Gilliland Alan - Bradley vs BMP: Desert Storm 1991

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Osprey Publishing,

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ISBN: 978-1-4728-1520-0 (PB)

ISBN: 978-1-4728-1521-7 (ePDF)

ISBN: 978-1-4728-1522-4 (eBook)

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Editors note

In this book, US customary measurements (yards, feet, inches, pounds, ounces) are used, with the exception of gun calibers, armor thicknesses, and horizontal distances; for these three, metric measurements are given with the US customary equivalent in parentheses. For ease of comparison please use the following conversion table:

1 mile = 1.6km

1yd = 0.91m

1ft = 0.30m

1in = 2.54cm/25.4mm

1lb = 0.45kg

A pair of ill-fated BMP-1s destroyed in the Euphrates River Valley, March 1991. Despite its perceived strengths and supposed resiliency, the BMP-1 would prove to be easy prey for almost any coalition armored fighting vehicle that engaged it. (US Army)

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the following individuals who graciously provided interviews and photographs for inclusion in this book: Tim Tomlinson, Dave Feller, Colonel (Ret.) Douglas Macgregor, Emil Bagalso, Bill Virrill, Chad King, Mike Rhodes, Randy Trahan, Vladimir Ryabtsev, Matthew Lee, and Joe Deskevich. Select quotations from Mike Guardia, The Fires of Babylon: Eagle Troop and the Battle of 73 Easting (Havertown, PA: Casemate, 2015). Reprinted with permission.

Author

Mike Guardia is a professional author and an armor officer in the United States Army Reserve. He holds a BA and MA in American History from the University of Houston, and obtained his commission there via ROTC in December 2008. His research interests include World War II in the Pacific, and the history of armored and guerrilla warfare.

Illustrators

Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator living in Nashville, Tennessee. He began his career in 1987 after graduating from Austin Peay State University. Most of his work is rendered in Adobe Photoshop using a Cintiq monitor. His greatest influences are Angus McBride, Don Troiani, and Edouard Detaille. Johnny completed the cover, gunsight view, and battlescene artwork for this book.

Born in Malaya in 1949, Alan Gilliland spent 18 years as the graphics editor of The Daily Telegraph. He now writes, illustrates, and publishes fiction (www.ravensquill.com), as well as illustrating for a variety of publishers (www.alangilliland.com). Alan completed the four-view, ammunition, and gunners station artwork for this book.

INTRODUCTION

On the morning of August 2, 1990, more than 100,000 Iraqi troops and several hundred Iraqi armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) stormed across their countrys southeastern border into neighboring Kuwait. Encountering only piecemeal resistance, Iraqi tanks thundered into the heart of Kuwait City. A coordinated airground attack decimated the Dasman Palace, home to the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber III alAmhad al-Jaber al-Sabah. The emir himself and a few members of his staff barely escaped with their lives as they fled Kuwait by helicopter. The last transmission made over the state-run radio network was an appeal for help.