Oman / Dhofar campaign: catch all

[SWJ Blog]

Counterinsurgency Strategy in the Dhofar Rebellion


Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.

[SWJ Blog]

Counterinsurgency Strategy in the Dhofar Rebellion

This is a Journal article by Captain Alexander Schade, submitted forthe Small Wars Journal and Military Writers Guild Writing Contest.

[davidbfpo]

In the latest British Journal of Military History Geraint Hughes (a familiar name on this thread) has a new article Amateurs Who Play in League Division One’? Anglo- Iranian Military Relations During the Dhofar War in Oman

It is 21 pgs. and has numerous references to pursue.

Are there lessons to be learnt, the author argues there are.

[davidbfpo]

An overview of this war by a Malaysian author. It is quite interesting as a commentary on fighting similar wars today.

What was a surprise was this passage, which I have never seen referenced before:

The SAF also sought to subvert PDRY support for the rebels by sponsoring proxy guerillas in the desert region on the Yemeni-Omani border. In early 1969, Britain’s MI6 intelligence service managed to persuade the nomadic Mahra tribe, which inhabited the region, to launch an anti-communist revolt to disrupt PFLOAG supply lines. The Mahra, combining nomadic raiding skills with British supplied modern arms and Land Rovers, attacked the forts that the PFLOAG depended on for their supply lines. The Mahra did extensive damage in the enemy’s rear and relieved pressure on the SAF. By 1972 the Mahra were being led by SAS personnel, and kept an estimated four PDRY battalions occupied by the end of the war.

The author cites as his source Marc DeVore, The United Kingdom’s Last Hot War, 455-456, in the journal Small Wars & Insurgencies , which I read and posted a summary in Post 24, in 2015 and missed this.

Link:https://thestrategybridge.org/the-br...ized-conflicts

Update: DeVore was referring to two sets of sets of private papers in the footnotes, which have now been id'd.

[jcustis]

I’ve long considered this rebellion most relevant to courses of action to defeat the TB in AFG. Alas, Pakistan’s proximity and degree of support tilts the situation.

[davidbfpo]

I’ve long considered this rebellion most relevant to courses of action to defeat the TB in AFG. Alas, Pakistan’s proximity and degree of support tilts the situation.

Jon,

There is now ample writing that the Omani Sultan remained in charge, with initially UK support and then a wider coalition. One must wonder is the GIRoA in the same position today. Or is there an Afghan consensus to cease the war, which IMHO is no longer going to include defeating the Taliban?

[Amber39]

Gentlemen
Salaam Aleykum

A good overall look at the campaign is in:
Oman's Insurgencies - The Sultanate's Struggle for Supremacy by J.E. Peterson.

Books on the role of the Omani and Baluch infantry, who did most of the legwork, are:
Muscat Command by Peter Thwaites.

Dangerous Frontiers by Brian Ray

Where Soldiers Fear to Tread by Ranulph Fiennes

An interesting command perspective can be read in:
List The Bugle - Reminiscences of an Irish Soldier by Corran Purdon

The experiences of an Air Despatcher are written in:
The Secret War - Dhofar 1971/1972 by David C. Arkless.

(Amber39 was my callsign for a time during the campaign.)

[davidbfpo]

There are parallel threads which have some items on this campaign:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=15471 and: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=15619

[davidbfpo]

A "lurker" has identified a hitherto unknown academic dissertation 'The Dhofar War and Its Significance' by a British Army Lt. Col. John McKeown, from 1981, the author was an engineer officer and was able to get officers serving in Oman to talk. The paper is available via, scroll down list to McKeown, it is 140 pgs long, so about 1 Mb and appears to be cited with permission (see copyright notice):http://55fst-ramc.org.uk/FRONT%20PAG...P_SOURCES.html

You will note an extensive list of sources on this small war, some of which are not cited in the thread.

The website itself has a primarily medical focus, as the site refers to a thirteen man 55 Field Surgical Team (FST) and on a quick glance has more to offer:http://55fst-ramc.org.uk/index.html

[Red Rat]

From memory this is the same report as I originally linked to (in substance at least):

The Dhofar Campaign & How Its Lessons Can Be Applied To Afghanistan

[davidbfpo]

First up, an excellent SWJ article 'Six Requirements for Success in Modern Counterinsurgency', from the Abstract:

In recent counterinsurgency operations, Western military forces have been slow to adapt, and slow to adopt lessons learned in comparable prior conflicts. By undertaking a detailed study of two such conflicts – the Algerian Revolution of 1954-1962, and the Dhofar Rebellion of 1970-1976 – six overarching lessons for success and failure in COIN operations were revealed. In the following essay, these lessons are detailed, informing recommendations for both policy-makers and warfighters engaged in future conflicts of these and other comparable types.

Link:http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art...nterinsurgency

Which has a bibliography, but misses this 2011 book on the Mirbat battle: 'SAS Operation Storm: Nine Men Against Four Hundred in Britain's Secret War' by Roger Cole and Richard Belfield:http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Operation-...peration+Storm