South Georgia and Pebble Island Having survived two helicopter crashes in adverse weather conditions on the
Fortuna Glacier in
South Georgia during
Operation Paraquet, two days later Hamilton led the advance elements of the forces which captured the main
Argentine positions in
Grytviken. This action resulted in the surrender of Argentinian garrison occupying
South Georgia. Shortly afterwards he led the
Raid on Pebble Island, which resulted in the destruction of eleven
FMA IA 58 Pucará and
T-34 Mentor Argentinian aircraft on the ground.
Battle of Mount Kent Once British ground forces had landed at
San Carlos, Hamilton deployed with his SAS Squadron 40 miles behind the enemy lines to observe the main enemy defensive positions at
Port Stanley, his leadership proving instrumental in seizing this ground, from which the final attack on Port Stanley, which would bring the war of liberation of the Falklands to a victorious conclusion, would ultimately be launched. On 27 May 1982 he identified an Argentine probe into the squadron's position and in the ensuing fight captured an Argentinian prisoner of war. The next night his troop held off another enemy attack, in doing so enabling 42 Commando
Royal Marines to fly in to reinforce the position on 31 May 1982, which was a key stage in the Falkland Islands campaign. On the following day his troop ambushed another Argentinian patrol, capturing five members of it, three of whom were wounded.
Skirmish at Many Branch Point On 5 June 1982 Hamilton was deployed in command of a four-man observation patrol into positions behind enemy lines on
West Falkland to observe Argentinian activity at
Port Howard. The patrol established itself in an observation post on the high ground of a ridge called Many Branch Point 2,750 yards (2,500 metres) from the Argentine positions, from which radio reports were dispatched. In the late morning of 10 June 1982, Hamilton and a radio operator (
Cpl. Roy Fonseka, later a Seychellois cabinet minister) were manning the post when they were discovered by a four-man Argentinian patrol from the 1st Section of the
601 Commando Company, operating out of Port Howard. Fonseka first engaged the enemy force in the open, followed by Hamilton from the post itself. As the small arms fire-fight continued with
grenades being exchanged, during which Hamilton was hit in the arm by a rifle bullet, Hamilton ordered that they should both attempt to fight their way out. As the only withdrawal route available was to the rear, and was exposed to enemy observation on the up slope of the ridge for 50 yards to the summit, Hamilton maintained automatic covering fire from within the post at the Argentinian commandos to allow Fonseka to withdraw first in a co-ordinated fall-back manoeuvre. Hamilton then attempted to follow, in the process was struck by Argentinian rifle fire and killed, Fonseka being afterwards taken prisoner of war. Hamilton's body was buried with military honours by the Argentinian garrison on West Falkland, the grave lying in the small cemetery at Port Howard. When the Argentinian Commander of Port Howard, Colonel Juan Ramon Mabragana, was interrogated by the British Forces after the Argentinian surrender on the Falkland Islands a few days later, he stated that Hamilton was "the most courageous man I have ever seen" and recommended that he should receive a gallantry decoration for his actions during the fire-fight. Hamilton was subsequently awarded the
Military Cross posthumously. ==Subsequent events==