Table Of ContentBattle for streets of Basra
By Tim Butcher near Basra
(Filed: 31/03/2003)
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.
A soldier treads warily through streets destroyed by
retreating troops in Mushifij, south-west of Basra
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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.
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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.
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