43 Squadron operations - 1967

The beginning of the final year of the RAF’s occupation of Khormaksar saw a continued decrease in the number of border patrols being flown by 43 Squadron in January, down to twelve with only three flagwaves being called for and a similar number of Air Defence scrambles.

As the ORB describes the month of January, ‘it was peaceful for the operational pilots, there being no strikes and the flagwaves being flown over the same village, Hilyan’. The latter were in support of a local chief in an ongoing feud with his brother whose rebel group had captured an FNG wireless operator. The initial flagwave, flown on the 19th by Flt Lt Hayward (XE546) and Fg Off Hughes-Lewis (XE550), achieved the objective of freeing the captive but with friction still running high between the two, a four-ship armed recce was flown over the village on the 27th by Flt Lt Malin XJ680) and Fg Offs Sowler (XE645), McKeon (XF376) and Loveday XJ692), to calm the situation down. Of the three scrambles, one was to provide top cover for cordon and search operations in the Jebel Mishwarah by Flt Lt Malin (XJ680) and Fg Off Willman (XE546) on the 7th, and two for the same reason at Al Khubayrah on the 8th by Flt Lt Taylor (XF440) and Fg Off Dean (XF376), and on the following day by Fg Offs Dean (XJ646), Sowler (XE550), Lawton (XE645) and Loveday (XF376).

The peace was somewhat broken in February, for along with a daily diet of border patrols, the Squadron was tasked with three scrambles, a fire-power demonstration, three flagwaves and, last but not least, a twelve-ship(!) strike in the Wadi Bana, bringing to 53 the total number of operational sorties.

On the 2nd of the month, Flt Lt Jennings (XE530) and Fg Off Harrison (XG296) were scrambled when an unidentified radar trace was noticed close to a VIP Andover near Perim Island but nothing untoward was seen. The first flagwave of the month, flown by Fg Offs Harrison (XJ692) and Sowler (XF388), took place on the 6th at Al Khabr and was a routine overflight to give moral support to the FRA. The second occurred at Tawr Al Bahah, a village straddling the Yemeni border with two Sheikhs, one on either side! As the result of a 1417 Flight FR.10 being shot at from the Yemeni side of the village, a firepower demonstration was performed by Sqn Ldr Davidson (XF431), Flt Lt Malin (XJ684) and Fg Off Harrison (XE645), followed by the flagwave. The third flagwave of the month was flown by Fg Offs Lawton (XJ684) and Sowler (XF440) over the village of Dhi Surrah where it was thought they were shot at as Fg Off Sowler’s aircraft began to lose its services one by one. As he reached Al Ittihad he decided to eject, the ejection being the first on the Squadron for 2½ years. The reason for the unserviceabilities was never ascertained.

On the morning of the 24th, six pairs of aircraft took off individually to strike various targets in the Wadi Bana, an area that had always been troublesome. The selected targets, which were known to be used by dissidents, were attacked with cannon and rocket fire. Each pair was dispatched at hourly intervals from 06:00 and were flown by (in order of departure); Fg Offs McKeon (XE645) and Screen (XJ646), Fg Offs Dean (XJ684) and Harrison (XJ689), Sqn Ldrs Davidson (XE546) and Trowern (XG296), Flt Lt Malin (XE550) and Fg Off Screen (XF435), Flt Lt Hayward (XJ646) and Fg Off Griffiths (XE645, and Flt Lt Jennings (XJ684) and Fg Off Lawton (XG296).

The number of operational sorties during March dropped to 37, some one per working day on the Beihan Mukeiras border patrols, plus three flagwaves and five escort sorties. With the suspected involvement of the Sultan of Wahidi State in the Aden Airways DC3 crash of the previous November and the resulting upsurge in inter-tribal strife in the area, the FRA was dispatched in an attempt to placate the feuding with top cover provided by two 43 Squadron Hunters, flown by Fg Offs Dean (XJ632) and Hughes-Lewis (XE550), as they passed through the village of Al Mithaf on the 2nd. On the 8th, Flt Lt Waters (XF456) and Fg Off Lawton (XG296) flew a flagwave to cover a cordon-and-search in a village near the Habilayn encampment. On their way back to Khormaksar, the pair were diverted to fly over Habilayn to allow members of the British press to take photographs. Following an outbreak of inter-tribal fighting between the other Audhali tribes, Flt Lt Malin (XE645) and Fg Off Hughes-Lewis (XF431) flew a leaflet drop in the Wadi Ruqub on the 16th of the month. Further top cover sorties were flown on the 30th in support of a convoy travelling from the Al Anad encampment and back again by Flt Lt Jennings (XG296) and Fg Off Griffiths (XJ689) at 06:55 and Fg Offs Hamilton (XG296) and Hughes-Lewis (XJ689) at 10:55.

Also during March, the Squadron lost three experienced pilots when Flt Lt Hayward and Fg Offs Dean and Screen became tourex and returned to HQFC, Chivenor and CFS Little Rissington; Flt Lt Radford left the service to fly Lightnings with Airwork and Fg Off Webb left the Squadron to join the Sultan of Oman Air Force, reducing the number of pilots to seventeen.

April brought with it a change in the form of operations being flown. In addition to the standby pair at 15 minutes readiness during daylight hours, a commitment for both 8 and 43 Squadrons to provide sixteen operational pilots at two-hours readiness, 24 hours a day, could only be met by a certain number remaining on call in any off-duty period. On the same date, the Beihan/Mukeiras patrols were superseded by patrols running the considerable length of the border from Perim Island to Beihan, This was split into four sections; a patrol pair being given a section at a certain configuration, high level at 30,000 ft at mach 0.8 or 0.9, or low level at 360 or 540 knots, the speed and height being varied to avoid uniformity. The frequency of the patrols remained the same at three per week.

The number of operational sorties flown this month equalled that of March at 37 and included two flagwaves, seven top cover sorties and ten border patrols. The first flagwave occurred on the 2nd and should have comprised the standard pair but when one of the aircraft went unserviceable on start-up, Flt Lt Waters flew the sortie on his own. After 30 minutes in the target area, Tawr Al Bahah, he was compelled to leave owing to the fact that he was being shot at from across the border. The second flagwave took place at Am Shatt on the 26th and was flown to give morale support to the FRA which had just arrived from Al Anad.

The top cover sortie flown over Shuqra on the 26th was to provide support during a cordon-and-search of one part of the town, while the remaining six were performed as escorts for convoys along the Dhala Road between Habilayn and Al Anad.

A greater concentration on training was assisted by the availability of three T.7s and with UK ferrying accounting for 25 hours under the training target, the Squadron exceeded its training task by 23 hours. Perhaps the most interesting aspect occurred on the 19th, when a Hunter Generation Exercise (the maximum number of operational aircraft) was called during which, four Squadron aircraft flew a triangular cross-country and fired two concrete-headed rockets each on the range.

The tempo increased again in May, the number of operational sorties doubling when compared to April. This was largely due to the increased number of escort duties, the philosophy for which being that dissidents would more likely be dissuaded from attacking convoys with Hunters flying overhead. In addition to these, fourteen border patrols, two flagwaves and three Topcat(?) scrambles were flown during the month.

Both flagwaves were flown in support of the FRA, the first on the 4th at Mudiah in the Dathina area by Flt Lt Waters and Fg Off Loveday in support of Operation Anassar and the second, on the 24th, was flown by Fg Offs Griffiths and Hawken at Al Khabr in the Wahidi State, supporting Operation Abu Faris.

All three scrambles were called for in the area around Habilayn and Dhala, the first of these being flown by Fg Off McKeon and Loveday at Dhi Hurran, to the north-east of Dhala where pickets of a combined SAS/FRA cordon-and-search operation ran into some dissidents who shot at them. Unfortunately, the supporting helicopter developed radio problems and as a result, the Hunters were unable to open fire. On the 22nd, a Wessex helicopter on a supply operation to the Special Guard was shot at in the Wadi Taym area while unloading stores which were to replace those stolen by three Special Guards who had deserted the night before. It took off in a hurry, leaving a soldier on his own on the ground and he promptly ran for the nearest cover - a fort. At this stage, Fg Offs Griffiths and McKeon were called in, followed by Flt Lt Waters and Fg Off Hawken, but none of them were able to open fire due to clearance difficulties. The soldier was later rescued.

On the 15th of the month, it was reported that a well-known dissident leader was to receive a shipment of arms in the Jebel Al Urays area, to the north-east of Shuqra. This was to be prevented by a dawn strike by Hunters followed up by a troop of the FRA in Wessex helicopters and a Scout from the AAC. However, when Sqn Ldr Davidson and Flt Lt Waters arrived they found a large number of Bedouin in the immediate firing area and were unable to fire. As the two Hunters continued to give top cover, a Wessex was fired on by three dissidents, hitting it and wounding three FRA soldiers. Owing to the nature of the ground, the dissidents could not be traced once they made good their escape.

With two aircraft carriers, HMS Hermes and Victorious, in the area for a week or so, the opportunity was taken to hone the Squadron’s formation skills for a big formation on the 17th which comprised sixty Hunters, Buccaneers and Sea Vixens; this number included five photographic aircraft.

The tempo dropped a little in June when just 24 operational sorties were flown by the Squadron. It was generally thought that the situation had been brought about by the Middle East which broke out between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries on the 5th of the month. With local Arabs in Aden blaming Great Britain for assisting Israel, anti-British feeling in the Colony grew steadily with fuel supplies to the airfield being severely diminished. As a consequence only nine operational sorties were flown in the final ⅔ of the month and only twelve border patrols were flown, all them in the first third of the month. Eight convoy escort sorties were managed and an unusually large number of flagwaves flown, twelve in total with two of them over Crater as part of a combined strike in the Wadi Bana.

Two pairs of aircraft scrambled on the 10th by Flt Lt Malin (XE655) and Fg Off Williams (XG154) in the morning and Flt Lt Norman (XJ684) and Fg Off McKeon (XJ689) in the evening for a mission near Mukalla, were recalled before they got within 100 miles or so of the area. Three days later, Flt Lt Norman (XG154) took off at the request of the Hadramaut Bedouin Legion to perform a flagwave over a fort near Museina, but he too was recalled before reaching the objective. Fg Off McKeon should have accompanied him but he aborted his take-off and had the misfortune to go into the barrier. Flt Lts Malin and Norman were dispatched to Dhala on the 23rd in anticipation of an attack on the Emir’s Palace which did not materialise, and four days later, Fg Offs McKeon and Loveday performed flagwaves over Dhala, Musaymir and Habilayn.

Just before this, on the 21st, Flt Lt Malin (XE645) and Fg Off Hughes-Lewis (XF431) joined with 8 Squadron aircraft in the strike in the Wadi Bana area using HE rockets and full gunpacks; this was an area strike in a small Wadi off the main Wadi Bana. On their way back and as a result of a devastating attack on British troops by the Arab police in Crater on the previous day, the Hunters performed a low and fast flagwave over the township as a warning to future conduct.

At the beginning of July, one third of the Squadron pilots were at Sharjah on a Strike Wing APC, the rest remaining at Khormaksar to fulfil standby duties. Here, with flying restricted due to fuel shortages, their services were only requested on ten occasions, nine border patrols and one scramble being the only operational sorties flown. By the 10th of the month, twelve 43 Squadron pilots were on the Sharjah detachment leaving the eight or nine at Khormaksar to perform a backup role for 8 Squadron.

During the month, Sqn Ldr T. Thornton of 208 Squadron assumed command of 43 Squadron from Sqn Ldr Davidson, who returned to a job with the Directing Staff at RAFC Bracknell. Fg Off McKeon also departed for the UK, ferrying a Hunter back for refurbishment before taking up a position as a PAI with 229 OCU at Chivenor.

If anyone thought the final rundown and eventual withdrawal of British forces from Aden was going to be straightforward, they were in for a rude awakening. Flagwaves and border patrols became the order of the day in August, a month in which no fewer than 101 operational sorties were flown due to an increase in inter-tribal warfare in the Ruseis, Sur and Museina areas and a South Arabian Army move to oust a band of dissidents from Al Kirsh. The whole Squadron, including recently arrived newcomers from 38 Group, participated in operations during the month, assisted by three pilots from 8 Squadron, Sqn Ldr Taylor, Flt Lt Langrill and Fg Off Heather-Hayes. As opposed to the previous few months, the Squadron was at last cleared to fire; on a Topcat operation during the Al Kirsh incident, a fire-power demonstration in the same area and a strike on a very large fort at Shurjan. All these operations were a result of infiltration across the Yemen border by NLF sponsored tribesmen. In order to determine the extent of the infiltration, a six-ship formation flew along the border between Mukeiras and Am Mijea on the 20th but the only objects of note were a large number of tents.

Details of the individual flagwaves are not recorded in the ORB other than the dates and locations, these being by; Flt Lt Willman (XJ692)and Fg Off Sowler (XE546) over Al Mithaf on the 7th, and by the same pair in XJ692 and XG296 respectively over Ruseis on the 8th, Fg Off Smith (XJ645) north-east of Dhala on the 15th, Fg Off Bain (8 Squadron - XJ689) and Fg Off Loveday (XJ692) over Al Bahah and Al Kirsh on the 16th, Flt Lt Willman (XE550) and Fg Off Whitfield (XG154) at Musaymir on the 18th, and Flt Lt Hughes-Lewis (XJ680) and Fg Off Smith (XE546) over Ruseis and Museina on the 19th.

Top cover sorties were flown over Thumier village on the 10th by Fg Offs Bain (XG255) and Fg Off Hawken (XE546), Wadi Sulub by Flt Lt Malin (XE550) and Fg Off Hawken (XJ692) on 11th, Nisab on the 14th by Flt Lt Willman (XJ689) and Fg Off Whitfield (XJ645), and at Al Kirsh on the 17th by Fg Offs Bain (XJ646) and Loveday (XE550) at 05:50, Flt Lt Willman (XJ645) and Fg Off Williams (XJ692) at 08:05, and Flt Lt Hughes-Lewis (XJ646) and Fg Off Hawken (XE550) at 09:40. Further top cover sorties were flown on the 18th by Flt Lt Malin (XE546) and Fg Off Williams (XJ645) over Al Kirsh, the exercise being repeated by Flt Lt Willman (XE550) and Fg Off Loveday (XE546) on the following day. The final top cover sorties of the month were flown on the 26th by Sqn Ldr Thornton (XE550), Flt Lt Whitman (XJ645) and Fg Offs Sowler XJ688) and Horton (XJ646) but no target area is mentioned in the ORB.

The fire-power demonstration at Al Kirsh was carried out on the 16th by Flt Lts Malin (XJ646), Hughes-Lewis (XE546) and Fg Offs Hawken (XJ645) and Loveday (XJ692). The latter had already flown a flagwave in the area earlier the same day with the same leader, Fg Off Bain of 8 Squadron, and the pair returned early next morning to cover the advance of the SAA to AL Kirsh, along with four other Hunters. In response to intelligence reports received at midnight on the 20th, indicating that large numbers of NLF supporters were crossing the border from the Yemen, six aircraft flown by Flt Lts Malin (XG154), Willman (XJ688), Hughes-Lewis (XJ680) and Fg Offs Hawken (XE546), Whitfield (XJ646) and Williams (no aircraft logged), took-off at 05:50 for a recce mission that morning but nothing was sighted.

By far the most interesting operation of the month was the Shurjan fort incident on the 24th. Apparently, the defenders of the fort had been induced into handing it over to NLF supporters. In response, eight Hunters armed with twelve rockets each and full gun packs were dispatched with orders to destroy the fort and the task was achieved without sustaining damage to any of the aircraft. The fort was hit by 89 rockets and 2,940 rounds of ammunition and was the first time a ‘live’ target had been struck in a pre-planned strike for some time. It provided good experience of how to knock down a defended fort. The first section of four aircraft was led by Flt Lt Malin (XJ692) with Fg Off Sowler (XJ680), the CO Sqn Ldr Thornton (XE550) as his number three and Fg Off Whitfield (XG154) at 16:40, followed at 17:05 by the second section led by Flt Lt Willman, with the GLO, Maj Lees, as his observer in a T.7 (XL612, with Fg Offs Hawken (XJ645), Williams (XG154 - must be incorrect!) and Loveday (XF435).

If August was busy, September must have been hectic, no fewer than 142 operational sorties being flown, sixteen short of the Squadron maximum during the Radfan campaign. The month began in an orderly routine with sorties consisting mainly of border patrols but this all changed on the 14th when these were superseded by air cover sorties of up to five per day for the rest of the month. These sorties consisted of flying at endurance speed overhead the up-country airstrips while transport aircraft supplied the South Arabian Army. As the aircraft on the ground sometimes took well over an hour to unload and reload their stores, the Hunters had to fly at low speed in order to stay in the area as long as possible. Nine further sorties were concentrated on reconnaissance with a further two assigned to escorting Canberras on photographic missions.

The tedium of the air cover trips was relieved somewhat on the 24th when the Hadramaut Bedouin Legion called for either a strike or fire-power demonstration in areas around three separate forts over 250 miles to the north in Wadi Hadramaut. Six aircraft, flown by Flt Lts Malin, Jennings, Hughes-Lewis and James plus Fg Offs Smith and Loftus, were sent in separate pairs in response, a pair of aircraft performing a fire-power demonstration near each fort. The GLO flew ahead in a Beverley in the role of an FAC. This sortie was interesting in that it was the first time that the Squadron had operated so far from Khormaksar, the furthest fort being 300 miles away. In order to achieve the desired result in the most efficient and safest way, the planning and timing had to be accurate on account of the obvious fuel limitations. For the first two pairs, all went well, each pair successfully striking at targets close to the forts, being briefed by the GLO from the Beverley and within 5 minutes of the pre-briefed time. However, by the time the third pair, flown by Flt Lt Malin and Fg Off Loftus, came to fire at their targets, one or two problems became apparent. The first was that the light was fading quickly and the second was the difficulty the FAC had in talking them on to an easily identifiable target. These problems were eventually overcome and the target hit, but they left the area, the furthest from Khormaksar, with minimum fuel and in near darkness.

Of the 390 hours flown, 52 were flown in the T.7, a well earned achievement considering that the Squadron was now operating with a limited number of aircraft and groundcrew. Of the 340 hours flown in the Mark 9, 225 were flown on operations.

It is perhaps fitting that the last full month of Hunter flying in Aden should produce the highest number of operational sorties, 159 being flown in October, comprising mainly of air cover sorties and search and rescue sorties for convoys and aeroplanes. When compared to the Radfan conflict, where the average sortie length was 55 minutes, the total of 265 operational hours this month worked out at an average of 1 hour 40 minutes per sortie. This was due to flying at endurance speed at high level. A note of congratulations was included in the ORB for the groundcrew which by working long hours achieved a very high rate of serviceability.

The emphasis for the month remained on air cover sorties until the 13th when an Air Djibouti DC3 was forcibly detained by the NLF when it landed at Riyan. It then started to fly in and out of Riyan, supposedly under the control of the NLF. The Hunters observed the movements of the DC3 for five days, remaining at high level to avoid being seen from the ground and while it was on the ground at Riyan, a Beverley was used to maintain a radio link with Khormaksar. On the 18th, the DC3 was released and it flew down to Khormaksar allowing the Squadron to return to its air cover tasks.

On the evening of the 19th, Flt Lt Hughes-Lewis and Fg Off Hawken took off at dusk to try to find a convoy which had set out from Lawdar and had been seen by an 8 Squadron FR.10 pilot to be moving east. The convoy was presumed to belong to the South Arabian Police whose members were predominantly NLF and were putting pressure on Aulaqi sheikhs, who were predominantly Flosy (Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen), both it and the NLF being the main antagonists in the South Arabian political situation. From the 19th until the end of the month, the Squadron continued to observe the movements of the convoy, again at high level to avoid being seen from the ground.

Despite continuing in its operational role until the final withdrawal, 43 Squadron was formally disbanded on 14 October at a parade which was reviewed by the AOC, Air Vice-Marshal A.H. Humphrey, CB, OBE, DFC, AFC, RAF. Due to the operational commitment, a flypast of just six aircraft was all that could be flown. To mark the departure of the AOC from Aden on the 29th, the Squadron managed to put up a formation flypast of fourteen aircraft, all but one of its pilots being able to take part in the event.

Please note that although 43 Squadron pilots continued to fly the Hunters through November and the groundcrew serviced them, no ORB entries were produced for that month, the final month of British rule in Aden. If anyone has any story, anecdote or image of interest for that period, from logbook, clipping or diary, the author would be most grateful to receive them. Otherwise, our story is incomplete!

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