The Desert Rats
This was it now the only thing in front of us were Iraqi. The Challengers from 14/20th Kings Hussars up front clearing the way
for the rest of us. We had set out objectives with names like Bronze, Copper, Gold and Steel,.
The harder the mettle type the harder the objective. But with Two Brigade strength Battle Groups,
with the combined Artillery working as one, Nothing we could not handle. It was said that a Challenger
with its Chobham armour could take a hit from any AT Round the enemy had. This was to be confirmed
shortly. In the first tank battles a Challenger took a direct hit from a T62
after a loud bang and ball of fire the challengers turret swiftly traversed around and destroyed the tank
which had just fired at it. The news quickly spread around the BG and gave our tank commanders
even more confidence. |
This was one of the first Iraqi tanks that we saw It had been long since destroyed but it showed just how
well they were dug in. Making it a hard target to hit. AS the attacks went on we were never far
away because if you get casualties you want an ambulance close by. For us it was like being in the cinema
you could see all the action but not take part. Under the Ginever Convention we were not even aloud
the standard 7.62mm MG mounted. Apart from that the432 is out of date
and not well armoured. So it was just as well.
|
Up till now everything had gone to plan and several Iraqi locations had been destroyed. Then on the
26th of February the first tragedy, An American A-10 Thunderbolt destroyed two Warriors
Killing 9 and injuring 11. Before the ground war started i had my dotes about the americans and there Blue-on-Blue
reputation. In Khafji, Two Bradlys were destroyed by American aircraft, And thats there version of the Warrior, I thought
if they cant recognise there own vehicles what chance have we got. |
At the same time as the medics were treating the injured, Iraqi soldiers surrendered to us. The location was still (HOT) there were still warriors
around us firing at targets ,The A10 came in and let of another volley of 30mm close by. Lucky this time it was at an Iraqi position. Then somehow
someone must have got word to the pilot cos after that he flew off. Temper on the ground was high the A10 was lucky no one shot him down. The Infantry
being armed with (JAVELIN and STARSTREAK) Both hand held SAMS which are more than capable of downing an A10. |
I was the Rad OP it was my job to radio the CASEVAC through. First i tried to call in a Puma
But that was denied. Then i radioed through to Forward Troop, encoded our position and gave the number of casualties through. They sent back saying the position Must be wrong, I checked it
and sent it back. Still wrong, It put us somewhere in Kuwait. Then i realised the code sheet was the wrong one, Our MO had changed them and put them in the
wrong order. This all lost valuable time but i soon got right position though. Then Forward Troop sent me a Grid to send the casualties to and said
they were mobile at the moment but would be at said Grid in 10 Minutes. With the aid of SATNAV we sent the 432 ambulances off. About 40 Minutes later they came back, To our Horror the
casualties were still onboard, They had been to the Exact point were they were sent but no one was there. I radioed Forward Troop, They said they were held up in an Armoured Column. We then
called for a Helivac which was then sent. |
| Storm | Storm1 | Storm2 | Roll of Honour | HOME |
