March 20–25, 2003 · Southern Iraq Theater
March 20–25, 2003
The first battle of the Iraq War, fought for the port city of Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf coast — Iraq's only deep-water port. US Marines and British Royal Marines secured the port over five days of unexpectedly fierce resistance from Iraqi regular forces and Fedayeen Saddam paramilitaries. The battle was supposed to take hours; it took nearly a week, setting the first warning about Iraqi resistance. Coalition forces also cleared the harbor of mines to allow humanitarian aid ships to dock.
Commanders