dhofar

[On1on]

That very same cannon was a static display at St. Patrick's Barracks...

Cannon? :) I do believe then that somewhere I have a photo of that "cannon" althougth there are some dubious characters next to it called SasQuack and Trackie...

[Jimmy Mac]

That'll be the one Onion ... it sat opposite the Guard Room, just outside the cookhouse.

[wobbly]

Jimmy. I don’t no if you if you know.
Capt Simon Garthwaite.
Who was KIA Dhofar 12 April 1974, was Royal Irish Regiment.

jock.
the RAF where not just at Salalah, we manned the forward airstrips as well.
the most notable being Midway later called Thumbrait, we also carried out mine clearance duties on the midway road.
the RA gun line was 4 x 25pdr's and 1 x 5.5 inch FG. they were known as Cracker Battery and where a great bunch of lads, they also manned the green archer radar and hedgehog's A on their own and B&D with RAF Regt. C being RAF Regt only.
a hedgehog was made of 45gal drums and sandbangs (thanks RE), and usually had
2 x 81mm mortars, 1 x browning .5 hmg, 1 x gpmg, and a zb 298 radar

the armoured recce sqn was SAF. commanded by seconded british officers and snco's.

the bottom line is, there where a lot of different cap badges out there at one time or another, the highest british medals issued were the DSO or DCM.
considering the act's bravery and heroism of British servicemen who served in the Dhofar and at time's died there.
non of them got the recognition they deserved.
i am saddened by this, and the apparent ease in which they handout gallantry medals these day's.

PS. the MOD state 24 fell in oman, i have a list confirming 47 (CWWGC) at present not including contracted MOD civilians, and those awaiting to be confirmed (after nearly 30yrs?).

[P-C]

Tuesday, 28 October, 2003,



SAS appeal for memorial money

Former SAS soldiers are appealing for the funds to erect a statue in memory of their fallen comrades.
They want to place it in the special forces section of the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas near Lichfield in Staffordshire.

It would depict a Fijian and stand for all special forces soldiers who have lost their lives in combat.

SAS and SBS troops are already being honoured with their own section of the arboretum, a plot of 110 trees due to be planted this winter.

The soldier was called Laba and was killed in 1972 at the Battle of Mirbat in the Middle East.

He was mentioned in dispatches and some of his former comrades have campaigned for him to be posthumously awarded with the Victoria Cross.

The National Memorial Arboretum is dedicated to Armed Forces personnel and civilians who served in conflicts across the world.



Were they successful??

[Jock2413]

Oh boy Wobbly, I'm back there now. The sounds, the smells all of it. The wake up call as the old boy called the faithful to prayer. The denim trousers with the wrap around ties and the green shirt with the built in ventilation holes complete with floppy hat that had to be worn at all times or risk being charged. The ZB298 for all those uninformed could detect a human body several hundred meters away. Trouble was it did the same for goats and donkeys!! I can vaguely remember 2 x 5.5s but I may have been seeing double due to sun glare. What I can remember is having a nice arrangement with the "paraffin budgie" jockeys. When the water delivery came up from the desalination plant (tasted horrible) in exchange for our labour, we got the grand tour on resup missions up to the Dianas. The only place we were not allowed was the FOB at Al Gw....something. The RA Major in charge of the battery did his nut and threatened all sorts but he was a typical REMF, the only guy who finished the tour without a suntan, so what he didn't know never hurt. The sheer magnificence of the Sultan's palace. Qaboos I think his name was. Sandhurst trained who ousted his father for the job. He bought this huge ocean going yacht and spent millions getting a channel dug from the sea to the palace so he could sail it up to the front door. The rumour was that he was paying the Foreign Office a fortune for the use of British troops. Not only British but Iranians and Pakistanis as well. Another rumour was that each officer when his tour was completed, was presented to the Sultan who awarded him a solid gold watch. What wasn't a rumour was that before we left, we were ordered to hand over any local currency (Rials I think) that we had for exchange and not to give it to the locals. A perfect case of the Tory mantra...keep the rich rich and the poor poor. Then it was crab air to Cyprus then British airways to Heathrow. And just to put the cream on it, customs gave us a right going over. They didn't find the two 0.50 cal cartridge cases I hid but they must have had fun searching through my socks and shreddies which were caked in sweat and sand. And to end this tale of woe, some scumbag had forgotten to arrange transport for us. We couldn't use public because of the weapons (once again in their GPO sacks) and anyway we had spent out on duty frees at Cyprus. Eight hours later we arrived at Woolwich to be greeted by "Who the f*** are you lot" and no accomodation so we spent the night ...in the cells. Welcome home from the war lads. My arse!!!!!!!

[Frenchie]

Jock,
Great mental images there mate.

[wobbly]

Hi jock.
here's one of the other reason's, we were in the dhofar, the stategic airbase at masirah island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBZUUj3jqM

it was the only air link left at the time between cyprus and the far east.
there where unit's operating there that i can't talk about even today.
interesting bit's in the vidieo.
are the opperational vulcan bombers and the bulk supply depot, salalah had to be supplied from someware, and it din't all come in by ship.
was also used for R&R.
still give's you the feel for oman, even after all these year's

[Jock2413]

Nice one Wobbly. Heard mention of an R & R centre but never got the pleasure. The powers that be thought 3 month tours didn't merit a break. :roll: Shows what it looked like. To quote Neil Armstrong on the moon..."magnificent desolation" Those accomodation huts must have come as a job lot. They had the same ones at BATUS in Canada. Good shot of the Vulcan as well. I am aware why they were there and what their purpose was. Scary. Nice background music with Peters and Lee. Brought back some of the lonliness you felt especially at night when you lay there thinking "What the f*** am I doing here"
Bit like a safari park with the local creatures having free rein. Remember the wild dogs that plagued us. There were regular "safari" trips on the back of the open tops shooting them. I didn't join in. Although they sh*t and p**sed everywhere and stole anything not nailed down, always fighting each other, I couldn't bring myself to shoot any of them. I did punch one of the donkeys when it tried to pinch my mars bar ...nearly broke my hand.
There was another big RAF base in the gulf....Sharjah wasn't it? Used by the "V" force. It must have been a nightmare for the RAF lads being posted to places like that....and not a lumpy jersey in sight.

[wobbly]

It is only fitting that i post this on christmas morning.

In Memory of
MajorJohnny Braddell-Smith, killed in action on Christmas morning of 1974.
whilst trying to retrieve the body of his Omani sergeant major under fire, for which he was posthumously awarded the Omani equivalent of the Victoria Cross.

Rest in Peace

[Jock2413]

Sorry I'm late with this.
R.I.P. We Will Remember Them.

[wobbly]

In Memory of those who fell in the month of january.

Flt Lt J Wynne WKhM. RAF. KIA jan 1973.
Capt N Loring. LI. KIA jan 1977.

RIP
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

[Jock2413]

R.I.P. We Will Remember Them.

[Jock2413]

Arrived there 35 years ago to the day. Damn sight warmer....and I don't only mean the temperature. :roll:

[Jock2413]

Remember this one Wobbly. None of our kit looked that smart.

JJ-Web-gunlines-salalah.jpg

[wobbly]

Yep remember the gun line well.
a very smart bit of kit that there gun is, who did it belong to
now the one below is more like it Jock, complete with rust sand and well dressed personnel.

MeHFShoot1970.jpg