Use of the L42 in the Falklands Conflict

[Lee Enfield]

I don't know if the stories of the sniper who threw his rifle to use an assault rifle were true, or if any sniper fell in combat. But I can say that I saw that an Argentine veteran has a very deteriorated L42 No32 sight that was brought back when he returned in a C 130 prior to the surrender. I hope I can contact him again to tell me the story

The published story of the invasion indicates that an L42 was used to delay an Argy ship.

I have also seen photos that seem to indicate that the British had at least 1 L42 on the island prior to the Invasion, and that it was surrendered to/captured by the Argies.

Usually i believe that there are more than 1 sniper (and related equipment) in a unit?

Information

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[Gil Boyd]

I cover that fully in my book as it was a corvette GUERRICO in Grytviken harbour in South Georgia and the L42 rifleman was trained sniper WO2 Peter Leach. This segment best describes the action:

WO2 Leach was in fact, capable of putting a hole in the center of a man’s forehead at 1,000m using the L42A1 who came top of his course.

Leach was armed that day with the right weapon for that job: the L42A1 rifle. A conversion of the Lee–Enfield No. 4, Mk. 1(T), the L42A1 was chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge and mounted with the 3.5-power No. 32 scope. Lying on the table on the second floor, the Sergeant Major placed the post of his reticle on the approaching ship’s bridge. By then, Guerrico was once again facing the channel and closing on King Edward Point. A moment later, as the other Royal Marines began hammering away at the ship for a second time, Sergeant Major Leach began firing carefully aimed shots at the vessel. He directed his opening rounds at the five windows across the front of the bridge. At this point, only Captain Alfonso, the helmsman, and the quartermaster were manning that station as glass began to shatter. The three men were forced to crouch down behind ship’s structures to avoid being struck by the rapid succession of accurate shots coming from Leach’s sniper rifle.

There was a lull in the Royal Marine gunfire as Guerrico moved behind the cover of the buildings of the British Antarctic Survey station, but it did not last long. Sergeant Major Leach, who no longer had a shot, seized that opportunity to move to another position. He broke out another window, and then resumed firing – this time at the three windows on the port side of the ship’s bridge. The sound of shattering glass could be heard once again as Leach dumped more well aimed sniper fire in on the quartermaster, the helmsman, and Captain Alfonso. Then Guerrico came out from behind the British Antarctic Survey station buildings and the rest of the Royal Marines opened-up once again.

They raked the ship from stem to stern with another barrage of automatic weapons fire, and Dave Combes launched a second 84mm round from the Carl Gustav. That round slammed into Guerrico’s Exocet anti-ship missile launcher knocking it out of commission. During the last few moments, as the ship retreated out of small arms range, Sergeant Major Leach moved to a third window on the second floor of Shackleton House, and threw a few parting shots at Guerrico as it limped past King Edward Point. The ship had survived running the gauntlet, but by then it was listing to starboard, and it looked like a colander. When Guerrico approached King Edward Cove, it was a well-armed and dangerous warship. Not even fifteen minutes later, the ship was little more than a floating wreck in desperate need of repairs.

[fastback]

I will ask him for more information and detailed pictures...

[waco16]

If nothing else - that scope is back to front in its bracket!