Battle of Medina Ridge
The Battle of Medina Ridge was a tank battle fought on the 27 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between the U.S. 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi Republican Guard Medina Luminous Division outside Basra, Iraq. The U.S. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, was also a major contributor, by leading the attack. Iraq's Adnan Motorized Division was also a participant. Medina Ridge is the name American troops gave to a low rise, approximately seven miles (11 km) long.
| Battle of Medina Ridge | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Persian Gulf War | |||||||
M1 Abrams tanks moving in formation during the Persian Gulf War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States | Iraq | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Norman Schwarzkopf Frederick Franks Ron Griffith Montgomery Meigs Edward Dyer Colonel Hatch Colonel James Riley Lt. Col. John Ward | Ayad Futayyih Al-Rawi | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
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1st Armored Division
75th Artillery Brigade
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Medina Republic Guard Division
Tawakalna Republican Guard Division 52nd Armored Division 17th Infantry Division 10th Armored Division12th Armored Division | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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2 killed 33 wounded 4 tanks destroyed 2 IFVs destroyed 1 ambulance destroyed 1 HEMTT fueler destroyed 2 attack helicopters shot down 4 Humvees destroyed 1 A-10 shot down |
839 captured 186 tanks destroyed 127 IFVs destroyed 72 artillery pieces destroyed 118 trucks destroyed 5 air defence systems destroyed | ||||||
The battle, which was waged over approximately two hours, was considered by some sources the largest tank battle of the war. It took place west of phase line Kiwi, east of phase line Smash, and north of phase line Grape. Phase lines are map references occurring every few kilometers used to measure progress of an offensive operation.