Shirburnians & the First Gulf War

Major-General Patrick Cordingley, DSO, OBE, FRGS.

On the 2 August 1990, following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, coalition forces led by the United States declared war on Iraq. Operation Desert Storm, the combat phase, was fought from 17 January to 28 February 1991. During the war, a candle was kept alight in the School chapel and the names of all serving relations, friends and old boys were remembered in prayers each Tuesday morning.

Shirburnians known to have been involved in the conflict are:

Charles Buckle (The Green 1958-1963), Royal Navy, Director, Joint Operations Centre, MoD.
Brigadier Patrick Cordingley (The Green 1958-63), Commanding Officer, 7th Armoured Brigade – DSO & USA Bronze Star.
Capt. Nicholas Fitzgerald (School 1977-81), Royal Artillery – mentioned in despatches.
Lt. Col. Charles Rogers (Harper 1962-67), Commanding Officer 1 Staffordshire Regiment – OBE.
Lt. Nicholas Snell (Wallace 1979-1981), Royal Navy, Helicopter Pilot.

The following extracts from Brigadier Patrick Cordingley’s war diary describing the last days of the war were published in the March 1992 issue of the Old Shirburnian Society Annual Report:

Monday, 25 February 1991:
‘Allied troops move fast, facing only pockets of opposition. By end of day, Iraq announces it will withdraw from Kuwait.’
I am dictating this at 3.00 am on Tuesday, waiting for my battlegroup to push forward once more against a suspected Iraqi brigade position.
It has been a remarkably successful day. At 8.00 am we tried to get through the breach in the minefield. We were held up for an hour while the last mines were cleared and again at midday on the border berms leading to Iraq.
We managed to get into our forming up point in Iraq at about 2.30 pm. I gave the order to advance at 3.15 pm. I think we all probably felt much the same at that moment.
It was cold, wet and overcast. We were dressed in our NBC equipment and we expected the enemy to use chemical weapons against us. We did not know what state his artillery was in and had no idea where the Republican Guard was.
It was a first for all of us and many of the soldiers must have been frightened. Needing to reassure others kept my own concerns at bay and I was quite determined that no anxiety would sound in my voice.
I was sitting in my tank debating with myself the best moment to launch these soldiers into battle. Should I allow them all to refuel first? I suddenly realised it was up to me when I launched these soldiers into a situation where some of them might possibly die.
It caused me to blink for a moment but then I decided the best policy had to be to get on with the job as fast as possible.
I was amazed at the speed with which the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars advanced. They covered the first 25 kms in an hour with the help of the recce helicopters from the Army Air Corps.
I was extremely sad to hear we had lost a soldier on the start line where he got out of his vehicle and was blown up by a mine. I must write to his family as soon as I can.
The initial actions when they came were slight anti-climaxes. There were a few tank engagements and some prisoners taken but nothing of any consequence.
After dark, the Scots Dragoons Guards attacked a communication site, the first of our objectives. It was clearly an aggressive attack and the infantry dismounted, clearing the bunkers and slip trenches with grenades.
They then moved on as a battle group to surround a logistic installation and when they thought they saw a hospital tent in the middle they asked permission to wait until first light before putting in their attack to avoid unnecessary casualties.
I agreed, knowing that I would then be short of armour to take our main objective, an Iraqi brigade on the objective code-named ZINC.
The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars, The Staffords and my headquarters closed on the enemy and to make good the shortfall of the Scots Dragoon Guard battle group I planned a massive artillery bombardment.
At 1.00 am, four regiments of artillery and the MLRS (Multi-Launch Rocket System) Regiment fired for just under half an hour into the suspected brigade position. It was to awe-inspiring sight and one that must have filled all our soldiers with a sense of power. I could see the rockets firing over my head and a carpet of explosions on the enemy positions – the nearest being one kilometre from our front. The noise was incredible.
I have always known the power of our modern artillery, but for the first time I really understood what it must be like to be on the receiving end.
I confess I was relieved when it came to an end. I am not saying I felt sorry for the enemy, but I am quite certain that half an hour of the bombardment would be enough to render him nearly helpless once we advanced.
There was a slight pause now as the weather has become so bad that we are having great difficulty seeing through our thermal sights. Once the weather lets up a little we will press on. I hope that by first light we will have taken this objective and destroyed an entire Iraqi brigade – about 90 tanks – in under 12 hours.

Wednesday, 27 February 1991:
‘Meeting little fighting resistance, the Desert Rats have captured two brigades within 12 hours. Allied troops now deep inside Iraq cutting off all retreat routes and Kuwait City is liberated.’
It is 9.30 am, I am standing just over the border in Kuwait where we stopped for a cup of tea while the crews check their vehicles.
Yesterday afternoon, we had to cope with a sandstorm, which left us fighting nearly blind and as a result engagement ranges were down to less than 500 yards.
Fighting in tanks is a remote affair in many ways, rather like being in a submarine. Hatches are closed down and we peer through the sites. The concentration is immense and very tiring as we try to identify the enemy.
Yesterday afternoon turned out to be a nightmare.
After the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars and The Staffords had destroyed or captured the best part of another Iraqi Brigade I thought we were simply going to drive to our next objective.
The Scots Dragoon Guards moved first and met little resistance but when The Staffords joined them all hell broke out.
As they were taking some prisoners to the north of their position they were suddenly fired on from the south, and sadly Private Carl Moult of The Staffords was killed by an RPG7 – an Iraqi anti-tank weapon.
After more than four hours of fighting where considerable gallantry was shown, Charles Rogers, the Commanding Officer, reported to me that the situation was under control and he had taken more than 1,000 prisoners.
The prisoners I saw during the earlier part of the day were pitiful sights, some kneeling, begging to be looked after. I feel extremely sorry for those we didn’t capture. They could be left in the middle of nowhere for weeks.

Thursday, 28 February 1991:
‘Allied cease fire to begin at midnight (5.00 GMT on Friday) after 100 hours the land war is over.’
It will take a long time to forget this morning.
After four days of land war, we arrived to cut the Kuwait-Basra road at 7.50 am. The sight was appalling with destroyed vehicles and bodies strewn around the place. There hung over us black smoke from the oil wells and it made it dark and foreboding. There was a total lack of euphoria. I was just relieved it was all over so quickly with so few Allied casualties.
General Rupert Smith arrived with his Tactical HQ. He was full of praise for what had been achieved and I really felt most grateful for that. But I still didn’t feel elated. I think we all felt that for the last two days, we had been fighting an enemy that had no stomach or will for battle.
I went round and talked to as many soldiers as possible and despite the fact they had had no sleep for four days there were in good form. Some were quiet and, I suspect, moved by what had happened but eh majority were as cheerful as normal.
We were all relieved it was over so quickly with so few Allied casualties. Our aggression and speed of manoeuvre had made this possible. I knew that if we had not been so resolute we would have given the enemy time to inflect casualties on us.
In the afternoon, my sappers received order to help in the clearance of the Multa Pass – a six-lane highway totally blocked when the Americans attacked the retreating Iraqi army.
I was horrified when I first saw it. It looked like a huge, burning junkyard and although I was not clear about the numbers of dead, it was quite clear that we would need a sizeable burial party.
The Iraqi military vehicles were covered in loot, including television sets, carpets and other goods taken from Kuwait City.
On returning to my headquarters north of Kuwait City, I grabbed a moment by myself, the first such moment for five days.
I was feeling pretty upset that we had lost two men and suffered 15 casualties. Although the numbers were almost miraculously light, I wondered if even those few could have been avoided.
I, like so many others I had spoken to during the afternoon, wanted to get a message home.
We all wanted to tell our families we were all right.
Hopefully we will be back with them – those who wait – very soon.

A full account of Patrick Cordingley’s experiences during the Gulf War, from first hearing of the deployment of his command to eventual victory and withdrawal, is available in his book, In the Eye of the Storm: Commanding the Desert Rats in the Gulf War (Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1996).

Patrick Cordingley speaks on Forces Net in 2016 about his memories of the conflict.

Patrick retired from the Army in 2000 and served as a Governor of Sherborne School from 2001 to 2016. In the 2017 Birthday Honours he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the National Memorial Arboretum.

Further information about Major-General Patrick Cordingley is available here.

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