Orders, Decorations and Medals

“I was told that on the boat back to Ascension Island, General Bramall came on board and gave the lads a tremendous speech. Afterwards he was asked the question. ‘Sir, why did you send the Parachute Regiment?’
His reply was short and to the point: ‘Gentlemen, because I wanted to win.”

The important ‘Falklands’ M.M. group of seven awarded to Captain Ian Bailey, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, who as a 22 year old Corporal charged with fixed bayonet and grenades the elevated Argentine position at Mount Longdon, alongside Sergeant Ian McKay who gained the award of a posthumous Victoria Cross. Bailey was shot three times causing severe wounds to his neck and hip and was the last man to see Sergeant McKay alive. He went on to serve a further 20 years in the Parachute Regiment retiring with the rank of Captain. The action at Mount Longdon claimed more lives than any other battle of the conflict and Bailey’s own wounds came back to haunt him 22 years later when it was discovered that he still had an Argentine bullet and numerous fragments of shrapnel lodged in his hip - it was not until June this year that they were finally removed by a surgeon.

Military Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (24438472 Cpl I P Bailey Para); General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (24438472 L Cpl I P Bailey Para); South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (24438472 Cpl I P Bailey Para); U.N. Cyprus; N.A.T.O. Medal, clasp, Kosovo; Jubilee 2002; Regular Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (24438472 S Sgt I P Bailey Para) some minor edge bruising and contact wear, otherwise generally good very fine or better (7) £50000-60000

M.M. London Gazette 8 October 1982 ‘In the early hours of 12th June 1982, the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment assaulted enemy positions on Mount Longdon, eight kilometres to the West of Port Stanley on the Island of East Falkland. Corporal Bailey’s Section were tasked to aid a Platoon pinned down by heavy automatic fire.

Under covering fire, together with Sergeant McKay, he attacked the enemy’s position with grenades. Whilst closing on the enemy, Corporal Bailey was wounded. His brave actions helped to destroy the enemy and relieve the pressure on the Platoon that was pinned down.’

The posthumous award of Sergeant Ian McKay’s Victoria Cross was announced in the same Gazette as Corporal Ian Bailey’s M.M. and the citation adds further detail to Bailey’s own award: ‘During the night of 11th/12th June 1982, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment mounted a silent night attack on an emergency battalion position on Mount Longdon, an important objective in the battle for Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Sergeant McKay was platoon sergeant of 4 Platoon, B Company, which, after the initial objective had been secured, was ordered to clear the Northern side of the long East/West ridge feature, held by the enemy in depth, with strong, mutually-supporting positions.

By now the enemy were fully alert, and resisting fiercely. As 4 Platoon’s advance continued it came under increasingly heavy fire from a number of well-sited enemy machine gun positions on the ridge, and received casualties. Realising that no further advance was possible the Platoon Commander ordered the Platoon to move from its exposed position to seek shelter among the rocks of the ridge itself. Here it met up with part of 5 Platoon.

The enemy fire was still both heavy and accurate, and the position of the platoons was becoming increasingly hazardous. Taking Sergeant McKay, a Corporal [Bailey] and a few others, and covered by supporting machine gun fire, the Platoon Commander moved forward to reconnoitre the enemy positions but was hit by a bullet in the leg, and command devolved upon Sergeant McKay.

It was clear that instant action was needed if the advance was not to falter and increasing casualties to ensue. Sergeant McKay decided to convert this reconnaissance into an attack in order to eliminate the enemy positions. He was in no doubt of the strength and deployment of the enemy as he undertook this attack. He issued orders, and taking three men with him, broke cover and charged the enemy position.

The assault was met by a hail of fire. The Corporal [Bailey]was seriously wounded, a Private killed and another wounded. Despite these losses Sergeant McKay, with complete disregard for his own safety, continued to charge the enemy position alone. On reaching it he despatched the enemy with grenades, thereby relieving the position of beleaguered 4 and 5 Platoons, who were now able to redeploy with relative safety. Sergeant McKay, however, was killed at the moment of victory, his body falling on the bunker.

Without doubt Sergeant McKay’s action retrieved a most dangerous situation and was instrumental in ensuring the success of the attack. His was a coolly calculated act, the dangers of which must have been too apparent to him beforehand. Undeterred he performed with outstanding selflessness, perseverance and courage. With a complete disregard for his own safety, he displayed courage and leadership of the highest order, and was an inspiration to all those around him.’

Sergeant McKays body was exhumed from the Falkland Islands some time later and brought back to England where it was re interred with full military honours at Aldershot Military Cemetery. One of the pall bearers at this funeral was Corporal Ian Bailey.

The following description of the action at Mount Longdon which draws heavily from an interview between the author and Bailey is extracted from the book, Operation Corporate: The Story of The Falklands War, 1982, by Martin Middlebrook, published 1985:

‘3 Para’s attack started first. Lieutenant-Colonel Hew Pike had planned a standard assault. He decided that Mount Longdon could not easily be approached from a flank and the feature was to be attacked frontally at its western end. A company on the left would attempt to seize a feature to be known as WING FORWARD. Which would then act as a fire-support base for an attack by B Company on the main Longdon feature, whose two parts were designated FLY HALF and FULL BACK. C Company would move up as a reserve and as the exploitation company if there was a swift Argentinian collapse. The Argentinian defenders of Longdon had been correctly identified as belonging to 7 Regiment, a conscript unit recruited in the province of La Plata. But 7 Regiment was holding Wireless Ridge as well as Longdon and there were probably only about one and a half companies reinforced with specialist snipers and commandos on Longdon itself.

The paras moved off after dusk for the approach march to the Start Line. Lieutenant-Colonel Pike and his Tactical Headquarters were given a lift by civilian Land-Rovers, one of which was driven by a women, Trudi Morrison, perhaps the first time a battalion commander had been driven into action by a farmer’s wife. The British artillery were firing no more than the normal evening harassment. A and B Companies reached their Start Lines on a little stream about fifteen minutes late. Corporal Ian Bailey was a section commander in B Company.

‘We were only on the Start Line a few minutes. I went round the lads and checked everybody and had a joke with my mates. The lads were quiet, each man whispering to their own very good friends, having a last drag. It was a time for being with your own mates. They knew some of them were going to get killed. For some reason, most of them fixed bayonets; I put mine on and looked round to find all the others were putting theirs on too.

We stepped over the stream and set off. It was a very clear night, cool, but it didn’t feel cold; there was too much adrenalin flowing. We knew we had got a punch-up on our hands. It was uphill, a fairly steep gradient, lots of rocks, tufts of grass, holes where you could break your ankle easily – just like a good training area. You could see 200 or 300 metres ahead of you. As we went up, we were funnelled together into a space between the main Mount Longdon and a large separate rock. At one time, we were shoulder to shoulder, so we tried to spread out, some men waiting while others moved on faster. That was only about twenty feet from their main position but that first position turned out to be empty.’

The silent approach ended when Corporal Milne, a section commander in B Company’s left forward platoon, stepped on a mine which severely injured his leg. The explosion, and Corporal Milne’s scream, alerted the Argentinians and the battle began. The early mine explosion drew fire before B Company reached the main Argentinian positions and the paras found themselves squeezed into a series of steep and narrow rock channels on the face of the hill, called by one officer ‘bowling alleys’, down which the Argentinians could fire their weapons and toss grenades. Some British artillery support was possible but could not be brought close enough to engage the Argentinians firing on the paras.

The three platoons were faced by well-constructed and stoutly manned defences, including at least two heavy 0.5-inch machine-guns, many other automatic weapons and snipers, the many ‘signatures’ of whose infra-red night sights could be detected. Corporal Ian Bailey, leading a section in 5 Platoon, resumes the story.

‘Then we got the first grenades; they were just bouncing down the side of the rock face. We thought they were rocks falling, until the first one exploded. One bloke caught some shrapnel in the backside. He was the first one in the section to get injured, not badly but enough to put him out of the fighting. The small-arms fire followed soon after. People were getting down into cover again then. Because we had got funnelled, we weren’t really working by sections now; the nearest private soldier to you just stuck with you. Corporal McLaughlin, the other leading section commander, was ahead of me now. He and his men were getting the small-arms fire. It was keeping his group pinned down but no one was being hit in either of our sections. There was a lot of fire on the right, where 6 Platoon was going up but it was quiet on the left where 4 Platoon was coming up after hitting the minefield.

My men started firing the ‘66s’ (hand-held 66-mm anti-tank rockets). Whoever was in the best position to spot targets fired; the others passed spare rockets to them. It was a very good bunker weapon; there wasn’t going to be a lot left of you if your bunker or sangar was hit by one of those. We could see their positions by now, up above us, possibly thirty feet or so away, we could even see them moving, dark shapes. Their fire was sparse to start with but then it intensified. Some of them were very disciplined, firing, moving back into cover, then coming out again and firing again or throwing grenades.

The next cover to get forward to was in some rocks with one of their positions in the middle of it. Corporal Mclaughin’s GPMG gave us cover and we put about four grenades and an ‘84’ round into the position, which was a trench with a stone wall around it and a tent, which was blown over. We went round and on, myself and whichever ‘toms’ (private soldiers in the Parachute Regiment) were available, and the two men with the ’84’ launcher. It was all over very quickly. We ran across, firing at the same time. Just as we went round the corner, we found one Argentinian just a few feet away. Private Meredith and I both fired with our rifles and killed him. The rest of the post - two men – were already dead, killed by the grenades or the ‘84’ shrapnel. We put more rounds into them, to make sure they were dead and weren’t going anywhere; that was normal practice.’

Meanwhile, on the left, Lieutenant Bickerdykes’s 4 Platoon had become pinned down by one of the heavy machine-guns and was largely out of contact with the company commander. They were released from this position by Lance-Corporal Lennie Carver and Privates Gough and Grey of 5 Platoon who put the machine-gun out of action. The advance route on the left was still dominated by fire so Bickerdyke edged 4 Platoon to the right and two of his sections became intermingled with 5 Platoon. The progress of these men was now blocked by a second heavy machine-gun which caused some casualties. Lieutenant Bickerdyke was hit in the thigh, the impact of the bullet being so strong that he was thrown over backwards.

Lieutenant Cox, of 5 Platoon, was pinned down in the same area, so that it was left to the N.C.O.s 4 and 5 Platoons to carry on the fight. When he was hit, Lieutenant Bickerdyke called out to his platoon sergeant, ‘Sergeant McKay; it’s your platoon now.’

The next phase of the action was thus led by Sergeant Ian McKay, with some of his own men of 4 Platoon and with Corporal Bailey’s section from 5 Platoon. Corporal Bailey again.

‘Ian and I had a talk and decided the aim was to get across to the next cover, which was thirty-five metres away. There were some Argentinian positions there but we didn’t know the exact location. He shouted out to the other corporals to give covering fire, three machine-guns altogether, then we – Sergeant McKay, myself and three private soldiers to the left of us – set off. As we were moving across the open ground, two of the privates were killed by rifle or machine-gun fire almost at once; the other private got across and into cover. We grenaded the first position and went past it without stopping, just firing into it, and that’s when I got shot from one of the other positions which was about ten feet away. I think it was a rifle. I got hit in the hip and went down. Sergeant McKay was still going on to the next position but there was no one else with him. The last I saw of him, he was just going on, running towards the remaining positions in that group. I was lying on my back and I listened to men calling each other. They were trying to find out what was happening but, when they called out to Sergeant McKay, there was no reply. I got shot again soon after that, by bullets in the neck and hand.’

Included with the lot are the recipient’s metal identity tags as worn by him during the action at Mount Longdon. These are inscribed with his name, regimental number, religious denomination and blood group and are still attached to their green nylon chord. The chord was perforated during the early hours of 12 June 1982 by an Argentinian bullet which inflicted a severe wound to the back of Bailey’s neck. These tags were found at Mount Longdon the following year by a Sergeant Major in the Royal Engineers, who was part of the clearing team tasked with removing explosive ordnance from the battlefield. On his return from the Falklands he located Bailey and sent them back to him together with a photograph showing the position on the battlefield where he had found them and this photograph is also included with the lot.

The following original documentation is also sold with the lot:

i) Postcard depicting the S.S. Canberra, written by the recipient to his future wife whilst aboard that ship deploying to the Falklands.
ii) Photocopy of Certificate of Service confirming places served and medal entitlement.
iii) Photocopy of original recommendation for M.M.
iv) Congratulatory telegram from Prince Charles, dated 8 October 1982. ‘... I have the greatest possible admiration for the gallantry you displayed and for the way in which you maintained the very highest tradition of the regiment.’
v) Congratulatory letter from Colonel G. D. Farrell, MBE, Parachute Regiment, dated 10 October 1982. ‘... Your name will be recorded in our regimental history for ever and youngsters who follow will look up to you as an example of what is required in a parachute soldier...’
vi) Congratulatory letter from Major M. H. Argue, M.C., 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment. ‘... There is no doubt in my mind that it is a fitting tribute for all that you did on Mount Longdon and more especially for all the pain and discomfort you suffered since. It was the sheer guts and bravery of you and others which enabled us to win Longdon and that’s something which those of us who were there will carry to our graves...’

vii) Congratulatory letter from General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, Colonel Commandant, The Parachute Regiment, dated 8 Oct 1982.
viii) Congratulatory letter from Lieutenant General Sir Richard Trant, KCB.
ix) Congratulatory letter from Brigadier M. J. A. Wilson, OBE, MC, dated 19 October 1982.
x) Congratulatory letter from Major J. S. Williams, DCM, Parachute Regiment
xi) Congratulatory letter from the Mayor of Cardiff, dated 13 October 1982.
xii) Recipient’s original copy of The London Gazette for 8 October 1982, announcing all the Falklands honours and awards.
xiii) 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment memorial service programme.
xiv) Programme and entrance ticket to The Parachute Regiment and Falklands Memorial Service held at Aldershot Stadium on 1 October 1982.
xv) The 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment ‘Op Corporate’ 20th anniversary programme, this including a photograph of the recipient and a description of Sergeant McKay’s V.C. winning exploits at Mount Longdon as recounted by Bailey.
xvi) Several original photographs of recipient in uniform.
xvii) A quantity of press cuttings, largely relating to the exploits of the Parachute Regiment at Mount Longdon and many including photographs and quotes from the recipient

Postscript

The severe wounds received by Ian Bailey as a 22 year old Corporal at Mount Longdon affected his military career in many ways and as recounted above were eventually responsible for his decision to resign his commission and leave the service. Shortly after leaving the army in 2002 he began to have problems with the bullet wound to his hip opening up and after seeing a medical consultant was amazed to learn that he still had the head of an Argentinian bullet as well as numerous smaller fragments of shrapnel lodged inside him. Earlier this year the wound required an operation to remove the metal debris and in order that he could undertake this operation he had to resign from his senior job within the security industry in Nigeria. He has since had this operation, but despite his continued efforts has so far not been able to gain further employment.

Had he been made aware of the presence of this shrapnel whilst he was under the care of the military, it would almost certainly have been removed at the time. Were this to have been the case his successful career in the security industry would not have been interrupted as it has been. Despite enquiries to the Ministry of Defence and various veteran organisations, other than his war pension, he has not been able to claim any compensation for his loss of earnings.

The following succinctly and matter-of-factly chronicles in Bailey’s own words his experience of being wounded and subsequent medical treatment:

‘On the night of the 11th/12th June 1982 I was involved in the assault on Mount Longdon in the Falklands. I was the section commander within 5pl B Coy 3 Para. During the assault on a number of bunkers I was shot in the right hip whilst attacking a position with Sgt Ian McKay VC. Whilst at first I thought I had tripped over and started to get up, I quickly realised I had been shot and fell to the ground again, on this happening I was now face down some twenty feet from an enemy position. At this time two more rounds were fired from the enemy position, one hit me in the back of the neck and the second round which was a tracer round hit me in the middle finger of my right hand. I watched this round burn out and decided it would be a good idea to play dead. Some time later another assault was mounted on the position that had shot me. I tried to indicate to the assaulting section led by Cpl John Lewis of 4pl B Coy where the position was. This position was taken out with rifle and grenade and both the enemy killed. I was then moved to a safe area and my section then gave me first aid, it was like taking part in a training exercise as it just followed the book, offering reassurance, giving me the morphine and trying to stop the blood.

I was then taken down the side of Mount Longdon to the Aid Post. This job was taken up by our cooks as they were also trained as medics. They protected me all the way down the mountain coming under mortar and small arms fire. Once at the aid post I was checked over and put to one side, my only thought at this time was ‘well someone will come to look at me at some stage’. It is only when I decided to think about this some time later that I realised having been shot three times that perhaps they had decided they could do nothing for me.

At some point a group of people passed my position and someone stepped on my arm and I gave them some abuse, little did I know that this was the RSM moving amongst the injured. He asked who I was and I told him, some minutes later another stretcher party arrived and put me in a BV and I was taken to either Estancia House or Teal Inlet to the next Aid Post.

Here again I was looked at and they stripped my clothes off. I remember handing a phosphorus grenade to someone in combat gear who was passing through the aid post. I was again put in a tent to await treatment, here I slept for some time as when I awoke a medic was tapping my arm. I asked what he was doing and he said I thought you were here to give blood. I pulled back the blanket and said something like ‘I don’t think so mate!’ At this point he left the tent, I noticed that it was again dark outside.

I was then hastily taken by Wessex helicopter to the Uganda which was the hospital ship for British troops. On arrival they attached a drip and gave me blood to get the injuries bleeding so they could see what they had to deal with. I had lost a lot of blood, but because of the cold my body had closed down and had kept me alive.

Whilst on the Uganda I had seven operations during my stay on this fine floating hospital. Whilst here we heard that the war had finished and we were told who had died and who had been injured from the Regiment. I stayed on this ship for some time while I recovered. I was then moved with the majority of the injured to the survey ship Hydra on which we sailed to Uruguay and anchored off the German Battle Ship Graf Spee. The next day we arrived at Montevideo and transported to the airport to be put on a VC10 kitted out for medical transport. We left Montevideo and after a short stop over at Ascension Island arrived back at RAF Brize Norton.

Once back in the UK we were taken to the RAF Hospital at Wroughton. At Wroughton I was after a week the only person on the ward as they did not wish us to mix with normal patients, other injuries had been taken away to specialist units around the country. I stayed in Hospital until the September of 1982 when I was discharged and posted back to 3 Para who had moved from Tidworth back to Aldershot.

In the late September I was posted to The Depot The Parachute Regiment as firstly a Weapons Instructor and then as a Platoon Instructor. From the date I was shot I was put on the Army Y list which means I lost my specialist pay (Parachute Pay). This was started again once I jumped again in the February of 1983. During the rest of my career my injuries bothered me from time to time but I learnt to put up with it as you did not want to be seen as being a wimp. I had no formal after care or Physiotherapy.

Later in my career in 2002 I had problems with my neck and after being seen by a consultant it was decided that I should have my neck fused, as the chance of this operation being successful was only 50% I decided to resign my commission and leave. I did not take a medical discharge as firstly it was not offered and secondly trying to get a job aged 42 after being medically discharged from the Army would have been very difficult.

I was told stop running, tabbing and jumping out of aeroplanes and I should be fine. To date this has been the case with my neck injury. However, on leaving the Army in 2002 I started to have problems with discharge from my hip injury. On referral to a consultant it was found that I had numerous bits of shrapnel in my hip. Over the next 7 years the discharge became more frequent and the pain more intense, culminating in June of this year when I went into hospital to have them removed. This took some 3 hours on the operating table and some 5 days in hospital. They found many bits of shrapnel including the head of the bullet. These offending items had been in my body since June 82 and no one had bothered to mention it!’