This made me chuckle when I first the read the obituary some years back:
Major-General Philip Tower, who as died aged 89, was GOC Middle East Land Forces in 1967 and supervised the withdrawal of British troops from Aden.
In 1963 the sheikhdoms of the Aden Protectorates were merged with the British colony of Aden to form the Federation of South Arabia. The following year Britain announced that the Federation would be granted Independence by 1968 but British forces would remain in Aden.
In 1964 Arab nationalists formed the National Liberal Front (NLF) and began an urban terrorist campaign in Aden. They were joined by a second group, the Front for the Liberation of Occupied Yemen. In 1966 the British government agreed to withdraw all the troops by Independence.
A mutiny in the South Arabian Army in June 1967 spread to the Aden Armed Police. The insurgents fired on a group of soldiers entering Crater on reconnaissance, killing all of them. British forces were withdrawn and the township was taken over by the terrorist NLF.
After the Aden theatre was declared to be active service, Tower reminded the soldiers, not all of whom shared his enthusiasm, that the chances of being awarded a medal had greatly increased — they might get a mention in dispatches, an MM or even a VC. This prompted a shout from the ranks of: "The only VC I want to see is a VC-10!"
(The rest of the obit is on the Telegraph website if anyone wants to see the rest.)
Last edited by TorqueOfTheDevil; 17th Jul 2013 at 09:15.