1964
32-638: 1965 1967 The Radfan Campaign was a series of British military actions during the Aden Emergency in January–May 1964. It took place in the mountainous Radfan region near the border with the Yemen Arab Republic . Local tribesmen connected with the NLF began raiding the road connecting with Aden with the town of Dhala . In January 1964 the local army sent three battalions supported by
64-558: A campaign against British forces in Aden, relying largely on grenade attacks. One such attack was carried out against RAF Khormaksar during a children's party , killing a girl and wounding four children. The guerrilla attacks largely focused on killing off-duty British officers and policemen. Much of the violence was carried out in Crater , the old Arab quarter of Aden. British forces attempted to intercept weapons being smuggled into Crater by
96-654: A labour leader in the Aden Trade Union Congress (ATUC), a union operating in and around the British protectorate: the port of Aden . In the late 1950s, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser 's Pan-Arabism had spread to the region and threatened Britain's and the traditional Emirs of the region's control. In response the British were able to convince the feuding Emirs to merge into the Federation of South Arabia . The Aden Trade Union Congress had
128-759: A large influence in the new Federation's assembly and to prevent it seizing control of the Federation in 1962 the Colony of Aden joined the Federation so that Aden's pro-British assembly members could counter the ATUC's influence. The day after Aden joined the Federation, Muhammad al-Badr of the Yemenese monarchy was overthrown and civil war ensued between forces backed by Egypt like the National Liberation Front (NLF) and monarchist forces backed by
160-537: A point of respect, he had the government house repainted for whoever emerged victorious. However unofficial secret talks were held between the British and the NLF who conspired to defeat FLOSY so that the Nasser-supported FLOSY would be defeated. On November 30, 1967 Federation of South Arabia ceased to exist with the creation of the People's Republic of South Yemen . In 1967, Nasser was defeated in
192-551: A result, Crater was occupied by rebel forces. Concerns were heightened regarding the ability to give sufficient security to British families in the midst of the increased violence, resulting in evacuation plans for families being sped up considerably. Following the mutiny, all British forces were withdrawn from Crater , while Royal Marines of 45 Commando took up sniping positions on the high ground and killed 10 armed Arab fighters. However, Crater remained occupied by an estimated 400 Arab fighters. NLF and FLOSY fighters then took to
224-455: Is not clear to what extent Nasser directly incited the revolt in Aden, as opposed to the Yemeni guerrilla groups drawing inspiration from Nasser's pan-Arabist ideas but acting independently themselves. There were a number of different nationalist groups fighting the British. Often, they fought each other. The most well known groups are: 1. The South Arabian League (S.A.L.) 2. The Front for
256-658: The 14 October Revolution ( Arabic : ثورة 14 أكتوبر , romanized : Thawrat 14 ʾUktūbar , lit. '14th October Revolution') or as the Radfan Uprising , was an armed rebellion by the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) against the Federation of South Arabia , a British Protectorate of the United Kingdom , which led to
288-616: The Federation of South Arabia by giving Abdullah al Asnag control of the country. This proposal was vetoed by the American President Johnson who didn't want Britain to withdraw while the Americans were escalating the Vietnam War . In 1965 the British suspended the Federation of South Arabian government and imposed direct colonial rule. Realizing that the British weren't going to give him control Asnag fled
320-520: The Federation of South Arabia ceased to exist when the People's Republic of Southern Yemen was proclaimed. In 1967 Israel defeated Egypt in the Six-Day War thus obliging Egypt to evacuate its troops from Yemen. FLOSY, now without any military support from its Egyptian ally, continued fighting the NLF. However FLOSY's fate was sealed when the NLF managed to persuade the Yemen's Federal army to join
352-458: The Six-Day War and was forced to pull troops out of Yemen. This left FLOSY without any military support from its Egyptian allies. With the loss of Egyptian support, the NLF allied with Yemen's Federal army, allowing them to defeat FLOSY. On November 7, 1967 FLOSY took heavy losses attacking a federal army base in conjunction with the NLF. With that defeat, the military forces of FLOSY ceased to exist although some cadres and leaders remained outside
SECTION 10
#1732793351769384-595: The 29 April 1964 which came under the attack. It led to the death of Edwards and another soldier, Sapper John Warburton. They were beheaded and their heads displayed in the Yemeni Capital. British troops then attacked the area and succeeded in capturing rebel positions, although two more British were killed. The British went on to use tanks and jets in the fight. Aden Emergency Yemeni NLF victory [REDACTED] United Kingdom 1964 1965 1967 The Aden Emergency , also known as
416-587: The British had helped Israel in the war, and this led to a mutiny by hundreds of soldiers in the South Arabian Federation Army on June 20, which also spread to the Aden Armed Police . The mutineers killed 22 British soldiers and shot down a helicopter (The pilot had to abandon take off from a ledge near Crater, Aden after being hit in the knee by a bullet. The Sioux crashed and burnt out but all three occupants escaped), and as
448-520: The British. This conflict spread throughout the region becoming the Aden Emergency and officially began on 10 December 1963, when a state of emergency was declared in the State of Aden . The NLF campaign for power spread to the Federation of South Arabia in 1964. In 1964 a new government headed by the Labour Party won the United Kingdom general election . They attempted to grant independence to
480-883: The Liberation of South Yemen (F.L.O.S.Y.) 3. The Organization for the Liberation of the Occupied South (O.L.O.S.) 4. The People's Liberation Party (P.L.P.) 5. The National Liberation Front (N.L.F.) Among the main players, the S.A.L. was backed by Saudi Arabia , the F.L.O.S.Y. by Egypt and the Aden Trade Unions . All the major groups were based in Yemen, and they regularly combined or broke up with other groups. For instance, S.A.L joined with P.S.P. to become O.L.O.S. in 1965, and then broke away in 1966. The N.L.F. joined with O.L.O.S. in January 1966 to form F.L.O.S.Y. then broke away in December 1966. Such movement
512-595: The NLF and FLOSY on the Dhala road, but their efforts met with little success. Despite taking a toll on British forces, the death toll among rebels was far higher, largely due to inter-factional fighting among different rebel groups. In 1964 the British 24th Infantry Brigade arrived to conduct land operations. It remained in Aden and the Aden Protectorate until November 1967. By 1965, the RAF station RAF Khormaksar
544-585: The RAF to restore order. Trouble flared up again and in April British ground troops were sent in; by May they had taken the main rebel stronghold and the revolt had been suppressed. The NLF then switched its attention to Aden itself. The first operation in January was known as "Nut cracker". The second one was "Cap Badge". The best known action of the Campaign involved a patrol led by Captain Edwards on
576-767: The Suez Canal in 1956 had been forced to withdraw following intervention from both the United States and the Soviet Union. Nasser enjoyed only limited success in spreading his pan-Arabist doctrines through the Arab world , with his 1958 attempt to unify Egypt and Syria as the United Arab Republic collapsing in failure three years later. A perceived anti-colonial uprising in Aden in 1963 provided another potential opportunity for his doctrines, though it
608-573: The area. Following the independence of India in 1947, Aden became less important to the United Kingdom. The Emergency was precipitated in large part by a wave of Arab nationalism spreading to the Arabian Peninsula and stemming largely from the socialist and pan-Arabist doctrines of Egyptian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser . The British , French and Israeli forces that had invaded Egypt following Nasser's nationalisation of
640-520: The country and joined the NLF. However elements of the NLF become more radical Marxist and they split from the Egyptians. Asnag formed his own military organization, FLOSY, in order to counter the NLF. The NLF quickly denounced Asnag and FLOSY as Imperialist forces under control of Nasser and in addition to attacking the British also engaged FLOSY in combat. By February 1967 the British could no longer control or protect its bases in Aden and announced it
672-487: The end of British rule in the territory which had begun in 1839. Aden was originally of interest to Britain as an anti- piracy station to protect shipping on the routes to British India . With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it further served as a coaling station. Over the period since the annexation of Aden, the British had signed many protection treaties with the emirs of the inland to secure British rule over
SECTION 20
#1732793351769704-469: The entire district overnight with no casualties. Nevertheless, repeated guerrilla attacks by the NLF soon resumed against British forces, causing the British to leave Aden by the end of November 1967, earlier than had been planned by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and without an agreement on the succeeding governance, effectively abandoning the South Arabian government. On November 30, 1967
736-423: The fight against FLOSY. On November 7, 1967 FLOSY tried to attack a federal army base but the army defeated FLOSY with the NLF's help, inflicting heavy losses on FLOSY. After the defeat FLOSY´s fighting force disbanded although some cadres and leaders remained outside the country. Most of the opposing leaders reconciled by 1968, in the aftermath of a final royalist siege of San'a'. British military casualties in
768-501: The people on board. At one point toward the end of the rebellion in early 1967 the NLF killed at least 35 members of FLOSY in 32 days. The FLOSY guerrillas first asked the British for protection, and then 80 actually flew to the UK using the British passports they had as citizens of a British Colony. The emergency was further exacerbated by the Six-Day War in June 1967. Nasser claimed that
800-451: The period 1963 to 1967 were 90 to 92 killed and 510 wounded. British civilian deaths were 17. Local government forces lost 17 killed and 58 wounded. Casualties among the rebel forces stood at 382 killed and 1,714 wounded. Front for the Liberation of South Yemen The Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen ( FLOSY ; Arabic : جبهة تحرير جنوب اليمن المحتل , romanized : jabhat taḥrīr janūb al-Yaman al-muḥtali )
832-543: The proclamation of the People's Republic of South Yemen . Partly inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser 's pan-Arab nationalism , it began on 14 October 1963 with the throwing of a grenade at a gathering of British officials at Aden Airport . A state of emergency was then declared in the British Crown colony of Aden and its hinterland, the Aden Protectorate . The emergency escalated in 1967 and hastened
864-403: The riots. As soon as the NLF riots were crushed, pro-FLOSY rioters took to the streets. Fighting between British forces and pro-guerrilla rioters lasted into February. British forces had opened fire 40 times, and during that period there were 60 grenade and shooting attacks against British forces, including the destruction of an Aden Airways Douglas DC-3 , which was bombed in mid-air, killing all
896-574: The streets and engaged in gun battles, while arson, looting, and murder was also common. British forces blocked off the two main entrances to Crater. They came under sniper fire from an Ottoman fort on Sira island, but the snipers were silenced by a shell from an armoured car. Order was restored in July 1967, when the 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders entered Crater under the command of Lt. Col. Colin Campbell Mitchell and managed to occupy
928-567: Was an Arab nationalist military organization operating in the Federation of South Arabia (a British protectorate ; now Southern Yemen ) in the 1960s. As the British tried to exit, Abdullah al Asnag created the FLOSY. The FLOSY attempted to seize power when the British left from another military group operating in South Arabia, the National Liberation Front (NLF) . Abdullah al Asnag was
960-463: Was leaving the country, against American wishes. Nasser threw its weight behind FLOSY and arrested the head of the NLF who was living at the time in Egypt. Officially FLOSY and the NLF refused to talk to the leaving British forces as they didn't want to be seen as agents of British Imperialism. The last governor of Aden, Sir Humphrey Trevelyan , left the country with no immediately apparent successor. As
992-464: Was operating nine squadrons, including transport units with helicopters and a number of Hawker Hunter fighter bomber aircraft. These were called in by the army for attacks on rebel positions in which they would use 60-pound high explosive rockets and their 30 mm ADEN cannon. On 19–20 January 1967, the NLF provoked street riots in Aden . After the Aden police lost control, British High Commissioner Sir Richard Turnbull deployed British troops to crush
Radfan Campaign - Misplaced Pages Continue
1024-508: Was quite common all through the war. Hostilities started on 10 December 1963, with an NLF grenade attack against British High Commissioner of Aden Sir Kennedy Trevaskis , which took place as he arrived at Khormaksar Airport to catch a London-bound flight. The grenade killed the High Commissioner's adviser and a woman, and injured fifty other people. On that day, a state of emergency was declared in Aden. The NLF and FLOSY began
#768231