Operation Telic order of battle This is the Operation Telic order of battle , which lists the British forces that took part in Operation Telic , including Maritime forces . British Maritime Component Commander - Rear Admiral David Snelson ( succeeded by Major General Tony Milton 16 April 2003 ) Support vessels of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Air forces . 27 helicopters were also sent to the area , a mixture of Pumas and Chinooks , although the breakdown of types within that number is yet to be determined . Beyond the Hercules aircraft that were based in theatre , virtually the whole of the rest of the Hercules fleet , the C - 17 fleet , and those Tristars and VC10s that had remained based in the UK were involved in transport operations to and from the Persian Gulf . Please help to fill in any gaps in the information as new material comes to light . Joint assets . Notes . It should be noted that when a battalion is referred to as a battlegroup , it is not purely made up of units from the parent unit , but is an integrated team , combining armoured units with tanks , and mechanised infantry with infantry fighting vehicles . Also , whilst 16 Air Assault Brigade is apparently the only fighting brigade listed with its own organic helicopter support in this order of battle , 3 Commando Brigade had the helicopters on board " Ocean " and " Ark Royal " to call upon , and 7th Armoured Brigade wasn ' t really air mobile as a formation . There were also the RAF Pumas and Chinooks mentioned above for transport purposes . Special Forces elements of the British Army ( Special Air Service ) and Royal Marines ( Special Boat Service ) where also deployed but as the British government policy is not to comment on special forces activity , the exact details or elements deployed are officially unconfirmed . The contribution of reservists to the deployment ( some 9 , 500 of the 46 , 000 personnel involved in the warfighting phase and its immediate aftermath , the vast majority from the Territorial Army , and in significant number in the subsequent roulements ) is understated by the order of battle , as the only units to deploy in their entirety were 202 Field Hospital ( with augmentees from the other TAVR Field Hospitals ) , 131 Independent Commando Squadron of the Royal Engineers as well as A ( Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry ) Squadron and W ( Westminster Dragoons ) Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry . The remainder were augmentees , called up individually from their units ( which therefore do not feature in the order of battle ) and employed to bring many of the units listed above up to their war - fighting strength . Finally , 3 Commando Brigade had a United States Marine Corps unit , 15th MEU under its command in the initial stages of the war . This went back to American command around 25 March . Roulements . 1st Armoured Division remained in theatre , controlling UK ground forces until June 2003 , when 3rd Mechanised Division ' s HQ arrived in theatre to take command of British forces . 3 Commando Brigade was the first of the combat units to return to the UK , followed by 16 Air Assault Brigade . 7 Armoured Brigade remained in theatre until they handed over to 19 Mechanised Brigade in June . In November and December 2003 , a second rotation of British forces occurred , with 3rd Division ' s HQ being replaced by a composite divisional HQ . 19 Mechanised Brigade was replaced with 20 Armoured Brigade . April 2004 saw the third change of forces . 20 Armoured Brigade was relieved by 1 Mechanised Brigade , and a new senior British military officer , Lieutenant General John McColl arrived in theatre to become deputy commander of the occupation land forces . The end of October 2004 did see an important shift for the British forces . A battlegroup from the Black Watch deployed outside of the British area to Camp Dogwood south - west of Baghdad . This coincided with the next roulement of British forces , with 4 Armoured Brigade replacing 1 Mechanised Brigade . 9th Roulement ( Operation TELIC X ) . Land Component Sea Component Air Component