The Battle of Goose Green: A Battle is Fought to be Won

This book tells the story of the battle for Goose Green - the first crucial clash of the Falklands war - through the eyes of the commanders, both British and Argentine, from brigadier to corporal. It follows in detail, with the aid of maps, the 14 hours of vicious infantry fighting of both sides as they struggled for the tiny settlement of Goose Green. The book explains how 2 Para came close to failure as the battalion fought over open ground, in daylight, without adequate fire support against prepared positions. Controversial questions - such as: was it an unnecessary battle? Why did London overrule the brigadier commander’s reluctance to attack? Did Colonel Jones’s solo charge, which won him the VC, decide the issue? - are discussed frankly. The author, himself a former infantry officer, has had the full support of The Parachute Regiment, and has assembled the views and comments of over 45 veterans of all ranks who fought there. AUTHOR: Major Mark Adkin was commissioned into The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment in 1956 and served with it and The Royal Anglian Regiment in Germany, Malaya, Mauritius and Aden. On leaving the British Army he joined the Overseas Civil Service and was posted to the Solomon Islands. Transferred to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, he was one of the last British District Officers anywhere in the world. His final overseas post was as a contract officer for five years with the Barbados Defence Force, and it was as the Caribbean operations staff officer that he participated in the US invasion of Grenada in 1983. He now lives in Bedford and has written books on military subjects, including Urgent Fury, The Last Eleven? andThe Charge, all published by Pen & Sword Books.
50 b/w illustrations, maps