Mount Longdon was the scene of some very bloody fighting, and there has been much controversy as to whether the soldiers of 3 Para committed war crimes and atrocities.
3 Para had tabbed the same distance as the Royal Marines had yomped (Paras call it tabbing, marines call it yomping, either way it means the same thing!), which was about 80 miles from Port San Carlos. There had been some days where they gone firm around Estancia and sent out patrols.
The assault on Longdon was carried out at the same time as Two Sisters and Harriet, and was to be a silent then noisy attack, whereas Two Sisters and Harriet where preceded by a bombardment before the battle. Was this a correct decision? Who knows, but the Royal Marines did suffer less casualties in the assaults on Two Sisters and Harriet, although the troops on Longdon were better trained.....
We walked to the far end of Longdon and started from the Regimental Aid Post.....
We then proceeded up "grenade alley", so called because as the units moved through here, the Argentinians above them rolled grenades down the walls.....
From there we moved around the place marked for Sgt Ian McKay, who died storming a machine gun post. There is actually a dispute about the position he fell, as one soldier remembers Ian McKay having a spare pair of boots hung on his webbing, and the soldier found in this position had a spare of boots....but the accounts state that the position was surrounded by rocks and well built up, and Ian McKay fell across the position.....
From here, we moved up to the top, and could see a number of former positions
The area known as the Bowl saw some particularly heavy fighting, and was overlooked by a number of positions....
Craig Jones was the last person to die in the fighting, and he was on Longdon. An island in Teal Inlet, near to where the dead were initially buried has recently been named after him, Craig Island.
Once you reach the end of Longdon, Stanley looks tantalisingly close!!
