Op Telic - A Squadron
'A' Squadron Attached To 7-Armoured Brigade.
The vehicles arrived in Kuwait City before the soldiers and were moved up country by Squadron Headquarters and 'C' squadron who had arrived with the Commandos. Attached to 7-Armoured Brigade, the squadron moved into concentration area ''Jerboa'' in the Northern Kuwait desert. Battle preparation started immediately with a small range package followed by a limited exercise, allowing for adjustment, both tactically and practically to life in the desert.
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T55 Tanks |
Unfortunately, even before crossing the line of departure, the squadron suffered its first casualty when one of the guided missile commanders broke his ribs in a fall. As the logistic build up continued, the plan was honed to the point that the troops could be fully briefed and conducted their battle preparation in earnest. It was at this stage that we learned that we would be attached to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Battle Group. A case of history repeating itself as 'A' Squadron had been awarded the honour of flying the Fusiliers hackle on its antennae after working together in Aden in 1966.
The call came to move earlier than expected and the Squadron deployed before the ground invasion to conduct a relief with 6 Kuwaiti Brigade. Observation posts were mounted along the berm on the International border and whilst conducting this operation the Squadron experienced its first artillery bombardment, witnessing a Kuwaiti M1A1 main battle tank being destroyed by this fire.
Once the Squadron moved into Iraq they first occupied the southern Iraq border around the town of Safwan then moved at speed to insert a reconnaissance screen along the Shatt Al Basra River, to the north west of the city of Al Basra. Here we were to experience our first friendly fire incident when a friendly unit brought artillery fire down onto our location and only quick action by our Forward Observation Officer averted an unpleasant incident. The screen was then collapsed and orders were received to exploit north and west across the river. However after twenty-four hours across the river it was decided that 7-Armoured Brigade had temporarily reached their limit of exploitation and the Scots Dragoon Guards relieved the squadron deploying along the river to the North of Basra. To the satisfaction of the Squadron, the armoured battle group under heavy contact subsequently withdrew from an area that had been held by our lighter and less well protected CVR (T) for 24 hours before them.
After coming back of the line the squadron was employed on rear security tasks as the Brigade lines of Communication were both stretched and under attack from irregular forces. Almost immediately the Squadron came into contact, with the call sign 32, clearing a large group of militia. An aggressive follow up by Support Troop secured a militia compound, a category B prisoner and much enemy ammunition. It subsequently transpired that the building was the Regional Ba'ath Party Headquarters and that the Fusiliers had planned a Battle Group attack later that afternoon. As the Squadron consolidated, the headquarters moved into a vast a palace once occupied by the Iraqi Southern Region Commander, the infamous ''Chemical Ali''.
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Battle Group HQ set up at Chemical Ali's Palace |
After three day spent on area security tasks the squadron was then ordered to conduct a raid and seize a Bridge 1 leading into Basra. Taken successfully, a nighttime exchange of fire across the river became commonplace, until orders were received to conduct an advance to contact towards Basra. The armoured dash was t 'A' Squadron firstly destroy a Republican Guard/Militia compound with a combination of direct 30mm fire and indirect artillery 150mm rounds. While call signs 11 and 13 found and destroyed a second militia compound. 30mm HE rounds were used to scatter the militia, 6 were killed and a large number injured and captured.
Then deployed on the outskirts of Basra, the Squadrons intelligence gathering campaign proved successful, gaining information on the locations of missile systems and T-55 tanks in the area. The subsequent clearance conducted by the squadron allowed an aid convoy to come through with food and water for the malnourished locals. Sadly this happy task was marred when the Iraqi forces mortared the village in retaliation for them taking food.
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Basra Palace |
As 7-Armoured Brigade made its triumphant and unopposed dash into Basrah, the Squadron deployed a screen along highway 6 to ensure no reinforcements entered the city. As the security situation settled 'A' squadron was deployed to the Northeast of Al Basrah, bounded by the Shatt Al Arab and Basrah rivers to the West and South and the Iranian border to the north. The Squadron became involved in humanitarian ass assistance, framework security and building up the intelligence picture in the absence of any coherent policing. Numerous arrest were made, most notably two couriers who had an interesting concept of how the southern area was to be controlled once the Coalition Forces had drawn down to manageable level. Whilst the Majority of locals were keen to rebuild their lives and take control, a number of individuals exploited the lawless situation.
