The Aden Emergency & Battle of Crater 1967

Hello from the Colonies. I watched your recap of the Aden Protectorate with great interest. As a 17 year old sailor aboard the USS Eaton DDE 510 USN, I arrived in Aden Harbor in April 1957. We were on Red Sea patrol and shuttled between Aden and Masawa, Eritria for port calls. Both lovely places as you can imagine. On our final departure from Aden we were piped away by the Cameron Highlanders and had a RAF flyby. A very low level flyby, as I was standing on the bridge 37 feet above the water and had to look down to see the aircraft. I learned to drink whisky with no ice at the Rock Hotel and I continue to do so to this day.

I got to know Colin Mitchell in Cambodia in 1990. We were setting up a prosthetics facility and Colin came out to advise on mine clearance in his capacity as head of the Halo Trust. Part of my job was to ‘chaperone’ him - needless to say a thankless task! An extraordinary man.

B Sqdn 5th Royal Tank Regiment also served during the height of the trouble. In May 1967 my father Sgt McCabe commanding a group of Ferret Armoured cars came under attack in Crater, the attack was recorded in dispatches as being defeated due to my fathers actions after he shot one terrorist leading to panic. This is recorded in a book called The Tanks published in the 1970,s. This war has never received the recognition it deserved so thank you for this wonderful account.

Thank you, Chris. My oldest brother (3 Para) saw active service in Aden during that time. What’s more, Mad Mitch was a household name when I was a boy - my dad, a 30 year fighting soldiers, was an Argyll and Sutherland Highlander, later 6 (Army) Commando during WWII; commissioned King’s Regiment, attached Herefords during Palestine; attached Malay Regiment during the first Emergency; attached Sarawak Rangers during the Confrontation; attached SAS as jungle warfare instructor; finally attached Singapore Guard Regiment. When I was a small boy growing up in the Far East, he used to carry me to bed playing my leg like it was the chanter on a set of bagpipes while humming The Barren Rocks of Aden. I did the same when my daughter was small. Thank you for the memories, and for shining a light on the Aden conflict.

"Mad Mitch" was a great A&SH officer that had to sort out what politicians caused. A solid British hero. We either shape the world or we are shaped by it and the pithy critics of the British Empire on here remind me of what Roosevelt once said about such types. That It is not the critic who counts for these cold and timid souls shall neither know victory nor defeat.

The autobiography of Lt Col Mitchell, "Having Been A Soldier", is well worth reading. The photograph on the front cover is iconic: it speaks to me of courage, discipline, loyalty, integrity, selfless commitment and respect for others.

Mitchell’s General Service Medal had five clasps on it at the end of his career. His experience was quite extensive for a post war British officer.

The country needs more people like Mad Mitch.

My Dad served with the RAF in Aden in 64 til 66. It was quite a hair raising time. I’m sure my Dad would have enjoyed your video, as he felt that it was a forgotten part of our Forces history. Thank you for your video. 🇬🇧🇺🇦

My brother was one of the last RAF personnel to leave Aden, his wife and children had already been evacuated. His last assignment was to go up the Radfan Valley (I think it was the name) and help hold back the Yemenis while the Sappers destroyed all the equipment and materiel that could not be evacuated by sea or air - everything including dental clinics. When he came back to he said he would join Mad Mitch anytime he wanted a mercenary.

My dad severed in Aden in 1964/1965 (RAF) and my youngest sister was born there. I can remember and i was only 4 years old, every time my mum went to the shops a solider always escorting us.

Thanks for talking about this history! I served in Iraq in 2004 and my Son served in Afghanistan twice. This history sounds very familiar. When will we learn?

My dad was part of the last unit of the Royal Engineers to leave, he being a T.A . specialist reserve (water well drilling) . Years later, when I was serving with 84sqn RAF at Nicosia, the family came out for a visit. During a conversation with one of our pilots they both realised that his unit was airlifted on a wessex flown by the same pilot....small world isn't it.

As a pre teen I followed this conflict on the News Mitches heroic acts were the stuff of movies . .At 15 and 6 months I reported to the Guards depot Pirbright I was never to match mad Mitch as a hero but he was my compass .

My Dad was one of 30 Black Watch that served in Crater with the Argyles in 67. That was a very diplomatic description of events. He used to tell stories about it. They aren't for polite conversation round the dinner table.

I was there at Khormaksar when "Mad Mitch" took Crater back, arriving June 21, 1967 and leaving sometime in September 1967. Served with 1 Squadron RAF Regiment. I was not sorry to leave the place commonly known as the rectum of the world and apparently still remains so.

I was also posted to Aden/South Jemen in late 1966 as a British Army Medic attached HQ Anglians. The A&SH were not folks you'd want to encounter on any occasion. Absolute solid soldiers! I had fleeting meetings with "Mad Mitch" and can only concur that he was very much a "soldiers' soldier". He knew what he was demanding from his troops and expected the corresponding results. Unfortunately, I was wounded by a grenade blast (as a Medic) in September 1967 and EVACUd on the same day to, first Cyrus, and then to the UK. I variously served in Singapour Lines at Khormaksar, the Crabs' Hospital at Steamer Point and Camp Dahla up on the border of what was South Jemen. MsG

My dad served out there in ‘67. he was an RAF engineering Warrant Officer responsible for the Hunter Squadrons. He wrote home to my mum and said, ‘don’t believe all you read in the papers out here, the reporters spend most of their time sitting in the mess drinking,’. He told me of the mad panic to evacuate RAF Khormaksar, they were cannibalising aircraft to get as many serviceable as possible, what was left were blown up. In typical MOD fashion, the camp had recently gone through an upgrade to the married quarters, even though they knew it was going to be handed back in the late 60’s. I’m sure many ex servicemen could identify with that style of forward planning.

My maths teacher was invalided out of the RAF after serving in Aden,an extremely imposing figure he was too and one of the few teachers I actually respected! Nothing but respect for these men.

Well thanks for reminding me of my childhood. I was a school kid in Aden from 1966 to 1967, only a year but remember the armoured school bus with Northumberland Fusiliers guarding us. I remember the gunshots in the night. I was 9 when I was evacuated with all the other families. I went on to join the RAF and served for 28 years. My father (RASC) stayed on till near the end. A very forgotten chapter in British history.