NAVY NEWS, AUGUST 2008 41
The peninsular war
F
IVE years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the
him of A Bridge Too Far – and
Royal Navy’s role in toppling the dictator seems
Arnhem had not exactly been
at best peripheral in the public’s minds.
a success;
■ two commando engineers
Never mind the fact that the ship was HMS Ocean (but she
who giggled to themselves
Fleet either ferried or escorted had engine troubles). Flagship
for doubling the amount of
ships ferrying almost all the kit Ark Royal was hastily turned
explosives used to blow apart
used by Britain’s forces into into a ‘second Ocean’ carrying
the Ba’ath Party headquarters
theatre, the public perception is commandos and helicopters rather
in Al Faw;
that the RAF flew everyone in than her trademark Harriers. And
■ equally surreal is the fact
and the Army probably did all the the first Viking armoured vehicles
that life continued almost as
fighting. were a long way off being delivered
normal in some parts of Iraq:
Except, of course, that it didn’t. to the commandos.
people went about their daily
Not since the Falklands did the Only part of the assault on
business in Al Faw and Umm
Royal Navy play such a key role Al Faw came from the sea;
Qasr, despite the presence of
in an operation, writes Richard the rest came from the land,
friend and foe.
Hargreaves. Kuwait to be precise. The men
It is the Royal Navy’s role – and of 42 Commando were far from
It is rather strange reading about
that of 40 and 42 Commandos impressed with facilities. “We
events you witnessed, albeit on the
in particular – which is the had been promised metal-framed
periphery. My ‘war’ consisted of
focus of Mike Rossiter’s Target bunks, electricity, running water
plenty of groundhog days in Ark
Basra (Bantam, £17.99 ISBN and showers. All there was was a Royal, a few days on Sir Galahad,
978-0593-06058-2). pile of tents,” fumed Sgt Dominic a rather surreal media event in
Rossiter has already provided Collins. There wasn’t even enough Umm Qasr and a few moments of
us with lively popular histories of food for the men. fright/disbelief/awe.
Ark Royal III and the sinking of Coming from land or sea, the The fright came courtesy of
the Belgrano. Royals faced significant challenges. some missiles Saddam lobbed at
Target Basra is written very much The Iranians had tried to take Al the Fleet and a biological warfare
in the same vein, chiefly based Faw during the Iran-Iraq war. scare on Sir Galahad (actually
on interviews with participants, They had been slaughtered, caused by some burned toast...).
diaries and official reports. pinned in by Saddam’s tanks The disbelief was provided by the
When I arrived in the Gulf as rolling down the road from Basra loss of two ‘Bagger’ Sea Kings.
one of the ‘embedded’ reporters and a helicopter assault along the And the awe came on the first
with the Royal Navy, I was coast. The Iraqis had finished off night of war, wandering around
somewhat awestruck by the size of the invader using mustard gas and
Ark Royal’s hangar watching Royal
the Fleet – more than 30 warships chemical shells.
Marines waiting for the signal to
and auxiliaries – mustered; I was The battle for Al Faw did not
board their helicopters and assault
not, naturally, privy to the doubts turn into a bloodbath. It was not
● Men of 42 Commando take up position in a roadside ditch on the Al Faw peninsula having relieved
the Al Faw peninsula.
and fears of the men leading the a damned near-run thing. But the
their 40 Commando comrades Picture: LA(Phot) Dave Husbands, 42 Commando
I had little, if any, grasp of the
assault. Royal Marines had been, Gordon
intensity of the fighting, of mortar
Rear Admiral David Snelson, Messenger observed succinctly, Basra, however, was another Strongpoints and objectives Basra – to British forces what
barrages and tank battles. I saw
the senior RN commander “f***ing lucky”. matter entirely. in Abu-al-Khasib received James Baghdad was to the Americans –
no visions of hell, no Dante’s
in theatre, Capts Alan Massey Not every man was lucky, Three divisions – one armoured, Bond-esque codenames: Oddjob, fell the first week in April.
inferno as the men on the ground
and Adrian Johns on Ark Royal however. Three commandos were one mechanised – guarded the Moneypenny, Blofeld. It was From the heat of battle,
saw; the horrors of war are vividly
and Ocean respectively, 42 badly burned when they stormed approaches to Basra, although they the scene of some of the most the Royals found themselves
described by the Royal Marines
Commando’s Cols Buster Howes the Ba’ath Party HQ in Al Faw; were neither in the best of morale protracted fighting by the Royal peacekeeping overnight – and
through Rossiter’s book.
and 40 Commando’s Gordon a grenade ignited a gas cylinder nor physical condition. They did, Marines in the 2003 campaign. almost overwhelmed by the task
Iraq remains a deeply unpopular
Messenger – all had their various setting the building – and the however, possess upwards of 150 Anywhere between 300 and as locals celebrated the demise of
war – and many of the books
apprehensions: had everything men alight. working tanks. The Royal 2,000 Iraqi troops were spotted the Saddam regime.
written in its aftermath focus on
been planned to the minutest The first day at Al Faw Marines had none. by a spy plane approaching the
“There were hundreds of
just that: the aftermath.
detail; who would come back – demanded about as much They did have Royals.
thousands of people just going
and who would not; would men of men as men could take. US and British Company commander Maj
And there are, of course,
berserk,” Buster Howes recalled.
die because of mistakes they had Most had not slept for air power to call Matt Pierson called on 40
manifold lessons on how – or how
“A bit like a cork coming out of
made? 48 hours, some 72. upon (including Commando’s Mortar Troop to
not to – restore peace and order in
a champagne bottle, they all went
Above all, the greatest fear Helicopter crews were the tankbusters unleash a 90-second barrage at
a war-torn country.
berserk and started looting and
surrounded the initial assault: not “on the bare bones of 847 NAS), the enemy, then watched as the
But Mike Rossiter’s pacey
burning.”
for half a century since Suez had of their arse”, Buster British Challenger shells came down just 150 yards
account is a reminder that the
Thanks to Rossiter’s interviews
Britain staged a truly ‘opposed Howes recalled. II tanks, the guns from his position.
campaign itself was brief, bloody
and access to personal papers
landing’. One American of 29 Commando The scenes in the aftermath of
and, above all, a military triumph.
there are some fascinating insights
The objective was the Al Faw CH46 carrying Regiment RA, plus the barrage were reminiscent of
What is more, the RN and
into the war behind the scenes:
peninsula – gateway to southern marines from their own Milan anti- the Falaise pocket.
above all the green berets played
Iraq and Basra, and home to vital 42 ploughed tank missiles. “We found blood, bits of
a key role in bringing the Saddam ■ Alan Massey was convinced
oil installations; there was every into the desert When 60 enemy tanks uniform, weapons, a few injured
that ridding the world of regime crashing down. They have
fear that these would be sabotaged killing all aboard; two were reported moving on survivors,” he told the author.
Saddam Hussein’s regime largely been denied their ‘place on
as Saddam had done in Kuwait a Sea Kings from HMS Ark 40 Commando’s positions, “The rest must have seen what
was the right thing to do “but the podium’ – unfairly.
dozen years before. Royal collided with the same Gordon Messenger asked for had happened to their vanguard
I also pray that we find all But it’s not just the aftermath of
A combined assault from land horrific outcome. a tally of Milans. The reply – and gone back. It would have been
the evidence that we know is war and the civil unrest/terrorist
and sea would ensure Al Faw fell And the war, of course, did not 58 – says Messenger “didn’t help a horrific lesson for them.”
there”; attacks which have overshadowed
swiftly into Allied hands. end on Day One. In fact, it was to calm my nerves”. War has a habit of making men
the Senior Service’s role in the ■ a bizarre final briefing for
Today we rather take for difficult to drew any conclusions As it turned out the combination laugh for otherwise nonsensical
UK and US commanders in drama.
granted that amphibious warfare after just one day of fighting... of Challengers, Allied air power reasons.
Qatar at which the opening The battle done, company
is arguably the RN’s strongest although US Defense Secretary and commando guns proved to be As enemy shells crashed into
battle scene from Gladiator was commander Maj Matt Jackson
asset: six major new warships Donald Rumsfeld did proclaim more than a match for Saddam’s Iraqi earth a few yards away, 2/Lt
aired (the more typical fare was hoping to unwind with his
with loading docks and impressive the Umm Qasr captured (which armour. Rob Jones and his radio operator
on Ark was Austin Powers and men on the long seaborne journey
carrying capacity. In early 2003 it it wasn’t). The road to Abu-al-Khasib, couldn’t help chuckling away: the
Shrek...); home.
was rather more Heath Robinson It soon would be. As at Al Faw, just outside Basra was, Maj Justin tension of the build-up to war was
It was denied them. Senior ■ relations between the
than Lord Nelson. the Royals expected the Ba’ath Holt recalled, a scene of “utter relieved in an instant. Royal Marines and the US
Army officers, Jackson was told,
Albion was not yet Party building to be the focal destruction. Plumes of dense Elsewhere, the Brigade hovercraft unit carrying some
forbade them a triumphant
commissioned, Bulwark was still point of Iraqi resistance. black smoke rose in the morning Reconnaissance Force jumped of the commandos into battle homecoming aboard HMS Ocean
being built. The Bay class were It was not. In fact, most air.” The commandos watched into a ditch and scrambled for deteriorated badly (the Brits – the Marines were receiving a
building sites. HMS Fearless resistance in Umm Qasr was a phenomenon WW2 tank their gas masks as they marched felt the Americans were being little too much publicity.
and Intrepid were awaiting the cursory, save for a few Fedayeen commanders would know well: down a road in the mid-day heat. overly cautious); Glory denied. The commandos
breaker’s yard. The four Knights – fanatical paramilitary loyal to ammunition in burned-out enemy The cry had not been ‘gas!’ but ■ a staff officer told David deserve better. This book goes a
of the Round Table were ageing or Saddam – riding around in pick- tanks ‘cooking off’ as fires raged, ‘Gaz!’ as one marine tried to get Snelson that his first briefing long way towards addressing that
aged. The only truly amphibious up trucks. detonating at random. his mate’s attention... on the invasion plan reminded slight.
Study the art of war(ships)
BACK in February we proclaimed Sam Willis’ Fighting Ships with incisive text and trawls not just the usual archives for his
1750-1850 “the largest volume to pop through the Navy News illustrations.
letter box”. So while there famous paintings such as Wyllie, A B Cull’s
And it was. Until now. The successor volume, magnifi cent line up of dreadnoughts and Claus Bergen’s study
Fighting Ships 1850-1950, (Quercus, £25 ISBN 978-N 9N 978-78 of a U-boaof aUa U-boboaatat commander ( co a detail of which appears, left), there
1847244161) follows in the same vein… and again is gain is are some stunning lesser-knoare someo wn works.
the size of a coffee table. In the afterIn math of Jutland, for example, very
Given the era it covered, Willis’ fi rst book was (a) s (a) impressivim e watercolours of damage to British
devoted to the age of sail and (b) relied exclusivvely ships ws ere produced, accurately marking the
on paintings, sketches and drawings. localo tion of hits from German shells.
Book two moves into the age of iron and steel – – There’s a colourful (and controversial)
and the age of the photographer. depiction of a rdep un-ashore in the mid-20s by Paul
And it’s probably fair to say that the Cadmus – whose style wCadC as remarkably similar to
photographs don’t quite have the same the lathhe late Beryl Cook.
impact as the paintings, not least because The arTh rival of powered fl ight adds another
many have been seen before – Jellicoe on Iron ddimension to the second vimensm olume, allowing some of
Duke, Dunning’s Sopwith Pup plunging off f tthe whe woworld’r s foremost aviation artists, such as the great
HMS Furious, the men of HMS Prince of WaWaales les RobeRoberrtrt TTaylor, to muscle in among the Wyllies and HP BOOKFINDERS: Established
abandoning ship – although they were not necessareccessarcessariily ly CulCullsls.
professional service locating out
reproduced on quite such a large scale. Wyyllie,llie, C Cull and Taylor paint very much in a traditional
of print titles on all
But as regular readers of Navy News will perhaps know, a big style; not so the Nihonga artists of Japan whose distinctive
subjects. No obligation or SAE
picture used well can have quite a bit of impact – aided in this images are possibly the most striking in the book.
instance by an outstanding quality of reproduction (there are a There’s a bizarre cartoon realism, a sort of Hanna-Barbera
required. Contact: Mosslaird,
few strange choices, such as the reproduction of a wallet card with guns, to the work of Arai Shori who accompanied the
Brig O’ Turk, Callander, FK17 8HT
handed out to those present at the surrender of Japan on USS Japanese carrier force to Pearl Harbor and recorded his
Telephone/Fax: (01877) 376377
Missouri and a few telegrams). impressions on canvas. Like the attack itself, it has the power to martin@hp-bookfinders.co.uk
As with his fi rst volume, Willis accompanies the images chill more than six decades later. www.hp-bookfinders.co.uk
0041_NN_Aug.indd 141_NN_Aug.indd 1 111/7/08 10:39:171/7/08 10:39:17
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