Podcast S4 #053 Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre Return To Top Malo House

“This operation, and others carried out by the Cadre in this war epitomized the professional standards demanded in the latter half of the twentieth century by all members of the corps to which they belonged: the Royal Marines. The cadre was an elite within an elite.“

– Major General Julian Thompson

Overview

The next podcast is out Thursday 14 December 2023 with guest former Royal Marine and member of the Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre Nige Devenish. Nige was my guest back on podcast # 046 when we discussed his career in the cadre and their part on Operation CORPORATE during the Falklands war in 1982.  I would like to thank Traighana Smith News Editor at Falklands Radio for providing extracts of interviews conducted by the station with former Cadre veterans. 

Discussion

On this podcast we talk about his recent visit to the Falklands, his first since 1982, with other cadre veterans to lay a memorial stone at the site of the battle for Top Malo House.  We discuss the battle in detail and his thoughts on the other battle sites he visited.  We also talk about the contribution made by Falkland islanders to the campaign and what the island is like today. 

I would like to thank Traighana Smith News Editor at Falklands Radio for providing extracts of interviews conducted by the station with former Cadre veterans. 

Memorial Stone Dedication

The following pictures were taken at the site of Top Malo house as part of the dedication to the stone memorial.

Account Of The Battle By Julian Thompson

The following account is from Julian Thompson who commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands campaign.

‘Royal Marines – From Sea Soldiers to Special Forces’ by Julian Thompson
ISBN 0 33- 37702 7. First published by Sidgwick & Jackson (2000)
Pan Books (Pan McMillan) (2001)

As he crawled forward over the bare landscape, Captain (Rod) Boswell tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, conscious that his and his companions green disruptive-pattern camouflage uniforms stood out on the snow-covered ground. The dark window in the upper floor of the house where an enemy Special Forces patrol was holed up was like an eye watching them as they inched forward. When Boswell judged they were close enough to the house and in full view of their own fire group out to a flank supporting them, he ordered, ‘Fix bayonets,’ and fired a green mini flare, the signal for the fire group to fire 6 66mm light anti-armour rockets at the house. At the first bang, a sentry appeared in the window on the upper floor. Corporal (Steve) Groves shot him with a sniper rifle. The house burst into flames as the 66mm
rockets slammed in. Boswell and his assault group charged forward, halted, fired two more 66s into the house and charged again. Their quarry ran out of the house into the small stream bed close by, firing as they ran. Sergeant (Terry) Doyle fell, hit in the shoulder, followed by Corporal (Steve) Groves, wounded in the chest. Ammunition in the building exploded, the assault group momentarily recoiling in the blast, before
running forward, now shielded from their opponents in the stream bed by smoke billowing from the burning building. The enemy commander, trying to make a break for it, was killed by two 40mm projectiles fired from M79 grenade launchers by Corporal (Matt/Barney) Barnacle and Sergeant (Mac) McLean. Their adversaries
stood up and threw away their weapons. Five enemy dead, and twelve prisoners, including seven wounded, was the score for a morning’s work by the Mountain & Arctic Warfare (M&AW) Cadre, in its wartime role of the Reconnaissance Troop for 3 rd Commando Brigade, Royal Marines.

The date 31 May 1982, the place East Falkland, the enemy the Argentine invaders. The operation had been part of the preliminaries to 3 rd Commando Brigade’s move out from the beachhead which they had established at San Carlos ten days earlier. On the day of the landings Cadre Observation Posts (Ops) had been flown forward some thirty to forty miles, to features dominating the route the brigade would follow to the key high ground overlooking Port Stanley, the ultimate objective. The OP had seen Argentine Special Forces patrols move into Top Malo House used by shepherds in the summer but deserted in the southern hemisphere midwinter. A radio message back to Boswell’s headquarters sited by the beach, followed by some rapid planning and orders, had seen him and his party of nineteen men inserted by helicopter to a landing zone out of sight of the house. Selecting his approach to make the best use of the terrain, he was in a position to assault and eliminate the main body and headquarters of the Argentine Special Force in that locality. Other enemy Ops along the high ground in the vicinity, discouraged by the loss of their commander and so many of their comrades, walked into surrender to 3r d Commando Brigade units as they marched along the route, now free from unfriendly prying eyes thanks to the Cadre’s work.

This operation, and others carried out by the Cadre in this war epitomized the professional standards demanded in the latter half of the twentieth century by all members of the corps to which they belonged: the Royal Marines. The cadre was an elite within an elite.

Audio Account Of The Battle

The following audio is by Fraser Haddow a troop commander in the cadre describing the opening moments of the attack seen from the advantage point of his covert OP.

Listen To Our First Podcast With Nige Devenish

You can listen to the first pod we recorded with Nige about his career in the cadre via the link below.

Finding The Podcast

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