Warmtoast
5th Jan 2016, 21:25
Going through my ancient copies of BUKA the station magazine of RAF Thornhill, Southern Rhodesia the following article was published in July 1952 and may be of interest.
Operations Against The Bal Harith Tribe Yemen — 1948
By FLT. LT. J. CORRIGAN
As printed in BUKA Magazine (R.A.F. Thornhill, Rhodesia) July 1952
Most of you will probably be familiar with the Exercise known as “Sunray.” For those of you who do not, here is a brief explanation. Sunray is an exercise carried out by Squadrons of Bomber Command in which each Squadron is detached from the U.K. to R.A.F. Shallufa, in the Canal Zone, for a period of one month, during which time they carry out an intensive training programme, mainly in Bombing and Gunnery.
In February, 1948, I was a member of No. 57 Squadron which was then detached to R.A.F. Shallufa on Exercise “Sunray.” For some short time previously, the British authorities in Aden had been having trouble with the Bal Harith tribe from the Yemen in Saudi Arabia. This tribe’s main source of income was derived from the sale of salt, on which the British Government levied a tax, and the trouble began when the tribe decided that the payment of this tax should cease. They also decided that it was high time that they supplemented their income by levying taxes themselves, and so they stopped all caravans proceeding south to Aden and relieved them of a certain percentage of their merchandise.
This, of course, was highly illegal, but despite repeated warnings from the British authorities, the Bal Harith tribe refused to discontinue these subversive activities, and in February, 1948, it was decided that some action should be taken.
On the 18th February, three Lincoln aircraft were detached from No. 57 Squadron at Shallufa to R.A.F. Khormaksar, Aden, and I was fortunate enough to be a member of one of the crews selected. Our first sortie consisted solely of the dropping of leaflets on the various villages inhabited by the “enemy.” These leaflets warned the tribesmen that unless they came to heel immediately, their villages would be bombed and destroyed the following day. This threat had no effect whatsoever, and the following day we commenced operations against the Bal Harith tribe.
THE PLAN
Now I would like to pause for a moment and mention something of the plan of the action which was decided upon before we started the actual bombing. Our greatest difficulty was obviously going to be the identification of our targets as none of the villages was marked on any map and we also had to consider the fact that friendly tribes were occupying villages very close by. We had available, however, aerial photographs of the villages which we had to bomb, and on our first bombing sortie we carried the Head Tribesman of a friendly tribe, together with an interpreter. This venerable gentleman, the Chieftain, knew the area extremely well and gave us invaluable assistance on this trip. I can well remember the conversation, however, and the feeling of apprehension amongst the crew when he arrived at our aircraft just before take-off, armed to the teeth with a large assortment of knives. He was armed also with a large bag of betel nuts which he chewed incessantly for the greater part of the trip. On the return journey to base, the weather became very bumpy and eventually had its effect on our friend. The result, although being exceedingly offensive to our eyes and nostrils, was, to say the least, extremely colourful. He was a man of determination, however, and flew with us on our next trip, much to our disgust, as the same thing occurred!
However, to continue with the narrative.
BOMBING THE REVOLTING ARABS
The idea, apparently, was not only to destroy the buildings belonging to the Bal Harith tribe, but also to keep them away from their villages as long as possible. With this aim in view, it was decided that only one aircraft should be over the target area at any one time and that each aircraft should remain in the area for two to three hours dropping a 1,000 lb. bomb every ten to fifteen minutes, thereby enabling us to have an aircraft in the vicinity for eight to nine hours each day. It was further decided that our “enemy” should not be allowed to sneak home at night after we had gone, so the last aircraft to leave at night dropped six bombs with delays varying up to twelve hours, resulting in the explosion of bombs at intervals throughout the night. That, then, was roughly our plan of campaign, at the onset of what may be called our “private war.” A political officer was sent up to the most northerly friendly village in the area and there set up his Headquarters, from which he controlled the whole operation, directing our aircraft by V.H.F. I should also mention at this stage that we had a Squadron of Tempests co-operating with us in our activities. Owing to the comparatively limited endurance of these aircraft, they were only able to spend a few minutes in the target area and so the following routine had to be strictly observed.
When approximately ten minutes from the target, the rocket-carrying Tempest aircraft would call us on R/T, giving us their estimated time on target. On receipt of this information, we would climb to around 5,000 ft. above ground level and circle the target. The Tempests would then be able to “home” on to us, do a direct rocket-firing run, and return to base without having wasted time in locating their objective.
The first phase of the operation appeared to be an unqualified success as we completely destroyed all the villages in the first few days, and just for good measure we dropped several bombs on the tribe’s salt mine, in case they had thought of carrying on working there. On the second day of the “war,” we were on our way up to the salt mine, when we came across a camel caravan heading south. We called up the political officer and informed him of this find, but he instructed us not to attack, as they may have been a friendly caravan passing through that area. We did, however, go down to approximately 100 ft. to have a look, and in so doing we scattered the caravan over several square miles of desert. We were told the next day that the caravan was, in fact, one belonging to the Bal Harith tribe, and that the latter had sent a protest in to the political officer complaining bitterly that they had lost several camels.
THE WATER HOLE
Having now knocked down all the villages, we were called off for a day to enable the authorities to contact the tribe and see if they had had enough. But not so! The tribesmen couldn’t have cared less how many villages were demolished. In fact, I think they were thoroughly enjoying this bombing display which they had been watching with great interest from the nearby sand-dunes.
We now had nothing left to demolish, so it was decided to try and force our “enemy” into submission by some other means. Since they had been away from their villages for several days, it was decided that they had built some sort of encampment within easy reach of a water hole, and we were given what seemed the impossible task of finding a hole in the desert. Once again I was fortunate (?) enough to be in the crew selected for the task, and we took-off on our mission, frankly without much hope. However, Lady Luck smiled upon us that day and before long we sighted an encampment.
We reduced height in order to investigate, and much to our surprise we spotted three hostile looking gentlemen, with very ancient rifles, taking pot-shots at us. Obviously we could not tolerate any of this impertinence and decided that if we did a low-level run over them, firing our guns into the air, we would probably frighten them to death. We carried out our run and we last saw our antagonists burrowing; into the earth in a flurry of sand, in a manner that one could hardly describe as casual. We came round again to have another look and as we ran over the camp with myself in the front turret Lo! and behold! I spotted a hole in the ground. It was the water hole! We had found it by a sheer stroke of luck! Needless to say, on our return to base we adjourned to the bar to celebrate and remain there till closing time.
Our next task obviously, was to plaster the water hole, which we did with zeal, following the same routine as before and thereby depriving the Bal Harith of their water supply. At the same time we were given permission to attack, with gunfire, any herds of camels in the vicinity as these animals were the most precious and prized possession of the tribe. The latter activity proved to be most interesting, and created quite a keen competitive spirit between our two gunners and myself. The odds, however, were against the rear gunner and me, and the mid-upper gunner with his 20 mm. cannons proved to be much more effective than either of us.
This second phase of the operation was undoubtedly the last straw as far as the Bal Harith were concerned, and the “war” petered out a fortnight after it had started. The last laugh, was on us, however. We returned to Shallufa on the 3rd March, 1948, to find that our Squadron had already returned to the U.K. We had some good friends in the Squadron and they, bless them, trying to do us a good turn, had packed all our kit and taken it with them. This left us at Shallufa with only K.D. to wear, when the rest of the Station was in blue, and believe me; we looked as though we were in blue by the time we reached our base in England.
Brrrrr!!
Operations Against The Bal Harith Tribe Yemen — 1948
By FLT. LT. J. CORRIGAN
As printed in BUKA Magazine (R.A.F. Thornhill, Rhodesia) July 1952
Most of you will probably be familiar with the Exercise known as “Sunray.” For those of you who do not, here is a brief explanation. Sunray is an exercise carried out by Squadrons of Bomber Command in which each Squadron is detached from the U.K. to R.A.F. Shallufa, in the Canal Zone, for a period of one month, during which time they carry out an intensive training programme, mainly in Bombing and Gunnery.
In February, 1948, I was a member of No. 57 Squadron which was then detached to R.A.F. Shallufa on Exercise “Sunray.” For some short time previously, the British authorities in Aden had been having trouble with the Bal Harith tribe from the Yemen in Saudi Arabia. This tribe’s main source of income was derived from the sale of salt, on which the British Government levied a tax, and the trouble began when the tribe decided that the payment of this tax should cease. They also decided that it was high time that they supplemented their income by levying taxes themselves, and so they stopped all caravans proceeding south to Aden and relieved them of a certain percentage of their merchandise.
This, of course, was highly illegal, but despite repeated warnings from the British authorities, the Bal Harith tribe refused to discontinue these subversive activities, and in February, 1948, it was decided that some action should be taken.
On the 18th February, three Lincoln aircraft were detached from No. 57 Squadron at Shallufa to R.A.F. Khormaksar, Aden, and I was fortunate enough to be a member of one of the crews selected. Our first sortie consisted solely of the dropping of leaflets on the various villages inhabited by the “enemy.” These leaflets warned the tribesmen that unless they came to heel immediately, their villages would be bombed and destroyed the following day. This threat had no effect whatsoever, and the following day we commenced operations against the Bal Harith tribe.
THE PLAN
Now I would like to pause for a moment and mention something of the plan of the action which was decided upon before we started the actual bombing. Our greatest difficulty was obviously going to be the identification of our targets as none of the villages was marked on any map and we also had to consider the fact that friendly tribes were occupying villages very close by. We had available, however, aerial photographs of the villages which we had to bomb, and on our first bombing sortie we carried the Head Tribesman of a friendly tribe, together with an interpreter. This venerable gentleman, the Chieftain, knew the area extremely well and gave us invaluable assistance on this trip. I can well remember the conversation, however, and the feeling of apprehension amongst the crew when he arrived at our aircraft just before take-off, armed to the teeth with a large assortment of knives. He was armed also with a large bag of betel nuts which he chewed incessantly for the greater part of the trip. On the return journey to base, the weather became very bumpy and eventually had its effect on our friend. The result, although being exceedingly offensive to our eyes and nostrils, was, to say the least, extremely colourful. He was a man of determination, however, and flew with us on our next trip, much to our disgust, as the same thing occurred!
However, to continue with the narrative.
BOMBING THE REVOLTING ARABS
The idea, apparently, was not only to destroy the buildings belonging to the Bal Harith tribe, but also to keep them away from their villages as long as possible. With this aim in view, it was decided that only one aircraft should be over the target area at any one time and that each aircraft should remain in the area for two to three hours dropping a 1,000 lb. bomb every ten to fifteen minutes, thereby enabling us to have an aircraft in the vicinity for eight to nine hours each day. It was further decided that our “enemy” should not be allowed to sneak home at night after we had gone, so the last aircraft to leave at night dropped six bombs with delays varying up to twelve hours, resulting in the explosion of bombs at intervals throughout the night. That, then, was roughly our plan of campaign, at the onset of what may be called our “private war.” A political officer was sent up to the most northerly friendly village in the area and there set up his Headquarters, from which he controlled the whole operation, directing our aircraft by V.H.F. I should also mention at this stage that we had a Squadron of Tempests co-operating with us in our activities. Owing to the comparatively limited endurance of these aircraft, they were only able to spend a few minutes in the target area and so the following routine had to be strictly observed.
When approximately ten minutes from the target, the rocket-carrying Tempest aircraft would call us on R/T, giving us their estimated time on target. On receipt of this information, we would climb to around 5,000 ft. above ground level and circle the target. The Tempests would then be able to “home” on to us, do a direct rocket-firing run, and return to base without having wasted time in locating their objective.
The first phase of the operation appeared to be an unqualified success as we completely destroyed all the villages in the first few days, and just for good measure we dropped several bombs on the tribe’s salt mine, in case they had thought of carrying on working there. On the second day of the “war,” we were on our way up to the salt mine, when we came across a camel caravan heading south. We called up the political officer and informed him of this find, but he instructed us not to attack, as they may have been a friendly caravan passing through that area. We did, however, go down to approximately 100 ft. to have a look, and in so doing we scattered the caravan over several square miles of desert. We were told the next day that the caravan was, in fact, one belonging to the Bal Harith tribe, and that the latter had sent a protest in to the political officer complaining bitterly that they had lost several camels.
THE WATER HOLE
Having now knocked down all the villages, we were called off for a day to enable the authorities to contact the tribe and see if they had had enough. But not so! The tribesmen couldn’t have cared less how many villages were demolished. In fact, I think they were thoroughly enjoying this bombing display which they had been watching with great interest from the nearby sand-dunes.
We now had nothing left to demolish, so it was decided to try and force our “enemy” into submission by some other means. Since they had been away from their villages for several days, it was decided that they had built some sort of encampment within easy reach of a water hole, and we were given what seemed the impossible task of finding a hole in the desert. Once again I was fortunate (?) enough to be in the crew selected for the task, and we took-off on our mission, frankly without much hope. However, Lady Luck smiled upon us that day and before long we sighted an encampment.
We reduced height in order to investigate, and much to our surprise we spotted three hostile looking gentlemen, with very ancient rifles, taking pot-shots at us. Obviously we could not tolerate any of this impertinence and decided that if we did a low-level run over them, firing our guns into the air, we would probably frighten them to death. We carried out our run and we last saw our antagonists burrowing; into the earth in a flurry of sand, in a manner that one could hardly describe as casual. We came round again to have another look and as we ran over the camp with myself in the front turret Lo! and behold! I spotted a hole in the ground. It was the water hole! We had found it by a sheer stroke of luck! Needless to say, on our return to base we adjourned to the bar to celebrate and remain there till closing time.
Our next task obviously, was to plaster the water hole, which we did with zeal, following the same routine as before and thereby depriving the Bal Harith of their water supply. At the same time we were given permission to attack, with gunfire, any herds of camels in the vicinity as these animals were the most precious and prized possession of the tribe. The latter activity proved to be most interesting, and created quite a keen competitive spirit between our two gunners and myself. The odds, however, were against the rear gunner and me, and the mid-upper gunner with his 20 mm. cannons proved to be much more effective than either of us.
This second phase of the operation was undoubtedly the last straw as far as the Bal Harith were concerned, and the “war” petered out a fortnight after it had started. The last laugh, was on us, however. We returned to Shallufa on the 3rd March, 1948, to find that our Squadron had already returned to the U.K. We had some good friends in the Squadron and they, bless them, trying to do us a good turn, had packed all our kit and taken it with them. This left us at Shallufa with only K.D. to wear, when the rest of the Station was in blue, and believe me; we looked as though we were in blue by the time we reached our base in England.
Brrrrr!!