The Dhofar, the SAS and the battle of Mirbat

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We left our desert camp around midday, having been assured the journey to Muscat would take hours and the roads might be closed. In fact it took two hours and we were dumped at the airport, very annoyed, six hours before our flight. When we came to check in, we were told that as we had not taken the first part of our flight tickets (Khasab to Muscat, cancelled by Oman Air), we could not be checked in on this ticket. It was only the persistence of Faisal our check in desk agent, who insisted that this was ridiculous and marched over to the ticketing office, that got us on our plane.

The next day was spent on idleness at our delightful Anantara hotel, but we resolved to take a trip to see the sights to the east of Salalah with our driver/guide Ahmed. Salalah is the capital of the Dhofar region of Oman. It adjoins Yemen to the south west, to whose tribes the Dhofaris are more related than to the rest of the Omanis.

We headed east, first visiting Taqa, famous for its long beach, with small lagoons containing wading birds and some scrawny flamingos, fisherman tending their nets and gulls waiting for any scraps to feed on. Next to the beach are reconstructions of temporary houses built by nomads from tree branches and leaves as they wandered with their camels. In fact camels are often to be seen along the dunes between the coastal road and the sea. They are left to graze on the scant grasses or to wander onto the beach. Apparently they get grumpy if they cannot get to walk on the sand. The nomads have had houses built for them by the government on the other side of the road. We visited the former home of the Wali, the local mayor/tribal leader, interesting but modest in extent.

From there it was on to Sumharan, a UNESCO world heritage site. This was an important trading hub built in the 3^rd century BC. It was the main transhipment port for frankincense that was harvested from trees that grow in the Dhofar. Traders came to trade their wares from the Mediterranean down the Red Sea, and from the east from Persia, India and even from China. The outer defensive walls are built of large stone blocks, as are the remains of the buildings within. The town overlooks a natural harbour, whose mouth silted up around the 5^th century AD, when a new port was built down the coast at Al Baleed.

Next it was on to Mirbat. Mirbat was a small but important town in Dhofar. In the early 70s some of the Dhofaris tribesmen, communist rebels known as the Adoo who were funded by the USSR, were in rebellion against the Sultan of Oman. Once more the Sultan was assisted by the British, who secretly had a significant SAS presence in Dhofar. The mission was so secret Harold Wilson did not learn of it until he became Prime Minister in 1974.

On the 19 July 1972 the Adoo launched an operation to overrun the town and slaughter the Sultan's loyalists in the town. The Wali's castle (the Mirbat fort) was built on a small jebel guarding the approach to the town and was manned by Omani special forces. Based in town near the port was the British Army Training Team (the BATT) manned by nine SAS soldiers. Hundreds of Adoo streamed into town attacking from all directions. The SAS called in the RAF to attack the Adoo but the cloud cover was too low for planes to operate. One of the SAS troopers, a Fijian, ran the 500m to the fort to man a 25 pounder field gun (usually a six man job), which he operated at point blank range at the Adoo until he was mortally wounded. By good fortune an SAS squadron was in Salalah, fully armed and equipped and about to begin a training exercise. They were rushed by helicopter to join the battle. Eventually the Adoo were pushed back and at last the cloud cover lifted and they bombed by the RAF, bringing the battle to an end.

Ahmed had mentioned he had met an Englishman at Sumharan when we were wandering the site, who had been in Oman in 1972. We bumped into him and his wife at this big sinkhole we visited afterwards. We started chatting. His name was Willy and he had been with the SAS in Mirbat, at the BATT house, but had returned to Salalah the day before the battle broke out. He was not sent in with the SAS reinforcements but was involved with the casevac of the wounded soldiers, and he was very sad talking about seeing his friends dead or horribly wounded. He was particularly close to Labalaba, the Fijian trooper who died firing the field gun. He had they had visited the fort that morning and it made him feel uneasy standing at the fort which has now largely been allowed to fall down. He had been in the town looking for the BATT house but had been unable to find it, as many buildings had been newly built, or old ones pulled down. Subsequently to 1972 he had left the SAS to join the Sultan's armed forces. Our guide was very impressed with Willy's photos on his phone of him with Sultan Qaboos.

We drove up to Jebel Samrhan one of the highest points in the Dhofar, but sadly there was no expansive views to be had as it covered with rolling clouds. The Dhofari plateau we crossed is a rolling expanse of rock and sparse vegetation, with lots of wandering camels and, surprisingly, Hereford cattle. Dwellings up here are primitive and the life hard. We visited Wadi Darbat, a green area you chance upon as you descend from the plateau. Lots of small waterfalls fed by a natural spring give rise to literally an oasis in the middle of relative barrenness.

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