Operation Desert Storm: The Gulf War ground campaign

Voiceover: “On the 26th of February 1991, Captain Tim Purbrick was having a quiet nap in his tank, but he was about to make history. As day broke, his crew noticed Iraqi tanks in the distance. One of them, a T-55, was 4,700 metres or nearly 3 miles away, four times the battle range of their Challenger 1. When they fired the main gun, the round took nearly three full seconds to reach the target. When it did, a massive fireball erupted in the distance. Purbrick’s crew had just achieved the longest tank-to-tank kill in military history. That T-55 was one of many Iraqi tanks which never even saw the enemy coming. In the last episode of our Gulf War series, we covered the coalition air campaign. Now we're looking at the ground offensive which liberated Kuwait in the space of just 100 hours. This is how they did it. 

In 1991, the Iraqi army appeared to be a formidable beast. It was believed to be the fourth largest in the world, and they were experienced too, with 8 years of gruelling war against Iran under their belt. Operationally, the Iraqi army was primarily a defensive force, utilising a Soviet-style defence in-depth. The heavily fortified Saddam line included minefields, sand berms, barbed wire, and trenches. The Iraqi army was positioned in a triangular structure with two divisions in front and one behind, ready to smash any breakthrough with armour and artillery. In the theatre reserve were Iraq's best troops, the Republican Guard. They had originally been formed to defend Saddam's regime, but during the Iran-Iraq war, they proved themselves as elite shock troops called upon to repel Iranian breakthroughs. Altogether, these layers of defences promised to make the liberation of Kuwait a very bloody affair. This was the essence of Saddam's plan. Heavily influenced by the war in Vietnam, he believed that Western nations couldn't stomach heavy casualties. He aimed to bleed them white in the so-called 'mother of all battles' before negotiating a peace. But the coalition had a plan of their own.” 

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “The coalition planned to use their air power to reduce the strength of the Iraqi armed forces in Kuwait by at least 50 per cent. When this was achieved, the ground campaign would begin. The coalition bombing campaign had a devastating effect on Iraqi troops. Coalition forces attempted to exploit this by encouraging Iraqi soldiers to lay down their arms by dropping thousands upon thousands of leaflets. This banknote may look like true Iraqi currency from the time, but in fact, it's a propaganda leaflet. It roughly reads as "Saddam's daily ration for you is what?" and indicates this by using the big question mark. "The daily ration for coalition soldiers is..." and then proceeds to list a long range of food. It finishes by saying "Prisoners are fed the same meal as coalition soldiers." Banknotes such as these have often been used historically as a propaganda tool, as you can almost guarantee that people pick them up and read them if they think they're real banknotes. If they worked, the leaflet and bombing campaign would allow coalition forces to speed through the Iraqi Army and liberate Kuwait.” 

Voiceover: “The coalition had one primary objective: the liberation of Kuwait. Secondary objectives were the destruction of Iraq's WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and of the Republican Guard. To do that, they pulled together a huge multinational force with 700,000 soldiers from 35 different countries. These included British, French, Egyptian, Saudi, and even 300 Afghan Mujahideen. But the main contribution would come from the United States. It was General Norman Schwarzkopf and his Central Command, or CENTCOM, that was in charge of the entire operation. Schwarzkopf's plan was as follows: on G-Day, Joint Forces Command East, along with US Marines on the coast, would attack the Saddam line to fix the enemy. At the same time, the 18th Airborne Corps on the far left would attack deep into Iraq to secure the flank and cut off any Iraqi retreat. G+1 would then see the main attack from the heavy divisions of 7th Corps. They would smash the Saddam line before turning east with the 18th Airborne on their left and Joint Forces Command North on their right. This left hook would then destroy the Republican Guard.” 

The coalition offensive was accompanied by a mass deception. In the days before the attack, US marines loudly rehearsed a fake amphibious landing in the Persian Gulf, while deception teams used decoys and communication emulators to make it seem like the 7th and 18th Airborne Corps were further east. Though the Iraqis did eventually figure out the coalition plan, by then it was too late. The coalition had air superiority, and Iraqi forces could not reposition without being destroyed. As such, the bulk of their forces remained in Kuwait. But just as the stage was set for battle, a last-minute peace offering arrived.” 

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “On the 15th of February, the Iraqi Revolutionary Council issued a statement with the aim of reaching a political solution. However, the statement came with conditions, including an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territory, reparations, and a cancellation of Iraq's debts, whilst also avoiding any time frame of when and how Iraq would withdraw. The announcement was widely rejected, and the coalition issued a statement setting out its final terms for ending hostilities, with the 23rd of February as a deadline for acceptance. The Soviets planned on requesting an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to resolve Iraq's plans of withdrawal with the coalition's demands, but it was too late. The deadline had passed, and the ground offensive had begun.” 

Voiceover: “First to move was the 18th Airborne Corps. At 1:00 a.m., French forces took As Salman with little opposition. Then at 7:00 a.m., the 101st Airborne launched a huge attack towards Objective Cobra. With an armada of helicopters, they set up a forward operating base there and set their sights on Highway 8, which connected Basra with Baghdad. Behind them was the 24th Division, who had the armour required to take on the Republican Guard. The force of 241 Abrams and 221 Bradleys set off in the afternoon and met little resistance. Instead, their biggest challenge came from the terrain.” 

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “Navigating through a desert landscape with so few landmarks and the risk of disorientation was extremely tricky. Yet hundreds of thousands of coalition troops and vehicles managed to navigate the difficult landscape and advance across the Iraqi desert, even at night. This was only made possible by the use of a Global Positioning System, or a GPS, like this Trimble Trimpack GPS receiver, which allows near-perfect navigational accuracy. The GPS system uses a network of orbiting satellites in space, which each have an atomic clock and continuously transmit a signal indicating the time and the spacecraft's exact position. The receiver picks up simultaneous signals from three or more of these satellites orbiting the earth and correlates them to provide a precise location for its user. This was the first time that GPS had been used for navigation in battle on such a large scale, and it played a pivotal role in supporting the coalition ground forces in their offensive.” 

Voiceover: “The attack was going so well that coalition forces risked leaving their flanks exposed. As such, Schwarzkopf decided to move 7th Corps' attack forward by 14 hours. This posed a huge logistical challenge, for every day of offensive operations, the Corps needed 5.6 million gallons of fuel, 3.3 million gallons of water, and over 6,000 tons of ammunition. Nevertheless, the attack went ahead at 5:00 a.m. on the 24th towards the objective of Al Busayyah. The 1st Cavalry Division made a feint attack on the right, while the 2nd Armoured Cavalry led the 1st and 3rd Armoured Divisions round the left flank. Meanwhile, the 1st Infantry Division attacked the Saddam line head-on. In a controversial decision, they used tanks and combat earthmovers to fill in the Iraqi trenches, in some cases burying their enemy inside. They didn't lose a single soldier in the assault. Further south, the US Marines were launching their attack in conjunction with Arab forces of Joint Forces Command East.”  

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “The US marines faced formidable Iraqi defences in the form of anti-tank and anti-personnel minefields, sand berms, and ditches in which the Iraqis planned to fill with burning oil. Marine engineers used mine-clearing line charges to detonate the Iraqi mines and deployed specialist tanks to clear a route. This created six tank-width lanes to pass through and enabled the ground offensive to continue. Next, the marines hit trenches manned by Iraqi soldiers, but these units quickly surrendered, citing low morale and poor equipment and training. This success soon became a huge logistical and operational challenge, as thousands of Iraqis were taken in as prisoners of war, slowing the coalition advance. US officials had been expecting to capture around 20,000 Iraqis in the first week of the campaign, but the US marines would capture nearly 10,000 on the first day alone.” 

Voiceover: “As day two began, things were looking good for the coalition, but there was one big problem: a massive hole had opened in their line. Joint Forces Command North had failed to advance when instructed, endangering the flanks of their neighbours. The advance came to a halt until mid-morning when Joint Forces Command North got on the move. In the meantime, 18th Airborne Corps continued their strong progress. The 101st established blocking lines on Highway 8, while the 24th Division continued to advance against negligible resistance. However, for the US Marines to the east, it was a different story. At daybreak, the Iraqis launched a series of counterattacks near the Al Burqan oilfield.” 

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “With a combination of thick black smoke and fog reducing visibility, the Iraqis got within a few hundred metres of their enemy. Then the US Marines opened fire, scoring numerous hits against the T-55s and armoured personnel carriers. Next, AH-1W Cobras joined the fight from the air, firing their TOW missiles. The coalition's air and ground firepower was no match for the Iraqis, and they soon withdrew behind the dense smoke from the burning oil wells. Struck simultaneously by air and ground fire, the Iraqis lost nearly 100 armoured vehicles in the engagement. However, other Iraqi vehicles survived and were often captured by coalition forces, including this BMP-1, which was captured by the British. In 1991, Iraq had around a thousand of these infantry fighting vehicles. Whilst many ended up in museums such as ours, many other BMP-1s found themselves being used in the later 2003 Iraq war.” 

Voiceover: “By the afternoon, 7th Corps were approaching Al Busayyah and preparing to turn east towards the Republican Guard. Resistance was light, but the enemy forces that did appear were often deterred from fighting by a repeated sequence of moves: first air strikes, then artillery and rocket fires, and then, when within visual range, surrender appeals broadcast over loudspeaker. These would more often than not compel Iraqi forces to surrender. But Saddam could still deal some damage. At 8:00 p.m., a modified Scud missile hit a US base in Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. Twenty-eight American soldiers were killed in the deadliest single strike of the war. But despite this success, it was clear that the Iraqi plan was not working. Saddam wanted to bleed the coalition white; instead, his forces were folding in on themselves. Now he had a choice to make."  

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “Saddam had consistently threatened to use WMDs throughout the conflict. However, he refrained from doing so, recognising US capability and fearing huge retaliation. He was potentially deterred from carrying out such threats. Instead, Saddam's final act was to retaliate with an inferno. Hundreds of oil wells were deliberately set ablaze. It was one of the world's worst environmental catastrophes, which Kuwait is still scarred by today. Finally, as it became clear that the war was not going his way, Saddam announced a withdrawal of his troops on the 25th of February 1991. Of particular concern for Saddam was saving the Republican Guard, which would help protect his regime from internal threats. For the coalition, this began a race against time to destroy as much of the Republican Guard as possible before they could escape.”  

Voiceover: “Day three saw continued progress in the east. By the evening, the 1st Marine Division had captured Mutla Ridge, overlooking Kuwait City. From there, they could see thousands of vehicles streaming out of Kuwait towards Basra. Coalition aircraft had already been pounding the columns all day long. Now the marines added their own firepower to the maelstrom. The destruction on the road would soon earn it the nickname "the Highway of Death." Meanwhile, to the west, British forces had joined the fight for the first time."  

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “We've come outside behind the scenes here at IWM Duxford to look at this Centurion AVRE. It served with the 26th Armoured Engineer Squadron during the Gulf War. The Centurion is currently awaiting conservation from our team here at IWM Duxford. You can still see the original desert colour paint scheme, which was applied as part of its deployment to the region. The AVRE was first introduced in 1963 and would be last used operationally during the Gulf War. They were designed to clear obstacles and breach enemy fortifications, but they saw little combat action in 1991. Instead, they would later be used to clear tank wrecks from the road between Kuwait City and Iraq due to the fear of unexploded ammunition.” 

Voiceover: “With the British in place, Schwarzkopf was ready to complete his left hook against the Republican Guard. From this point on, there would be far fewer surrenders. The enemy would stand and fight. The coming battle, fought in the midst of an out-of-season dust storm, would be the toughest of the war. On the far left, the 24th Division began to move down the Euphrates Valley against the Nebuchadnezzar Division. They crushed all opposition in front of them, hoping to trap the Iraqi forces further south.  

Meanwhile, by noon, 7th Corps had captured Al Busayyah and were now approaching the 12th Armoured and Tawakalna Divisions. The Iraqis were frantically repositioning to face the 7th Corps, and as a result, the 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment screening the 7th Corps' advance had little idea where their enemy actually was. By mid-afternoon, they had been sucked into a heavy engagement on the 73 Easting, a line on their battle maps. Though they were outnumbered and outgunned, they continued to attack regardless.” 

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “Coalition forces possessed a significant technological advantage over Iraq, with their equipment surpassing Iraqi capabilities. It is well known that Iraqi tanks were far outranged by the coalition equivalents, but less discussed are the other coalition advantages, such as the sophistication of their artillery. Coalition Firefinder radars could accurately locate Iraqi artillery and mortar positions and deliver accurate destructive fires, often from multiple launch rocket systems, devastating Iraqi positions before they could seriously damage coalition forces. Another important asset for the coalition was the thermal imaging technology available to them, enabling them to operate effectively at night or in dust storms, whilst Iraqi forces were largely relying on visual observations. Thermal imaging systems in coalition equipment worked so well that crews could spot and hit Iraqi tanks before the Iraqis had even seen them.” 

Voiceover: “That evening, the rest of 7th Corps joined the fight as the Battle of 73 Easting grew into the Battle of Norfolk. Hundreds of Iraqi vehicles were destroyed overnight in the largest tank battle of the war. By the time the dust cloud had lifted in the morning, the 7th Corps was advancing five divisions abreast, with over 1,500 armoured vehicles extending out in all directions beyond the horizon. The advance was inexorable and continued into the next day when the Medina Division was savaged by the coalition. Iraqi forces displayed considerable bravery in continuing to resist the inevitable. At 6:00 p.m. that night, American forces cut the road to Basra, while Arab forces entered Kuwait City. But the conflict was about to take its final twist." 

Megan Joyce, IWM curator: “A few days into the ground offensive, it became clear to coalition leaders that the war had effectively been won. But images of destroyed vehicles and the burnt bodies of those who were desperately trying to get out of Kuwait City filled television screens across the world. The so-called 'Highway of Death' did not look good for the coalition, and it risked displaying a degree of overkill. This persuaded President Bush to announce a ceasefire on national television, effective from 8:00 a.m. on the 28th of February 1991. This was music to the ears of the American military leadership, as it would also make the ground offensive a five-day war, beating the famous six-day war. Whilst the war had come to an end, there was later discussion as to why the Coalition didn't finish the job of removing Saddam Hussein from power when they had all the assets to do so in 1991. Ultimately, it would take Bush's son, President George W. Bush, to achieve this goal over a decade later in 2003.” 

Voiceover: “As the dust settled, the extent of the coalition victory quickly became clear. They had destroyed over 3,000 Iraqi tanks for the loss of just a handful of their own, liberating Kuwait within 100 hours. They had suffered 392 dead compared to an estimated 20,000 to 35,000 Iraqi battle deaths. It was a truly remarkable campaign, and yet there was a sense of unfinished business. Much of the Republican Guard had escaped destruction, and Iraq was about to descend into outright rebellion. Join us in the last episode of our series as we explore the forgotten fallout from the Gulf War.”