With 3 Para to the Falklands

With 3 Para to the Falklands by Graham Colbeck, Greenhill Books, London, 2002, 224 pp., $29.95

Graham Colbeck served as a sergeant in the Milan antitank platoon of the British army's 3d Battalion, Parachute Regiment (3 Para), throughout the dramatic 1982 campaign to eject the invading Argentine forces from the Falkland Islands. Colbeck's battalion played a key role in the conflict, Operation Corporate, as highlighted in this well-written and interesting chronicle.

After a 40-day, 8,000-mile voyage on board the cruise liner Canberra, 3 Para and other units, filled with nervous anticipation, landed at Port San Carlos on 21 May 1982. This was in the middle of winter in the southern hemisphere, and the cold temperatures and rainy weather had a marked impact on tactical operations. The battalion "tabbed" (marched) to Teal Inlet and onward, with the Argentine-defended Mount Longdon as its objective.

During 3 Para's attack on Mount Longdon on 11 June 1982, B Company was severely mauled by the Argentines. "B Company's battle had not been the fluid, steadily advancing 'Deliberate Attack' of the textbook that we all knew and had trained for," Colbeck notes, "instead it consisted of a confused succession of independent attacks by various sized groups of men." Uncommon bravery on the battlefield that night was shown by Sergeant Ian McKay's courage and intrepid leadership that was recognized by a posthumous award of the Victoria Cross, Great Britain's premier gallantry decoration, and in many other heroic actions. A number of tactical errors were also made, as Colbeck notes in a candid assessment of the battle. During the 9-hour battle to capture Mount Longdon and the subsequent Argentine shelling, 3 Para suffered 23 men killed and 47 wounded. The Argentines surrendered on 14 June 1982.

With 3 Para to the Falklands was published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Falklands campaign. This worthwhile and superbly illustrated volume, in addition to being the memoir of a participant, highlights the indispensable role of ground soldiers in achieving battlefield victory.

HAROLD E. RAUGH, JR.

LTC, U.S. Army, Retired

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Army Armor Center
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group