Aden Emergency
Encyclopedia
The Aden Emergency was an insurgency against the British crown forces
in the British controlled territories of South Arabia
which now form part of the Yemen
. Partly inspired by Nasser
's pan Arab nationalism, it began on 10 December 1963 with the throwing of a grenade at a gathering of British officials at Aden Airport. A state of emergency
was then declared in the British Crown Colony
of Aden and its hinterland, the Aden Protectorate
. The emergency escalated in 1967 and hastened the end of British rule in the territory which had begun in 1839. On 30 November 1967, British forces withdrew and the independent People's Republic of South Yemen was proclaimed.
as an anti-piracy station to protect shipping on the routes to British India. With the advent of the Suez canal
in 1869, it further served as a coaling station. Following the independence of India in 1947, Aden became of less importance to the United Kingdom
.
The Emergency was precipitated in large part by a wave of Arab nationalism
spreading to the Arabian Peninsula and stemming largely from the socialist and pan-Arabist doctrines of the Egypt
ian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser. The British
, French
and Israeli forces that had invaded Egypt
following Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal
in 1956 had been forced to withdraw following intervention from both the United States
and the Soviet Union
.
Nasser enjoyed only limited success in spreading his pan-Arabist doctrines through the Arab world
, with his 1958 attempt to unify Egypt and Syria
as the United Arab Republic
collapsing in failure three years later. A perceived anti-colonial uprising in Aden in 1963 provided another potential opportunity for his doctrines, though it is not clear to what extent Nasser directly incited the revolt in Aden, as opposed to the Yemeni guerrilla groups drawing inspiration from Nasser's pan-Arabist ideas but acting independently themselves.
(NLF) and then the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen
(FLOSY), who attacked each other as well as the British. Hostilities started with a grenade attack by the NLF against the British High Commissioner on 10 December 1963, killing one person and injuring fifty.
By 1965, the RAF station
(RAF Khormaksar
) was operating nine Squadrons. These included transport units with helicopters and a number of Hawker Hunter
fighter bomber aircraft. These were called in by the army for strikes against positions in which they would use 60-pounder high explosive rockets and their 30 mm Aden cannon.
The emergency was further exacerbated by the Arab-Israeli war in June of 1967. Nasser
claimed that the British had helped Israel in the Six-Day War
, and this led to a mutiny in the South Arabian Federation Army on 20 June, which also spread to the police. In July 1967, order was restored following the Battle of Crater
. This battle, which was part of Operation Stirling Castle, brought Lt-Col Colin Campbell Mitchell
(AKA "Mad Mitch") of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
to prominence.
Nevertheless, deadly guerrilla attacks, by the NLF, soon resumed against British forces once again, with the British leaving Aden by the end of November 1967, earlier than had been planned by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson
and without an agreement on the succeeding governance. Their enemies, the NLF, managed to seize power and establish the People's Republic of South Yemen.
was shut by Nasser on the eve of the six day war, it was to be closed anyhow in the wake of that war because it served as the demarcation line between the Egyptians and the Israeli occupied Sinai desert. And irrespective of the closure of the Suez Canal, the British Naval base at Aden also closed in 1967. These factors would deprive the new oil-poor South Yemeni nation of valuable business and revenue, and precipitate severely disruptive economic circumstances for years afterward. Some have postulated that these economic strains helped to "fuel extremist movements" in South Yemen which led, in turn, to many young South Yemeni mujahideen
joining to fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan
after 1979..
British Forces Aden
British Forces Aden was the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the Aden Protectorate during part of the 20th century. Their purpose was to preserve the security of the Protectorate from both internal threats and external aggression.-History:...
in the British controlled territories of South Arabia
South Arabia
South Arabia as a general term refers to several regions as currently recognized, in chief the Republic of Yemen; yet it has historically also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and Dhofar presently in Oman...
which now form part of the Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. Partly inspired by Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
's pan Arab nationalism, it began on 10 December 1963 with the throwing of a grenade at a gathering of British officials at Aden Airport. A state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
was then declared in the British Crown Colony
Crown colony
A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....
of Aden and its hinterland, the Aden Protectorate
Aden Protectorate
The Aden Protectorate was a British protectorate in southern Arabia which evolved in the hinterland of Aden following the acquisition of that port by Britain in 1839 as an anti-piracy station, and it continued until the 1960s. For administrative purposes it was divided into the Western...
. The emergency escalated in 1967 and hastened the end of British rule in the territory which had begun in 1839. On 30 November 1967, British forces withdrew and the independent People's Republic of South Yemen was proclaimed.
Background
Aden was originally of interest to BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as an anti-piracy station to protect shipping on the routes to British India. With the advent of the Suez canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
in 1869, it further served as a coaling station. Following the independence of India in 1947, Aden became of less importance to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The Emergency was precipitated in large part by a wave of Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
spreading to the Arabian Peninsula and stemming largely from the socialist and pan-Arabist doctrines of the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser. The British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, French
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
and Israeli forces that had invaded Egypt
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
following Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
in 1956 had been forced to withdraw following intervention from both the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Nasser enjoyed only limited success in spreading his pan-Arabist doctrines through the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
, with his 1958 attempt to unify Egypt and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
as the United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...
collapsing in failure three years later. A perceived anti-colonial uprising in Aden in 1963 provided another potential opportunity for his doctrines, though it is not clear to what extent Nasser directly incited the revolt in Aden, as opposed to the Yemeni guerrilla groups drawing inspiration from Nasser's pan-Arabist ideas but acting independently themselves.
The Emergency
By 1963 and in the ensuing years, anti-British guerrilla groups with varying political objectives began to coalesce into two larger, rival organizations: first the Egyptian-supported National Liberation FrontNational Liberation Front (Yemen)
The National Liberation Front or NLF was a military organization operating in the Federation of South Arabia in the 60s. During the North Yemen Civil War fighting spilled over into South Yemen as the British tried to exit its Federation of South Arabia colony...
(NLF) and then the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen
Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen
The Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen or was a military organization operating in the Federation of South Arabia in the 60s. As the British tried to exit its Federation of South Arabia colony Abdullah al Asnag created FLOSY...
(FLOSY), who attacked each other as well as the British. Hostilities started with a grenade attack by the NLF against the British High Commissioner on 10 December 1963, killing one person and injuring fifty.
By 1965, the RAF station
RAF station
A Royal Air Force station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Many RAF stations are aerodromes, or airbases, being the home to one or more flying squadrons. Other RAF stations are training units, administrative units, headquarters , or carry out ground-based operational tasks...
(RAF Khormaksar
RAF Khormaksar
RAF Khormaksar was a Royal Air Force station in Aden. Its motto was "Into the Remote Places". During the 1960s, it was the base for nine squadrons and became the RAF's busiest-ever station. It later became Aden International Airport.-History:...
) was operating nine Squadrons. These included transport units with helicopters and a number of Hawker Hunter
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a subsonic British jet aircraft developed in the 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary...
fighter bomber aircraft. These were called in by the army for strikes against positions in which they would use 60-pounder high explosive rockets and their 30 mm Aden cannon.
The emergency was further exacerbated by the Arab-Israeli war in June of 1967. Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
claimed that the British had helped Israel in the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, and this led to a mutiny in the South Arabian Federation Army on 20 June, which also spread to the police. In July 1967, order was restored following the Battle of Crater
Crater (Yemen)
Crater, also Kraytar, is one of the unofficial names of the oldest districts of the port city of Aden. Its official name is Seera . It is situated in a crater of an ancient volcano which forms the Shamsan Mountains...
. This battle, which was part of Operation Stirling Castle, brought Lt-Col Colin Campbell Mitchell
Colin Campbell Mitchell
Colin Campbell Mitchell was a British Army lieutenant-colonel and politician. He became famous in July 1967 when he led the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the British reoccupation of the Crater district of Aden. At that time, Aden was a British colony and the Crater district had briefly been...
(AKA "Mad Mitch") of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....
to prominence.
Nevertheless, deadly guerrilla attacks, by the NLF, soon resumed against British forces once again, with the British leaving Aden by the end of November 1967, earlier than had been planned by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and without an agreement on the succeeding governance. Their enemies, the NLF, managed to seize power and establish the People's Republic of South Yemen.
The aftermath
Irrespective of the fact that the Suez CanalSuez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
was shut by Nasser on the eve of the six day war, it was to be closed anyhow in the wake of that war because it served as the demarcation line between the Egyptians and the Israeli occupied Sinai desert. And irrespective of the closure of the Suez Canal, the British Naval base at Aden also closed in 1967. These factors would deprive the new oil-poor South Yemeni nation of valuable business and revenue, and precipitate severely disruptive economic circumstances for years afterward. Some have postulated that these economic strains helped to "fuel extremist movements" in South Yemen which led, in turn, to many young South Yemeni mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
joining to fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
after 1979..
External links
- Emergency in Aden: An Analysis of the British Withdrawal from South Arabia
- www.britains-smallwars.com - "The Barren Rocks of Aden"
- Argylls in Aden http://www.argylls1945to1971.co.uk/A_and_SH_Aden1967.htm
- Foreign Office documents concerning Aden, Yemen and the Aden emergency of 1963-1967 http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alexanderchitty/ForeignOfficeDocumentsConcerningAdenYemenAndTheAdenEmergencyOf19631967#