Sapper Hill is on East Falkland

East Falkland

East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has an area of and a coastline long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island...

, Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

, . It is just to the south of Stanley

Stanley, Falkland Islands

Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...

, and is heavily mined from the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

. It is named after a company of sapper

Sapper

A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...

s who were based at Moody Brook

Moody Brook

Moody Brook is a small watercourse that flows into Stanley Harbour on East Falkland, Falkland Islands. It is near Stanley, just to the north west, and was formerly the location of the town barracks, which were attacked in Operation Azul, the 1982 Argentine Invasion of the Falkland Islands.It is...

 barracks.

Falklands War

Mount Tumbledown, Mount William

Mount William

Mount William is a prominent snow-covered mountain, 1,600 m, standing 4 miles north-northeast of Cape Lancaster, the south extremity of Anvers Island, in the Palmer Archipelago. It was discovered on February 21, 1832, by John Biscoe who believed it to be part of the mainland of Antarctic...

 and Sapper Hill lie west of Stanley

Stanley, Falkland Islands

Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...

. Because of its proximity to Stanley, Sapper Hill was of huge strategic importance. They were held by BIM-5, a reinforced, cold weather trained and equipped, marine Argentine battalion. The BIM 5 positions were bombarded, both from the sea by naval gunfire and from the air by the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 Harriers. At 4.30 p.m., on 7 June, a British Harrier bombing positions held by the 5th Marine Battalion was hit by concentrated fire from M Company (under Marine Sub-Lieutenant Rodolfo Cionchi) on Sapper Hill.

As part of the British plan in the Battle of Mount Tumbledown

Battle of Mount Tumbledown

The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement in the Falklands War, one of a series of battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley.-Overview:...

, the 1st Battalion the 7th Gurkha Rifles (1/7 GR) was given the task of capturing the sub-hill of Mount William held by O Company, the 5th Marine Battalion's reserve, and then allow the Welsh Guards

Welsh Guards

The Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation :The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order...

 through to seize Sapper Hill, the final obstacle before Stanley. The attacks was supported by naval gunfire from HMS Active

HMS Active (F171)

HMS Active was a of the Royal Navy. Built by Vosper Thornycroft, Southampton, England, she was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position, the first of the class to be so fitted....

's 4.5 inch gun

4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 8 naval gun

The 4.5 inch Mark 8 is a British naval gun system which currently equips the Royal Navy's frigates and some British destroyers and frigates sold to other countries.-Background:...

. During the initial assault, Royal Marines from 40 and 45 Commando were dropped almost on top of the Argentine position by helicopter, resulting in a brief firefight. Three Argentine marines from 5 BIM were killed - the last casualties this unit suffered in the war.

The 5th Marines worked their way back into Stanley, leaving M Company to cover the retreat. At the foot of the hill there was an enormous minefield. A group of Sappers went ahead to clear a path across the mines, but when the Welsh Guardsmen advanced they found Sapper Hill abandoned. The delay caused by the mines in fact may have saved lives. The Marine companies had been deeply entrenched and very well equipped with heavy automatic weapons. To Guardsman Tracy Evans the Sapper Hill positions looked impregnable:

We were led to an area that the company would rest at for the night, I still took in the fact the Argies had prepared Sapper Hill well, they had depth positions that would have made the task of taking it very hard. (Taken from the diary of Guardsman Tracy Evans, who served in 4 Platoon, 2 Company, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards)