Posted on 11/27/2004 10:22:29 AM PST by Pikamax
Mission accomplished for Black Watch By David Harrison with the Black Watch on the eastern Euphrates (Filed: 26/11/2004)
Black Watch soldiers stormed across the Euphrates river into a suspected insurgent stronghold yesterday, bursting into houses in the middle of the night and arresting scores of males aged 14 and over.
More than 700 soldiers and 116 vehicles, including 42 Warrior armoured assault vehicles, were deployed in a raid that lasted 12 hours from the time they left their base at Camp Dogwood, 25 miles south-west of Baghdad.
It was one of the largest offensives launched by British soldiers since the formal end of the war in Iraq last year and the first large-scale assault by the Black Watch since the regiment moved to Dogwood from Basra.
It is likely to be one of the last assaults by the Black Watch as currently constituted, due to Government plans to amalgamate the regiment.
The screams of women and children echoed through the cold night air as soldiers wearing night-vision goggles kicked down doors and threw stun grenades into houses in the farm and village area known as Karaguli, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
The area is known as "Millionaires' Row" because of its large houses and palm groves. Intelligence officers describe it as a "hornet's nest" of foreign "jihadist" fighters and Saddam Hussein loyalists, including former members of the Republican Guard and the Mukhabarat secret police.
The daily rocket and mortar attacks on the Black Watch camp are believed to have come from this area. The regiment has lost four soldiers, three to a suicide bomber and one to a roadside bomb since it began its duties on Nov 3.
Yesterday it was the Black Watch's turn to hit back. "It's payback time," said one sergeant. "We have been looking forward to getting out there and stopping these people attacking us."
The British troops' night attack, which continued throughout yesterday morning, gave the insurgents little time to organise a fightback. Instead they hid their weapons and fled.
A US Spectre "flying tank", which, along with cobra helicopters, provided air cover, reported seeing residents moving belongings to other houses. Only a handful of shots were fired and there were no casualties. One shot came from a rebel on the western side of the river; another was a warning shot fired by a soldier to a resident who ignored an order to stop.
The Black Watch said 26 people had been brought in for questioning. Of those, 16 were released and 10 held for further questioning.
The men were taken from their homes - blindfolded and with their hands tied - to a white-pillared house where they were screened by the Royal Military Police. The detainees offered no resistance. Walls were knocked down and doors smashed in an attempt to take insurgents by surprise.
The mission, codenamed Operation Tobruk, had been planned for a week and was timed to coincide with two simultaneous attacks by American soldiers on other villages in the "Triangle of Death".
Lt Col James Cowan, the regiment's commanding officer, rallied his officers with a speech. Referring to the regiment's past and the threat posed by "infantry reorganisation", he said: "This may be the last attack for the First Battalion the Black Watch. Let us make sure it goes as well as anything we have done in the past and is one that we can be proud of."
After two days of rehearsals the soldiers gathered in the camp at midnight. At 1.40am they began the five-mile journey across the desert and three bridges, including two laid by Army engineers. An armoured force from the Queen's Dragoon Guards' B Squadron moved north in a decoy operation to deceive the enemy into thinking that the British were about to begin a military operation in that area. As the British soldiers reached the target area, Major Alastair Aitken, the officer commanding the Black Watch's A regiment, started a countdown over the radio: "Five-four-three-two-one." He paused, then shouted: "Forward the 42nd" - a reference to the Black's Watch's old name.
Loudspeakers blared out Scottish pipe songs, including Scotland the Brave, as the 34-ton Warriors sped along the main road and turned down lanes leading to the houses near the Euphrates.
The Black Watch, assisted by a small number of Royal Marine Commandos, Welsh Guards and 15 Balaclava-clad members of the Iraqi special forces, had not come to win hearts and minds.
Instead they set about knocking down walls, sledge-hammering their way into houses, and lobbing in stun grenades to cause alarm and win valuable time to enter the house and apprehend the occupants.
The first building was a mosque: it was empty. The soldiers moved on, and in the second house found a man, codenamed Brave One, who they believe is a "high-value target", responsible for bombings and kidnappings.
Soldiers swarmed all over the area, each platoon with a designated list of houses to search at the end of the narrow lanes that passed through palm groves and small farms.
As dawn broke and the farmyard cocks crowed, it became clear that resistance was unlikely and many Black Watch soldiers adopted a gentler approach. Lt Alf Ramsay, a platoon commander, and his men detained a man and his 20-year-old son, and started to take them to the holding centre where other detainees were being kept.
As they led them away, the man's wife and eight daughters starting sobbing and pleading. Lt Ramsay calculated that the men were highly unlikely to be terrorists and let them go back to their family.
The British troops found the occasional AK47 but no significant weapons caches and few other things that might lead them to the kidnappers and bombers.
Major Aitken said he was "pleased" with the outcome and with the number of detainees. "I've always said that this mission was about people more than weapons.
"We've achieved our objectives without taking any casualties and that's a good result. We also have a lot of details about people who ran from buildings.
"I was surprised that none of the insurgents fought back, although it was always more likely that they would try to bluff their way past the cordon."
After the soldiers had returned to Camp Dogwood, Lt Col Cowan said: "If you can achieve a military objective without firing a single shot then that has got to be a good thing. We had the elements of surprise by arriving at night, travelling five miles without the enemy expecting us - and it was a bloodless operation.
Asked if he thought that the Black Watch's success would help to safeguard the regiment's future, Lt Col Cowan said: "I am sure that the reorganisation will be to the satisfaction of my regiment."
Now lets see how the British people feel about their gallant soldiers and Royal Marines! They did themselves proud! After all the time sitting in near luxary down south they have had a chance to prove to the world how good the are.
Imagine the libs in UK fussing and fretting about not one soldier or Royal Marine being KIA in this operation! They must be in fits at this point.
As I have made remarks in other posts, a lot of the success now becoming very apparent is due to the Army and Marine units that have been in these areas for the past year or so, daily performing recon patrols, gathering Intel etc..
The collective Intel databases of where who and where at has grown considerably. This time around, all the rich cats and hopefully lots of Saddam Army Intel folks have been captured. I bet a few of the generals in the deck of 55 that have eluded capture thus far might be included in this roundup! They where general officers in the old Iraqi Intel units. Perhaps some of you will connect with this statement.
Interesting how the "high value targets" have been hiding in near or luxary by their standards, while the kids run around and get shot. Hopefully this group of detainies will result in much less insurgent activity in the triangle of death area and upward into the main sunni triangle area.
Marine_Uncle wrote: fretting about not one soldier or Royal Marine being KIA in this operation!"
Of course I am refering to the activities in this article. I understand a few members of the Black Watch have been killed since moving to their current AO some weeks back.
HINT! HINT!
"Loudspeakers blared out Scottish pipe songs, including Scotland the Brave,"
i love that... way to go laddies..
This is the best thing that could have happened to the Black Watch. They needed a high profile exercise to show just how good they are. They don't need a bunch of libs back in the UK reorganizing them.
you mean way to go ladies.........
.........Ladies from Hell!
"This is the best thing that could have happened to the Black Watch. They needed a high profile exercise to show just how good they are. They don't need a bunch of libs back in the UK reorganizing them."
Amen to that sir. Surely they where totally pissed off when the UK MSM started to boohoo when they where sent north. Of course now the Brits will have to read all their lib trash about how Tony still is no good, "he played with our son's lives" etc..
"The first building was a mosque: it was empty."
After Fallujah, I guess some of the bad-boys have learned a mosque doesn't provide immunity...
(if used as a firebase, etc.)
Kudos to our British friends and allies fighting in Iraq.
"Certainly this British conservative is incredibly proud of the actions of the Black Watch and Royal Marines. In fact, most of the population including many lefties realise that our fighting men are wonderful and do a superb job.
B That they are currently being shafted by Blair & Co. is an astonishing insult."
Well good for you guys! I am glad to hear your brave military is not being downplayed in the UK. They earned every bit of praise. I was not aware the Tony Blair is somehow screwing over them. That saddens me a bit. I have gained much respect for him as he stood up for what had to be done, and basically championed the need for going in.
Without him GWB would never had had the cloat to pull this off. Of course I am writing what we already know.
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