dhofar

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In memory of.
Sqn Ldr R Boyce and Sac J.D Hepton. both KIA Oct 1975.

may they RIP.
I will remember them.

This was one of the 'little wars' in which British
servicemen have been engaged for centuries - most of
them, as this was, near the shores of the Indian
Ocean - and it was a model of its kind....Only those
who have been to Dhofar can fully appreciate the
severity of the conditions in which the polyglot
force fought and flew; at times extreme heat; at
others cold, wet, permanent cloud; and rugged
terrain, the equal of which it would be hard to find
anywhere....Those who fought there, including those
who were wounded or died, did not fight in vain.

Michael Carver. Field Marshal

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[/b]In Memory of those who fell in the month of November.
May They RIP.

Capt Boyd M. MC
Flt Lt Thompson R.I
Cpl Swindells D. MM 22 SAS.
Mr Fish J G. MOD Civ Eng.

LEST WE FORGET.

[Guest Close Frenchie]

We Will Remember Them

[weemac Golden Greeter/Association Standard Bearer Find all posts View Profile Close weemac]

rest in peace

[P-C Association Member/NIVA Merit Award Winner 2017/18 Find all posts View Profile Close P-C]

Rest in peace
I was in the service at the time we knew nothing of what was happening till years later>

[Guest Close wobbly]

In memory of the following members of 22 SAS.
i have been unable to find the dates on which they fell.
so today seems right.

May they RIP.

Capt Jones L.E
Capt Garthwaite S.
Sgt Moores J.
Sgt Gallagher A.E.
L/Cpl Ramsden D.R.
L/Cpl Kent A.
L/Cpl Small K.
Tpr Loid C.
Tpr Martine M.J
Tpr Hennessy C.

LEST WE FORGET.

[Jock2413 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jock2413]

Operation Storm was the British Army's covert involvement in the Dhofar region of Oman. It ran from 1970-1976 and was directed against communist intrusion from Yemen. As well as an S.A.S. presence, other units were involved including R.A.F. based at Salalah, armoured recce and Royal Artillery. The latter involved mortar locating radars, sound ranging and meteorology which were used to locate enemy mortar tubes and to assist in accurate counter fire. Over a three year period, they rotated Troops from 22 Locating Battery and 94 Locating Regiment on three month tours. You flew out from Heathrow dressed in civilian clothes and had to have passports to get through immigration. Weapons were wrapped in hessian and put into post office sacks and travelled in the baggage compartment. Real James Bond stuff.
Being in Dhofar was like taking a large step back in time. It was real back to basics stuff. A horrible, hot, dry stone age of a place. On the wall near the ops room was a Roll of Honour board. Several names of British Officers attached to the Sultan of Oman's Forces were on the list. Scratched next to it was a list of names which I now know to be S.A.S.

Sgt Steve Moores Killed During Operation Jaguar October 1971
Sgt Labalaba MID Killed During the Battle of Mirbat 19 July 1972
Tpr Tommy Tobin Killed During the battle of Mirbat 19 July 1972
Capt Simon Garthwaite Killed During Assault on Tawi Atair 12 Apl 1974

That was up to spring 1975. I knew none of them but that doesn't lessen the feeling of loss. As we prepared to leave, a helicopter crashed on take off. I never did find out if there were any fatalities.

R.I.P. Brothers.

[On1on Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close On1on]

At the time I mustered from Bramcote in mid '73 they were touting around for volunteers to go on the guns as we were still training on 25 pounders. Fortuneately for me I suppose I had an aversion to heat which brought me out in a rash (diagnosed some years later at BATUS) which also put me off a posting to Blazers in Singapore! So that's how I ended up scaring off the russkies in BAOR shivering my backside off on the Soltau plain digging slit trenches to keep warm...

[spanner Association Member & WUSA Overseas rep aka Cathie Find all posts View Profile Close spanner]

Dhofar

Back in '72, Catterick, in between tours in NI, the 25th RA were strat reserve and we were called in and sat around camp with 105's and airportable Landy's all packed and ready to go SOMEWHERE, we discounted NI again as we would not be taking the 105 packs, it was some years before I learned of what had been happenning in Oman but it was plain that we were waiting for the word and the timing was exact.
We will not forget those who fell.

[P-C Association Member/NIVA Merit Award Winner 2017/18 Find all posts View Profile Close P-C]

The Royal Armoured Corps Memorial Bovington Lists

Oman 1953 /76

Maj. H.O.D. Thwaites M.C. 9th L

L/cpl. R.A. Mustoe 1 R.D.

Tpr. C. Loid. L.G.

Capt. Ward-Harrison 5 Innis. D.G.

Capt P.A. Mann Q.D.G.


Rest in Peace

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[quote="Jock2413"]As we prepared to leave, a helicopter crashed on take off. I never did find out if there were any fatalities.

Flt Lt Peter Llewellyn Davis. MC, DFC, WKhM.
Helicopter crashed on take off.
march 1975.

RIP
LEST WE FORGET.

[Mercury Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mercury]

We WILL remember them.

[Jock2413 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jock2413]

R.I.P. Brother.
It was not for nothing. Knowing nothing at the time , I now know that this war wasn't some foreign office venture to manipulate a third world country but a genuine threat to our economic life. Better still...we won this one....but the usual bill had to be paid.

[Guest Close Jimmy Mac]

Sgt. Labalaba (MiD) was a Royal Irish Ranger. Even though he was wounded he stayed with their field gun and operated it by himself, moving it around, loading it and directing fire at the enemy. That very same cannon was a static display at St. Patrick's Barracks, but now sits directly outside my office window ... a constant reminder of bravery.

Lest We Forget

[Jock2413 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jock2413]

The Mirbat Gun

Jimmy Mac, I wondered where the Mirbat Gun, as it was known, ended up. It used to be on display at the Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich. It was a 25 Pounder of WW2 fame. Normally it took a crew of six to serve. A number one in charge, a layer, a rammer, a loader and two ammunition handlers. For one man to load, aim and fire that gun over a sustained period whilst under fire must have taken a superhuman effort. And all he was awarded was a posthumous Mention in Despatches. Seems a bit paultry compared with the D.S.O. awarded to the officer in charge. It didn't end there though. That officer, now an S.A.S. Major, Mike Kealy died seven years later of exposure in the Brecon Beacons whilst joining in the Endurance March part of an S.A.S. selection.
I think it was about 1984, myself and a mate who was with me out there visited the museum while waiting for the pub to open. As we got to the display, there was a troop of recruits from 17 Training Regt RA getting a lecture from a training NCO about the gun. One of the recruits asked where Dhofar was and the NCO bluffed the answer saying somewhere in the middle east. My mate and I just smiled at each other and walked out wearing that "I know something that you don't know" expression.