Regards, Ivan
Posted on 03/30/2003 3:43:26 PM PST by MadIvan
Hundreds of commandos from the Royal Marines launched the battle for Basra yesterday in a ferocious 15-hour assault on fortified Iraqi positions in a south-eastern suburb.
The engagement, which included a series of street battles, marked the first attempt to take control of part of the strategic city from Saddam Hussein's forces and ignite an uprising by its large anti-Saddam majority. A Marine was killed in separate fighting on the Basra canal.
Three Americans were killed and one injured when a US Marine UH1 Huey helicopter crashed on take-off at a refuelling point in southern Iraq.
By nightfall about 600 men from 40 Commando had taken up what was described as a "consolidation position" in the Basra suburb of Abu al Khasib and were planning to press on today towards the Shatt al Arab waterway.
They suffered an unknown number of injuries, some serious. At least seven were badly wounded by artillery fire believed to have come from their own lines. About 300 enemy prisoners were taken and a number of Iraqi tanks, troop carriers and bunkers destroyed.
The attack was the first all-out assault by a full commando since the Falklands conflict in 1982. It was designed to demonstrate that allied forces were serious about taking the city but officers said yesterday's action was limited to the suburb, and was not necessarily a precursor to an all-out attack on the city centre.
While British forces have raided Basra in Warrior armoured vehicles over the past few days, the Royal Marines' infantry assault was aimed at seizing territory.
Brig Jim Dutton, the commander of 3 Commando Brigade, said: "The planning assumption had always been that the advancing coalition forces would simply sweep past Basra and it would implode. It became apparent to me that we could do more than that - to get the message across that we can go in there and get rid of the regime. It could have a remarkable effect on the rest of the city."
Under the codename Operation James, Alpha, Bravo and Delta rifle companies, each of more than 120 men, advanced on foot at first light along a wide front to try to trap Iraqi forces up against the Shatt al Arab waterway.
They were backed by Challenger 2 tanks and Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles, while helicopters flew combat patrols and artillery fired barrage after barrage of support fire.
AS90 self-propelled howitzers were called in to deal with 21 Iraqi vehicles to the north of the Shatt al Arab, some believed to be T55 tanks, which could have provided reinforcements.
Allied drones had detected the build-up of armour and after the AS90 barrage they showed images of all 21 vehicles either destroyed or badly damaged.
As the soldiers from 40 Commando advanced they were engaged time after time by enemy snipers and from bunker positions. At least one Dushka 12.7mm heavy machine gun was reported to have been used against the Marines before it was silenced.
Within an hour of Operation James starting, the Marines reported that two senior Iraqi officers had been taken prisoner, four T55 tanks destroyed and at least one bunker blown up.
The battle unfolded minute by minute over the radio back at the brigade headquarters at a secret location in southern Iraq as the British troops fought throughout daylight hours to silence enemy military positions.
An additional company of men from 42 Commando were flown in by helicopter to help block an escape route for Iraqi troops.
Lt Col Gordon Messenger, the commanding officer of 40 Commando, reported that the 30,000 civilian population of Abu al Khasib was "generally welcoming".
The Marine who died was killed when Iraqis in patrol boats staged a surprise attack on a landing craft on patrol in the Basra canal, 20 miles to the south. Several were wounded.
That section of canal was believed to have been secured by allied forces, but the Iraqis fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the craft, setting it on fire.
Marines on shore fired at one of the Iraqi boats and sank it. The five crew members, three of them badly injured, were captured.
Regards, Ivan
(Sidebar: Is the stencil on the front 'bumper' normally reversed such as an ambulance's? Or is the whole image mirrored by mistake, you suppose?)
This is very unfortunate. Hopefully they will be able to pause a moment and re-organize to avoid such problems in the future as much as possible.
Under the codename Operation James, Alpha, Bravo and Delta rifle companies, each of more than 120 men, advanced on foot at first light along a wide front to try to trap Iraqi forces up against the Shatt al Arab waterway.
Why first light? Don't they have night vision? (I am probably missing something...)
No. The commander's thermal viewer is on the wrong side in that pic. The photo image is reversed.
-archy-/-
Depends on other mechanical layout. Scimitar and Spartan have the driver placed offset on the left, as per the pic in post #11 above.
The driver of the Challenger II tank is placed dead-center beneath the mantlet for the main gun when it's in the forward position, allowing ammunition storage tubs on either side of him to be accessed from the turret.
The British *Wolf* Land Rover scout vehicles and most light trucks have the driver's wheel on the righthand side, though, with the Landies having a Gimpy machinegun mounting for the lefthand-seat gunner.
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