Thirty years since East of England's military played a key role in the first Gulf War

  • Watch a report by ITV Anglia's Matthew Hudson

The first Gulf War which ended 30 years ago in February 1991 followed Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait the previous year.

Aircraft from military bases in the East of England played a major role in the war.

Britain joined 34 other nations in a coalition led by America and including several other gulf states.

In the event less than 150 coalition troops were killed by the Iraqis during the war compared to an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 Iraqi troops as their army simply disintegrated.

When the war began no-one knew it would be that straightforward. There was a lot of speculation that it would be a long a bitter conflict.

Jaguar aircraft from RAF Coltishall were among the first planes deployed in the Gulf War

Jaguars from RAF Coltishall in Norfolk were among the first British forces deployed and were based in Bahrain which was another of the allied countries.

Tornados from Marham in Norfolk also took part. Flight Lieutenants David Waddington and Robbie Stewart were captured after their plane was shot down.

They weren't alone. Pilot John Peters and navigator John Nichol were beaten and paraded on Iraqi TV after their plane was hit by a missile in January 1991.

RAF airmen John Peters and John Nichol were shot down during the Gulf War and paraded on Iraqi television.

Thirty years on John Peters told ITV Anglia: "Basically what you saw on television, you know, me looking down and I know my eye was squelchy, is acting.

"It's not like the movies, if you eyeball, if you raise your eyes they beat you.

"So you don't raise your eyeball and I thought on this I'll just play punch drunk as if I was punch drunk and I got away with just giving my name and rank and that I'd bombed an airfield."

Squadron leader Tim Taylor took part in the war which the British military named Operation Granby.

As a corporal in the RAF Regiment he commanded a Scorpion fire support vehicle which can still be seen in its base at RAF Honington in Suffolk.

It was his first battlefield experience in a long and ongoing military career, defending helicopters on the ground against possible Iraqi attack.

Mid-air refuelling was necessary to get the UK's military jets from Europe to Iraq in the first Gulf War

Squadron Leader Taylor said: "We were expecting the worst. We were expecting hard, dug in fighting. Not that that is what we were there to do, we were there to protect the helicopter forces but we were expecting problems.'

"I've got to say I was proud. But I was equally proud, probably more proud of my troops, my guys. The guys who worked for me, supported me, carried me in many respects. And I look back now and I've got friendships that are still going today.'

The war officially ended on 28 February with the armed forces of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein utterly destroyed.

Many were killed when military convoys fleeing Kuwait were bombed by the allies along what became known as the Highway of Death.

However, Hussein remained in power in Iraq, paving the way for the second Gulf War, also known as the Iraq War, which began in 2003.