Aden - 50th Anniversary of the Withdrawal of Troops

[brianthetaff]

29th November 1967 was when the final Withdrawal took place. After intensive research, which may not be totally accurate, but there is in excess of 1300 names which include those listed on War Memorials and Ma'ala Cemetery killed during the two World Wars, as well as dependents, civilians, troops from various other countries as well as the UK who are classed as Non-World War casualties, and are also buried in Ma'ala and Silent Valley Cemeteries.

This former Crown Colony is a 'Forgotten Conflict' but it should always be remembered, not just by those that served there.

So on 29th November 2017, spare a thought for all those that never returned to their families irrespective of their nationality.

[Viktoria]

Was there an earlier date for some troops leaving?
I ask because at the fiftieth anniversary of Passchaendael The  Northumberland Fusiliers   stood guard of honour at Tyne Cot cemetery .This was October 1967.
They had just returned fromThe Crater disrtriict of Aden.
We lived in Belgium at the time and attended the ceremony.
The lads were very edgy and got upset when the Belgian people mistook their hackles for feathers won at the fair. We explained to the police officer they were battle honours and the lads would be very proud of them,having just returned from a very hard tour of duty they were in no mood to be laughed at. Word circulated around the fair in Ypres  town square and  in no  time the lads had been bought chips ,and offered beer which they had orders to refuse as there was to be a church service at the English church later.
It was a very fierce engagement and as you say ought to be remembered.
Viktoria.

[Rena]

Was there an earlier date for some troops leaving?
I ask because at the fiftieth anniversary of Passchaendael The  Northumberland Fusiliers   stood guard of honour at Tyne Cot cemetery .This was October 1967.
They had just returned fromThe Crater disrtriict of Aden.
We lived in Belgium at the time and attended the ceremony.
The lads were very edgy and got upset when the Belgian people mistook their hackles for feathers won at the fair. We explained to the police officer they were battle honours and the lads would be very proud of them,having just returned from a very hard tour of duty they were in no mood to be laughed at. Word circulated around the fair in Ypres  town square and  in no  time the lads had been bought chips ,and offered beer which they had orders to refuse as there was to be a church service at the English church later.
It was a very fierce engagement and as you say ought to be remembered.
Viktoria.

I'm not surprised they were upset - Bryan was in Aden when it was comparatively calm, unlike those fellows :-

"THE still night air over Crater City was shattered by the sound of bagpipes as pipe major Kenneth Robson struck up with Monymusk – the regimental charge of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.

It was 7pm on July 3, 1967, and the 700 men of the 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders were on the edge of the city, tensely awaiting the order to advance.

Two weeks before, on June 20, the Army had experienced one of its bloodiest days since World War II, when 22 soldiers – three of them Argylls – were massacred by rogue elements of the local Arab police, who now controlled Crater, a city built on an extinct volcano in the heart of the British colony of Aden in the Middle East.

After the attack, the senior British commanders in Aden had ordered the Army to withdraw from Crater, leaving the city in the hands of the police mutineers.

But one man was determined to end the stand-off and bring Crater back under British control – the commander of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Colonel Colin Mitchell. He was a pugnacious, outspoken maverick who after that night’s events, would forever be known as Mad Mitch."

[Viktoria]

Am I mixing up Mad Mitch with Speakman, would that be Korea? One of them threw empty beer bottles at the enemy as I remember.
Would the Northumberland Fusiliers be brought home before the end of the conflict ?

It was definitely them at Tyne Cot to recognise that regiment,s bravery during the battle of Passchaendaele.Viktoria.

[Skoosh]

Speakman threw the beer bottles. There was a Chelsea Pensioner of that name at the cenotaph last week. Could it possibly be him? He was in a wheelchair!

Skoosh.

[brianthetaff]

The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders arrived in Aden around end May/June time to take over from the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers who lost 9 members on 20th June 1967. Infantry Regiments were mainly posted to Aden for 6 month tours, so the RNF left Aden shortly after that tragic day. Those of us that were in Aden at that time have never forgotten that day, nor will we.   

[brianthetaff]

Yes Bill Speakman was at the Cenotaph last week, he was pushed by Sgt Johnson Beharry another VC holder.

[Rena]

The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders arrived in Aden around end May/June time to take over from the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers who lost 9 members on 20th June 1967. Infantry Regiments were mainly posted to Aden for 6 month tours, so the RNF left Aden shortly after that tragic day. Those of us that were in Aden at that time have never forgotten that day, nor will we.

After WWII world leaders took it upon themselves to amalgamate small tribal lands into larger stable countries which meant that Britain had peace keeping forces around the world. Bryan had his 21st birthday in Aden in 1958.  He was with the RAF logistics, which entailed a daily visit to fetch a lorry load of supplies from the dock by one unarmed driver and one unarmed man sat in the back guarding the cargo.  The lorries at that time had soft tops and sides with a rope netting at the back.  His first trip frightened him so the second time he was detailed to fetch supplies he took a long stick with him, the driver was a newly arrived 19 year old greenhorn.  The trip to the dock was uneventful but on the return journey Bryan sensed the lorry slowing down and to his horror, saw a mob of men jumping up and clinging onto the mesh, then the lorry started to rock as the mob pushed on the sides.  He grabbed his stick and frantically swished it at the clinging fingers, but as men fell off there were others replacing them.   He shouted to the driver to put his foot down and get them out of there.  The driver called back that he couldn't because he'd run over the men who had started to lay down on the road in front of him.  With the driver paralysed with fright and the rocking lorry nearly at a halt Bryan frantically scrambled over the stack of crates but couldn't get into the driver's cab through its small rear window - but he did manage to poke his stick through the opening and pushed it as hard as he could onto the accelerator.   Vrooom - the inert bodies in the road quickly moved themselves.   Bryan described that event as a "hairy moment".

[Viktoria]

We spoke to the lads who stood Guard of Honour at Tyne Cot, it was mentioned during the short service there that they had just returned from Aden,this was October 1967, I was expecting my daughter who was born Nov 22nd.
We had no actual date for their withdrawal from Aden but they were" battle scarred"and I remember one lad later at St George`s Memorial Church Ypres( where coffee etc was served and we could chat to them)saying they had had it bad but seeing Tyne Cot cemetery and I think  they had a little tour to some old trenches at  Hill 60 where in the museum are some heart -breaking photographs he said it put it in a different
light.I thought that,after what they had been through was so generous and for want f a better description" comradely".
50 years between and they still felt like Brothers in Arms.
Viktoria.