But I don't think that, on my first tour, we were at all politically aware or informed. On the odd occasions when we received an operational task I don't recall ever hearing any background to it.
We knew, of course, that the UK had obligations to the Trucial States (broadly speaking, those states which would later form much of the UAE) and we were faintly aware of past unrest within the Jebel Akhdar region of Oman, the fighting during which the SAS had won its middle-eastern spurs. As far as we understood, things were generally quiet at the time we were out there, although renegades were known still to be provoking occasional skirmishing. But for whatever reason we were, from time to time, tasked with 'flag wave' sorties from Bahrain, down across the Akhdar with a landing at RAF Masirah. I remember being awed by the spectacularly wild and rugged terrain of the Jebel, with our little Hunters being dwarfed by mountains rising to almost 10,000 feet. The vistas of agriculture being scraped out on those high, rocky escarpments were simply extraordinary. Yes, they were memorable trips. But were those flag waves designed to reassure loyal Omanis — or to deter rebel groups? What prompted our tasking on those particular occasions? Were we successful? To this day I have no idea.
Similarly, in November 1970, we deployed at short notice to Sharjah with the order to stand by for border patrols. The border in question was, I think, way down south of the Gulf between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia — where today lies the southern extremity of the UAE. I say 'I think', because others with whom I've recently spoken recall the operating area as being up in the Musandam peninsula. Whichever way, we were issued with loaded pistols to be carried in shoulder holsters, so it must have been serious. But at whom we should have aimed our pistols had we ejected I've no idea. What exactly the problem was and who was causing it I simply don't recall — indeed I'm fairly certain that I never knew.
Ian Hall
208 Squadron 1970-71
This article first appeared in the 2018 Newsletter, and has previously been published elsewhere. We gratefully acknowledge the authors’ permission to reproduce it here.
