The Battle of Fallujah DTO (id:#60475)

(Son of Oblivion Pack ID: FE 164)   [next]   [previous]

Fallujah, Iraq 1941-05-22 (3 others)

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Overview:

As they were fleeing Habbaniya, the British opened the dikes on the Euphrates and flooded the surrounding area. Base troops had rehearsed for a crossing in the base swimming pool with skiffs and canoes from the base boating club. On the night of May 18, they crossed the river to take the main obstacle on the road to Baghdad, the town of Fallujah. Fallujah was strategically important because the main Baghdad–Habbaniya road, 4 miles west of Fallujah, had been flooded over a stretch of 2 miles, presenting an impassable obstacle. The British needed, therefore, to approach Baghdad by way of Fallujah’s bridge over the Euphrates, a steel-girder structure of five spans’ width, 177 feet in length. After heavy bombing, the bridge and town were secured. . .But the Iraqis were not done yet. As the British cleared over 1,500 civilians from key parts of the town, on 22 May they launched a counterattack with the 6th Iraqi Brigade supported by Fiat tanks. Their main purpose was to blow the bridge to prevent the British advancing on the capital. Imperial forces in the town had been reduced since its capture and some intense combat followed, including house-to-house fighting.

Defender: British (C Co King's Own Royal Regt and A Co 1 Battalion, The Essex Regt)  

Errata (source)