25th Anniversary of the Liberation
of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Issue Date: 2007
On 19 March 1982 an Argentine scrap-metal merchant landed with 39 workmen and a small
detachment of marines at Leith on South Georgia to dismantle the abandoned whaling station.
However, when an Argentine flag was raised, and then taken down after British protests, events
took an unexpected turn. The merchant refused to comply with requests by the Commander of the
British Antarctic Survey team in order to obtain formal authorisation for his enterprise.
More than a week of wrangling between Britain and Argentina culminated in Argentina despatching
two naval vessels to Grytviken to support the forces already at Leith. The conflict had begun.
Following the difficulties being encountered on South Georgia by the BAS team, HMS Endurance
was ordered to leave Port Stanley, Falkland Islands for Grytviken and await developments. On
board were 22 marines and nine members of the old marine detachment NP8901 from Port Stanley.
The Naval Party, later nicknamed ‘Mills Marauders’, was commanded by Lieutenant Keith Mills
RM, subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his part in the heroic action they
fought. Mills and his men were landed on South Georgia from Endurance on 31 March and on
3 April the Argentine Corvette ARA Guerrico and ice patrol ship ARA Bahia Paraiso entered the
cove at King Edward Point. Mills informed them there was a military presence and that any
landing would be strongly resisted. The warning went unheeded and when Lt Mills strode
towards the jetty expecting a boat to be lowered from the Bahaia Paraiso with someone on board
to negotiate, Argentine marines were landed by helicopters and opened fire. The Royal Marines
gave an excellent account of themselves shooting down a helicopter and damaging the Guerrico but
were heavily outnumbered and surrounded on all sides, their withdrawal route cut. Realising they
would sustain unacceptably heavy casualties and that they had caused the Argentines considerable
damage, Lt Mills decided to surrender.
The troops tasked with the recapture of South Georgia (some 196 men in all - 120 from 42 Cdo
RM, 60 from D Sqn 22 SAS and 16 men from SBS) were under overall command of Major Guy
Sheridan RM, second in command of 42 Commando. On 14 April, he was ordered to plan covert
reconnaissance of the Leith and Grytviken areas to determine the strengths and dispositions of
the Argentine troops following which he would make his plan of action. The operation was to be
carried out by patrols from the Special Air Service Regiment and the RM Special Boat Squadron
(SBS). In the meantime the Argentines sent a strong platoon to the island but before the submarine
Santa Fe could land these men, the British Task Group were in South Georgia waters. Phase One
of the reconnaissance operation entailed men being landed by helicopter onto the Fortuna Glacier
to the north of Leith whilst others would be landed in Hound Bay to make their way gradually to
Grytviken.
During the reconnaissance operation, the weather proved to be the biggest enemy. In fact HMS
Endurance and Major Sheridan had advised against putting sixteen men of Mountain Troop D
Squadron 22 SAS Regiment onto the Fortuna Glacier in the conditions likely to be experienced at
that time of the year. However at first light on 21 April conditions seemed suitable for the operation
to proceed. Following one abandonment, troops and equipment were landed. The weather was to
change dramatically during the night of 21 April leaving the Mountain Troop unable to move off
the glacier and without shelter, their tents having been blown away. After enduring 24 hours of
blizzard conditions and intense cold and with environmental casualties, Captain John Hamilton,
in command of the Mountain Troop, radioed at 1100 on 22 April to request immediate extraction.
Involved in the rescue mission were two Wessex 5s (call signs YA and YF) from RFA Tidespring
and the Wessex 3 from HMS Antrim. During the rescue YA crashed and so the Wessex 3 and YF
returned to the crash site and between them took on YA’s load. The Wessex 3 (call sign 406) took
off with YF following. As they made their way down the glacier they crossed a small ridge and
YF struck the top, rolled over on its side and lost radio contact. 406 had to return to HMS Antrim,
disembark its passengers and take on medical supplies and blankets before flying back towards
the glacier. Radio contact was made with the crashed YF who confirmed there were no serious
casualties. Foul weather prevented immediate landing so 406 returned to HMS Antrim to wait for
a break in the weather, flying back later in the day, and although well overloaded, Lt Cdr Stanley
flew the 14 rescued men safely back to Antrim within 35 minutes. For his courage and feats
of airmanship, Lt Cdr Ian Stanley RN was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Stanley’s
Wessex, nicknamed Humphrey, is on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum located at Yeovilton in
the West of England
Hours after Lt Cdr Stanley’s heroic rescue mission another covert reconnaissance team from the
Boat Troop of D Sqn was ordered to go ashore at Grass Island in Stromness Bay from HMS Antrim
in five inflatable boats. Their mission was the same as that for the rescued mountain troop. Two
boats engines failed almost as soon as they were launched; one boat was swept out to sea and
the crew picked up by Lt Cdr Stanley in his Wessex whilst the other managed to make landfall
on Busen Point. They waited five days before switching on their search and rescue beacon in
case they jeopardised the operation. SBS were put ashore successfully in Sörling Valley during
a lull in the blizzard on 23 April but had to withdraw after their rigid inflatable boats were ripped
by small icebergs that had calved from the Nordenskjöld Glacier into Cumberland East Bay. A
submarine contact was made and the Task Group was warned that the Sante Fe was on her way
into Grytviken.
On the morning of 25 April Sante Fe was spotted by Lt Cdr Stanley’s Wessex off Cumberland Bay
and attacked with depth charges. The helicopters from HMS Plymouth and HMS Brilliant were
scrambled but beaten to it by Endurance’s Wasp, piloted by Lieutenant Commander J A Ellerbeck.
Ellerbeck’s Wasp got off two shots and returned to Endurance, reloaded and returned to the fray
before the other helicopters arrived at the scene. Lt Ellerbeck’s third attack was more strongly
opposed but the Wasp escaped damage. By noon the damaged Sante Fe was abandoned alongside
the jetty at King Edward Point. During the landing that afternoon, a Naval Gunfire Direction team
was landed on Dartmouth Point by Lt Cdr Ellerbeck who later also flew Guy Sheridan from the
slopes of Brown Mountain to King Edward Point to take the surrender on 25 April 1982. After just
23 days, Lt Cdr Ellerbeck had witnessed the beginning and the end of the Argentine occupation and
was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The Wasp helicopter is also currently at the Fleet
Air Arm Museum.
Meanwhile, the arrival of the Santa Fe at the jetty at King Edward Point provided Guy Sheridan
with the opportunity to seize the initiative and execute a rapid landing to take advantage of the
situation. The bulk of M Company 42 Commando were on RFA Tidespring which had been ordered
to clear the area when information of the Santa Fe’s arrival in the area was received. Being unable
to use them, he formed a scratch force of three small platoons from those marines and troopers
from the SAS remaining on Antrim, a total of 75 men, and prepared to land on Hestesletten,
some 5kms from Grytviken. After a bombardment of naval gunfire from Antrim and Plymouth to
neutralise the landing site and to demoralise the Argentines in King Edward Point, and using Ian
Stanley’s Wessex and the two Lynx helicopters from HMS Brilliant, his force landed on the flat
plains of Hestesletten at 1445 on Sunday 25 April 1982. The Argentine garrison in King Edward
Point and the crew of the Santa Fe surrendered at 1745. The 137 prisoners taken were housed in
the BAS buildings at King Edward Point until their evacuation on RFA Tidespring a few days later.
The small garrison and the scrapmen at Leith surrendered to HMS Plymouth and Endurance the
next morning. Major Guy Sheridan was awarded an Operational OBE.
In 1987 the Foreign Office Antarctic Place Names Committee in London elected to name four
peaks on South Georgia after individuals who had played a leading role in the liberation of the
island. Mills Peak is located at the northern end of the Barff Peninsula, Ellerbeck Peak between
the Sörling Valley and the Nordenskjöld Glacier, Sheridan Peak on the Nordenskjöld Glacier, and
Stanley Peak is in the Cornwall Range above the Fortuna Glacier.
The Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands has chosen to depict each peak
on their Liberation stamps whilst in the foreground, an element inexorably linked with each heroic
individual, is depicted as follows;
25p Ellerbeck Peak 684 metres / Wasp Helicopter
50p Stanley Peak 1263 metres / Wessex 3 Helicopter
60p Sheridan Peak 955 metres / 42 Commando Royal Marines
£1.05 Mills Peak 627 metres / Royal Marines Detachment, HMS Endurance
Souvenir Sheet Border
The border of the souvenir sheet depicts silhouettes of the ships which served as part of Operation
Paraquat:
HMS Conqueror, HMS Antrim, HMS Plymouth, HMS Endurance,
HMS Brilliant, RFA Tidespring, RFA Brambleleaf, RFA Fort Austin
First Day Cover – Raising the Flag
The Union Flag and M Company 42 Commando RM flag flying above King Edward Point, South
Georgia after its recapture.
Technical Details
Designer: Ross Watton
Printer: The Lowe-Martin Group
Stamp Size: 32 x 48mm
Miniature Sheet Size: 82.5 x 125mm .
Watermark: CA Spiral
Process: High resolution stochastic lithography
Acknowledgements
Skip Novak – Mountaineer
Lt Col Guy Sheridan OBE RM
Sarah Lurcock, Postmistress South Georgia
Fleet Air Arm Museum www.fleetairarm.com
Copyright: FI Philatelic Bureau Created and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited