target, but the Argentine antiaircraft guns were already out of action anyway.

The attacking Harriers came close to being shot down in their bomb run after being misidentified as enemy aircraft by Lieutenant-Commander Nigel Ward, Lieutenant Stephen Thomas and Flight Lieutenant Ian Mortimer of 801 Squadron."I had convinced myself that the three were enemy aircraft. But I also knew that Morts, more than anybody, should be able to recognise a GR 3 even from this height and range. I called the control ship, HMS Minerva. 'Do you have any friendlies in the area at a low level?' If there were any, Minerva would know about it. 'Negative. No friendlies in the Sound.' Just at that moment of distraction, I lost sight of the three swept-wing shapes below. They disappeared into the multi-coloured background of the water. 'I've lost the fucking things, Morts. do you hold them?' 'Negative. But I'm sure they were GR 3s.' I was mad as a hatter and wasn't thinking straight. I was tired, and 'missing' the enemy jets seemed to drain me of all energy. If I hadn't been so tired, I might have considered the line 'better safe than sorry,' but I was in no mood for that when I landed on board. The debrief was short and to the point: 'GR 3s, my arse! {{'"}} Sea Harrier Over the Falklands, Nigel Ward, p. 227, Pen and Sword, 1993 According to Lieutenant Braghini's report, and at least one British account,"Two misses and the cluster bombs the Harriers had been carrying killed fish as they exploded in the sea just off the settlement." Excerpt from Geddes, John (2008) Spearhead Assault: Blood, Guts, and Glory on the Falklands Frontlines. Arrow, p. 193. {{ISBN|1846052475}}

Meanwhile, the 12IR platoon—under Sub-Lieutenant Orlando Lucero, a unit that Lieutenant-Colonel Piaggi and Major Carlos Frontera had personally organised using survivors from the earlier fighting—took up positions on the outskirts of Goose Green and continued to resist.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-hoo8escFQ Entrevista Nº 7: Soldado Conscripto Clase 63 VGM Carlos Landaida - RI 12] Supporting air force Pucará and navy Aermacchi aircraft also struck the forward British companies. The Argentine pilots had little effect and suffered two losses: at 05:00, a MB-339A of CANA 1 Squadron was shot down by a Blowpipe missile launched by the Royal Marines' air defence troop, killing Sub-Lieutenant Daniel Miguel. About ten minutes later, an Argentine Pucará, was shot down by small arms fire, drenching several paratroopers with fuel and napalm, though it did not ignite."One aircraft crashed close by, drenching several men with fuel and napalm, which happily did not ignite." "No Picnic", Julian Thompson, Pen & Sword, 2008 Lieutenant Miguel Cruzado survived the crash 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.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=339}} 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 12IR (Combat Team Solari) from Mount Kent.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=340}}

B Company managed to bring in artillery fire on these new Argentine reinforcements, forcing them to disperse towards the Goose Green settlement, while some re-embarked and left with the departing helicopters.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=341}} 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.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=343}} 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.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=345}} 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.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=346}}

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 12IR B Company 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.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=351}}

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.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|pp=353–354}} 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.{{#tag:ref|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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elliberal.com.ar/nota/-390569/2018/03/el-arriesgado-rescate-de-un-suboficial-herido-que-quedo-detras-de-las-lineas-enemigas|title=El arriesgado rescate de un suboficial herido que quedó detrás de las líneas enemigas|website=El Liberal}}|group="Note"}} The conditions read:

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.{{sfn|Boyce|2005|p=131}}

The next morning, an 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.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=139}}

In the week preceding the attack, the Argentinians had sunk four British ships, including the Atlantic Conveyor containing vital air-lift helicopters essential for the re-capture of Stanley. This led the British government to question the lack of movement by their ground-forces and London needed a sign of progress. The victory at Goose Green accomplished the political purpose of sustaining public support in Britain by a badly needed victory and the success marked a turning point in the campaign, as it emphasised the Argentine failure to thwart the establishment of a beachhead and subsequent breakout into the island. The Argentines had counted on achieving at least a stalemate through air attacks and ground defences, if not stopping the landings altogether. From this point onwards, the British forces were to retain the initiative in all successive battles.{{cite journal|title=The Time Value of Military Force in Modern Warfare |first1=Walter D. |last1=Givhan | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13967.10 | year=1996 | journal=Air University Press|pages=21–30 }}

File:British War Grave Falkland Islands 1982.jpg

Between 45Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere, 1492 to the Present, Volume 2, David Marley, p. 1073, ABC-CLIO, 2008The Falklands 1982: Ground Operations in the South Atlantic, Gregory Fremont-Barnes, p. 43, Osprey Publishing, 2012 and 55 Argentines were killed{{sfn|Boyce|2005|p=131}} (57 according to Major Alberto Frontera, second-in-command of the 12th Regiment [https://web.archive.org/web/20170313214230/https://www.gente.com.ar/actualidad/alberto-frontera-ha-roe-de-malvinas/23171.html Alberto Frontera, héroe de Malvinas]) with 32 from RI 12, 13 from Company C RI 25, five killed in the platoon from RI 8, 4 Air Force staff, and one Navy service member {{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=363}} and 86 were recorded as wounded.{{sfn|Boyce|2005|p=131}}

The remainder of the Argentine force was taken prisoner with 140 Argentine wounded "We had previously arranged for a message to be sent to Argentina requesting the Bahia Paraiso to rendezvous with our hospital ship SS Uganda in an area which we have set aside for Hospital Ships some 30 miles north of Falklands Sound. 140 wounded Argentine servicemen – who are receiving medical attention on board the UGANDA – will be transferred to the Argentine ship for an early return home." The Falklands War: The Official History, p.44, Latin American Newsletters, 1983"Towards the end of May Uganda entered Falkland sound to evacuate casualties, and some days later met the Argentine Bahia Paraiso, 30 miles north of Falkland Sound were 140 casualties were transferred." Jane's Merchant Shipping Review, p. 68, A. J. Ambrose, Janes, 1983 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 army dead with Second Lieutenant Arnaldo Favre from the 1st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group tasked with collecting the air force dead. Prisoners were used to clear the battlefield. In an incident, while moving artillery ammunition, the 2nd Rifle Platoon (under Sub-Lieutenant Leonardo Durán) from RI 12's C Company was engulfed in a massive explosion that left 5 dead or missing and 10 seriously wounded.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=140}}EN translation reads: "A report is drawn up with the circumstances and consequences of the accident: 2 dead soldiers, 1 officer and 9 wounded soldiers, and 3 missing soldiers." Ganso Verde, Ítalo Ángel Piaggi, p. 145, Sudamericana/Planeta, 1986 In an interview in April 2022, Durán clarified that the actual losses in the explosion were three men (Privates Rafael Barrios, Víctor Rodríguez and José Ramón Ferrau{{Cite web|url=https://www.fundacionmalvinas.org/media/publisher/dls/2%C2%AA+parte+(2).pdf|title=Fundación Malvinas|website=www.fundacionmalvinas.org}}) killed and ten men (the officer along with Privates Raúl Vallejos, Ricardo Pinatti, Ángel Urban, Ricardo Jakuisuk, Gerardo Fernández, Luis Spinberger, Hugo Duarte, Francisco Ocampo and Martín Flores) wounded in his platoon.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUhLviJ9HHI|title=MALVINAS: testimonio del Subteniente Leonardo Durán del Regimiento de Infantería 12.|date=26 April 2022 |via=www.youtube.com}}

After clearing the area, the prisoners were marched to, and interned in, San Carlos.{{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=141}}

The British lost 18 killed (16 Paras, one Royal Marine pilot, and one commando sapper){{sfn|van der Bijl|1999|p=140}} and 64 wounded with nearly 50 requiring operations under general anaesthetic."Throughout the afternoon, helicopters arrive and unload wounded human cargo. Later, we tot up the numbers; nearly 80 casualties have been processed through the dressing station with 47 actually operated on under general anaesthetic." The Red and Green Life Machine: A Diary of the Falklands Field Hospital, Rick Jolly, p. 75, Corgi Books, 1983

The seriously injured were evacuated to the hospital ship {{SS|Uganda|1952|6}} much to the relief of 2 Para's medical officer (Captain Steve Hughes) who thought that 47 badly wounded Paras had succumbed to their injuries at the British field dressing station in San Carlos."Steve Hughes looked more than a bit shocked at my abruptness, and then narrowed his eyes in disbelief when I told him that every single one of the 47 wounded paratroopers from Goose Green had survived, and that they were now in the hospital ship. In his disbelief, he tried to dispute this point, saying that he was quite certain they had all died, and were now somewhere else, ready for burial." Doctor for Friend and Foe: Britain's Frontline Medic in the Fight for the Falklands, Rick Jolly, pp. ?, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019

File:Piaggi.jpg]]

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{{nbsp}}mm rifle ammunition left, but had run out of 81{{nbsp}}mm mortar rounds; and there were only 394 shells left for the 105{{nbsp}}mm artillery guns.{{Cite web |url=http://www.laperlaaustral.com.ar/contenidos/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=413:libro-ganso-verde-parte-i-b-por-cnl-vg-r-italo-angel-piaggi&catid=134:ganso-verde&Itemid=135 |title=Italo Angel Piaggi (2001) GANSO VERDE |access-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215032007/http://www.laperlaaustral.com.ar/contenidos/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=413:libro-ganso-verde-parte-i-b-por-cnl-vg-r-italo-angel-piaggi&catid=134:ganso-verde&Itemid=135 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.laperlaaustral.com.ar/contenidos/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=416:libro-ganso-verde-parte-ii-b-por-cnl-vg-r-italo-angel-piaggi&catid=134:ganso-verde&Itemid=135 |title=Italo Angel Piaggi (2001) GANSO VERDE |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214231121/http://www.laperlaaustral.com.ar/contenidos/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=416:libro-ganso-verde-parte-ii-b-por-cnl-vg-r-italo-angel-piaggi&catid=134:ganso-verde&Itemid=135 |archive-date=14 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} He died in July 2012.{{cite news|url=http://www.malvinense.com.ar/sveteranos/2012/1625.htm|title=Falleció el Veterano de Guerra Ítalo Ángel Piaggi|date=1 August 2012|publisher=El Malvinense|language=es|access-date=29 August 2012}}

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.{{sfn|Middlebrook|1985|p=39}} He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.{{London Gazette|issue=49134|page=12831 |supp=y|date=8 October 1982}}

Major Chris Keeble, who took over command of 2 Para when Jones was killed, was awarded the DSO for his actions at Goose Green.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/49134/supplements/12844 |title=London Gazette |access-date=3 February 2015 |archive-date=31 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531192450/http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/49134/supplements/12844 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{sfn|Fitz-Gibbon|2002|pp=183–184}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Ferguson |first1=Greg |title=The Paras, 1940–1984 |date=1998 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-0-85045-573-1 |location=Oxford |page=43}}

• La Nación Argentina al Heroico Valor en Combate, the highest Argentine military decoration, was awarded to:
• First Lieutenant Roberto Estévez{{KIA}} {{cite web |title=Decreto Nacional 577/83 – Condecoraciones al personal que ha intervenido en el conflicto armado con el Reino Unido por la recuperación de las Islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur |url=https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/577/1983 |website=Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina |access-date=14 April 2021 |language=es}}
• Lance Corporal Sergio García{{KIA}} (also promoted to First Sergeant) {{cite web |title=Caídos en Malvinas – Soldado Sergio Ismael García |url=https://www.rumbo40.com.ar/2021/06/caidos-en-malvinas-soldado-sergio-ismael.html |website=Rumbo 40 |access-date=14 April 2021 |language=es}}{{cite web |title=Medalla "La Nación Argentina al Valor en Combate" |url=https://www.argentina.gob.ar/medalla-la-nacion-argentina-al-valor-en-combate |website=Gobierno de Argentina |access-date=14 April 2021 |language=es}}
• Corporal Mario Rodolfo Castro{{KIA}} Servicio de Informaciones del Ejército Argentino, "Soldados de la Patria: Héroes de Malvinas", Buenos Aires, 1999, p. 142.
• Private Fabricio Edgar Carrascull{{KIA}} Comisión de Familiares de Caídos en Malvinas e Islas del Atlántico Sur, "Homenaje a Nuestros Héroes", Ediciones CECIM La Plata, 2005, p. 87.

All are buried at the Argentine Military Cemetery.

• Victoria Cross to Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert 'H' Jones{{KIA}} {{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• The Distinguished Service Order Was awarded to: Major Chris Keeble, Battalion second in command{{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• The Military Cross Was awarded to:
• Major John Crossland: OC B Coy{{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• Major Charles Farrar-Hockley: OC A Coy{{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• Lieutenant Colin Connor: Recce Platoon {{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• The Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to:
• Corporal David Abols for his charges, which turned the Darwin Hill battle{{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• Sergeant John Meredith, Pl Sgt, 12 Platoon, D Company{{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• Private Stephen Illingsworth {{KIA}} {{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}
• The Military Medal was awarded to:
• Lance Corporal Stephen Bardsley[https://paradata.org.uk/content/4641458-company-quartermaster-sergeant-cqms-stephen-bardsley Stephen Bardsley – Paradata.org.uk]
• Sergeant Ted Barrett[https://paradata.org.uk/content/4635974-sergeant-terence-barrett Sergeant Terence Barrett – Paradata.org.uk]
• Lance Corporal Gary Bingley{{KIA}}[https://sama82.org.uk/2023-gor-ip-bingleygd Gary Bingly at Sama82.org.uk]
• Lance Corporal Martin Bentley[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/49134/supplement/12850 The London Gazette, Issue 49134, Supplement 12850]
• Private Graham CarterHugh McManners, The Scars of War, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 126
• Corporal Thomas Camp[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/49134/supplement/12851 The London Gazette, Issue 49134, Supplement 12851]
• Private Barry Grayling
• Corporal Thomas Harley
• Lance Corporal Leslie Standish[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/49134/supplement/12852 The London Gazette, Issue 49134, Supplement 12852]
• Mentioned in Despatches: Private Simon Alexander, Staff Sergeant Ian Aird, Private Andrew Brooke, Lance Corporal Neal Dance, Lance Corporal Kevin Dunbar, Captain Paul Farrar, Private Mark Fletcher{{KIA}},[https://paradata.org.uk/content/4638796 Private Mark Fletcher at Paradata.org.uk] Corporal David Hardman{{KIA}},[https://paradata.org.uk/content/4663504 Corporal David Hardman at Paradata.org.uk] Private Andrew Mansfield, Lieutenant Maldwyn Worsley-Tonks, Lieutenant Guy Wallis, Lieutenant Geoffrey Weighell

Below data is from Adkin, Goose Green: A Battle is Fought to be Won unless specifically indicated by additional citations.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=272}}

Below data is from Adkin, Goose Green: A Battle is Fought to be Won unless specifically indicated by additional citations.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=272}}

Post-nominal letters refer to awards bestowed for actions during the Battle of Goose Green.{{sfn|Adkin|2003|p=371}}

Below data is from Adkin, Goose Green: A Battle is Fought to be Won unless specifically indicated by additional citations.{{sfn|Adkin|1992|p=272}}

During the planning of the assault of both Darwin and Goose Green, the battalion headquarters were listening in to the BBC World Service, when the newsreader announced that the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment was poised and ready to assault Darwin and Goose Green. This caused great trepidation among the commanding officers of the battalion, with fears that the operation was compromised. Jones became furious with the level of incompetence and told BBC representative Robert Fox he was going to sue the BBC, Whitehall, and the War Cabinet.The Falklands War, Paul Eddy, Magnus Linklater, p. 238, André Deutsch, 1982

{{main|Argentine military trials of 2009}}

In the years after the battle, Argentine army officers and NCOs were accused of handing out brutal field punishment to their troops at Goose Green, and other locations, during the war.[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,475287,00.html Argentina's Falklands War Veterans. 'Cannon Fodder in a War We Couldn't Win'. By Jens Glüsing], Spiegel.de, 4 March 2007 In 2009, Argentine authorities in Comodoro Rivadavia ratified a decision made by authorities in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, announcing their intention to charge 70 officers and NCOs with inhumane treatment of conscript soldiers during the war.[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/06/27/um/m-01947578.htm Confirman el juzgamiento por torturas en Malvinas] {{in lang|es}}, Clarín, Buenos Aires, 27 June 2009

There was, however, false testimony that was used as evidence in accusing the Argentine officers and NCOs of abandonment; and Pablo Vassel, who had denounced the alleged perpetrators, had to step down from his post as head of the human rights sub-secretariat of Corrientes Province.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cescem.org.ar/informacion/noticias/pag09_057.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407054559/http://www.cescem.org.ar/informacion/noticias/pag09_057.html|url-status=dead|title=Centro de Ex Soldados Combatientes en Malvinas de Corrientes|archive-date=7 April 2010}} Other veterans were sceptical about the veracity of the accusations, with Colonel José Martiniano Duarte, an ex–601 Commando Company officer and decorated veteran of the Falklands War, saying that it had become "fashionable" for ex-conscripts to accuse their superiors of abandonment.{{Cite web |url=http://www.argentinaindependent.com/feature/the-enemy-within-investigating-torture-in-the-malvinas-/ |title=Categorized {{!}} Feature, Human Rights The Enemy Within Investigating Torture in the Malvinas. By Marc Rogers. |access-date=1 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030005231/http://www.argentinaindependent.com/feature/the-enemy-within-investigating-torture-in-the-malvinas-/ |archive-date=30 October 2014 |url-status=dead }} Since the 2009 announcement was made, no one in the military, or among the retired officers and NCOs, has been charged, causing Vassel to comment in April 2014:

For over two years we've been waiting for a final say on behalf of the courts ... There are some types of crimes that no state should allow to go unpunished, no matter how much time has passed, such as the crimes of the dictatorship. Last year Germany sentenced a 98-year-old corporal for his role in the concentration camps in one of the Eastern European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. It didn't take into account his age or rank.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tiempofueguino.com/16047-sigue-estancada-la-investigacion-por-torturas-en-malvinas.html |title=Sigue estancada la investigación por torturas en Malvinas |access-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215043407/http://www.tiempofueguino.com/16047-sigue-estancada-la-investigacion-por-torturas-en-malvinas.html |archive-date=15 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last1=Adkin |first1=Mark |title=Goose Green – A battle is Fought to be Won |date=1992 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books Ltd |location=London |isbn=978-0-85052-207-5}}
• {{cite book |last1=Adkin |first1=Mark |title=Goose Green – A battle is Fought to be Won |date=2003 |publisher=Cassell |location=London |isbn=0-304-35496-1}}
• {{cite book

| last = Andrada

| first = Benigno

| title = Guerra aérea en las Malvinas

| publisher = Ed. Emecé

| year = 1983

| isbn = 950-04-0191-6

| language = es

}}

• {{cite book |last1=Boyce |first1=D. George |title=The Falklands War |date=2005 |publisher=Macmillan |location=Hampshire |isbn=978-0-333-75395-8 |edition=1st}}
• {{cite book |last1=Dale |first1=Iain |title=Memories of the Falklands |date=2002 |publisher=Politico |location=London |isbn=978-1-84275-018-6}}
• {{cite book |last=Fitz-Gibbon |first=Spencer |title=Not Mentioned in Dispatches: The History and Mythology of the Battle of Goose Green |publisher=Lutterworth Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-7188-3016-4}}
• {{cite book |last1=Freedman |first1=Lawrence Sir |title=The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-7146-5207-8}}
• {{cite book |title=The Falklands 1982: Ground Operations in the South Atlantic |first1=Gregory |last1=Fremont-Barnes |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84908-607-3}}
• {{cite book |last=Harclerode |first=Peter |title=Para!: Fifty Years of the Parachute Regiment |publisher=Arms and Armour |edition=Reprint |date=1 May 1993 |isbn=1-85409-097-6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Hastings |first1=Max |last2=Jenkins |first2=Simon |title=The Battle for the Falklands |date=1983 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-01761-8}}
• {{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Robert |year=1985 |title=The RAF in action: from Flanders to the Falklands |publisher=Blandford Press |isbn=0-7137-1419-0}}
• Kenney Oak, David J. 2 Para's Battle for Darwin Hill and Goose Green. Square Press April 2006. {{ISBN|0-9660717-1-9}}.
• {{cite book |last1=McManners |first1=Hugh |title=Forgotten Voices of the Falklands |publisher=Random House |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-09-190880-5}}
• {{cite book |last1=Middlebrook |first1=Martin |author-link=Martin Middlebrook |title=Operation Corporate: The Falklands War, 1982 |year=1985 |publisher=Viking: Penguin Books Ltd |location=London |isbn=0-670-80223-9 |page=249 |edition=1st}}
• {{cite book |last=Middlebrook |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Middlebrook |year=1989 |title=The Fight for the Malvinas: The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War |publisher=Viking |isbn=0-14-010767-3}}
• {{cite book |last1=Middlebrook |first1=Martin |author-link=Martin Middlebrook |title=The fight for the "Malvinas": The Argentine forces in the Falklands War |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-670-82106-8}}
• {{cite book |title=The History of the South Atlantic conflict: The War for the Malvinas |first1=Rubén Oscar |last1=Moro |publisher=Praeger |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-275-93081-3}}
• {{cite book |last1=Pook |first1=Jerry |year=2007 |title=RAF Harrier Ground Attack-Falklands |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |isbn=978-1-84415-551-4}}
• {{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=David |year=2002 |title=Taskforce: the illustrated history of the Falklands War |publisher=Sutton |isbn=0-7509-2845-X}}
• {{cite book |last1=van der Bijl |first1=Nicholas |title=Nine Battles to Stanley |date=1999 |publisher=Pen and Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-0-85052-619-6}}

{{refend}}

{{subject bar|auto=y|d=y}}

{{Falklands War|style=wide}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Goose Green}}

Category:1982 in the British Empire

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