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Looking For Trouble |
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April 4 |
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(Published April 5) THE British guns are firing again, just as they did last night and just as they have done every night this week. The shells arc into the sky, glowing orange as they soar towards Basra with a deafening roar. They explode over the city, a pyrotechnic display lighting up the night sky. The huge 95lb shells packed with high explosive smash into the buildings sheltering militia forces. It is a strangely remote sort of fighting: killing an enemy they cannot see and who cannot see them. Do they feel pity for those on whom their shells fall? They cannot afford to feel pity, said Major Ian Bell, the battery commander. How could they do the job if they worried about those who might die? But he knows the terror of being under such a bombardment, the feeling of helplessness and despair. "We were on the other end of it a few days ago. It is the most frightening and demoralising thing that has ever happened to me," he said. "You can't do anything about it, just sit there in your vehicle until it goes away. "I hope that it is as unpleasant for them as it was for us. As long as they keep firing at our soldiers, they will keep getting it from us." But he worries about what the army calls 'collateral damage', innocent civilians caught up in the barrage because they made the mistake of living in a place where the militia later chose to hide. "We find collateral damage difficult. We get clearance to fire, a computer tells where we are firing in relation to schools and houses, but the decision is taken on proportionality and military necessity." When the Iraqi militia fired on their own people as they fled the city last week, the mortars they used were spotted close to buildings that the gunners knew they needed to avoid. As the man in charge of the Royal Horse Artillery batteries outside Basra, it was Major Bell's decision on whether to fire. He waited until the next day, when he judged that the risk of killing civilians was at its lowest, then destroyed the mortar line. "When we fired against the mortars, it was close to something we shouldn't have been firing at, but the type of ammunition and the time of day meant it seemed acceptable. "We opened up the next day and engaged them with indirect fire and then dropped 500lb bombs on them." Two mortars on pick-up trucks were destroyed, the same weapons that had been firing at the crowd the day before. The artillery batteries are attached to the Black Watch battle group camped outside Basra, waiting for orders to advance into the city. There are three batteries, each with eight 155mm AS 90 guns, each gun capable of firing three 95lb shells every ten seconds. When US marines crossed the Iraqi border, it was the Black Watch battle group that fired on the Iraqi forces in their way. Using aerial drones, spotters and other intelligence, they have targeted tanks, troop formations, bridges and places where the militia and Baath Party members were known to be meeting. They can use high-explosive shells to destroy the targets that have been identified, killing everything within a 55-metre radius of the blast. They can use cluster bombs, which scatter tiny charges about 1.5in long and which the army claims are now designed to go off when they hit the ground rather than lying around to kill anyone who later passes that way. They can use illumination rounds to turn night into day on the ground below, with a glow equivalent to the light of ten million candles. If they are not sure of an exact target, they can simply harass the Iraqi defenders in the less densely populated parts of the city. "We drop a few rounds on them every couple of hours, so they are terrified and don't know what to do," he said. But he said they have also foiled attempted Iraqi counter-attacks and saved the lives of countless British troops, including one Black Watch company that had come under attack from militia using mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Fearing an infantry attack to retake the bridge, the guns - which were supporting another brigade at the time - were asked to switch targets to beat off the counter-attack, the first time such a manoeuvre had been attempted since the Second World War. It was a success, and the bridge was held. On Wednesday the batteries fired off 108 bomblets over the course of the night and lit up the sky to let the militia know they knew where they were. The following night they hit 40 T55 tanks that had appeared to the north of Basra, destroying 20 and driving the rest away. On the gun line to the south-west of the city, they are resting after another night of heavy shelling. When the assault on Basra eventually begins, they will be busy enough.
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(Original copy)
BRITISH troops could take Basra tomorrow if US military commanders give the orders to attack, the commanding officer of the Black Watch said yesterday. Lieutenant Colonel Mike [correct] Riddell-Webster said he believed they were ready to take the city, but the decision on when to move forward was not in British hands. But he said they were also anxious to avoid a situation in which they were dragged into street-fighting which would be costly in terms of British and Iraqi lives. "We don't want a Stalingrad and we are trying to avoid collateral damage and unneccesary civilian deaths," he said. "At some point it will be decide that the moment is right and then it will begin. Basra is not a British decision but I personally think we could go and do Basra now. He said he believed that at least a brigade, if not an entire divisions, of British troops would be needed to capture the city. He was speaking as he reflected on the first two weeks of the military campaign since the Black Watch battle group crossed the Iraqi border a fortnight ago today (SAT). "I think it is going well but it has been a pot pouri of emotion. There has been everything - excitement, enjoyment, sadness, tragedy - the whole spectrum." Lt Col Riddell-Webster is perhaps best known in Britain for his decision earlier this week to lead the first foot patrol around the town of Az Zubayr, when he discarded his helmet and body armour to walk into the town which had been the scene of fierce fighting in the preceeding days and to chat to local people about how best to get life back to normal. But he has also been heavily involved in the military action, with his own Warrior vehicle sporting a number of bullet holes where it came under attack from Iraqi militia men. He has also crossed over the Shatt al Basrah canal into the outskirts of Basra during one of the raids which have been mounted by British forces into the city over the last week. Sitting in the shade of his new headquarters outside Basra yesterday he said he believed the British troops had acquited themselves well in the campaign so far. "Is it what I expected? No, but I have never done this before so I didn't really know what to expect," he said. "We have achieved all that we hoped for and more but that has come at a price. We always knew there would be a price but I always hoped there would not be." During the course of the fighting one Black Watch soldier, Lance Corporal Barry Stephen was killed in an attack with a rocket propelled grenade and a tank from the Black Watch battle group fired on another British unit, killing two people. "The death of Corporal Stephen was the low point, that whole day. There was also the friendly fire incident just before D company launched a raid," he said. "When I heard on the radio that the friendly fire had happened I didn't think anything could get worse. You have to take a deep breath and get on with it because there is nothing you can do about it. I heard about it as we were about to go on the raid and didn't have time to think about it." Aged 42 and married with two children, he is originally from Cupar Angus. After almost 20 years in the Black Watch, he says his wife Sarah still worries about what he gets up to. "I am jolly glad that they haven't got much that penetrates the armour. It is rather comforting," he said. "I have beenover the bridge when we went on the raid to destroy the statue and knock over the TV mast. I could either sit back and listen to the battle on the radio or go somehwere where I can influence it, not the very front line but close. Sitting on the bridge gave me a line of sight. "I have got bullet holes in the back of my vehicle. The red aircraft panel [to identify the vehicle to coalition aircraft] is peppered with bullet holes. I believe that the turret hatch offered some cover and I sit quite low so we were OK. "We have also been mortared and had a go back at them." Since he took over comand of the Black Watch he has served in Kosovo and Pristina and spent last year on training exercises, preparing the regiment for combat. "I always knew this would happen, or I always thought it would happen," he said. "There is an old expression that war is 99 per cent hanging around and one per cent actual excitement. We are hanging around at the moment but we are doing it in a constructive way." The high point of the war so far, he said, was the afternoon that the Black Watch finally moved into Az Zubayr, but he said he believed that after a breathing space things were beginning to move again. "I think it is beginning to fall apart for them," he said.
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(Published April 5) Colonel Mike Riddell-Webster, 42, is commanding officer of the Black Watch, near Basra: "We don't want a Stalingrad and we are trying to avoid collateral damage and unnecessary civilian deaths. At some point it will be decided that the moment is right to go in, and then it will begin. Basra is not a British decision but I think we could go and do Basra now. At least a brigade, if not an entire division, of British troops will be needed to capture the city. I think it is going well but it has been a pot pourri of emotion. There has been everything - excitement, enjoyment, sadness, tragedy, the whole spectrum. Is it what I expected? No, but I have never done this before so I didn't really know what to expect. We have achieved all that we hoped for and more but that has come at a price. We always knew there would be a price but I always hoped there would not be. The death of Corporal Barry Stephen was the low point, that whole day. There was also the friendly fire incident just before D company launched a raid. When I heard on the radio that the friendly fire had happened, I didn't think anything could get worse. You have to take a deep breath and get on with it because there is nothing you can do about it. I heard about it as we were about to go on the raid and didn't have time to think about it. I am jolly glad that they haven't got much that penetrates the armour. It is rather comforting. I have been over the bridge when we went on the raid to destroy the statue and knock over the TV mast. I could either sit back and listen to the battle on the radio or go somewhere where I can influence it, not the very front line but close. Sitting on the bridge gave me a line of sight. I have got bullet holes in the back of my vehicle. The red aircraft panel to identify the vehicle to coalition aircraft is peppered with bullet holes. I believe that the turret hatch offered some cover and I sit quite low, so we were OK. We have also been mortared and had a go back at them. I always knew this war would happen, or I always thought it would happen. There is an old expression that war is 99 per cent hanging around and 1 per cent actual excitement. We are hanging around at the moment but we are doing it in a constructive way. The high point so far was the afternoon we finally moved into Az Zubayr. Now things are beginning to move again. I think it is beginning to fall apart for them."
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