The Battle of Norfolk was a tank battle fought on February 27, 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, between armored forces of the United States and United Kingdom, and those of the Iraqi Republican Guard in the Muthanna Province of southern Iraq. The primary participants were the U.S. 2nd Armored Division (Forward), 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), and the Iraqi 18th Mechanized and 9th Armoured Brigades of the Republican Guard Tawakalna Mechanized Infantry Division along with elements from eleven other Iraqi divisions. The 2nd Armored Division (Forward) was assigned to the American 1st Infantry Division as its 3rd maneuver brigade due to the fact that one of its brigades was not deployed. The 2nd Armored Division (Forward)'s Task Force 1-41 Infantry would be the spearhead of VII Corps. The British 1st Armoured division was responsible for protecting the right flank of VII Corps, their main adversary being the Iraqi 52nd Armored Division and multiple infantry divisions. It was the final battle of the war before the unilateral ceasefire took effect.
A dug-in Iraqi T-72 Asad Babil tank at the Battle of Norfolk, 26 February 1991
Soldiers of 2nd Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, Task Force 1-41 Infantry pose with a captured Iraqi tank during the 1st Gulf War, February 1991.
Iraqi tanks destroyed by Task Force 1-41 Infantry during the 1st Gulf War, February 1991.
Task Force 1-41 Infantry destroyed multiple Iraqi tanks in defensive entrenchments.
VII Corps (United States)
The VII Army Corps of the United States Army was one of the two principal corps of the United States Army Europe during the Cold War. Activated in 1918 for World War I, it was reactivated for World War II and again during the Cold War. During both World War II and the Cold War it was subordinate to the Seventh Army, or USAREUR and was headquartered at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, West Germany, from 1951 until it was redeployed to the US after significant success in the Gulf War in 1991, then inactivated in 1992.
Major General J. Lawton Collins, VII Corps, describes the taking of Cherbourg to General Omar Bradley, First Army.
VII Corps Cold War NATO assignment
Captured Iraqi T-72 Tank at VII Corps Cold War HQ, Kelley Barracks.
An Iraqi Republican Guard tank destroyed by Task Force 1-41 Infantry during the 1st Gulf War, February 1991.