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Operation Telic order of battle



         




This is the Operation Telic order of battle, which lists the British forces that took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, subsequent operations during the occupation and military government of the country and stabilisation operations after the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty.

British Forces Middle East HQ - Air Marshal Brian Burridge

Contents
1 Maritime Forces
2 Air Forces
3 Ground Forces
4 Joint Assets

4.1 Notes

5 Roulements

5.1 1st Roulement
5.2 2nd Roulement
5.3 3rd Roulement
5.4 4th Roulement
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Maritime Forces

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Air Forces

27 helicopters were also sent to the area, a mixture of Pumas and Chinooks, although the breakdown of types within that number is yet to be determined. Beyond the Hercules aircraft that were based in theatre, virtually the whole of the rest of the Hercules fleet, the C-17 fleet, and those Tristars and VC10's that had remained based in the UK were involved in transport operations to and from the Persian Gulf. Please help to fill in any gaps in the information as new material comes to light.

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Ground Forces

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Joint Assets

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Notes

It should be noted that when a battalion is referred to as a battlegroup, it is not purely made up of units from the parent unit, but is an integrated team, combining armoured units with tanks, and mechanised infantry with infantry fighting vehicles. Also, whilst 16 Air Assault Brigade is apparently the only fighting brigade listed with its own organic helicopter support in this order of battle, 3 Commando Brigade had the helicopters on board Ocean and Ark Royal to call upon, and 7th Armoured Brigade wasn't really air mobile as a formation. There were also the RAF Pumas and Chinooks mentioned above for transport purposes. Finally, 3 Commando Brigade had a United States Marine Corps unit, 15th MEU under its command in the initial stages of the war. This went back to American command around 25 March.

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Roulements

1st Armoured Division remained in theatre, controlling UK ground forces until June 2003, when 3rd Mechanised Division's HQ arrived in theatre to take command of British forces. 3 Commando Brigade was the first of the warfighting units to return to the UK, followed by 16 Air Assault Brigade. 7 Armoured Brigade remained in theatre until they handed over to 19 Mechanised Brigade in June.

In November and December 2003, a second rotation of British forces occurred, with 3rd Division's HQ being replaced by a composite divisional HQ. 19 Mechanised Brigade was replaced with 20 Armoured Brigade. April 2004 saw the third change of forces. 20 Armoured Brigade was relieved by 1 Mechanised Brigade, and a new senior British military officer, Lieutenant General John McColl arrived in theatre to become deputy commander of the occupation land forces. Rumours also began to circulate in early May 2004 of imminent British reinforcements to replace Spanish troops pulling out of Najaf. 3 Commando Brigade, with a 40 Commando, a battalion of the Parachute Regiment and a third line battalion were rumoured to be the forces concerned. However, these rumours later turned out to be false.

The end of October 2004 did see an important shift for the British forces. A battlegroup from the Black Watch deployed outside of the British area to Camp Dogwood south-west of Baghdad. This coincided with the next roulement of British forces, with 4 Armoured Brigade replacing 1 Mechanised Brigade.

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1st Roulement

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2nd Roulement

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3rd Roulement

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4th Roulement




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