Telegraphing From the Front

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This update is taken from reports from The Telegraph, a must see Winds of Change documentation of Fallujah, Chester, The Belmont Club, Global Security, the fourth rail and Fox on air reports. My apologies in advance for any insignia wrong on the map - I tried. Below are some snips of reports I used to place units. They cover three days and one action that killed approx. seventy insurgents in one mosque complex.

Inset picture on map - soldiers from 1st Platoon, Apache Troop, 2ndBattalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division move between buildings in Fallujah during Operation Al Fajr

Inset picture on map - US Marines of the fifth division get ready for the day after staying overnight in a house close to the center of Fallujah, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004.

inset picture on map - Iraqi forces taking part in hospital assault on first night.

American troops scored one of their biggest successes in the battle for Fallujah when an estimated 70 foreign fighters were killed in a massive precision artillery strike on a building in a mosque complex. Military intelligence officers were last night trying to confirm that a "high-value target" or HVT died in the attack. The man is suspected of being a key lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, and responsible for marshalling hard-line insurgence from other Arab countries.

Lt Prakash, whose call-sign is Red 6, observed the scene through the optical sight of his tank, 2,400 metres away in an "area of responsibility" or AOR covered by the 1st Company, 8th Marines, west of Task Force 2-2's AOR on the eastern edge of the city.It is believed that Task Force 2-2 hit fighters gathered to discuss how to retreat after US forces had pushed the insurgents down from the north and in from the east.Mobile phone intercepts and reports from Iraqi informants suggested there were 70 gunmen in the building and indicated that the very senior Zarqawi lieutenant had perished. A final assessment on who died has yet to be made.

The strike took place on Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the invasion of the rebel-held Sunni bastion began, after an Abrams tank commander from Phantom troop, part of the US Army's Task Force 2-2, observed large numbers of men converging on a building next to a mosque. "Guys with short brown hair, dark pants and carrying AK-47s were moving in groups of between two and five across the road to a yellow building," said Lt Neil Prakash, the tank commander.

One of the men was in a sniper position on the building," said Lt Prakash. "I saw him fall off, hit the ground and bounce up. There were about five bodies that went three, four, five storeys up in the air. I'd already counted between 40 and 50 men going into that building. There were men running out, coughing and doubling over. The second lot of rounds took them out and all those who had been crossing the road.

The Americans' Task Force 2-2 fought its way through the Askari district on the east of Fallujah and secured entry for troops through the main road that bisects the city.The American 1st Cavalry Division provided a blocking force to the south, preventing insurgents from fleeing along "rat lines". The Black Watch has also been deployed to the south to block fleeing enemy fighters and supply lines.

US Army armor is now on that highway, after advancing south and probably swinging west. US forces are probably waiting across the highway. We are fairly sure of this because the London Telegraph recounted how a US Army Cavalry Unit was moving through the industrial area which is located in the southeast corner of the city, below the green line which represents the highway which US armor is now patrolling going north to south; that is up towards the highway. We know it is cavalry because they call their companies "troops".

On 11 November 2004, U.S. troops turned over control of the Jolan neighborhood to Iraqi forces. The area was once believed to have been a stronghold of insugent power. With fighting slowing down, coalition and Iraqi soldiers continued to go house to house, searching for arms caches and insurgents. U.S. military predicted full control of Fallujah would be gained in the following 48 hours, with an additional week or more needed to fully secure the city for remaining arms and insurgents.

Update from a reader: I am a former Marine who served
in 2/7, 1st MarDiv (83-87).  You identify Marines of the 5th Division. "US
Marines of the fifth division get ready for the day after staying overnight
in a house close to the center of Fallujah, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004".
It appears this is from a link from the MSM.

The MSM does not do much to get unit names right, so I will correct the
matter here and say there is no 5th Marine Division.  They are certainly
refering to the 5th Marine Regiment (designated as RCT5?).  A seemingly
minute detail, except a division is about 5 times the size of a regiment.
The Marines most likely are part of the 1st Marine Division (1st MEF).

Thank you for the correction. I should have known better than to trust the MSM. ; ) And don't blame me, I was Air Force. That's why I'm just handling the pictures and Chester, Winds of Change and The Belmont Club, Bill and others are doing the heavy lifting.

Comments

[MIke Mac]

Though I am certainly am armchair analyst, I am a former Marine who served in 2/7, 1st MarDiv (83-87). You identify Marines of the 5th Division. "US Marines of the fifth division get ready for the day after staying overnight in a house close to the center of Fallujah, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004". It appears this is from a link from the MSM.

The MSM does not do much to get unit names right, so I will correct the matter here and say there is no 5th Marine Division. They are certainly refering to the 5th Marine Regiment (designated as RCT5?). A seemingly minute detail, except a division is about 5 times the size of a regiment. The Marines most likely are part of the 1st Marine Division (1st MEF).

Thanks for your efforts. You're doing your part to help keep us informed. Keep up the good work.

[jeff]

Amazing map! That goes without saying. Thanks needs saying, so, "Thank you so very much."

I want to raise a quibble, though. The Iraqi flag you are using was ultimately rejected as it was most unpopular with ordinary Iraqis. The present government is using the same flag Saddam used and you can see it on patches sewn into Iraqi soldiers' uniforms as well as flying over Fallujah after buildings are recaptured by the Coalition. This flag flies over the Iraqi embassy here in Washington, DC, as well: the one with the three stars and "Allahu Akbar" in Arabic.

Jeff

[Gerry Owen]

Push them into the Industrial District and bomb them out of existence perhaps?