Book description
In the dead of night on 20 March 2003, Royal Navy Marines from 40 and
42 Commando board a fleet of twenty helicopters. With faces blackened
and mouths dry at the thought of what lies ahead, they have been given
the job of capturing the oil pipelines and pumping stations through
which 90 per cent of Iraq's oil is exported, to seal off the whole of
the Faw peninsula and hold it against any counter-attack by the Iraqi
Army. They will be the first troops on the ground in Iraq, literally
kicking the door down. They will also suffer the first allied
casualties in the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
Operation Telic was a bold and audacious break with military
doctrine, a night-time airborne assault against heavily defended
positions.
With the Commandos lightly armed and isolated, the night-time
landing was just the beginning. They were engaged in a series of
fast-moving and hard-fought battles as they moved rapidly north until
they reached the outskirts of Basra.
Finally, after a two-day battle that broke the back of the Iraqi
resistance, and eighteen days after their first contact with the
enemy, Royal Marine Commandos entered the presidential palace in Basra.
Told from the perspective, and with the cooperation of officers and
men in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, Target Basra is a
story of courage, fortitude and the harsh realities of modern war,
fought in the context of the turmoil of the Middle East.
Mike Rossiter
is an independent documentary film-maker, whose work has been nominated
for BAFTA and Emmy awards. In 2001 he filmed the search for and recovery
of the body of Donald Campbell and his record-breaking boat
Bluebird
from Conniston Water. He produced the series
War at Sea
for the BBC and discovered and filmed the wreck of the aircraft carrier
Ark Royal
. He is also the author of
Ark Royal
and
Sink the Belgrano
.
