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Wayland Austin

Article highlights

• The career of an Air Traffic Controller who served in the Gulf War

• Austin and the Navy

• HMS Gloucester and the Gulf War

• Operation Desert Shield

• At war - Silkworm attack

• End of the War

HMS Gloucester and the Gulf War

The Gulf War began in 1990 after Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army invaded its small but rich neighbour Kuwait.

Sub Lieutenant Wayland Austin was onboard HMS Gloucester as part of a massive sea, land and air force used to free Kuwait. Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait on the 2 August 1990 and the US led response entitled Desert Shield was immediate.

HMS Gloucester (RN FPU)

By 9 August after an invitation by Saudi Arabia the first US Military forces had arrived and the naval blockade began on 12 August. The rest of 1990 saw the gathering of troops in Saudi Arabia and the enforcement of the blockade around Iraq.

HMS Gloucester relieved HMS York in the North Arabian Gulf. The international community's search for a diplomatic resolution ended in January 1991 and Operation Desert Storm began on 17 January 1991.

HMS Gloucester was alongside the USS Wisconsin when it sent the first Tomahawk missiles into Iraq at the start of the Operation and was also involved in the Silkworm missile attack towards the end of the conflict.

HMS Gloucester's Lynx helicopter in 2006 (RN FPU)

The Navy used the Type 42 destroyer HMS Gloucester in the Gulf War to help coordinate the airspace above Kuwait and Iraq and to organise air attack and defence.

In this role Sub Lieutenant Wayland Austin would play an integral role as a flight controller, as he explains -

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Austin explains his role aboard HMS Gloucester. (RNM)

To read a transcript of this oral history follow the link

HMS Gloucester went to the Gulf region because of the escalating crisis in Kuwait although no one knew when she would go or what role the ship would play.

Wayland Austin was on leave in Cornwall watching the situation and waiting for the call.

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Austin accounts how he was told he would be serving in the Gulf. (RNM)

To read a transcript of this oral history follow the link

As UN forces put more and more pressure on Saddam Hussein to leave Kuwait, HMS Gloucester and Wayland Austin set sail.