Now, Alas, the Guns of May

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British saw that they had intercepted reinforcements for the garrison. The British commander of the South Georgia task force decided to advance the timing of his attack. As Royal Marines Spokesman Lieut. Colonel Tim Donkin in London later summed up the decision: "He judged it right to move, and then to move very swiftly."

British naval guns pounded the area around Grytviken to clear a landing zone for helicopters, taking care, meanwhile, to avoid hitting Argentine troop concentrations in order to minimize casualties. When the Royal Marines, backed by a few army troops, finally came ashore, the initial firefight was reportedly brisk and brief. Within two hours after the landing, a white flag was hoisted by the Argentine commander at Grytviken, and a short while later the blue and white Argentine flag was hauled down. After securing Grytviken, the British were able to make radio contact with a second garrison of 16 Argentine soldiers at another harbor, Lieth, some 20 miles away. Those troops refused to surrender, making a further mopping-up necessary. In the end the British captured 156 Argentine soldiers and sailors and 38 Argentine civilians in the operation. Only one man was wounded, a Santa Fe crewman whose leg was later amputated by a British navy surgeon. (Another Argentine was later reported to have died "in a serious incident." The British gave no further details but announced an investigation.) The British promised to return their Argentine prisoners to the mainland. In a gesture of civility uncommon in modern warfare, the commanders of the Santa Fe and the Argentine garrison were entertained at dinner aboard a task-force vessel following the victory. The Argentines, according to Royal Marines Spokesman Donkin, expressed "their gratitude for the humanity" of their captors.

Argentina's response to the South Georgia defeat was to deny that it had taken place. The junta in Buenos Aires maintained that scatterings of Argentine troops were carrying on the battle from specially prepared hideouts in the rugged recesses of the island. That version of events was speedily discounted by the British. Then Argentine military sources argued that the loss of South Georgia had been expected by the junta. There was, however, no disguising the fact that the Argentine military was surprised and shaken by the attack.

The members of the British task force, on the other hand, were elated, perhaps overly so. In a slightly misguided effort to increase the psychological pressure on the Argentines, task-force Commander Woodward indulged in some very un-British braggadocio following the assault. "South Georgia was the appetizer," the rear admiral told British journalists aboard his flagship Hermes. "Now the heavy punch is coming behind. This is the run-up to the big match, which, in my view, should be a walkover." Advised Woodward to the remaining Argentine troops in the Falklands: "If you want to get out, I suggest you do so now. Once we arrive, the only way home will be courtesy of the Royal Navy."

Woodward's ebullient talk prompted winces back in London, and he was quickly chided by his Admiralty superiors. Grumbled an aide to Prime Minister Thatcher: "Boast if you must when you've won. But for God's sake, to tell people in advance that you've got it is not even common prudence."

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