Lamadrid, the Bravest of the Brave

The Bravest of the Brave

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento once said of him:

“General Lamadrid is one of those natural-born figures of the Argentine land. At the age of 14, he began waging war against the Spaniards, and the feats of his romantic bravery go beyond the limits of possibility: he has been in a hundred and forty encounters, in all of which Lamadrid’s sword emerged nicked and dripping with blood; the smoke of gunpowder and the neighing of horses drive him into ecstasy, and as long as he can slash everything before him—cavalry, cannons, infantry—it matters little to him whether the battle is won or lost.

I said he is a natural type of this country, not for his fabulous courage alone, but because he is both a cavalry officer and a poet. He is a kind of Tyrtaeus, inspiring soldiers with war songs—the same bard I mentioned in the first part; he is the gaucho spirit, civilized and devoted to freedom. Sadly, he is not a 'square' general, as Napoleon required; bravery outweighs his other qualities by a hundred to one.”

They say he was an inveterate candy eater.
He was terrified of water and did everything possible to avoid boarding boats and ships.
He would sing vidalitas to his soldiers before battles.

When San Martín took command of the Army of the North in early 1814, replacing Manuel Belgrano—recently defeated at Vilcapugio and Ayohuma—the Dragoon Captain from Tucumán, Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid, served as aide-de-camp to the future Condor of the Andes.

He was present in Tucumán and Salta. Also at Vilcapugio and Ayohuma.
And when he became entangled in the fratricidal civil wars between Unitarians and Federalists, fate took him to a place called El Tala.
There, fortune turned against him.
It was 1827. And he was nearly killed in that battle.

He received eleven saber blows to the head; his nose was broken and the tip dangled over his upper lip. His right ear, nearly sliced in two, hung by a thread of skin. Another slash severed the biceps of his left arm, and a bayonet struck deep into his shoulder blade.

When he fell to the ground, still gripping his saber, they clubbed him with rifle butts, trampled him with their horses, and broke his ribs. As they stripped him of his weapons and clothing, Lamadrid summoned his last strength and shouted, as best he could, that he would not surrender.
His body bathed in blood, they finished him off with a shot to the back.
They left, believing he was dead.

But he survived—against all odds.
And earned the nickname: “The Immortal.”

General Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid was born on November 28, 1795, in Tucumán.

A daguerreotype of the General reveals the true face of the warrior.
And a photograph of the bullet that was removed from his back—the one that shattered his shoulder blade—is on display at the National Historical Museum.

 

Malvinas: Bombs Away! (Part 2)

Bombs Away! (Part 2)

The second part of An intimate, marvellous and moving account by Mr Captain JOSÉ NICOLÁS PAGANO
(Navigator of a Canberra aircraft)
ACCOUNT DATE: 4 June 1982

The story continues...

We were flying on a bombing mission.
Above the clouds, there was a huge moon and a dark blue sky; we levelled out.
I was tracking the navigation minute by minute, occasionally "drifting" to thoughts of my wife and kids.

— N: Oxygen.
— P & N: Sufficient, two lines flowing normally.
— N: Electrics.
— P: 28 volts, all dark, generator lights off.
— N: Engines.
— P: RPM, pressure, and temperatures all normal.

After the silence that followed the checks, the radar from Puerto Argentino, operated by Major SILVA, called us. He would be our guide to the target and would alert us if we were intercepted.
— No hornets (enemy fighters).



One less worry — only the Sea Dart missiles from the frigates remained a threat. Perhaps the absence of “hornets” was thanks to the tireless work of the beloved “FÉNIX” Squadron.
We flew over the cushion of clouds far below. We entered the island via the Federal Peninsula.

— Open bomb bay doors.
— PUMA - RADAR, confirm heading for final run, looks like they’re spreading slightly.
— Affirmative, final run heading 140°.
— LINCES - RADAR, stand by... 1 and 2, fire range... NOW! ... Number 3, correct 5° to the right, perfect ... standby ... NOW!

Eighty seconds of flight — and the eighteen bombs from the “LINCE” were released. The “PUMA” bombs followed right behind.
Below us, the thick cushion of clouds lit up with the glare of the explosions.

— LINCES and PUMAS - RADAR: GOOD HIT!!! Stay calm, no hornets, and thank you.
— Thanks to you for the support. (A Quechua accent)
— Let’s thank the Lord God!!!



I began to entrust the fallen enemies and their families to God — for we truly dropped those bombs without hatred — when the calm, battle-hardened voice of the radar operator warned us:
— Attention “LINCES” and “PUMAS”, hornets on the tail of the “PUMAS”, 25 miles... 23... go full throttle and try to climb if you can.
— “PUMAS” going full throttle.
— 20 miles... 19... stay calm, I think they’re turning back... 18 miles... they’re no longer closing in... they’re turning back.

Ten relieved sighs echoed inside our oxygen masks.
From their baptism of fire, our noble birds had cleansed their “Original Sin” of having been born in the land of the usurpers (the Canberra aircraft is of British origin).

Again, the alarmed voice!
— Attention, the returning “LINCE” is alone, it has a radar echo ahead at 15 miles, turn immediately to starboard, heading 290°.

We all turned hastily. I miscalculated nervously and dropped the chaff (a rudimentary electronic countermeasure) and a flare — which exploded and made the pilot think it was a missile. I earned quite a few "congratulatory" remarks (they remembered my mother) for not giving prior warning.



Once more, the radar chimed in during those tense moments:
— It’s disappeared — must’ve been a missile.

We kept flying, now more relaxed.
— LINCE “ONE” to “TWO”, I’ve lost an engine.

Due to power loss, we all overtook him — he fell to the rear of the formation, but he was still flying.

We landed...
The Canberras had completed yet another mission!
I embraced Warrant Officer LUIS SÁNCHEZ, an old armourer, as the night filled with cheers and caps flying through the air.

Before falling asleep with the rosary between my fingers, I thought about those fighting, those giving what little they had, the pride of the families of those who fought with honour, and a friend’s home where their children prayed each night for our dead — and theirs — and asked God “so the English wouldn’t steal the Malvinas from us again.”

Mount Longdon: The Letter of Private Albert Petrucelli

The Letter of Private Alberto Petrucelli (7th Mechanised Infantry Regiment)

Malvinas 1982

This is the story of a letter that was never sent to its addressee, written by the Argentine soldier Alberto Daniel Petrucelli before he was killed in action during the Battle of Mount Longdon, in the Malvinas, in 1982.




Although this letter did not come directly into my hands, I learned about it thanks to the kindness of Malvinas veteran Fernando Arabio. We got chatting after I posted on social media about the circumstances in which Sergeant Ian McKay, a British soldier of the 3rd Battalion of The Parachute Regiment, was killed while assaulting Argentine positions on Mount Longdon on the night of 11–12 June 1982. The Argentine soldier Alberto Daniel Petrucelli had been born on 18 October 1962 in the Federal Capital, and in the Malvinas he formed part of the First Rifle Group, Second Section, B “Maipú” Company, 7th Mechanised Infantry Regiment “Coronel Conde”.

The letter is addressed to Nancy, Alberto Petrucelli’s girlfriend, and is dated 29 May 1982. It is possible that he wrote it at a moment when he was left on his own because Corporal Gustavo Pedemonte, the group commander, and soldiers Enrique Ronconi (A Team Leader) and Felipe Ramírez (B Team Leader) had gone out on patrol to carry out a forward observation on the Murrell River. It is written on a sheet of Government Telegraph Service, Falkland Islands, stationery which Corporal Pedemonte himself had given him. Pedemonte in turn had received it from another soldier who had managed to get hold of some of the stationery that was seized in the house of the British governor Rex Hunt after Operation Rosario.



In the letter “from a hero to his official girlfriend” (as he himself headed it), Private Petrucelli conveys his deep love for his girlfriend and other feelings he was harbouring, from a strong faith in God and in the Virgin who protected him, to uncertainty about how events would unfold, which had remained unchanged since 1 May. Not least is his mention of that very day on which he was writing, when he was delighted to see snow start to fall and then disappointed shortly afterwards because the snow turned into British shells. The paragraph begins by telling her that he was well and that he would stay “escondidito” (“nicely hidden”), just as she had asked him to do in previous letters. However, in another passage of the letter Petrucelli wrote that he felt like crying but did not, because he “made himself strong and felt like a man”.



During the assault on the Argentine positions, carried out by the 3rd Battalion of The Parachute Regiment, Privates Alberto Petrucelli and Enrique Ronconi together with Corporal Gustavo Pedemonte brought down Sergeant Ian McKay, who fell on the edge of the foxhole they occupied. An hour later Private Julio Maidana joined the position and began refilling the magazines with two or three rounds at a time so that they could keep firing without delay. The three soldiers died heroically when a grenade managed to get into the foxhole and its explosion killed them. Corporal Pedemonte, who was at one end of the hole and shielded by the bodies of the soldiers, was hit by shrapnel in a leg and a buttock but survived. Afterwards, when the British soldiers who had approached the position moved away, he was able to climb out of the foxhole to seek help desperately for his men.

Private Gareth Rudd, belonging to the machine-gun team of 3rd Section, 2nd Platoon, A Company, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, told his comrade David J. Reeves that after the assault on Mount Longdon the British held firm in their defensive positions to protect themselves from the Argentine field artillery fire that was pounding them. Later, he went out with another soldier to patrol the northern side of Mount Longdon and they discovered the bodies of Sergeant Ian McKay and of the soldiers who had died with him while assaulting an Argentine position that had been very well constructed. They searched the position and found the bodies of three Argentine soldiers, pulled them out of the foxhole and laid them alongside the fallen British. The Argentine soldiers were better equipped with clothing and boots for the climate of the Malvinas, and as it was bitterly cold, Gareth Rudd took the duvet from one of the dead soldiers in an attempt to keep himself warmer. He then informed a non-commissioned officer about the bodies they had found and went back to his own shelter, as the Argentine artillery fire had started up again.



Gareth Rudd was part of the group of British soldiers who wrapped that whole group of dead British and Argentine soldiers in ponchos. It was not until he reached Puerto Argentino and settled with other soldiers in one of the houses that, when checking the pockets of the duvet, he discovered the letter from Alberto Petrucelli to his girlfriend Nancy. The letter ended up being kept in a wardrobe where he also had photographs, newspaper cuttings, maps and his own correspondence with his family.

More than forty years later, Mr David J. Reeves got in touch with Fernando Arabio and sent him the letter and the note in which his comrade Gareth Rudd told him how he had found it. Fernando managed to contact Mrs Nancy, who now lives in Chile with her family. At first, Mrs Nancy agreed to receive the letter, but in the end she decided not to, perhaps because of the memories it would stir up. Fernando then contacted Gustavo Pedemonte and the letter was donated to be placed on public display in the Museum of the 7th Mechanised Infantry Regiment.

Malvinas: The Navigator of a Canberra Bomber (Part 1)

The Navigator

Account taken from the book WITH GOD IN THE SOUL AND ALCOHOL IN THE HEART
Narrated by: Captain Pastran – Canberra Pilot
Date: Night of 13 June 1982

At the aircraft flown at II Air Brigade, based in the city of Paraná, camaraderie and team spirit are vital, for the Canberra’s crew consists of a pilot and a navigator. A team was precisely what we became throughout the whole war—my course-mate, friend, and navigator, Captain Fernando Juan Casado, and I. For nine years we served together at the same postings: six years at II Brigade and three at the Military Aviation School, until we returned to Paraná in December. We also went to war together.

Our callsign that day was “Baco”.

On the final armed raid carried out by the Argentine Air Force, on 13 June 1982 at 22:55 hours, once the mission had been completed and the bombs released—only six hours before the ceasefire—our aircraft was struck by a British missile and fell into the sea. I managed to eject; he remained forever in our Malvinas. Sadness overwhelmed me, yet I accepted God’s will, for only He knows what awaits each of us.

When I hit the water, the shock of the cold was tremendous. My hands froze almost instantly, making it extremely difficult to inflate the life raft. My reactions were slow, even though my mind urged haste, for I knew my life depended on it; without the anti-exposure suit I would not have survived more than a minute before suffering cardiac arrest. By God’s grace I managed to inflate my life jacket and raft, free myself from the parachute, and climb onto my fragile little means of salvation. In the moment when I could not inflate the raft, I thought God had abandoned me, but I later realised that was not so.

Then came that terrible night, shivering with cold and navigating by the light of the flares fired during the final battle for Puerto Argentino. I knew that, even if only slightly, the bombs I had dropped on a concentration of British troops and equipment had delayed the final assault.

Everything unfolded just as we had been taught in our survival classes. When I finally reached the coast, it was extremely hard to get out of the water due to the exhaustion of the mission, the strain of ejecting, and the supreme effort of navigating through the night in a tiny raft upon the immensity of the sea.



I searched for shelter to avoid freezing during the night. Soon I found a crevice between some rocks and covered myself with the rubber dinghy. I kept my hands and feet moving constantly while fighting against sleep, fearing that I might never wake again. In the morning of 14 June, I began to walk; the disorientation and cold were intense, until I managed to orient myself by the sight of a helicopter flying from Darwin towards Puerto Argentino.

As I walked, I sang and whistled, trying to keep my spirits up—already greatly diminished by the loss of my closest friend and the situation I was enduring. Later I was taken prisoner by the British, who already held control of the entire island. They truly treated me very well; I could almost say as though I had been one of their own.

That same night, General Moore informed Brigadier Castellano that I had been rescued, though the news only reached my home on the 15th; for two days my family lived with the sole information that I was “missing in action”. After that came the uncertainty of captivity.

I was told that when General Moore spoke to Brigadier Castellano in Puerto Argentino, he asked how we managed to bomb with such accuracy with the Canberra, and how we knew the location of his command post, as it had been hit twice. He had survived only because he happened to be inspecting British positions at the time. That was a source of pride for our Group.

Lastly, I wish to pay tribute to Captain Casado and, through him, to all the brave and devoted navigators of the Argentine Air Force.

Before 1 May, the Canberras carried out reconnaissance and exploration sorties over the Islas Malvinas.
During the war they executed 35 combat sorties, 25 of them at night, performing low-level and high-altitude bombing runs and dropping nearly 100,000 pounds of bombs.

Among their honoured dead in combat were Captain Casado, Lieutenant De Ibáñez, and First Lieutenant “Coquena” González.

Malvinas: Machine Gunner Conscript Oscar Ledesma Remembers H. Jones

Those Things of War...

Lieutenant Colonel Herbert "H" Jones was the highest-ranking British officer killed during the Malvinas War. He commanded the British Parachute Regiment and was a legend among his men. He was killed in action by Argentine conscript Oscar Ledesma, who was 19 years old at the time and in charge of the only functioning MAG machine gun in his group. Years later, the Argentine soldier wrote a heartfelt letter to Jones’s widow, Sara.

Open Letter to Sara (widow of Herbert Jones)

"Time acts in accordance with our deeds, and memory is shaped by our actions."

"At the age of just 19, I found myself facing the British 2nd Parachute Regiment on the morning of 28 May 1982, during the battle of Darwin Hill. Regardless of how the events unfolded, nothing can erase from my heart and mind the memory of that terrible confrontation."

"Eventually, I had to pull the trigger and bring down an adversary. At no moment did I feel hatred in doing so, nor did I ever boast about it or take joy in the act. I had no choice—I had to protect my fellow soldiers, who watched in terror as a Para assaulted their position, unaware that just a few metres away, my machine gun was waiting. Just as I did not know who that daring soldier was—who, in a display of astonishing bravery, charged an Argentine position."

"Once the battle ended, I offered a prayer for all those who had fallen, and I asked God to comfort their families."

"It has always weighed on me that I never had the chance to look you in the eye and tell you that your husband died as a brave soldier, and that his former adversary honours him every day with the utmost respect—just as I honour all the fallen."

"I offer you my deepest respects, and to your children as well—heirs of a valiant warrior."

Oscar Ledesma

Beagle Crisis: Depth Charges Against the Chilean Submarine Hyatt

Testimonies – Beagle Conflict 1978: “Attack the Enemy Submarine”

“In ’78, I was a Second-Class Petty Officer in the Argentine Navy, serving aboard the landing ship ARA Cabo San Antonio. During the Beagle Conflict, we were transporting Marine Infantry troops and supplies towards the south.

At the outset, when we set sail, we were told that we would be navigating without radio communication with higher command, so that the Chileans could not intercept our transmissions.

One evening, at dusk, we supposedly detected a Chilean submarine beneath our ship (which was said to have crossed into Argentine territorial waters). As time passed and it remained there, it was decided to attack it.

I don’t know whether that decision came from higher up (as radio silence was in place) or from our ship’s commanding officer.

Depth charges were dropped, fearing that the submarine might attack us, and hoping that this defensive action would drive it away.

The next morning, at dawn, oil-like patches were spotted on the surface, along with bits of metal or tin, or something of that sort. We never knew what it really was...

We served our country, and we would do it again.”

(Gonzalez, Juan Carlos – Argentine veteran, Beagle Channel Conflict)

5th Marine Batallion: The Experience of An NCO

Account of a Marine Non-Commssioned Officer – Company “OBRA” – BIM5 Ec (Part 1)

Extracted from: Revista Desembarco – Volume 12

 

 

Petty Officer Roberto Tejerina recalls:

"I went to Malvinas as part of the Advance Party of BIM5 Ec, assigned to the Forward Platoon. Upon arrival at the airport, the Commander and some members of the Staff went ahead to receive orders; we remained at the airport. Later, we moved forward in a truck to the shearing shed near Moody Brook, where we spent the night.

Early the next day, 9 April, we set out on foot toward tentative zones where we were to take up positions. The Commander accompanied us on foot, gave us our primary fields of fire and the sector to occupy, and ordered us to draft a Tentative Fire Plan, along with requests for fire and logistical support. That same day, the Company Commander arrived. I briefed him on what had been done, and after inspecting the area, he submitted the requests and the Fire Plan. Among other things, he requested additional support weapons, communications equipment and a vehicle — which was never provided, so all equipment and supplies had to be carried on our backs."

Petty Officer Tejerina was the Company Sergeant Major of Company “OBRA” (also referred to as “Oscar” or “O”) of BIM5 Ec. In reality, OBRA, with fewer than 80 men, was closer to a reinforced platoon than a full company.

From its arrival in Malvinas on 8 April until 14 June, this company successfully completed three distinct missions:

1. First Mission (8–16 April): Defensive position on Wireless Ridge, protecting the northern sector of Puerto Argentino’s initial defences.

2. Second Mission (17 April – 8 June): Upon arrival of Mechanised Brigade X, the unit was repositioned to the eastern slopes of Mount Tumbledown, serving as the battalion’s reserve. During this phase, it performed all the demanding tasks expected of a reserve unit, including logistical efforts which, while tactically inadvisable, were practically unavoidable.

3. Third Mission (5–14 June): As an advance combat element, it engaged enemy attacks.

Company OBRA was the smallest rifle company in BIM5 Ec, yet it participated in all unit exercises and was routinely assigned roles as reserve or forward security. It was known for being highly cohesive and close-knit. Its successive company commanders —young and modern— gained considerable experience and developed a strong bond with the unit, shared also by the NCOs.

Years prior, OBRA had been stationed in Ushuaia, specialising in medium and low mountain combat and southern terrain operations. Later, it relocated to Río Grande, becoming a permanent part of the battalion, but retaining its distinctive spearhead spirit.

In 1981, the company conducted numerous live-fire combat exercises with air support. Under the leadership of Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Alberto Calmels, it became a well-trained and highly motivated team. The company specialised in heliborne operations, conducting extensive helicopter training. Their repeated assignments as reserve force, heliborne unit, and security element enabled them to gain solid experience in assault planning, counterattack execution, and independent operations across broad sectors.

At the end of January 1982, Sub-Lieutenant Calmels handed command of “O” Company to Sub-Lieutenant Ricardo Quiroga. From February to late March, the company conducted patrols and field exercises, fostering cohesion and strong camaraderie. During the retaking of Malvinas, they were in the midst of a 15-day campaign.

Marine Petty Officer Second Class Roberto Tejerina, Company Sergeant Major, was in his second year in that role and served as an essential pillar in the company’s leadership. The company was composed of three rifle groups, a weapons section with three 60 mm mortars, two 7.62 mm machine gun teams, and four rocket launchers (only two of which were operational; the rest travelled with the baggage train). In Malvinas, additional reinforcements arrived, including Petty Officer Orozco from the reconnaissance section, who took command of the Support Weapons Section.

"We conducted many foot reconnaissance missions to familiarise ourselves with the terrain since we were the battalion reserve."

On Wireless Ridge – Mount Longdon

Company O / BIM5 Ec deployed on the designated height (1800 metres east of the Royal Marines’ Barracks) and spent 10 April organising its defensive position. The company deployed in an arc formation, with its three groups in the front line. Main fields of fire were directed westward, toward Moody Valley and Mount Longdon (positioned on its reverse slope), and northward toward Murrell Valley. Support fire was to be provided by 106.6 mm mortars, with a detailed white point fire map.

According to Petty Officer Tejerina, the number of dead zones was “countless,” so double listening posts were established at 150 and 300 metres ahead of the main position. On that same day, Petty Officer Second Class Orozco, Corporal Second Class Daniel A. Carrasco, and additional ammunition and field equipment joined the company.

Tejerina celebrated his birthday on 17 April:

“That day, I received —right on time— a parcel from home with a 5 kg chocolate cake, which I shared with everyone, down to the last conscript. It coincided with Easter celebrations, for which the battalion logistics team (N.B.: referring to the ZOSERU – Unit Service Zone) had distributed plenty of chocolates, some Easter pastries, and cigarettes.
Celebrating birthdays wasn’t unusual — the company always celebrated them, at least since I joined. In Río Grande, we grouped birthdays by month, and even the Commander often attended those gatherings.”

 

Life on the Trenches

Tejerina states:

“The period we spent as reserve was active and exhausting. We not only had to establish our primary positions, but also set up two alternate positions, and plan and prepare for counterattacks toward Tumbledown and Sapper Hill.

What drained us most, however, was our proximity to BIM5’s command post — we were constantly assigned extra duties, such as transporting supplies or building positions for other units. That frustrated me, as these logistical burdens were contrary to tactical doctrine, which clearly states that frontline troops should not be used for such tasks.

I raised the issue with the Company Commander and the Battalion Sergeant Major, Petty Officer First Class Hernández, who acknowledged the problem but couldn’t resolve it. Fortunately, these tasks decreased as the battalion’s positions became more consolidated."

“Luckily, we had weekly access to showers at SPAC (the Amphibious Group’s logistics unit in Puerto Argentino) until 1 May. Afterwards, we took rest days in Puerto Argentino, also at SPAC’s shed. Not everyone managed to follow this routine, but it was still a relief.

We never lacked food. As reserve, we always had hot meals — even under fire. Oddly enough, everyone was constantly hungry and smoked heavily, perhaps due to tension. Cigarette rations had to be limited, and Charlie rations (combat rations) strictly monitored.

We had no issues with clothing distribution. I had a full reserve of kit for the company, stored in the lower compartment of each soldier’s 2-in-1 backpack, since our unit didn’t receive the TEMPEX backpacks, except for a few NCOs.

For building positions, we used the famous crowbars made in Río Grande, ordered by Sgt. Maj. Hernández, who had the foresight to see that our standard tools wouldn’t work with Malvinas soil.

Using materials to reinforce our positions became problematic. Troops sourced them from nearby structures in the settlement, prompting constant complaints from the Kelpers. The materials included posts, wires, metal sheets, timber, and 220-litre drums."

“As an anecdote: once, Midshipman Accountant Pellegrino, part of the ZOSERU, came to our company’s command post asking us to send a platoon to collect food he’d left 500 metres behind, as he couldn’t advance due to enemy fire. When we fetched the thermal food containers, they were riddled with shrapnel. They’d lost all liquid — but not the food. This sparked a surge of morale among the conscripts, who shouted:

¡Viva la Patria! Viva Midshipman Pellegrino!”