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Falkands War order of battle: British ground forces

This is a list of British ground forces in the Falklands War. For a list of ground forces from Argentina, see Argentine ground forces in the Falklands War

Land Forces

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Operation Corporate command structure 1982
 
D-day at San Carlos

The land forces employed by the United Kingdom during the Falklands War amounted to a divisional sized formation, named as Land Forces Falkland Islands, consisting of two brigades:

  • 3 Commando Brigade - formed primarily by the Royal Marines, 3 Commando Brigade was the primary British rapid reaction force, tasked with reinforcing the NATO northern flank in Norway in the event of war with the Soviet Union in Europe. 3 Commando Brigade was the formation with most experience of amphibious operations. In its NATO role, 3 Commando Brigade was reinforced by the Dutch Korps Mariniers. However, the situation required reinforcement by British units, with the result that 2nd & 3rd Battalions of the Parachute Regiment were reassigned from 5 Infantry Brigade.
  • 5 Infantry Brigade - the UK's main "out of area" reaction formation, tasked with operations outside the European theatre. At the time, it would normally be formed using two battalions of the Parachute Regiment, together with the UK based Gurkha battalion. However, since both 2 PARA and 3 PARA were used to reinforce 3 Commando Brigade for the initial landings in the Falklands, 5 Brigade was reinforced with two battalions of Foot Guards then on public duties in London along with the Gurkha battalion. These were chosen since they were immediately available, as they were neither on internal security duties in Northern Ireland nor attached to BAOR. The brigade was further strengthened by No. 63 Squadron RAF Regiment, (based at RAF Gütersloh, Germany, initially to provide additional Short Range Air Defence (SHORAD) of land forces landing at San Carlos Water.[citation needed]

Land Forces HQ

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Memorial plaque to the Commando Logistic Regiment at Ajax Bay,

3 Commando Brigade

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Commander: Brigadier JHA Thompson

 
Task organization of UK 3 Commando Brigade in Falklands War

^1 - Replaced by Lt Col David Chaundler

5 Infantry Brigade

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Commander: Brigadier MJA Wilson

Infantry weapons

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A L2-A2 fragmentation grenade

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Britain's Small Wars". Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Guns of the Falklands War"

Sources

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