2RHPZ
05-28-2004, 03:06 PM
The Battle of Mirbat, 19th July 1972.
"It was not our numbers, but our ideas that made the difference" -SAS planner in Oman.
British politicians and even those within the regiment questioned the SAS's involvement in Oman. Oman's value as an oil producing country (At the time it produced 50% of the worlds (non-communist) supply of crude oil) meant that many nations had an interest in helping to crush local rebellions. Between 1958 & 1959 these actions resulted in the rebel forces being all but snuffed out. For almost a decade the SAS found themselves in an uncertain position, the lack of a suitable conflict in which to train troops put pressure on the regiments very existence. Some troops were involved in weapons testing or bodyguard duties and occasionally working with prison authorities testing security. At one very secure new prison a team broke out over a supposedly un-scalable fence in less than two minutes.
Events back in Oman soon led to a second tour of duty. For over five years Oman's leader Sultan Sa-id had been fighting a new foe, left-wing nationalists trained in Iraq, foreign forces stationed on the border were continually on the offensive. In 1971 a coup forced the sultans abdication and the SAS were once again sent back to the troubled country to work on a "Hearts and minds" mission codenamed "Operation Storm".
By October two full squadrons took part in a second operation "Jaguar" to secure a base in rebel held territory, during the long march the SAS suffered their first casualties of the campaign in running battles with rebel forces. By July 1972 a Ten man permanent camp had been established at Mirbat. Each team was posted for a three-month tour before being replaced.
On the 19th July 1972 one such team were preparing to leave that very morning, just before dawn a 250 strong rebel force attacked the camp. The battle is by far one of the most famous stand-offs in the regiment's history, many have compared it to the famous battle at Rourkes Drift. Apart from occasional mortar fire and artillery rounds the troops had seen no action, but all that was about to change.
The camp consisted of a barbed wire perimeter, two stone forts, a building known as the "bathouse" and the towns houses etc. The camp force numbered approximately 100 men composed of the 10 SAS, 30 Askaris troops with .303 rifles, 40 local counter guerrilla forces (Firqa's) and 25 gendamerie. At about 5:30am a patrol discovered the rebels on a hill to the North of the town, with the element of surprise gone the rebels opened fire killing four men, the rest managed to escape back to the camp.
Rebel mortars then began firing on the camp, the SAS Captain rolled out of bed at the bathouse and climbed onto the roof to see what was happening. From his position he could see groups of rebels crossing open ground all around the camp, firing as they went. An SAS mortar team began firing on the nearby position already captured by the rebels known as Jabal Ali.Browning machine guns were raking the ground around the fort while more troops began picking off the advancing rebels with precision firing using rifles, the SAS trainers had tutored the local men well. One of the SAS gunners recalled what happened.
"We opened fire simultaneously, unleashing a hail of .50 cal bullets and machine gun fire at the assaulting Adoo rebels. The running figures became a focal point where the red tracer and exploding incendiary rounds converged. Where moments before there had been an orderly advance, parts of the line now faltered and collapsed. Figures staggered, but still they kept coming, wave upon wave over the plain?"
The surrounded SAS troops knew the situation was grim, a frontal assault could only mean they were facing a very large force, a message was sent to the SAS HQ at Salalah. The rebels were well organised, advancing in groups and using high ground to lay down covering fire, by now rounds were coming in from all directions over the forts.
At one fort an almost antique 25 pounder was used to devastating effect on the rebels, but as they fell more quickly replaced them. Once at the perimeter wire RPG's and Carl Gustavs repeatedly slammed into the stone building causing the fragile walls to collapse, the gun crew was perilously close to being over run. A lull in the fighting as the rebels recovered their wounded allowed two SAS troops to reach the gun position.
A helicopter sent by HQ attempted to land on the nearby beach to evacuate wounded but was hit by enemy machine gun fire and forced to turn back. At the gun pit the SAS found two dead soldiers and several wounded, one man nursing a bad wound to his chin resorted to firing the gun single handed, he had raised the cannon to fire level at almost point blank range.
The SAS captain radioed for an air strike, next to him a soldier using one of the Browning's was hit and had his jaw blown off. By now the rebels were almost on top of the gun pit, the remaining men continued to pick off the advancing troops despite an almost continuous hail of bullets and grenades. Just as all seemed lost two Strikemaster jets roared over.
From the radio the jets were given targets, they would have to drop 500lb bombs on positions less than 60 yards from the gun crew. Just the sight of the jets had an immediate effect on the rebels, many began retreating. The SAS mortar team were now so close to the enemy they were forced to lift the tube off its bipod and hold it between their knees, bombs continued to rain down on the rebels as the jets began their bombing run.
The pilots reported seeing "hundreds" of enemy below them, one jet was hit by heavy machine gun fire and forced to withdraw, more aircraft were called in while the rebels continued to retreat. A squadron based at SAS HQ were also dispatched and landed on the beach after flying in very low to avoid detection. A second air strike began as they were landing.
Eighteen men from one helicopter advanced inland knocking out groups of enemies on the raised ground around the camp, a second team split into three man groups and began attacking groups of rebels further inland. By 10.30am the rebels were forced to retreat in numbers, the wounded were loaded on to the helicopters and flown back to HQ.
SAS casualties included two dead and two seriously wounded, the trooper who's jaw had been blown off later died from his injuries. He was posthumously awarded the DCM; the SAS Captain was awarded the DSO for his judgement in facing a force of overwhelming size. The local forces lost several men but had few wounded, of the original 250 strong rebel force less than half were thought to have left the battle unscathed.
Although the rebels claimed far fewer were killed or wounded their losses were severe enough to prevent them mounting a similar attack until the war ended almost four years later. In Britain the battle received no publicity, the gallantry awards were only reported four years after the event. The SAS Captain was promoted to major but died on exercises in the Brecon Beacons in 1979.
When the war in Oman ended in 1976 the SAS contingent amounted to just 80 men in an anti guerrilla force numbering almost 15,000. Despite their numbers their actions at Mirbat all but crippled the rebel forces.
"It was not our numbers, but our ideas that made the difference" -SAS planner in Oman.
British politicians and even those within the regiment questioned the SAS's involvement in Oman. Oman's value as an oil producing country (At the time it produced 50% of the worlds (non-communist) supply of crude oil) meant that many nations had an interest in helping to crush local rebellions. Between 1958 & 1959 these actions resulted in the rebel forces being all but snuffed out. For almost a decade the SAS found themselves in an uncertain position, the lack of a suitable conflict in which to train troops put pressure on the regiments very existence. Some troops were involved in weapons testing or bodyguard duties and occasionally working with prison authorities testing security. At one very secure new prison a team broke out over a supposedly un-scalable fence in less than two minutes.
Events back in Oman soon led to a second tour of duty. For over five years Oman's leader Sultan Sa-id had been fighting a new foe, left-wing nationalists trained in Iraq, foreign forces stationed on the border were continually on the offensive. In 1971 a coup forced the sultans abdication and the SAS were once again sent back to the troubled country to work on a "Hearts and minds" mission codenamed "Operation Storm".
By October two full squadrons took part in a second operation "Jaguar" to secure a base in rebel held territory, during the long march the SAS suffered their first casualties of the campaign in running battles with rebel forces. By July 1972 a Ten man permanent camp had been established at Mirbat. Each team was posted for a three-month tour before being replaced.
On the 19th July 1972 one such team were preparing to leave that very morning, just before dawn a 250 strong rebel force attacked the camp. The battle is by far one of the most famous stand-offs in the regiment's history, many have compared it to the famous battle at Rourkes Drift. Apart from occasional mortar fire and artillery rounds the troops had seen no action, but all that was about to change.
The camp consisted of a barbed wire perimeter, two stone forts, a building known as the "bathouse" and the towns houses etc. The camp force numbered approximately 100 men composed of the 10 SAS, 30 Askaris troops with .303 rifles, 40 local counter guerrilla forces (Firqa's) and 25 gendamerie. At about 5:30am a patrol discovered the rebels on a hill to the North of the town, with the element of surprise gone the rebels opened fire killing four men, the rest managed to escape back to the camp.
Rebel mortars then began firing on the camp, the SAS Captain rolled out of bed at the bathouse and climbed onto the roof to see what was happening. From his position he could see groups of rebels crossing open ground all around the camp, firing as they went. An SAS mortar team began firing on the nearby position already captured by the rebels known as Jabal Ali.Browning machine guns were raking the ground around the fort while more troops began picking off the advancing rebels with precision firing using rifles, the SAS trainers had tutored the local men well. One of the SAS gunners recalled what happened.
"We opened fire simultaneously, unleashing a hail of .50 cal bullets and machine gun fire at the assaulting Adoo rebels. The running figures became a focal point where the red tracer and exploding incendiary rounds converged. Where moments before there had been an orderly advance, parts of the line now faltered and collapsed. Figures staggered, but still they kept coming, wave upon wave over the plain?"
The surrounded SAS troops knew the situation was grim, a frontal assault could only mean they were facing a very large force, a message was sent to the SAS HQ at Salalah. The rebels were well organised, advancing in groups and using high ground to lay down covering fire, by now rounds were coming in from all directions over the forts.
At one fort an almost antique 25 pounder was used to devastating effect on the rebels, but as they fell more quickly replaced them. Once at the perimeter wire RPG's and Carl Gustavs repeatedly slammed into the stone building causing the fragile walls to collapse, the gun crew was perilously close to being over run. A lull in the fighting as the rebels recovered their wounded allowed two SAS troops to reach the gun position.
A helicopter sent by HQ attempted to land on the nearby beach to evacuate wounded but was hit by enemy machine gun fire and forced to turn back. At the gun pit the SAS found two dead soldiers and several wounded, one man nursing a bad wound to his chin resorted to firing the gun single handed, he had raised the cannon to fire level at almost point blank range.
The SAS captain radioed for an air strike, next to him a soldier using one of the Browning's was hit and had his jaw blown off. By now the rebels were almost on top of the gun pit, the remaining men continued to pick off the advancing troops despite an almost continuous hail of bullets and grenades. Just as all seemed lost two Strikemaster jets roared over.
From the radio the jets were given targets, they would have to drop 500lb bombs on positions less than 60 yards from the gun crew. Just the sight of the jets had an immediate effect on the rebels, many began retreating. The SAS mortar team were now so close to the enemy they were forced to lift the tube off its bipod and hold it between their knees, bombs continued to rain down on the rebels as the jets began their bombing run.
The pilots reported seeing "hundreds" of enemy below them, one jet was hit by heavy machine gun fire and forced to withdraw, more aircraft were called in while the rebels continued to retreat. A squadron based at SAS HQ were also dispatched and landed on the beach after flying in very low to avoid detection. A second air strike began as they were landing.
Eighteen men from one helicopter advanced inland knocking out groups of enemies on the raised ground around the camp, a second team split into three man groups and began attacking groups of rebels further inland. By 10.30am the rebels were forced to retreat in numbers, the wounded were loaded on to the helicopters and flown back to HQ.
SAS casualties included two dead and two seriously wounded, the trooper who's jaw had been blown off later died from his injuries. He was posthumously awarded the DCM; the SAS Captain was awarded the DSO for his judgement in facing a force of overwhelming size. The local forces lost several men but had few wounded, of the original 250 strong rebel force less than half were thought to have left the battle unscathed.
Although the rebels claimed far fewer were killed or wounded their losses were severe enough to prevent them mounting a similar attack until the war ended almost four years later. In Britain the battle received no publicity, the gallantry awards were only reported four years after the event. The SAS Captain was promoted to major but died on exercises in the Brecon Beacons in 1979.
When the war in Oman ended in 1976 the SAS contingent amounted to just 80 men in an anti guerrilla force numbering almost 15,000. Despite their numbers their actions at Mirbat all but crippled the rebel forces.