hist2004
03-22-2004, 03:59 PM
During the Falklands War, the airstrip on Pebble Island was used by the Argentineans as base for several of their ground The Island itself, a small stretch of land some 35 km long, is a desolate, windswept place. At the time of the Falklands conflict it was home to only five families, who all happened to live near the airstrip. As the island is situated to the northwest of West Falkland, the Argentinean aircraft would pose a major threat to any British forces that were put ashore on East Falkland. They therefore had to be destroyed before the landings could take place. The Special Air Service was given this mission. The raid against the airstrip took place on the night of 14/15 May 1982, but beforehand intelligence had to be gathered. Timely and accurate intelligence is crucial to the success of any special forces mission, and the one against Pebble Island was no exception. The following account is from a member of D Squadron who took part in the action:
‘At our initial briefings we were told that Argie engineers had landed on Pebble Island and were preparing the airstrip as a maintenance base for their aircraft, which had been flown in from the mainland to support the garrison at Stanley. This was confirmed when an RAF Harrier pilot, returning to Invincible after a bombing raid, had observed a Pucara taking off from the airstrip. The Pucara is piss-poor in any air-to-air encounter so our Harrier pilots weren’t too bothered about them, but in the ground-attack role it’s another matter. Designed from the start as a counter-insurgency aircraft, the Pucara is armed with two 20mm cannon and four 7.62mm machine guns. In addition, it can carry an external payload of 1500kg, including bombs, napalm and rockets. Against lightly armed troops who have just conducted an amphibious landing a small number of Pucaras could inflict a great deal of damage, so they had to be taken out. ‘On 10 May, eight of the blokes from the squadron’s Boat Troop had gone ashore in kleppers [two-man canoes used by the Regiment and the Special Boat Squadron] to assess the level of enemy activity, while on board the carrier Hermes a plan to launch a strike against the airstrip was put into effect. Some of the lads, ever the pragmatists, suggested bombing it, but this was discounted for two reasons. First, the civilians lived too near the airstrip. Second, the Harriers wouldn’t have enough time over the target area [the two carriers Hermes and Invincible were situated well out to sea before the landings to protect them from any airborne attack] to guarantee all the aircraft would be destroyed.’
With all the problems inherent in an air assault, the decision was therefore taken to use D Squadron in a classic hit-and-run raid. To the public imagination and the media, this is what the SAS is all about, but to the men who have to carry out the mission it is an operation that is fraught with dangers and pitfalls.
‘People just don’t realize what’s involved with these types of missions, and that goes for some of the top brass too. I talked to the guys who dial the recce after it was all over and they were well pissed off, They were dropped on a remote headland several kilometers from Pebble and had to paddle across the open sea before they could set up an OP [observation post] on the island. However, the high winds made the sea journey a nightmare; you just don’t realize how windy it is in the Falklands, even the gorse bushes are bent double by the non-stop wind.
‘Once they eventually got on to the island they had another problem: establishing a “hide”. In the open terrain this was extremely difficult, as the ground provided very little cover either from the enemy or the elements. It looks a lot like Brecon, i.e. very few trees and loads of gorse bushes. Mind you, at least on Brecon you don’t have that bastard wind, well, not all the time.’
The observation party had three main tasks: to confirm the presence and number of Argentinean aircraft on Pebble, to assess the strength of the enemy in and around the airstrip, and to work out routes into and out of the area for the raiding party. Once in place, the OP reported back to Hermes. The news was not good:
‘Our shore-based team confirmed there were several Pucaras operating from the airstrip, but the number of Argentinean personnel on the ground was difficult for them to assess in the limited time available. In addition, the routes to and from the objective were reported to be like the rest of the Falklands: bare and easily monitored by the Argentineans. ****ing great!’
The temporary home for D Squadron during this time was the carrier Hermes. When the ship left Portsmouth on 5 April 1982, there was a small party of SAS soldiers on board, along with a company of Royal Marines and some Special Boat Squadron (SBS) personnel; More SAS soldiers joined the vessel at Ascension Island. When in British service (she is now with the Indian Navy and called Viraat), Hermes. was essentially an anti-submarine carrier, being kitted out with Sea King helicopters and a small number of V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. In the Falklands conflict she could also have fulfilled another capacity: transporting the whole of 3 Commando to the war zone. In the event, it was decided that Hermes would carry the helicopters and Sea Harriers and not Royal Marines. Life on board was cramped to say the least (the ship was the headquarters for Rear-Admiral John Woodward. the commander of the main group of surface warships during Operation ‘Corporate’.), but the SAS soldiers struck up a good ******* with the aircrews of 846 Naval Air Squadron. who had three Sea King helicopters with which to support special forces operations. These would be the aircraft that would transport the men to Pebble Island:
‘The aircraft had no special equipment in those days, although the crews did have considerably more flying hours and experience than other pilots. A big bonus, which we were all pleased about, was the sudden issue of passive night vision goggles to Navy pilots. This piece of kit, in its most basic form, looks like a pair of hi-tech binoculars, but it enhances any night situation into a green image of daylight to assist the aircrew’s view. Ironically, this treasured bit of equipment, which was already widely in use with the Americans, was issued to the Somerset-based Naval Air Squadron by the Royal Aircraft Establishment just days before they flew aboard Hermes, leaving very little time for training.’
With all the available intelligence gathered, the raid was scheduled for the night of 14/15 May. Originally, the SAS had been given the task of destroying the Argentinean aircraft, their ground crews and the island’s garrison. However, because of strong headwinds Hermes took longer to reach the flying-off point than expected. This meant that the SAS soldiers would have only a short time on the ground to carry out their tasks. The aircraft thus became the priority target. The Sea Kings would have to be back on Hermes before daylight, as she and her escorts (the frigate Broadsword and the destroyer, Glamorgan.) had to be well east of the island to minimize the threat posed by the Argentinean Air Force. The source continues:
‘As we prepared our equipment and attended the first flight briefing with the boss of 846 Naval Air Squadron, this guy appears, he was a stores officer I think, and told us that we would never get off the deck until the weather improved. He had a point. The wind had been blowing throughout the day, which prevented the helicopter blades being spread on the flight deck (below deck they were stowed with their blades folded). However, late in the evening there was a “weather window” which allowed the helicopter handlers, or “chocheads” as they were known, due to their habit of crawling under the helicopters and placing wheel chocks on the aircraft, to prepare the three Sea Kings for the mission.’
The Sea Kings of 846 Squadron are optimized as assault transports and are designated Sea King HC MK 4. Designed to fly in all weathers, they are fitted with a complete avionics suite, which includes doppler navigation radar, autopilot and an auto-hover system. The fuselage can hold up to 19 fully equipped troops, and the aircraft can also be fitted with machine guns, rockets and rocket pads if required.
As the helicopters were prepared for the mission, the 45 men of D Squadron who would carry out the attack were given a final briefing:
‘At the int briefing we were told that there had been more confirmed sightings of enemy aircraft operating from the airstrip. Additional information collated from some Royal Marines who had served in the Falklands several years before the invasion revealed that the airstrip was less than 100m from the nearest house, and that the whole area was fiat and open, confirming our own information from the lads in Boat Troop. This made us a bit nervous, because if we were bumped we would have bugger all cover from enemy fire.
‘The raid was given the codename
Operation “Prelim”. The plan was to use two groups to provide fire support for the raiding party, while another would seal off the approaches to the airfield. An additional fire group would escort the raiding party to the airfield and wait in reserve to react to any Argentinean anti-ambush party that had been prepared as a result of their watching us. The raiding party, or killer group, would hit the aircraft and plant explosive charges on them, or would use LAWs if an enemy presence prevented the charges being placed.’
The LAW is the M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon, an American throwaway rocket launcher. It is useful for SAS-type operations because it is light, which means several can be carried by one man. It is also accurate and can penetrate amour up to 335mm thick (though the version used in the Falklands by the SAS was only effective against light amour). Because it fires a high explosive warhead, the M72 is potent against targets such as stationary aircraft. The SAS also had heavier support in the shape of a 81mm mortar and naval gunfire support from HMS Glamorgan, an air-defense ship for Hermes. The mortar had gone ashore with Boat Troop, though the actual bombs were carried by the men of the raiding party, who dropped them at the base plate before moving to their starting positions. Also put ashore was a forward observation unit from 148 Battery, whose job was to give exact coordinates to Glamorgan and then observe and correct the shelling as it came in. Following the final briefing, the men were issued with their personal equipment:
‘Every one of us carried M16s with three spare mags each and an additional 200 rounds of 5.56mm. We don’t usually tape a spare magazine to the one already in the weapon. For one thing, you can change a mag for one in a pouch just as fast as two that are taped together. And anyway, when you’re in the field crawling through all the **** to get to the objective, such as mud and water, it all gets into the mag taped to your weapon. When you change mags and insert the spare one, all the **** gets pushed into the receiver. You then get a jam just when you don’t want one, i.e. in the middle of a firefight.
‘The M16 is a good weapon for short-range work because it’s short, light and has a high lethality close in. It’s not so good for long-range work, though, and it certainly doesn’t have the stopping power of the good old SLR [Self-Loading Rifle].
Still, the weight saving over the SLR is worth it, and that goes for the ammo too, and anyway, for the raid we only needed a weapon for close work. We all took great care of our M16s, as the weapon doesn’t really like rough handling, which can be a bit of problem, especially in terrain like the Falklands where it’s continually damp and windy. The Americans first touted the M16 as a self-cleaning weapon, and didn’t even bother to issue cleaning kits. Naturally, there were a host of jammed guns when it entered service. They then issued cleaning kits very quickly, but not before several of their guys had been killed because of jams. ‘Some of the weapons were fitted with M203 grenade launchers firing high explosive grenades. People get excited about grenade launchers but I don’t see the point a lot of the time. OK, you’ve got a weapon that can throw a grenade over a distance of around 300m, which is a greater distance than a man can throw (even in the Regiment!), but the grenade only goes in a straight line. It can’t go around cover, unlike a hand-thrown grenade. In addition, and this is something a lot of people don’t realize, two-thirds of actual grenade tends to be the fuse, which means you don’t get as big a bang as you expect. Add to this the M203’s general inaccuracy, and you get the general idea. Still, for hitting a stationary aircraft at short range they are effective enough, and that’s why we took them.’
Webbing and clothing are also important on special forces operations, and this was no different for the Pebble Island mission:
‘The contents of our webbing is always a high priority. In addition to carrying rifle magazines and grenades, Falklands webbing included a survival pack, water bottles, a bivvy bag [a Gore-Tex sleeping bag cover] and food. Each one of us customized our webbing according to taste. For example, a lot of the lads carried two ‘44 pattern water bottles with metal mugs, which are ideal for making a brew and saving space. Waterproof matches are always a priority and are usually carried in small plastic containers, which are them-selves waterproof. Each man will also have his own medical kit, though one person in the section will always carry a specialist medical bag. Syrettes of morphine are always carried around the neck for easy access, and two field dressings are usually taped to the webbing.
‘Woolly hats are always worn, as a lot of body heat can be lost if the head isn’t covered. In any environment, but especially the Falklands, you have to guard against hypothermia. We all wore climbing gloves, with the fingers cut out to make handling things easier, as a reserve. We all had white phosphorus grenades, with a good old nine milly pistol tucked under the arm in a holster. To stop us freezing our bollocks off we wore either green Gore-Tex jackets or windproof arctic smocks, a lot of the blokes choosing the latter because they have huge pockets which can hold little extras, such as food.’
Though protection against the cold is very important, the Pebble Island raiders weren’t over dressed. They still had to perform their task, and they were carrying a lot of equipment. If they were wearing too many clothes they would sweat heavily. This isn’t a problem if you are moving, but if you stop then the sweat will cool, resulting in loss of body heat.
‘We wore DPM [Disruptive Pattern
Material] lightweight trousers. They are thin but they dry out very quickly after getting wet. Norwegian Army shirts have been a favorite with the Regiment for many years, and I wore one with a head over: a woolen tube that slips over your head and can be worn around the neck depending on the weather. ‘Against the bitter wind a Norwegian Army shirt and a smock doesn’t feel that warm, but as soon as you start to tab the body heats up and you’re not so cold. Any spare clothing is stashed in the bergen. It’s always better to wear fewer clothes when moving and to save warm, dry clothes for an emergency. Our bergens also contained binoculars, a tripod-mounted scope and night sights, the latter being a variant of the Individual Weapon Sight used in Northern Ireland. We each carried enough rations to last us three days, just in case we were trapped by the weather. Another very popular item of clothing was a set of quilted green trousers, which were ideal for zipping over your lightweights when lying up in a “hide” during the day.’
As Hermes, Broadsword. and Glamorgan sailed towards the island; the men readied their equipment. Buffeted by heavy seas, the three ships made slow progress. Broadsword’s Sea Wolf short-range surface-to-air missile system became defective and she began to slip behind. Glamorgan sailed to within 10km of the shore to give gunfire support and to be on hand should the helicopters have to ditch. The carrier sailed to within 60km of the island, much closer than was originally planned, to give the Sea Kings a shorter flight in the strong winds. As the hour approached for them to board the aircraft, the SAS men completed their last-minute checks:
‘At around 2200 hours we made our way to the hangar. It was a hive of activity, as an army of engineers carried out maintenance on the tightly packed Harriers and Sea Kings to ensure there were enough aircraft for round-the-clock missions. We settled in a corner near the lift well, the huge mechanical ramp, with all our gear. A Navy mechanic asked me if I wanted a “wet”, the maritime slang for a cup of tea, and I readily accepted his offer. Some of the lads drank, others smoked. It’s funny, none of us discussed the job we were about to do, or the fact that some of us might not be coming back. We talked about home, football, the weather, our rations, anything but the mission.
‘We made our way to the flight deck. The Sea Kings were revved up, their blades spinning, as their aircrews went through their final checks. We sat crouched near the first aircraft, the South Atlantic wind combining with the draught from the rotors to lash us. My eyes narrowed to slits as I tried to stop thinking about the cold. If only the wind would **** off! Hermes pitched and rolled in the heavy seas, her 28,000 tons battling with the ocean. Just as I thought I would be frozen to the deck, salvation. A “chochead” called forward the first stick. I heard someone shout “Thank Christ for that” as we rushed forward and entered the Sea King. ‘Now the textbook says that the Sea King has a voluminous fuselage, and so it does if the team is wearing just T-shirts and shorts. But here we were, tooled up for the raid with bergens, webbing and weapons, which meant there was **** all room for any of us. Thank Christ we didn’t have any GPMGs or Milans. I wedged myself in a corner and waited for what seemed like an eternity before we lifted off. Then I began to sweat, ****!
‘The noise inside the fuselage was deafening as the helicopter flew low over the pitching ocean towards land, skimming the waves to avoid detection by enemy radar. We didn’t know if they had any on Pebble Island, but better to be safe than sorry. It wasn’t long before we touched down on the island, and once we did we moved like **** to reach the objective. We couldn’t afford to waste any time, the old rust bucket Hermes wouldn’t be hanging around, and anyway our colleagues already on the ground had established safe routes for us.’
The movement to the objective turned out to be uneventful. The Argentinean garrison on the island maintained a poor state of vigilance, which is surprising considering that they must have known that the aircraft would be a target. Nevertheless, the SAS soldiers were in a heightened state of alert as they advanced:
‘I’ll never forget the amount of sheep on Pebble. In Ulster, sheep and cattle are a major problem when moving about in the early hours. If you disturb them they will run wild, which will alert the locals to your activity. So here we were, moving towards the target with thousands of sheep all around us. Fortunately the guys from Boat Troop knew exactly where we could tab fast and where to move with caution. I had this vision of the Argies bumping us and a ****ing great big firefight erupting with all these sheep being caught in the middle and blown to pieces. ‘The mortar rounds we were carrying were dropped off at the base plate, and within an hour of being landed the cut-off group peeled away to take up position and secure the two routes heading towards the airstrip. By this time the cold was beginning to get to everyone. That’s the one thing about the high command; they always find the most inhospitable places for us to fight a war in! I remember thinking how it was like being on top of Pen-y-Fan in winter, only in Brecon it is possible to move off the mountain and take shelter from the wind.’
There were six Pucaras on the airstrip, along with four Turbo-Mentor light aircraft and a Skyvan transport. There were a total of 12 Argentinean Pucaras in the Falklands, and if the SAS could destroy half of them it would be a big bonus for the Task Force. Both sides expected the Pucaras to take a heavy toll of the British after they had landed. However, the soldiers of the SAS had other ideas:
‘The terrain was open and bare, just as we had been told. We approached the airstrip. I could see a large house to my left, which had a line of wind-battered trees to one side. I also made out some outbuildings and what appeared to be a windbreak for the house’s garden. The area was riddled with fences and gates, which were clearly part of a scheme to herd sheep into the pens around the house.
‘I waited with the cut-off group before joining the killer group. Mountain Troop went forward, but then we spotted an enemy sentry and everyone froze. My heart started pounding and I tightened the grip on my M16. Instinctively, I slipped off the safety catch. We thought we had been spotted, but our luck was in, he didn’t see us. We crept onto the airfield and laid charges on seven of the aircraft. Moments later the place erupted as we opened up with our small arms and LAWs. Using three-round bursts, I emptied a magazine into a Pucara, the bullets ripping into the nose and cockpit, sending shards of perspex into the air. Overhead para-flares from Glamorgan lit up the night sky. Where the **** were the Argies?
‘To my left a 66mm rocket slammed into the side of another Pucara, engulfing it in a fireball. The crackle of small-arms fire filled the air as the explosive charges started to detonate. I clipped a fresh mag into my M16 and looked around for fresh targets. By this time all the aircraft were either burning or had been riddled with bullets, their undercarriages shot away and their fuselages full of holes. In the background I heard the crump of artillery shells exploding as Glamorgan fired high explosive rounds into the enemy’s ammunition dump and fuel stores. The opposition was nowhere to be seen. This is too good to be true, I thought. ‘The forward observers had done a champion job. Now they were directing the gunfire to cover our retreat. We did a quick check on the aircraft, trying to identify them all and making sure they were disabled. When you’re on a raid you don’t **** around. Time is precious. If you’ve achieved the element of surprise things go your way for a while. But in fact you’re very vulnerable, and for all you know there might be an enemy battalion behind the nearest hill waiting to fall on you like a ton of ****.
‘Then the raiding party and the cut-off team re-grouped and prepared to move out. Just before we did, we received enemy small-arms fire. One of our boys went down. Instinctively we returned a hail of fire, each man firing controlled bursts from his weapon. Those that had M203s fired grenades at the Argies. It did the trick because we received no more hostile fire. We continued to fall back, more quickly now lest the enemy were re-grouping for another go. The wounded man was grabbed and hauled along (we never leave our wounded behind, it’s an unwritten law in the Regiment). ‘We bugged out at speed, reaching the landing site to await our lift back to Hermes. Bang on time the choppers came in, and a happy D Squadron was lifted out. I for one had expected a heavy firefight when we got to the airfield, but it never materialized. We could have hit the garrison if we had had more time, but as it was we all felt pleased with ourselves.’
The raid had been a total success. For the loss of only one man wounded, the SAS had destroyed six Pucaras, four Turbo-Mentors and a Skyvan. In addition, a large amount of Argentinean ammunition had been destroyed and the commander of the garrison had been killed. Far more important, though, was the fact that there were no Argentinean aircraft on Pebble Island to interfere with the landings at San Carlos Water, and the enemy’s morale had been dented.
Regards & Thanks,
Hist2004
‘At our initial briefings we were told that Argie engineers had landed on Pebble Island and were preparing the airstrip as a maintenance base for their aircraft, which had been flown in from the mainland to support the garrison at Stanley. This was confirmed when an RAF Harrier pilot, returning to Invincible after a bombing raid, had observed a Pucara taking off from the airstrip. The Pucara is piss-poor in any air-to-air encounter so our Harrier pilots weren’t too bothered about them, but in the ground-attack role it’s another matter. Designed from the start as a counter-insurgency aircraft, the Pucara is armed with two 20mm cannon and four 7.62mm machine guns. In addition, it can carry an external payload of 1500kg, including bombs, napalm and rockets. Against lightly armed troops who have just conducted an amphibious landing a small number of Pucaras could inflict a great deal of damage, so they had to be taken out. ‘On 10 May, eight of the blokes from the squadron’s Boat Troop had gone ashore in kleppers [two-man canoes used by the Regiment and the Special Boat Squadron] to assess the level of enemy activity, while on board the carrier Hermes a plan to launch a strike against the airstrip was put into effect. Some of the lads, ever the pragmatists, suggested bombing it, but this was discounted for two reasons. First, the civilians lived too near the airstrip. Second, the Harriers wouldn’t have enough time over the target area [the two carriers Hermes and Invincible were situated well out to sea before the landings to protect them from any airborne attack] to guarantee all the aircraft would be destroyed.’
With all the problems inherent in an air assault, the decision was therefore taken to use D Squadron in a classic hit-and-run raid. To the public imagination and the media, this is what the SAS is all about, but to the men who have to carry out the mission it is an operation that is fraught with dangers and pitfalls.
‘People just don’t realize what’s involved with these types of missions, and that goes for some of the top brass too. I talked to the guys who dial the recce after it was all over and they were well pissed off, They were dropped on a remote headland several kilometers from Pebble and had to paddle across the open sea before they could set up an OP [observation post] on the island. However, the high winds made the sea journey a nightmare; you just don’t realize how windy it is in the Falklands, even the gorse bushes are bent double by the non-stop wind.
‘Once they eventually got on to the island they had another problem: establishing a “hide”. In the open terrain this was extremely difficult, as the ground provided very little cover either from the enemy or the elements. It looks a lot like Brecon, i.e. very few trees and loads of gorse bushes. Mind you, at least on Brecon you don’t have that bastard wind, well, not all the time.’
The observation party had three main tasks: to confirm the presence and number of Argentinean aircraft on Pebble, to assess the strength of the enemy in and around the airstrip, and to work out routes into and out of the area for the raiding party. Once in place, the OP reported back to Hermes. The news was not good:
‘Our shore-based team confirmed there were several Pucaras operating from the airstrip, but the number of Argentinean personnel on the ground was difficult for them to assess in the limited time available. In addition, the routes to and from the objective were reported to be like the rest of the Falklands: bare and easily monitored by the Argentineans. ****ing great!’
The temporary home for D Squadron during this time was the carrier Hermes. When the ship left Portsmouth on 5 April 1982, there was a small party of SAS soldiers on board, along with a company of Royal Marines and some Special Boat Squadron (SBS) personnel; More SAS soldiers joined the vessel at Ascension Island. When in British service (she is now with the Indian Navy and called Viraat), Hermes. was essentially an anti-submarine carrier, being kitted out with Sea King helicopters and a small number of V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. In the Falklands conflict she could also have fulfilled another capacity: transporting the whole of 3 Commando to the war zone. In the event, it was decided that Hermes would carry the helicopters and Sea Harriers and not Royal Marines. Life on board was cramped to say the least (the ship was the headquarters for Rear-Admiral John Woodward. the commander of the main group of surface warships during Operation ‘Corporate’.), but the SAS soldiers struck up a good ******* with the aircrews of 846 Naval Air Squadron. who had three Sea King helicopters with which to support special forces operations. These would be the aircraft that would transport the men to Pebble Island:
‘The aircraft had no special equipment in those days, although the crews did have considerably more flying hours and experience than other pilots. A big bonus, which we were all pleased about, was the sudden issue of passive night vision goggles to Navy pilots. This piece of kit, in its most basic form, looks like a pair of hi-tech binoculars, but it enhances any night situation into a green image of daylight to assist the aircrew’s view. Ironically, this treasured bit of equipment, which was already widely in use with the Americans, was issued to the Somerset-based Naval Air Squadron by the Royal Aircraft Establishment just days before they flew aboard Hermes, leaving very little time for training.’
With all the available intelligence gathered, the raid was scheduled for the night of 14/15 May. Originally, the SAS had been given the task of destroying the Argentinean aircraft, their ground crews and the island’s garrison. However, because of strong headwinds Hermes took longer to reach the flying-off point than expected. This meant that the SAS soldiers would have only a short time on the ground to carry out their tasks. The aircraft thus became the priority target. The Sea Kings would have to be back on Hermes before daylight, as she and her escorts (the frigate Broadsword and the destroyer, Glamorgan.) had to be well east of the island to minimize the threat posed by the Argentinean Air Force. The source continues:
‘As we prepared our equipment and attended the first flight briefing with the boss of 846 Naval Air Squadron, this guy appears, he was a stores officer I think, and told us that we would never get off the deck until the weather improved. He had a point. The wind had been blowing throughout the day, which prevented the helicopter blades being spread on the flight deck (below deck they were stowed with their blades folded). However, late in the evening there was a “weather window” which allowed the helicopter handlers, or “chocheads” as they were known, due to their habit of crawling under the helicopters and placing wheel chocks on the aircraft, to prepare the three Sea Kings for the mission.’
The Sea Kings of 846 Squadron are optimized as assault transports and are designated Sea King HC MK 4. Designed to fly in all weathers, they are fitted with a complete avionics suite, which includes doppler navigation radar, autopilot and an auto-hover system. The fuselage can hold up to 19 fully equipped troops, and the aircraft can also be fitted with machine guns, rockets and rocket pads if required.
As the helicopters were prepared for the mission, the 45 men of D Squadron who would carry out the attack were given a final briefing:
‘At the int briefing we were told that there had been more confirmed sightings of enemy aircraft operating from the airstrip. Additional information collated from some Royal Marines who had served in the Falklands several years before the invasion revealed that the airstrip was less than 100m from the nearest house, and that the whole area was fiat and open, confirming our own information from the lads in Boat Troop. This made us a bit nervous, because if we were bumped we would have bugger all cover from enemy fire.
‘The raid was given the codename
Operation “Prelim”. The plan was to use two groups to provide fire support for the raiding party, while another would seal off the approaches to the airfield. An additional fire group would escort the raiding party to the airfield and wait in reserve to react to any Argentinean anti-ambush party that had been prepared as a result of their watching us. The raiding party, or killer group, would hit the aircraft and plant explosive charges on them, or would use LAWs if an enemy presence prevented the charges being placed.’
The LAW is the M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon, an American throwaway rocket launcher. It is useful for SAS-type operations because it is light, which means several can be carried by one man. It is also accurate and can penetrate amour up to 335mm thick (though the version used in the Falklands by the SAS was only effective against light amour). Because it fires a high explosive warhead, the M72 is potent against targets such as stationary aircraft. The SAS also had heavier support in the shape of a 81mm mortar and naval gunfire support from HMS Glamorgan, an air-defense ship for Hermes. The mortar had gone ashore with Boat Troop, though the actual bombs were carried by the men of the raiding party, who dropped them at the base plate before moving to their starting positions. Also put ashore was a forward observation unit from 148 Battery, whose job was to give exact coordinates to Glamorgan and then observe and correct the shelling as it came in. Following the final briefing, the men were issued with their personal equipment:
‘Every one of us carried M16s with three spare mags each and an additional 200 rounds of 5.56mm. We don’t usually tape a spare magazine to the one already in the weapon. For one thing, you can change a mag for one in a pouch just as fast as two that are taped together. And anyway, when you’re in the field crawling through all the **** to get to the objective, such as mud and water, it all gets into the mag taped to your weapon. When you change mags and insert the spare one, all the **** gets pushed into the receiver. You then get a jam just when you don’t want one, i.e. in the middle of a firefight.
‘The M16 is a good weapon for short-range work because it’s short, light and has a high lethality close in. It’s not so good for long-range work, though, and it certainly doesn’t have the stopping power of the good old SLR [Self-Loading Rifle].
Still, the weight saving over the SLR is worth it, and that goes for the ammo too, and anyway, for the raid we only needed a weapon for close work. We all took great care of our M16s, as the weapon doesn’t really like rough handling, which can be a bit of problem, especially in terrain like the Falklands where it’s continually damp and windy. The Americans first touted the M16 as a self-cleaning weapon, and didn’t even bother to issue cleaning kits. Naturally, there were a host of jammed guns when it entered service. They then issued cleaning kits very quickly, but not before several of their guys had been killed because of jams. ‘Some of the weapons were fitted with M203 grenade launchers firing high explosive grenades. People get excited about grenade launchers but I don’t see the point a lot of the time. OK, you’ve got a weapon that can throw a grenade over a distance of around 300m, which is a greater distance than a man can throw (even in the Regiment!), but the grenade only goes in a straight line. It can’t go around cover, unlike a hand-thrown grenade. In addition, and this is something a lot of people don’t realize, two-thirds of actual grenade tends to be the fuse, which means you don’t get as big a bang as you expect. Add to this the M203’s general inaccuracy, and you get the general idea. Still, for hitting a stationary aircraft at short range they are effective enough, and that’s why we took them.’
Webbing and clothing are also important on special forces operations, and this was no different for the Pebble Island mission:
‘The contents of our webbing is always a high priority. In addition to carrying rifle magazines and grenades, Falklands webbing included a survival pack, water bottles, a bivvy bag [a Gore-Tex sleeping bag cover] and food. Each one of us customized our webbing according to taste. For example, a lot of the lads carried two ‘44 pattern water bottles with metal mugs, which are ideal for making a brew and saving space. Waterproof matches are always a priority and are usually carried in small plastic containers, which are them-selves waterproof. Each man will also have his own medical kit, though one person in the section will always carry a specialist medical bag. Syrettes of morphine are always carried around the neck for easy access, and two field dressings are usually taped to the webbing.
‘Woolly hats are always worn, as a lot of body heat can be lost if the head isn’t covered. In any environment, but especially the Falklands, you have to guard against hypothermia. We all wore climbing gloves, with the fingers cut out to make handling things easier, as a reserve. We all had white phosphorus grenades, with a good old nine milly pistol tucked under the arm in a holster. To stop us freezing our bollocks off we wore either green Gore-Tex jackets or windproof arctic smocks, a lot of the blokes choosing the latter because they have huge pockets which can hold little extras, such as food.’
Though protection against the cold is very important, the Pebble Island raiders weren’t over dressed. They still had to perform their task, and they were carrying a lot of equipment. If they were wearing too many clothes they would sweat heavily. This isn’t a problem if you are moving, but if you stop then the sweat will cool, resulting in loss of body heat.
‘We wore DPM [Disruptive Pattern
Material] lightweight trousers. They are thin but they dry out very quickly after getting wet. Norwegian Army shirts have been a favorite with the Regiment for many years, and I wore one with a head over: a woolen tube that slips over your head and can be worn around the neck depending on the weather. ‘Against the bitter wind a Norwegian Army shirt and a smock doesn’t feel that warm, but as soon as you start to tab the body heats up and you’re not so cold. Any spare clothing is stashed in the bergen. It’s always better to wear fewer clothes when moving and to save warm, dry clothes for an emergency. Our bergens also contained binoculars, a tripod-mounted scope and night sights, the latter being a variant of the Individual Weapon Sight used in Northern Ireland. We each carried enough rations to last us three days, just in case we were trapped by the weather. Another very popular item of clothing was a set of quilted green trousers, which were ideal for zipping over your lightweights when lying up in a “hide” during the day.’
As Hermes, Broadsword. and Glamorgan sailed towards the island; the men readied their equipment. Buffeted by heavy seas, the three ships made slow progress. Broadsword’s Sea Wolf short-range surface-to-air missile system became defective and she began to slip behind. Glamorgan sailed to within 10km of the shore to give gunfire support and to be on hand should the helicopters have to ditch. The carrier sailed to within 60km of the island, much closer than was originally planned, to give the Sea Kings a shorter flight in the strong winds. As the hour approached for them to board the aircraft, the SAS men completed their last-minute checks:
‘At around 2200 hours we made our way to the hangar. It was a hive of activity, as an army of engineers carried out maintenance on the tightly packed Harriers and Sea Kings to ensure there were enough aircraft for round-the-clock missions. We settled in a corner near the lift well, the huge mechanical ramp, with all our gear. A Navy mechanic asked me if I wanted a “wet”, the maritime slang for a cup of tea, and I readily accepted his offer. Some of the lads drank, others smoked. It’s funny, none of us discussed the job we were about to do, or the fact that some of us might not be coming back. We talked about home, football, the weather, our rations, anything but the mission.
‘We made our way to the flight deck. The Sea Kings were revved up, their blades spinning, as their aircrews went through their final checks. We sat crouched near the first aircraft, the South Atlantic wind combining with the draught from the rotors to lash us. My eyes narrowed to slits as I tried to stop thinking about the cold. If only the wind would **** off! Hermes pitched and rolled in the heavy seas, her 28,000 tons battling with the ocean. Just as I thought I would be frozen to the deck, salvation. A “chochead” called forward the first stick. I heard someone shout “Thank Christ for that” as we rushed forward and entered the Sea King. ‘Now the textbook says that the Sea King has a voluminous fuselage, and so it does if the team is wearing just T-shirts and shorts. But here we were, tooled up for the raid with bergens, webbing and weapons, which meant there was **** all room for any of us. Thank Christ we didn’t have any GPMGs or Milans. I wedged myself in a corner and waited for what seemed like an eternity before we lifted off. Then I began to sweat, ****!
‘The noise inside the fuselage was deafening as the helicopter flew low over the pitching ocean towards land, skimming the waves to avoid detection by enemy radar. We didn’t know if they had any on Pebble Island, but better to be safe than sorry. It wasn’t long before we touched down on the island, and once we did we moved like **** to reach the objective. We couldn’t afford to waste any time, the old rust bucket Hermes wouldn’t be hanging around, and anyway our colleagues already on the ground had established safe routes for us.’
The movement to the objective turned out to be uneventful. The Argentinean garrison on the island maintained a poor state of vigilance, which is surprising considering that they must have known that the aircraft would be a target. Nevertheless, the SAS soldiers were in a heightened state of alert as they advanced:
‘I’ll never forget the amount of sheep on Pebble. In Ulster, sheep and cattle are a major problem when moving about in the early hours. If you disturb them they will run wild, which will alert the locals to your activity. So here we were, moving towards the target with thousands of sheep all around us. Fortunately the guys from Boat Troop knew exactly where we could tab fast and where to move with caution. I had this vision of the Argies bumping us and a ****ing great big firefight erupting with all these sheep being caught in the middle and blown to pieces. ‘The mortar rounds we were carrying were dropped off at the base plate, and within an hour of being landed the cut-off group peeled away to take up position and secure the two routes heading towards the airstrip. By this time the cold was beginning to get to everyone. That’s the one thing about the high command; they always find the most inhospitable places for us to fight a war in! I remember thinking how it was like being on top of Pen-y-Fan in winter, only in Brecon it is possible to move off the mountain and take shelter from the wind.’
There were six Pucaras on the airstrip, along with four Turbo-Mentor light aircraft and a Skyvan transport. There were a total of 12 Argentinean Pucaras in the Falklands, and if the SAS could destroy half of them it would be a big bonus for the Task Force. Both sides expected the Pucaras to take a heavy toll of the British after they had landed. However, the soldiers of the SAS had other ideas:
‘The terrain was open and bare, just as we had been told. We approached the airstrip. I could see a large house to my left, which had a line of wind-battered trees to one side. I also made out some outbuildings and what appeared to be a windbreak for the house’s garden. The area was riddled with fences and gates, which were clearly part of a scheme to herd sheep into the pens around the house.
‘I waited with the cut-off group before joining the killer group. Mountain Troop went forward, but then we spotted an enemy sentry and everyone froze. My heart started pounding and I tightened the grip on my M16. Instinctively, I slipped off the safety catch. We thought we had been spotted, but our luck was in, he didn’t see us. We crept onto the airfield and laid charges on seven of the aircraft. Moments later the place erupted as we opened up with our small arms and LAWs. Using three-round bursts, I emptied a magazine into a Pucara, the bullets ripping into the nose and cockpit, sending shards of perspex into the air. Overhead para-flares from Glamorgan lit up the night sky. Where the **** were the Argies?
‘To my left a 66mm rocket slammed into the side of another Pucara, engulfing it in a fireball. The crackle of small-arms fire filled the air as the explosive charges started to detonate. I clipped a fresh mag into my M16 and looked around for fresh targets. By this time all the aircraft were either burning or had been riddled with bullets, their undercarriages shot away and their fuselages full of holes. In the background I heard the crump of artillery shells exploding as Glamorgan fired high explosive rounds into the enemy’s ammunition dump and fuel stores. The opposition was nowhere to be seen. This is too good to be true, I thought. ‘The forward observers had done a champion job. Now they were directing the gunfire to cover our retreat. We did a quick check on the aircraft, trying to identify them all and making sure they were disabled. When you’re on a raid you don’t **** around. Time is precious. If you’ve achieved the element of surprise things go your way for a while. But in fact you’re very vulnerable, and for all you know there might be an enemy battalion behind the nearest hill waiting to fall on you like a ton of ****.
‘Then the raiding party and the cut-off team re-grouped and prepared to move out. Just before we did, we received enemy small-arms fire. One of our boys went down. Instinctively we returned a hail of fire, each man firing controlled bursts from his weapon. Those that had M203s fired grenades at the Argies. It did the trick because we received no more hostile fire. We continued to fall back, more quickly now lest the enemy were re-grouping for another go. The wounded man was grabbed and hauled along (we never leave our wounded behind, it’s an unwritten law in the Regiment). ‘We bugged out at speed, reaching the landing site to await our lift back to Hermes. Bang on time the choppers came in, and a happy D Squadron was lifted out. I for one had expected a heavy firefight when we got to the airfield, but it never materialized. We could have hit the garrison if we had had more time, but as it was we all felt pleased with ourselves.’
The raid had been a total success. For the loss of only one man wounded, the SAS had destroyed six Pucaras, four Turbo-Mentors and a Skyvan. In addition, a large amount of Argentinean ammunition had been destroyed and the commander of the garrison had been killed. Far more important, though, was the fact that there were no Argentinean aircraft on Pebble Island to interfere with the landings at San Carlos Water, and the enemy’s morale had been dented.
Regards & Thanks,
Hist2004