Posted on 05/19/2004 6:53:59 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
OUTNUMBERED British soldiers killed 35 Iraqi attackers in the Army’s first bayonet charge since the Falklands War 22 years ago. The fearless Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders stormed rebel positions after being ambushed and pinned down.
Despite being outnumbered five to one, they suffered only three minor wounds in the hand-to-hand fighting near the city of Amara.
The battle erupted after Land Rovers carrying 20 Argylls came under attack on a highway.
After radioing for back-up, they fixed bayonets and charged at 100 rebels using tactics learned in drills.
Charge ... tactics from drills
When the fighting ended bodies lay all over the highway — and more were floating in a nearby river. Nine rebels were captured.
An Army spokesman said: “This was an intense engagement.”
The last bayonet charge was by the Scots Guards and the Paras against Argentinian positions.
"Fight like an Englishman or die like a dog."
Good job by the Brits!
>>There may be alot of them, and they may be crazy, but they sure as hell can't shoot and they apparently can't fight worth a damn, either.<<
I've been saying that for over a year.
People believe that because they get a few of ours we are facing the VC and NVA all over again.
This current crop of enemies amount to little more than pop up targets, and aren't qualified to carry a VC's water bottle.
I salute the Argyles, bayonet engagements are the Olympic finals of land warfare, and they won the Gold.
I am developing a newfound respect for the British army.
And how's that?
Seems I recall the Scotch "Black Watch" kicked the crap out of a bunch of diaper-heads early in the war last year.
"That's because the muslims are a bunch of chickenhearted bastards. Committing atrocities against civilians and torturing POWs is their bread and butter. Anything requiring courage and honor is not for them."
Well not quite. It is easy to ridicule your enemy in such tones, but in reality some of the Arabs involved in the conflict were not cowards by any means. There is countless testimony in many of the documentaries since the end of major combat of fierce resistance and hard fought battles.
The interviews of Apache pilots at the 'Ambush in Najaf' that were shown on TV were quite humbling. The Iraqi's pulled a fast one with their tactics on that night and resulted in a substantial portion of those helos retreating with battle-damage. The Iraqi's had operatives behind the US lines resulting in the helo assault going astray the minute they set-off. This was all detailed in the documentary shown this year with interviews from both sides - including the two Apache crew taken prisoners of war.:
http://www.afa.org/magazine/oct2003/1003najaf.pdf
Having read many battle testimonies since these are just a few of the many snippets that exist on line in regards to how some of the Coalition Forces felt about resistance in Iraq:
"Backed by infantry, Desert Rat tanks then drove further toward the outskirts of Basra's old city and were in sight of the Shatt Al-Arab waterway.
At least 300 Fedayeen were killed in operations Saturday and Sunday, according to British officers, some of whom displayed a grudging respect for their adversaries and their readiness to fight to the death.
Colonel Hugh Blackman, of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, spoke of how the Fedayeen, clad in black suits and red head-dresses, had been brave yet wickedly wily in their defence of Basra.
"They have fought hard and have been cunning and tenacious in the face of superior fire-power.
.........
U.S. troops estimated they killed hundreds of Iraqi soldiers and irregulars who mounted the counterattack by racing over several bridges across the Tigris from the eastern part of the city in approximately 50 buses, trucks, and BMP armored personnel carriers. U.S. air strikes, called in to support the 3rd Infantry Division on the western side, destroyed a number of the vehicles, but most made it across the river before being beaten back by heavily armored M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, said Col. David Perkins, the commander of the division's 2nd Brigade.
Despite the display of resistance - U.S. officers saluted the Iraqi fighters for their determination -
.........
Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus
We attacked into south Al Hillah, where we encountered a dug-in Republican Guard battalion with a tank company, with artillery and with air defense, and it fought very, very effectively. We had a very heavy fight there, lost our first soldier.
.......
Captain Carter -- A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment
Until now, the troops of A Company, nicknamed Attack, had only seen soldiers and Republican Guard fighters, not suicide attackers. The combat had also never been so close.
"They are hard fighters, but not smart fighters," Carter said.
........
LT. COL. TERR FERREL, COMMANDER, 3-7TH CAVALRY:
RODGERS: Tell us about the Iraqi resistance that you are seeing. Are they fighting well, are they fighting sporadically?
FERREL: What you see right now and what we are observing within our area of operations is, the forces that we encounter, approximately 50 percent or so are fighting very well, very aggressive, and very well organized. At the same time, you will discover there are systems that are unmanned and just parked, and there's no fight there.
The commander of the 101st Airborne Division's Aviation Brigade, Colonel Greg Gass, told AFP Apache helicopters from his 3rd Battalion destroyed a "battalion's worth" of Iraqi soldiers and S-60 anti-aircraft 57mm weapons, without going into specific numbers.
Gass described the combat, in which the Apaches were supporting the division's infantry soldiers, as the heaviest his forces had been involved in since the start of the war on March 20.
"They (the Iraqis) fought pretty hard from first light (into the afternoon)," Gass said, adding eight Apaches sustained various levels of damage.
"Eight aircraft were hit anywhere from just a hole in the rotor to significant tail damage," Gass said.
``They were just mowed down. But a few minutes later the survivors would get up and charge again. They are fanatics,'' said Lt. Col. Al Orr of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
......
If you conducted a poll of US citizens many of them would vote that the Iraqi's, and other Arab fighters, simply threw down their weapons and went home. In reality there was some very hard fought battles and fierce resistance shown by certain Arab fighters. Simply reverse the situation and think about how you would fight if your country was being invaded.
Why do the Scots wear kilts?
Because sheep can hear zippers...
Scotland,where the men are scarce and the sheep are scared...
Give em the Cold Steel, Brits!
The Muslims need to read about the Battle of Red Hook and
take lessons.
Lack of initiative, lack of trust in superiors, lack of willingness to engage in the unglamorous tasks of training and maintenance, lack of communication, lack of pretty much everything that it takes to get a group to fight as a cohesive whole.
Really!
A: TO KILL!!!!
Hats off to our Brit cousins...outstanding job, guys.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Particularly when they encounter angry Scotsmen!
They came from Colonsay and the name was later often shortened to McPhee or McAfee.
The next time we went to the field, I pulled one of my NG buddies aside, and had him show me what I'd missed. That's the only bayonet training I ever received. Pathetic.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
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