1st Hammurabi Armoured Division


The 1st 'Hammurabi' Armored Division was an elite formation of the Iraqi Republican Guard. It was named after Hammurabi; a Babylonian King known for the set of laws called Hammurabi's Code, which constitute one of the earliest surviving codes of law in recorded history.
The division was decisively defeated by the United States Armed Forces in 1991, when it was forced out of Kuwait after suffering heavy casualties, and again in 2003, when the United States invaded Iraq. The latter resulted in the total collapse of the division as its senior officers abandoned their posts, and it was never reformed as the Republican Guard itself was disbanded following the fall of Saddam Hussein's government.

History

1991 Gulf War

The division commander has stated that he ordered his tanks to use high-explosive anti-personnel munitions, rather than anti tank rounds, so as to minimize Kuwaiti casualties in tank engagements of the invasion.
Towards the end of the war the division was involved in the controversial Battle of Rumaila, when US Army forces under Lt. Gen. Barry McCaffrey annihilated the retreating division near the Rumaila oil field, resulting in the division suffering some 7,000 casualties.

2003 invasion of Iraq

During the Invasion of Iraq the division was given orders to retreat from Suwayrah on the night of 5 April 2003 after several days of bombardment by American planes. Further orders on exactly where to regroup were not forthcoming, and senior officers disappeared, leading to mass desertions and the collapse of the division.