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In April 1982, Argentina seized the Falklands. In May, the Argentine forces at Goose Green sought to defend Las Malvinas against British paratroops who had to take the islands back.
It was 9:30 on the morning of May 28, 1982. Darwin Ridge lay before the British troops like the long back of some great immovable beast. Seemingly impenetrable, it stretched across East Falkland Island from Darwin to Boca Hill, between the British 2nd Parachute Battalion, or 2 Para, and Goose Green. Solidly defending this ominous stretch was Task Force Mercedes, destined to give the British a long, costly battle by night and day-they would fight longer than any other Argentine regimental command in the Falklands War.
Diplomatic negotiations regarding the transfer of ownership of the Falkland Islands from Britain to Argentina had been stuck since 1965. In an effort to break the deadlock, while at the same time creating a diversion from economic and political conditions at home, Argentina's ruling military junta, led by Lt. Gen. Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, sent troops to occupy the islands on April 2, 1982. Galtieri may have expected Britain to accept the Argentine takeover as a fait accompli. If so, he soon learned how wrong he was, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher mobilized the still-formidable remnants of Britain's military forces to take back the islands.
The story of Task Force Mercedes began on April 12,1982, when the 12th "General Juan Alvarez de Arenales" Infantry Regiment left its peacetime location at Mercedes, in Corrientes province. It moved 1,200 miles on the South Atlantic coast to Comodoro Rivadavia, from which it could deter any Chilean intervention. After a journey across Entre Rios province and the Colorado River, the regiment reached Chubut province, replacing units from the 9th Infantry Brigade. That deployment was cut short when the Argentines learned that a force of British ships was steaming south from Ascension Island.
On April 24, the 12th Regiment was attached to the 3rd Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen. Omar Edgardo Parada, and redeployed to the Falklands-or, as the Argentines call them, Las Islas Malvinas. Most of the regiment, with nearly 800 dependents, embarked on civilian aircraft on April 24, and the last elements flew out of Comodoro Rivadavia on the following day.