ORBAT of British Land Forces TF during the Falklands War. The sudden invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentinian Troops on the 2nd of April 1982 sparked an undeclared war with the United Kingdom. A 🧵
@EngageStrategy1 @LawDavF @battle_order @WarDiaryF82 #RoyalNavy
1. The British Government quickly created a Taskforce to retake the Falklands by force if diplomatic methods failed. The TF needed to travel 13,000 km and transport enough men, equipment, and supplies for an amphibious landing
2. The Land Forces were made up of two non-mechanised infantry brigades: 3 Commando Brigade and 5 Infantry Brigade. 3 Commando was constituted of x3 Royal Marine Commando battalions and x2 Parachute battalions. Together they made up the bulk of the infantry force of the brigade
3. They were supported by x18 105mn guns from the 29 Commando regiment and x5 105mn guns attached to 2nd Parachute Battalion.
4. A key consideration for British commanders at the time was air defence. It was quickly assessed that the x42 Harriers brought by the Carrier Battle Group would not be enough to gain air superiority
5. Therefore, increased importance was put on the ground air defence systems brought by the TF. Blowpipes and Stingers (only used by SAS) MANPADS, and x12 Rapier air defence systems were relied on the mitigate the threat of air attacks.
6. The Rapiers could not be easily transported by vehicle or hand-carried. Therefore, Sea King helicopters were put on permanent call to transport the system as well as to provide ammunition and petrol for the Rapiers’ generators
7. Overall, Unsuitable roads and the complicated geography of the Falklands required constant use of the limited helicopter force to supply the brigade.
8. In addition, the helicopter force had to airlift most of the brigade’s artillery, which left the British commandos and soldiers to march during most of the campaign to retake the islands
9. The lack of helicopters is explained by the lack of space dedicated to them in the TF’s fleet. Since both carriers needed to have as many fighters as possible to contest the Argentinian air force, relatively few transport helicopters were brought in
10. 3 out of the 4 chinooks that were available were also sunk with the Atlantic Conveyor after being hit by two Exocet missiles (@byMBDA 👀), further reducing the airlift capacity of the TF
11. Special Forces played a major role for the TF by doing reconnaissance on the islands and conducted a series of raids to distract the Argentinians from the landing of 3 Commando in San Carlos on the 21st of May
12. 5 Infantry Brigade was a slightly lighter force with x3 infantry battalions, an engineer regiment, x1 air defence squadron and x1 field battery
END. Together, the two brigades fought on the east Falklands to secure Stanley and its airstrip, where most of Argentina’s ground and air forces were stationed. By the night of the 13th of June, Stanley fell into British control, and a ceasefire was declared on the 14th
Corrections:
Replaced the section icon with the platoon icon for Troop 16 Field Ambulance under 3 Para
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