Gulf War Hostage Relief

A Dassault Falcon 900 tri-jet VIP transport from No 34 Squadron was used to fly home Australians who had become hostages in the Gulf crisis triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on 2 August. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had detained thousands of foreign citizens to deter the US from launching a military attack against him, but early the next month he agreed to free at least the women and children in this group. The hostage drama was only a prelude to a six-week multinational campaign, which by 28 February 1991 had expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait.