Mount Tumbledown

The school has a race up Mount Tumbledown, scene of some fairly heavy fighting.  It was held by the Argentine 5th Marine Infantry Battalion who were fairly determined to hold the positions.  Against them were 2nd Battalion the Scots Guards.  10 British troops and 30 Argentinians were killed during the assault.  8 were Scots Guards, 1 Welsh Guard and 1 Royal Engineer.  There also 43 British and over 100 Argentinians wounded.

The battle was were Robert Lawrence was injured.  His story of his recovery after being shot in the head by a sniper was turned into a film "Tumbledown" starring Colin Firth.

The day was overcast, and as I walked around the battlefield the wind increased.  I actually came down because I was struggling to stand up!

Some of the positions the Argentinians had constructed would have been difficult to assault, and I am amazed that only 10 men were lost during the assault!

I parked at the bottom of Tumbledown and had an explore around before climbing up to the top.  The old Argentine positions are still there, along with loads of war debris

The remains of a Argentine field gun

 
There always seems to be lots of discarded boots in the old positions, I often wonder what they wore on their feet!

The next few pictures are some of the old positions which were dug into the soft peat.

The position in the picture below must have been a signals post, as these are battery packs which have gradually fallen apart

Once you get up ont Tumbledown, the positions used the rocks as cover, as in the ones below.

On top of Tumbledown is a cross and memorial.  I decided I would visit it last after exploting the length of Tumbledown.

To make matters worse for the assaulting toops, some of the positions were well constructed, and partially blend into the rocks.  This is because the troops used loose rocks to build better defensive positions.

 As you get closer, the position becomes more obvious

By this point, the position looks damn near impregnable, only a grenade posted through one of the firing slits would deal with the defenders.

The roof of the position was made using wire mesh with nylon and rocks piled on top of it.  Again, this would helped with making the position difficult to asssault.

The entrance is around the back, and very small, you have to crawl in on your hands and knees.  If you look carefully, you can see an old Argentine blanket on the floor!

Once inside, the cooking equipment and water bottles can be seen, still there 29 years later!

A look though the firing slot shows how narrow the field of viewwould have been.  The walls are about 2 feet thick!

An old blanket and ammo box

The roof is also supported with wooden struts.  The wire in the centre of the picture runs out and forwards to other postions

More debris on the floor...

Given that many of the other positions were simple piles of rocks under overhangs and quite small, and this was quite large, I'm guessing it may have been a command post.  It is also roughly in the centre of Mount Tumbledown.

Once you get to the eastern end of Tumbledown (nearest Stanley) you find the memorial to the 8 fallen Scots Guards.  Just like every other memorial here there are personal effects and the obligatory ammo box containing polish and cloths.  This one also contains a copy of the armed forces book of common service and prayer.

The brass plaque lists the men who died, and looked a little dull....

So I gave it a quick polish

On the very eastern slope of the crags are two trailers.  These were used for cooking food for the Argentinians on Tumbledown.

Again, it amazes me how the debris of war is still evident.  The respect that people have for these battlefields is amazing, and it makes the news if someone damages them.  I just think that back in the UK, the sites would have been vandalised, and the memorials would not be as well looked after, but that may just be me being negative.

Again, another very moving experience, with the wind making Tumbledown seem very bleak.  I was there for 3 hours and was blown all over; it must have been awful for the Argentinians up there with little shelter in late autumn and early winter.