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Sources

There have now been a fair number of books written about the war in Dhofar. There have also been many references to the war in books that are mainly about the SAS. There are even now several that make reference to the FST.

There are also a number of websites that include details about the war in Dhofar. They also usually centre on the activities of the the Special Forces.

There are a number of references in the medical literature to events in different FSTs by a number of authors.

Published Sources.

This list consists of various accounts of Oman and of the war in Dhofar which give both background and detailed descriptions of that insurgency. They are all written by those whose points of view were from the government's side except those by Professor Fred Halliday who at one time clearly favoured and wrote from the insurgents' side. I understand that the views that he held then are not necessarily the views that he holds now.

Some of these books are now out of print but can be obtained from specialist bookshops or from the local County Library Service (even in Norfolk where the Thetford Library Staff have been very helpful to me)

I would have liked to have published pages from some of these books but copyright rules apply and the cost of gaining permissions is outside my budget. Some magazines have been generous enough not to ask for a fee. I have simply listed those books that I have come across whilst researching material for this site.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) has of course put a lot of material into the public domain relating to the war in Dhofar. Much of it released in 2005.

Lt Col J.H.G. Crompton of the MOD who compiled "Historical details of the Dhofar campaign" in neat blue ink from Serial 1 on 1st Oct 1970 to the end in 1977 has to be congratulated on that herculean task. (DEFE13/779 in TNA)

There is a great deal of detail especially in the references to other documents.

The Operation Record Books on RAF Form F540 give a good deal of "chatty" detail at unit level and some statistics about the FST.

Some information has come from the archive at the MEC at St Anthony's College in Oxford. References to occasional pieces of material from Brigadier John Grahams papers are included in Timeline. These were released in 2003.

AKEHURST, John	"We Won A War" The Campaign in Oman 1965 -1975 Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd 1982 (Not in print)
ARKLESS, D.C.	"The Secret War - Dhofar 1971/72" William Kimber - London
COLE, Roger & BELFIELD, Richard	"SAS Operation Storm" Released on the 18th August 2011 and has had very mixed reviews.
de BASS, Bill	"The Butchers's Bill" SAF Association Journal March 2003
FIENNES, Ranulph	"Where Soldiers Fear To Tread" Hodder and Stoughton 1975
GARDINER, Ian	"In the Service of the Sultan" Pen and Sword books ISBN 1 844154 67 X "A first hand account of the Dhofar Insurgency"
GERAGHTY, Tony	"Who Dares Wins" The Story of the SAS 1950 -1980 Arms and Armour Press 1980
HALLIDAY, Fred	"Mercenaries - Counter Insurgency in the Gulf " Spokesman Books
HIGGINS, Andrew	"With the SAS and other animals" The author was in the RAVC and attached to BATT in Dhofar for a period of time in 1974. An excellent narrative which goes to show that there are other means of overcoming the enemy than simply shooting them.
JEAPES, Tony	"SAS Secret War Operation Storm"
McKEOWN, John	"The Dhofar War and Its Significance" A dissertation written in 1981 in support of an M.Phil degree at Cambridge
MELSOM et al	"Battle Casualties" Annals of Royal College of Surgeons. 1975 Vol 36 p289 - 302
NIVEN, B.M.	"Special Men Special War" Undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, series of photographs to come out of the war in Dhofar. May be available through Amazon if you are very lucky.
PETERSON, J.E	"Oman's Insurgencies Remarkable detail and useful as a book of reference. Saqi Books
RAY, Bryan	"Dangerous Frontiers" A splendid book chronicling his time in Somaliland and Oman. Well illustrated and covering the time that the "Johnston FST" was inn Salalah.
SAF Association Journal
SHARWOOD-SMITH, Geoffrey	"Anaesthetist in Salalah" Experiences in a field surgical team Anaesthesia 1976 Vol 31 Pages 1049 - 105
SIBLEY, Paul	"A Monk in the SAS" This book has interesting descriptions of the firqas and whilst it does not cover the exact period of the Johnston FST it makes interesting reading. The second edition has an account of his experiences in the NHS.
THWAITES, P	"Muscat Command" Leo Cooper 1955
WHITE, Rowland	"Storm Front" A huge amount of background research has gone into this book. It is reflected in the feel for the war that the author has achieved largely by the effective use of personal recollections obtained by interview combined with material from the official archives.
WINNER, P & KENNEDY, MP	"Soldier "I" This book includes a detailed account of the battle at Marbat by one of those who took part
Relating to Oman in general
ALLFREE, P.S	"Warlords of Oman" Full of flowery phrases this book takes alliteration to new heights. It is a wonderfully descriptive account leading up to the beginning of the war in Dhofar which gives the reader much insight into Omanis.
BEASANT,J & LING,C.	"Sultan in Arabia - A Private Life" Background to Sultan Qaboos from before the war in Dhofar to the current day. The authors critically examine the manner and effectiveness of his rule and freely review what they find.
BEASANT,J,LING,C & CUMMINS,I	"Oman. The true -Life Drama and Intrigue of an Arab State" A few axes to grind ? over the circumstances surrounding the overthrow of the Sultan Said in 1970 and the subsequent influence of the British in Oman.
GYWNNE-JAMES, David	"Letters From Oman" Blackwater Books 2001 This a fine book which give a real feel of Oman. It is still available from various sources such as Amazon.co.uk
HALLIDAY, Fred	"Arabia without Sultans" Saqi Books
OCHS, Peter J. II	"Maverick Guide to Oman" Splendid softback book full of all sorts of information about Oman Pelican Publishing Company ISBN 1-56554-687-3
PHILLIPS, Wendell	"Unknown Oman" The Longman Group Ltd 1971
MORRIS, Jan	"Sultan in Oman" This entertaining and descriptive book relates the first journey of Sultan Said bin Taimur to the interior of his country in 1955. The journey was from Salalah to Muscat by car and Jan Morris went as a professional observer.
Fiction
BARNETT, David	"Dust & Fury" Woodfield Publishing West Sussex ISBN 1-903953-25-1 £15 "An epic novel set in the Sultanate of Oman" Not a "source" but an entertaining read
FIENNES, Ranulph	"The Feathermen" An imaginatively written novel of "faction" which has caused controversy and considerable upset amongst most of those who have any links with either the SAS or Oman. A film -"The Killer Elite" -based on the book , was released on the 23rd September 2011. In the Webmaster's opinion- even with a pensioner's discount - you would be far better satisfied with two pints of Greene King IPA.
Relating to the RAMC in general.
BLAIR, J.S.G.	"The Conscript Doctors" An entertaining compilation of the experiences of doctors who were called up to "get some in" and do National Service. It does go some way to examine the relationships between the National Service and the Regular members of the RAMC which was familiar to the Short Service Commission medical officers who joined up after National Service was abolished.
NICHOLL & RENNELL	"Medic" A compelling book which reviews the immediate treatment of casualties at the point of injury by combat medics from Dunkirk to Afghanistan.
Relating to military matters
BISHOP, Chris	"Bell UH-1 Huey" This short book does not deal in detail with the basic Hueys used in Dhofar but nevertheless is an interesting account of the American use of these aircraft with many illustrations.
CLARKE, Bob	"Jet Provost" "The little plane with a big history". A book for the true aviation anorak with a page devoted to Dhofar.
HENRY, Chris	"The 25-pounder Field Gun 1939-72" The gun that made us all jump and rattled the shelves in the FST. A good well illustrated account of the gun in its various different guises.