Features � As Real As It Gets
[Image - Loading up the Unimog]
We had received a priority signal whilst in one of our LUP's up north. A communition target 50km away had to be destroyed within 36 hours. After a recon mission we loaded all the spare equipment onto the Unimog (pictured), so that our vehicles would have that last bit of extra speed. We could not afford to leave anyone back to guard the Unimog, so we wired it up with explosives & booby traps, so if the enemy did find it they would quickly turn themselves into a massive fireball. We moved off late afternoon for the attack. The attack was full of surprises. The target had been bombed by the coalition air forces at some stage, but the large mast was still standing and the presence of Iraqi troops was far greater than we had been led to expect. When we moved in to attach explosives to the mast and take out some of the nearby Iraqi troops the whole night lit up in a crescendo as we all started swopping ammunition and grenades with each other. It was soon clear that we had bitten off more than we should have. Iraqi troops were heavy on the ground and Triple A systems (rapid anti aircraft fire) were quickly brought down to bear on us. It was difficult to fully capture in words the next 30 minutes of action.
[Image - Fighting at night]
Needless to say we were fighting for our lives exchanging bullet for bullet, grenade for grenade. Most of us accepted that before the night was through we would split to the four winds escaping and evading, as the attack was going to the wall. Vehicles were hit, weapons systems were hit and blokes quite literally had bullets through their clothing. We won the day and destroyed the target by pure aggression and fire power. This was the regiment at it's very best. It later transpired that we attacked a target that had 10 times the amount of Iraqi troops on than we were expecting. This was the biggest and most successful attack by special forces in the Gulf War. We had gone in greatly outnumbered and destroyed the target. But most importantly we got every man back uninjured. If we ran that attack every day for the next six months, it would probably be impossible to get the same results. We were extremely lucky.
We had received a priority signal whilst in one of our LUP's up north. A communition target 50km away had to be destroyed within 36 hours. After a recon mission we loaded all the spare equipment onto the Unimog (pictured), so that our vehicles would have that last bit of extra speed. We could not afford to leave anyone back to guard the Unimog, so we wired it up with explosives & booby traps, so if the enemy did find it they would quickly turn themselves into a massive fireball. We moved off late afternoon for the attack. The attack was full of surprises. The target had been bombed by the coalition air forces at some stage, but the large mast was still standing and the presence of Iraqi troops was far greater than we had been led to expect. When we moved in to attach explosives to the mast and take out some of the nearby Iraqi troops the whole night lit up in a crescendo as we all started swopping ammunition and grenades with each other. It was soon clear that we had bitten off more than we should have. Iraqi troops were heavy on the ground and Triple A systems (rapid anti aircraft fire) were quickly brought down to bear on us. It was difficult to fully capture in words the next 30 minutes of action.
[Image - Fighting at night]
Needless to say we were fighting for our lives exchanging bullet for bullet, grenade for grenade. Most of us accepted that before the night was through we would split to the four winds escaping and evading, as the attack was going to the wall. Vehicles were hit, weapons systems were hit and blokes quite literally had bullets through their clothing. We won the day and destroyed the target by pure aggression and fire power. This was the regiment at it's very best. It later transpired that we attacked a target that had 10 times the amount of Iraqi troops on than we were expecting. This was the biggest and most successful attack by special forces in the Gulf War. We had gone in greatly outnumbered and destroyed the target. But most importantly we got every man back uninjured. If we ran that attack every day for the next six months, it would probably be impossible to get the same results. We were extremely lucky.
Spence went on to complete many more successful missions & made it back in one piece.
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