This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, the campaign to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi forces.
The US-led Operation Desert Shield started in August 1990, with the British military operations code–named Operation GRANBY. Operation Desert Storm, the combat phase, started on 17 January 1991 and lasted until 28 February of the same year. We will be providing you with a special opportunity to pay tribute to all those who took part in the conflict in the air and on the ground, and to remember those who lost their lives during, and as a result of, this conflict.
We will hear from RAF personnel who were serving during Op GRANBY as well as family members.
We will also keep you updated on a fundraising cycle challenge being undertaken to honour RAF aircrew who died while in training or on operations in the Gulf.
Content will be added to this page in the coming days and weeks, so do keep coming back to see what’s new…Today marks 30 years since the first day of combat of what was to become known colloquially as the first Gulf War. The Americans called it Operation Desert Storm, while to British members of the armed forces it was the next phase of Operation GRANBY.
Operation Desert Storm saw the largest military alliance since World War II. Over 30 allies, including Britain committed more than 50,000 troops and millions of dollars to the campaign. Read more….To mark the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the 1991 Gulf War and the contribution made by Tornado crews, two RAF veterans had planned to embark on a commemorative 670 mile bike ride. However, in line with current COVID-19 restrictions the pair have had to rearrange their plans to comply with the current guidelines. Read more…RAF Association Ambassador John Peters will be known to many of you as the RAF pilot who was shot down over Iraqi territory along with his navigator John Nichol during Operation Desert Storm. Read more about John Peters…Here’s an update on Mal and Martin’s progress.
Here’s another update on Mal and Martin’s progress.Here we speak to Helen Peters, John’s wife. We have shared clips of John talking about being captured by Iraqi forces on the first day of the conflict, but we also wanted to tell another side to the story: what it was like being at home waiting for news, getting through each day and the importance of friends.. Read more about Helen Peters’ story…Join us on Facebook live or YouTube on the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Gulf War for a morning of commemoration, starting at 10:00 for a full interview with John Peters, followed by his wife Helen’s story at noon before our virtual Service of Remembrance at 13:00.
You can read more about the Remembrance Service on our blog, which will be updated on Sunday morning to include an Order of Service ahead of the afternoon’s ceremony which you can watch on Facebook live or YouTube.
