Sandhurst cadets retrace 50-year old SAS footprints

Officer Cadet Ben Cooper with seven Sandhurst colleagues left the UK earlier this month to follow the route his grandfather – SAS original Johnny Cooper – took in the battle at Jebel Akhdar on the night of 26th January 1959. Johnny Cooper joined David Stirling’s embryonic force as a Guardsman in 1941 when it was no more than an idea that would become the blueprint for special forces operations world-wide, and left the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Nearly 50 years ago, a vicious rebellion was taking place in Oman. The Sultan was backed by the UK government while the rebels in the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) area, led by Suleiman bin Hamyar, had support from Arab rulers. The Jebel is some 100 miles from the capital city of Muscat, and was a major rebel stronghold. It is a 200 square mile plateau swept by gales force winds and temperatures of more than 40º Centigrade.

Suleiman commanded 180 snipers backed by 500 tribesmen. They had fortified caves and strategic peaks, having modern weapons and plenty of ammunition. By 1958 they held the region and raided surrounding towns at regular intervals. The Sultan’s Armed Forces and regular British Army units had failed to take the rebel stronghold with several assaults, and D Squadron 22 SAS arrived in November that year to try a less conventional approach.

They were in action immediately and in December, under a protective barrage of machine gun and mortar fire, they scaled the sheer cliffs of the Jebel, surprising some rebels in their caves. In close-quarter fighting they inflicted some casualties and managed to hold on to a strong point, but it was clear that just one squadron could not take the Jebel. So a second squadron from 22 SAS was sent to the region.

In January 1959, A Squadron, commanded by Cooper arrived. D Squadron left a troop in their toehold, and prepared for their assault with some diversionary activity. Cooper’s men established a troop-strong fire support position on the high ground and then made themselves ready for a direct assault up their route. There was no path but the chosen approach appeared possible and unguarded. Some false intelligence confused the rebels and, on the night of the attack, only one of the 100 enemy patrols guarding the Jebel was posted on the tracks the SAS used.

After a 24-hour weather delay, both squadrons moved out at 2100 hours supported by a few British troops, tribal irregulars, RAF fixed wing and helicopters, and some artillery. It was an exhausting climb carrying heavy equipment up near vertical cliffs with treacherous footing. Just before 0300 hours, a sniper’s bullet exploded a grenade in a soldier’s pack, and D Squadron’s leading troop came under 0.5 inch Browning fire soon afterwards from the only picket guarding their route. An A Squadron troop fought a fierce engagement on the other route. With time running out, the soldiers dropped their heavy kit and raced for the plateau, arriving shortly after dawn.

They achieved almost complete surprise and pressed on unopposed. Suleiman’s force had fled, leaving behind intelligence, arms, and ammunition. In this one operation two SAS squadrons had defeated a rebellion in two months which had been occupying thousands of British and Omani soldiers for four years.