‘A WALK IN THE ADEN HINTERLAND’, January 1965.
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This article describes a heavyweight patrol into the Wadi Dhubsan in January 1965. By heavyweight one means the seniority of those involved and not the weaponry being carried! Overall the patrol was about 16 strong, comprising four or five British Army officers, including a colonel, a lieutenant colonel and a major plus the Political Officer for the Radfan, Bryan Somerfield, accompanied by his two local bodyguards. In May the previous year the Wadi Dhubsan had been the scene of a particularly interesting action by troops from 3 PARA and 45 Cdo RM. Full details of this encounter with Radfan tribesmen can be found on the internet at ‘Radfan Firefight’. The aim of this operation had been to destroy grain stocks in the Wadi Dhubsan.
The portion of the map below was printed in July 1964 (in other words two months after the ‘Radfan Firefight’ referred to above). Arnold’s Spur is at Grid Ref 995914 and is marked as being 1739 metres above sea level. The Wadi Dhubsan begins there and runs approximately in a southeasterly direction. Arnold’s Spur is 15.4 km just South of due East from Thumier, the army’s main operating base for the Radfan.
By October 1964 the suppression of the Radfan tribes had been completed, although the military outposts were to remain for another two years or so. The army had ‘won the war’, so to speak, but now it was necessary to win the peace. In January 1965 the new Political Officer responsible for the Radfan wanted to see the situation in the Dhubsan for himself and to meet and reassure local chiefs living in the wadi.
Whereas 45 Commando and 3 PARA had climbed down into the bed of the wadi (some 3,200 feet below according to the CO of 3 PARA, but in reality somewhat less) the 1965 patrol was taken down (and back again!) by helicopter. In the first instance the party was ferried from the main base at Thumier to a ridge above the Dhubsan. The first two photographs show this area.
In the first one can make out severe damage to one of very well constructed hill forts, presumably caused by rockets fired by Hunters the previous May. In the second the Political Officer is talking with the local chief who would be accompanying the party down into the wadi. Note one of the PO’s two bodyguards holding the former’s rifle.
The lift into the wadi was provided by a Scout from the AAC, piloted by a SNCO, which had to make four or five round trips to take everyone down. The next photograph show the helicopter hovering above the landing site and the one after shows personnel exiting, with the helicopter’s skids barely touching the ground.
Once the airlift was complete the patrol was ready to move off. The next picture shows the local chief introducing the PO to two local tribesmen; the officer on the left is Lieutenant Colonel Jack Dye, commanding officer of 1st Bn the Royal Anglian Regiment, the Thumier roulement battalion at that time.
The next photograph is of the patrol progressing along the wadi. The officer in the lead in the first picture (in green beret and shorts) is the colonel who was in charge of half the Radfan. The others are the PO, of course flanked by his bodyguards, as well as the CO of the Anglians. Note the small forts on pinnacles immediately overlooking the wadi.
An indication of the hardship of living in the wadi is illustrated in the next picture by the narrow terraces, currently uncultivated, needed for growing grain. Notice also the obligatory hill forts needed for local defence.
Eventually the wadi opened out somewhat, allowing cultivation in the wadi itself. In the the next photograph in the background is the Jebel Huriyah which had been climbed the previous year (from a different direction) by Colonel Dye’s battalion, then named 1st Bn The East Anglian Regiment. This jebel was the highest feature of the Jebel Radfan and its temporary occupation by the British was a serious blow to the insurgent’s morale. The Dhubsan does not lead towards the Huriyah and the next photograph was taken at the confluence of the Dhubsan with the Wadi Dhura
The destination of the patrol was a small village, either Nowba or Rayaah. Whilst the PO chatted with the locals, two youths opened what was for them very precious tins of pineapple for our consumption. It was also an opportunity to photograph some of the inhabitants of this isolated valley, cut off from modern luxuries because of the nature of the terrain.
The time came, all too soon, for the party to be airlifted back to civilization. The final photograph shows locals around the landing strip seeing a helicopter at first hand, of a make that only seven months previously some of them no doubt were taking pot shots at when the CO of 3 PARA somewhat incautiously flew into their domain!
