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| Argentinian Trench |
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| Camilla Creek (from Trench) |
I thought it would be a bit different to do a BFT with a local historian and was this ever the best thing to do! His knowledge was amazing, full of facts and anecdotal stories and he never repeated himself once! He has us captivated for four hours. The afternoon started with High Tea at Darwin House before we were collected and driven off road and cross country in his 4 x 4 towards Camilla Creek. The water looked pretty grey and I didn’t envy those engineers who would have had to have waded in order to build the bridges. For 2 Para it was then uphill. We were shown the Argentinian trenches and it wasn’t difficult to understand why they had been placed here. Their view was panoramic.
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| position of sniper |
At Darwin Hill we were shown the site where the sniper had been situated that killed Col H Jones. An incredibly weathered metal post that, had it not been pointed out, you would never know it was there. The spot where Col H Jones fell is marked with a memorial and the plaque is gleaming, tended by regular visitors. Our tour culminated in Goose Green the surrender was negotiated. The British were only expecting 80 odd men to march out. They were met by over 150. More were to come and an additional 900 men surrendered. In all 50 Argentines were buried and 1200 POW taken. What I found most incredible was the fighting force of 2 Para and how a battalion of 450 men took on an enemy four times its size. The story didn’t end there for 2 Para. We were told how they remained in Goose Green to clear ordnance and war debris an action believed to have reduced combat stress?
What a fantastic afternoon, and there were left over cakes for the journey back to camp!
