At
the time when the British left Aden in 1967 when the first stirrings of
the Dhofar War were occurring ,Oman was ruled by Sultan Said bin Taimur . Although Muscat, the capital of Oman, was in
the north the Sultan preferred Dhofar and lived in his place by
the seafront in Salalah.
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In all intents and purposes he was an absolute ruler and the
state was run as a feudal monarchy. He was
particularly strict in his views on the observance of the Muslim
faith and was intent that the whole of Oman should follow his
lead. He abhorred the changes that were occurring in the
surrounding Arab nations and was determined that these changes
would not occur in Oman. Restrictions were placed on all manner
of things ranging from Coca-Cola to sunglasses. He forbade both
transistor radios and cameras. Many restrictions were laid
upon the way in which people led their lives and the Sultan was
excessively heavy handed when they attempted make changes.
Unrest was clearly evident in the country in the early sixties.
The British had been giving Oman financial help and assistance
with their armed forces since 1958. They had helped see off an
insurgency in the north of the country where the imam had
attempted to seize power aided by other local Arab states and by
Egypt. In 1967 Oman began to have
significant revenue from oil that had been found in the country.
However the Sultan did not cascade the wealth down and improve
the lot of his subjects. The resentment that was already there
increased. There was support for insurgency from the new “Peoples Democratic
Republic of Yemen” recently freed from the British. Two of the principle donors
of aid to the newly formed Dhofar Liberation Front were Russia
and China both of whom provided weapons and training.
As time went by and more confidence was gained the Front changed
its name to the “Peoples Front for the Liberation of the
Occupied Arab Gulf” The plan was to push up across the border
from the south and gradually take over the whole country. The
Western view at this time was that a communist country sitting
alongside the Straits of Hormuz could exert a stranglehold on
the export of oil from the Gulf.
The
resentment felt for the current ruler allowed revolutionary
ideology and promises to fall upon fertile ground.
At first PFLOAG achieved considerable success in the south and
were able to mount a guerrilla was that had support from the
local population. They were not hindered significantly by SAF
and emboldened by their success continued to advance along the
jebel towards Salalah.
The sultan had one son, Qaboos bin Said who had been educated
partly in the West. He had attended Sandhurst and then served as
an officer in a Scottish regiment. On his return to Oman he was
isolated by his father in te palace in Salalah and had little influence or
importance.
In 1970, with help Mainly from British officers, he overthrew his father in what amounted to
a bloodless coup and gained control of the country. His rule,
more enlightened than that of his father, was sympathetic to the
needs and expectations of his fellow countrymen. They were aware
that revenue from oil could buy an improvement in their lives
which was most attractive. The confounding factor was the ever
increasing presence of PFLOAG in the south who, by this time,
were well established on the jebel overlooking Salalah. Indeed
they were able to come onto the plain at night , fire RCLs and
mortars at RAF Salalah, and return to the jebel before dawn.
RAF Salalah had been in existence since WWII and
was administered by the RAF. I was told that this was a deal that Sultan
bin Taimur had negotiated along with his permission to allow the RAF to
use Masirah Island as a staging post. In 1972 the CO was an RAF Squadron
Leader - Gerry Honey- and there were a number of RAF officers there plus
a large number of SOAF ( Sultan of Oman's Airforce) seconded and
contract officers. There were also a number of smaller units such as the
RAMC FST, Royal Artillery (Cracker Battery) Royal Engineers,
Signallers, RAF Regiment and a few "snowdrops". Maintenance of the SOAF
aircraft was effected by AirWorks.
The BATT (British Army Training Team) was an largely SAS manned unit
that had it's headquarters at Umm al Guarriff a few miles to the
NE of RAF Salalah. The primary purspose of the FST was to be in support
of the BATT
The Sultan had a small army of four regiments officered mainly
by British contract or seconded officers.
In the spring of 1972 the Sultan’s forces were quite limited in
what they could do and where they could venture without vigorous
interference from the adoo. There were a
number of bases on the jebel which were helicopter supplied and
came under regular attack. The plain surrounding Salalah was a
dangerous place both by day and at night; ambushes occurred and
the tracks were mined. RAF Salalah itself was subject to attack
by RCL and other means. The situation became even more serious
as the monsoon degraded the capabilities of all types of
aircraft. The adoo, less liable to attack from the air, were
able to move with greater freedom and their camel trains
bringing supplies from the south were only subject to minor
interdiction.
In an attempt to tip the balance they determined to attack and
capture a small town, Mirbat, on the coast to the north east of
Salalah. They assembled a force about two hundred strong and on
the morning of the 19th of July attacked the town.
There are many accounts of this engagement which was one of the
most significant events in the war. The surgical and medical are
recorded in the “Clinical” section of this website.
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Date the page was last modified : -
02 Sep 2009 11:30
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