Soldier J: Counter Insurgency in Aden
Page 18
For a brief period after their return to Britain, D Squadron SAS became the subject of intense interest to the press. But once this had faded and the squadron had returned to its former anonymity, it went back to serving periodically in Aden during retraining periods between each stint in the jungles of Borneo.
Dead-eye, Jimbo and the other survivors of the first campaign were back in the Radfan when the British withdrew in 1967. Once again, they divided their time between desert and mountain and the lethal Keeni-Meeni actions in Aden. No longer interested in this pointless war, the SAS men in the mountains tried to kill their boredom by endlessly speculating on the good time their mates, the ‘urbanites’, were having in the flesh-pots of Aden. When in the city, the same men vented their frustration by complaining about the overcrowded souks, the treachery of the Arabs and the ineptitude of the ‘greens’ guarding the streets.
‘They stand there at each street corner like limp dicks at a wedding,’ Jimbo complained. ‘The Arabs should be blowing them kisses, not trying to kill ’em. The British Army! God help us!’
‘What we’re doing is just as worthless,’ Dead-eye replied in his quiet, bitter way. ‘We’re just passing time.’
Nevertheless, the nearer the projected withdrawal date came, the more essential were the SAS recce patrols, to give early warning of guerrilla attacks. The guerrillas, in turn, were now receiving early warnings of SAS movements from Arab officers of the FRA who knew that when the British left, their own lives would depend on how helpful they had been to the rebel forces.
The Radfan was handed over to the Federal Regular Army – now the South Arabian Army – on 26 June 1967, at the end of the Six Day War between Israel and Egypt, which led to the singular humiliation of Arab Nationalists and riots in the streets of many Muslim cities.
‘This fight’s long been a dying cause,’ a disillusioned Lieutenant-Colonel Callaghan told his men just before they boarded the Hercules C-130 on the runway at RAF Khormaksar. ‘Now, at last, it’s been lost.’
No one disagreed as the heavy transport plane lifted off the ground, ascending through the shimmering heat, to deliver them back to RAF Lyneham. From there they would be transported in a convoy of Bedfords to their camp at Bradbury Lines, Hereford, where, on their bashas, in the chilly darkness of the spider, they would finally rest, trying to forget the nightmares of the Radfan and looking forward to better days.
‘Bloody right!’ Jimbo exclaimed as the Hercules climbed into the radiant sky. ‘Better days always come.’
‘There speaks the optimist,’ Dead-eye replied, then smiled sadly before closing his weary eyes.
It would be a long flight.
Discover other books in the SAS Series
Discover other books in the SAS Series published by Bloomsbury at
www.bloomsbury.com/SAS
Soldier A: Behind Iraqi Lines
Soldier B: Heroes of the South Atlantic
Soldier C: Secret War in Arabia
Soldier D: The Colombian Cocaine War
Soldier E: Sniper Fire in Belfast
Soldier F: Guerillas in the Jungle
Soldier G: The Desert Raiders
Soldier H: The Headhunters of Borneo
Soldier J: Counter Insurgency in Aden
Soldier K: Mission to Argentina
Soldier L: The Embassy Siege
Soldier M: Invisible Enemy in Kazakhstan
Soldier N: Gambian Bluff
Soldier O: The Bosnian Inferno
Soldier P: Night Fighters in France
Soldier Q: Kidnap the Emperor!
Soldier R: Death on Gibraltar
Soldier S: The Samarkand Hijack
Soldier T: War on the Streets
Soldier U: Bandit Country
Soldier V: Into Vietnam
Soldier W: Guatemala – Journey Into Evil
Soldier X: Operation Takeaway
Soldier Y: Days of the Dead
Soldier Z: For King and Country
This electronic edition published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
First published in Great Britain 1993 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Copyright © 1993 Bloomsbury Publishing
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eISBN: 9781408842256
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