April, the 2nd: The Landing Experience of the Argentine Marines

Lived Experiences During the South Atlantic War 

Account by 𝘑𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪 – 𝘛𝘕𝘐𝘔 𝘝𝘎𝘔 (𝘙)



Malvinas 1982

Landing and Seizure of the Beachhead

It was 04:00 on the 2nd of April 1982 when reveille was sounded. I remember waking up and heading to the bathroom to take a shower and put on the new combat uniform I had packed in my rucksack, which I had brought especially for what I considered the most glorious day of my military career. I was going into combat to fulfil the oath I had made to our flag on 20th June 1974: to defend it with my life if necessary!

Boarding time for the Amphibious Tracked Vehicles (ATVs) was 05:45, and so we did – in order, in silence (despite the commands that could be heard).
At 06:00, the first four ATVs, under the command of CCIM Hugo Jorge Santillán, set off. Among that initial wave was our fellow graduate TCIM Carlos Ramón Schweizer.

I disembarked from the Command ATV, which was led by the Commander of BIM2 and Commander of Task Force 40.1, CFIM Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl. The initial leg of the crossing to the landing beach was made with the ATV hatches sealed shut. For those who have never landed in an amphibious vehicle, it's important to understand that such an approach under those conditions is highly dangerous. Had British forces had the opportunity to open fire on us, we would have become sitting ducks, and many of us would likely have ended up in the cold waters of the South Atlantic, given that the amphibious vehicles we were travelling in were not armoured.

Just before we reached the beach, the top hatches were opened, allowing us to peek out and see the tracer fire streaking through the darkness (it was still night at that hour), clear evidence that fighting had already begun ashore. Naturally, my blood was racing in anticipation of making landfall and entering combat. Fear: NONE. Uncertainty: COMPLETE.



We finally landed without suffering any casualties among personnel or vehicles.
We immediately advanced towards the airport at what was then still Port Stanley. There was no enemy resistance, but we observed that the runway was blocked by vehicles and other obstacles, which would have prevented any aircraft from landing. The Commander gave the order to clear it. Just then, we received word that the vehicles under CCIM Santillán had come under enemy fire. One had been hit multiple times by machine-gun fire, and a conscript had sustained a minor shrapnel wound to the hand.

CFIM Weinstabl promptly ordered the driver of the Command ATV to head towards that position, accompanied by Delta Company under TNIM Di Paola.
We reached the forward position and dismounted from the amphibious vehicles. At this moment, I recall an anecdote involving Carlos Schweizer: as we dismounted, I saw Carlos standing and adjusting the heels of his conscripts to prevent a common wartime injury – being hit in the heels due to improper prone positioning. I shouted at him, “Bizcocho, get down, they’re shooting at us!” He turned around laughing and obeyed. I then told him, “Those recoilless rifles from Di Filippo (SSIM and Head of BIM2’s Recoilless Rifles) are making quite a racket!” To which he replied, “That’s the English mortars firing at us.”
At that moment, I thought, “You die in war without even realising it.” What I had assumed were our own cannons turned out to be enemy fire.

A key shot from one of our recoilless rifles forced the British troops to retreat into the settlement.



The forward elements remounted the vehicles and moved to support the Amphibious Commandos in Moody Brook. However, those forces had already completed their mission and were near Port Stanley from the opposite direction of the BIM2 advance, so Captain Santillán continued his operation to secure the Camber Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the Battalion Companies entered the town without resistance, took control of their designated responsibility zones, and established full control over the population and essential public services.
As we moved into the urban area of Port Stanley, we came under sniper fire. We quickly hit the ground, and I noticed a window where a curtain was being moved by the wind. I requested permission from Captain Weinstabl to return fire at that location, but, in accordance with the initial directive to recover the Islands without bloodshed, he denied my request.

The incident did not repeat, and we resumed our advance, eventually reaching a location where the Commander gathered the Officers of the vanguard. I realised we were in front of a two-storey building that looked like a gymnasium.
Considering that Royal Marines might be hiding inside, I requested permission to search it. Captain Weinstabl authorised me to enter with TCIM Gazzolo and two NCOs.

We entered the building and saw that to access the first floor there were two side staircases. I told Gazzolo to take the right flank with one of the NCOs, and I took the left with the other.




We advanced carefully, given our exposed position, and reached a room where we found five Royal Marines who had apparently surrendered – their five Sterling submachine guns lay on a table with their magazines removed – along with a female police officer.

We conducted a standard search of the British soldiers but did not touch the female officer.
After verifying that the soldiers had no other weapons, they were placed under guard and prepared for transfer to the Prisoner Collection Point (PRP).

But the biggest surprise came when we opened the door to a larger hall and discovered Argentine civilians who had been imprisoned there.
We freed them and sent the prisoners to the PRP.

Malvinas: The Diplomatic Efforts of April

The diplomatic efforts of April

April 3: - The United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 502, which demanded Argentine withdrawal and the initiation of negotiations. Voting in favor of the resolution against Argentina were: USA, France, Guyana, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Togo, Uganda, Zaire and Great Britain. The Soviet Union, China, Poland and Spain abstained. Only Panama voted against. General Mario Benjamín Menéndez was appointed Military Governor of the Malvinas Islands and an extraordinary session of the OAS was requested.
April 5: - The Argentine action caused the resignation of the English chancellor, Lord Carrington. The British Task Force left Portsmouth. The European Economic Community supported the English decision to apply economic sanctions to Argentina and Peru defined its determined support in favor of Argentina.




April 6: - Designated by President Reagan as mediator, General Alexander Haig conferred with the Argentine Foreign Minister, Nicanor Costa Méndez, in Washington.
April 7: - Haig traveled to London. The English ordered a naval blockade of the Falklands. Argentina called up its reserves and Costa Méndez returned to Buenos Aires.
April 8: - Alexander Haig met with the intransigent Margaret Thatcher. Argentina began the airlift to reinforce and supply the troops in Puerto Argentino. The English naval force was already sailing off the Azores Islands. Via the Swiss embassy in Buenos Aires, the United Kingdom reported that, as of 04:00 a.m. GMT on April 12, in a circle of 200 NM, a maritime exclusion zone would be established around the Islands. The novelty came at a time when General Menéndez took office as governor of the Malvinas. Squares, streets, public buildings and numerous private homes in practically the entire country had been flagged with the light blue and white emblem.
April 10: - President Galtieri held a meeting with Haig, recently arrived from London. Meanwhile, another popular demonstration in support of the recovery of the Malvinas Islands was taking place. Galtieri, from the balconies of the Casa Rosada, addressed the protesters.
April 11: - While it was announced that the talks were bogged down, John Paul II urged both countries to abandon extreme attitudes. General Haig returned to London. Dr. Costa Méndez affirmed that the dialogue continued.
April 12: - Haig informed Costa Méndez by telephone, from London, that Great Britain is irreducible. That morning, the Task Force ships had blocked the islands, while the Argentine Sea Fleet remained in its stations.
April 14: - Galtieri informed Reagan by telephone that there was a willingness to find a peaceful solution, Haig returned to Buenos Aires from London. Thatcher's action had received the support of the House of Commons.
April 16: - Haig spoke with Argentine authorities. As if to discourage this second round of talks, the United Kingdom communicated that any ship or aircraft that affected the Task Force, whether civil, commercial or military, would be considered hostile and attacked.
April 17: - In Buenos Aires, Secretary of State Haig emphasized to Argentines that they should trust that the US would achieve a satisfactory solution to national aspirations. He insisted on maintaining an ambiguous political framework that made it clear that the final intention would be the return of the islands to Argentina. General Haig gave the impression of being truthful and sincere, although events conspired against his good intentions.
April 19: - Dr. Costa Méndez requested the application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) before the OAS and General Haig returned to the United States.
April 20: - By 17 votes in favor, none against and four abstentions (USA, Colombia, Trinidad Tobago and Chile), Argentina managed to convene the XX Consultation Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 21 signatory nations of the Treaty of Rio, set for April 26. Meanwhile, the Argentine Air Force planes detected the Task Force entering the TIAR area adopting favorable positions for the battle.
April 22: - General Galtieri inspected the troops stationed in Malvinas. Chile, meanwhile, at the request of the British ambassador in Santiago, agreed to deploy military forces in the south of the country and dispatch its Navy in radio silence to sea, in particular its two Oberon-class submarines. These events worried the Argentine military commanders and affected, to a certain extent, the allocation of forces. Added to this was the collaboration in intelligence and the operation from Chilean territory of Canberra PR-9 photographic reconnaissance aircraft and two C-130 SIGINT communications intelligence aircraft. The Argentine government promulgated Decree No. 757 by which the capital of the Malvinas Islands was designated "Argentine Port."
April 25: - Great Britain declared a total exclusion zone around the Task Force, already in the TIAR area, and attacked the Argentine garrison on San Pedro Island. Argentina firmly protested both attacks before the Security Council.
April 26: - The Military Junta reported that the Argentine forces were ready for combat, up to the last defensive capacity. On this day, five MK-62 Canberra aircraft from Paraná Bombing Group 1 flew from their deployment base, Trelew, to Río Grande on the island of Tierra del Fuego before the start of hostilities. From there, with the callsign “Libra”, they set out for Georgia to repel the British frigates that were attacking the Argentine marines. The squadron was formed by: the B-105, crewed by Major Ramón Vivas and Aldo Escudero; the B-
108, first lieutenants Ricardo Papavero and Hugo Moreno; and B-109, first lieutenants Mario Baeza and Jorge Cardo; all, supported by a KC-130 and a Boeing 707 from El Palomar Transport Group 1, as relays and mission control respectively. This risky operation at the limit of the Canberra's range of action reached the outskirts of Cumberland Bay. At that point, the Control Officer traveling on the B-707 decided to suspend it when he verified, due to the change in the vessels' device, that they had been detected and lost their surprise.

April 30: - Secretary of State Alexander Haig announced the definitive failure of the negotiations. Argentina presented a note to the UN informing that it would make use of the right of self-defense if attacked and, shortly afterwards, President Reagan publicly declared US support for Great Britain in the conflict, followed by the dramatic imposition of an embargo on arms exports and credit operations to the Argentine Republic. Simultaneously, the Chilean Armed Forces completed a deployment in the Southern Zone of the country with similar - or even greater - characteristics than in 1978, when both nations were on the brink of war over the issue of the Beagle Channel. The war was about to begin and no one had seriously tried to prevent it. Late on the southern night of April 30, a Vulcan bomber, registration to Puerto Argentino.

Malvinas: Argentine Troops had Orders not to Kill on April, 2nd

'We had orders not to kill'

Poder Naval

What was the recovery of the Malvinas like from the perspective of an Argentine military officer?

 

Jacinto Batista is the symbol of the reconquest of the Malvinas Islands by the Argentines on April 2, 1982. Jacinto told his story to journalist Guido Braslavsky, from the newspaper Clarín, on April 1, 2002.

He was wearing a wool cap. His face was blackened with combat paint. He carried the weapon close to his body in his right hand and with the other arm he indicated to the English prisoners to remain in line with their hands raised. Jacinto Eliseo Batista is the protagonist of this photo above that traveled the world, becoming a symbol of the taking of Puerto Argentino, on April 2, 1982.

Twenty years later (the article was written in March 2002), approaching his 52nd birthday and less than two months after retiring after 35 years in the Navy, Petty Officer Batista lights his fourth cigarette on a humid morning in Punta Alta and affirms :“I am not homesick for the Falklands. It was a stage in my life and my career. I received an order and followed it. "That's what the State pays me for.".

Probably not all members of the Amphibious Command Group that surrendered to the British behave in the same way as this Columbus-born man, who says he has no interest in returning to the Falklands as a guest or tourist. However, he affirms that “if the State tells me to recover them again I will be there.” Because, like all elite soldiers, Batista is made of a special wood. Amphibious commandos are at the same time divers, paratroopers, commandos and reconnaissance specialists on land and water. They learn to endure everything. They are soldiers trained for war, the exact opposite of many young people who did not choose the Malvinas as their destination, nor do they live in a war and die in it.

Maybe that's why Batista was never afraid. Not even at the beginning when they embarked in Puerto Belgrano aboard the frigate “Santísima Trinidad”, heading in an unknown direction, even with everyone's suspicion that a real operation was being carried out in the Malvinas.

“As soon as we were on the high seas, they gave us the necessary guidance to carry out the mission. We disembarked on April 1, shortly after 9:00 p.m. I was the boat's guide and, from the shoreline, the explorer. We only had night vision equipment and I was the one wearing it, who was ahead for about 200m.”

“We were sure that the English were not expecting us. We walked all night. The targets were the Royal Marines barracks and the governor's house. We had orders not to kill, because the plan was possibly to take the islands and negotiate a withdrawal.

“We separated into two groups. I went to the barracks, but I didn't find anything because the marines were outside guarding the targets. There we raised the Argentine flag for the first time. The group that went to the governor's house, however, encountered resistance and constant shots were heard. “It was almost daylight and the resistance persisted. The first Englishman I met was a sniper with a Mauser rifle. I took it apart. When we met at the house, the situation was almost under control.

The only casualty in this action – the first death of the war – was Captain Pedro Giachino. “When I arrived I was hurt. He had entered the house and, upon leaving, he was knocked down by a soldier who was behind a nearby tree line. I asked him: “What happened to you, Pedro,” and I touched his head. He was conscious, but very pale, he had lost a lot of blood and was dying.

Batista does not remember at what point during that frenetic day the photographer Rafael Wollman took a photograph with the English prisoners. He knows, however, that this image is a relentless portrait of the old imperial lion's wounded pride. “On June 14, they had to look for me to take a photo with my arms raised,” he imagines with a smile.

But the cable was not in Puerto Argentino on the day of the fall: “On April 2 we returned to the continent.” Batista never returned to the islands, but this almost happened when an infiltration mission was planned during the British landing, but the Hercules that would carry them suffered a breakdown on the runway.

“The British were no better than us. They had more means and more support. From Americans and Chileans. But if Argentina had had the firm conviction to fight…” says Batista, leaving the phrase in the middle, like a question.

Source: Clarín