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Recent History of Oman
Oman was ruled by Sultan Said bin Taimur at the time when the
British left Aden. Although Muscat, the capital of Oman, was in
the north the Sultan preferred Dhofar and lived in Salalah in
the south.
To all intents and purposes he was an absolute ruler. 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. 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 from the new “Peoples Democratic
Republic of Yemen” recently freed from the British. Help for the
dissidents came from other states. 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
resentment felt for the current ruler allowed revolutionary
ideology 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 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 Salalah and had little influence or
importance.
In 1970, with help, 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, who 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.
The Sultan had a small army of four regiments with some
supporting units. He had a tiny rudimentary airforce and some
dhows which passed as a navy. He did however, have strong
connections with the British, who were not at all keen that
PFLOAG should increase their influence over a country that could
control entry and exit to the Persian Gulf at the choke point of
the Straits of Hormuz.
Discretely the number of serving British officers and airmen at
RAF Salalah was increased. In addition to officers from the RAF
who were seconded to SOAF, officers from the Royal Artillery,
the Royal Engineers and others were seconded to the Sultan’s
Forces. The SAS formed BATT or the British Army Training Team,
the RAMC sent a Field Surgical Team. In addition to the serving
personnel there were a considerable number of “contract”
officers and men who had recently served in the British forces
and now worked for the Sultan. The Sultan’s airforce, SOAF, now
had some effective jet strike aircraft and numerous fixed wing
and rotary winged transport aircraft. There had been some
improvements in the scale of equipment for SAF, his army.
By 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 in the form of PFLOAG. 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 : -
07 Aug 2008 11:48 |
