Oman
Oman is a country with strategic importance over the Strait of Hormuz, therefore, of interest for Britain. Ruled by Imams and Sultans the country is hot - cold at night. There is volcanic rock but also wadis with scrub vegetation

In 1970 there was a coup to oust the Sultan.
The new Sultan, Qaboos bin Said, was more focussed on the West, and he invited the SAS to help with communist-rebel problems.

The SAS aided in the form of BATT`s, British Army Training Teams.
One of the teams was posted at Mirbat, a small town near the sea.

The SAS trained small groups of anti-guerrillas called firqat as well as giving help in the form of medical aid, the building of roads and schools in order to persuade the rebels to come over to the new regime.
This proved so successful that the adoo needed a propaganda victory to boost their cause. They choose 250 well trained men from Mirbat for the attack where thee British of B squadron SAS lived in the BATT house with nine men.

The BATT house and the defence
On 19 July 1972 the men were on the end of their tour, and were to go home after a couple of months of uneventful events. Only some "harmless" mortar rounds had been fired at the town.

The day of the attack was well chosen. Because of the monsoon season, with fog in the morning and low cloud base, no air support was possible. The 250 adoo were well armed with ak-47 Kalashnikovs, heavy machine guns, mortars, recoilless rifles and even a Carl Gustav 84 mm rocket launcher. The adoo were highly professional soldiers, swift and ready to prove their strength. It should be a walkover to take the town.
The only defence being the BATT house with the nine SAS men.

Some 100 meters away was an old Wali fort (from the local headsman), with inside 30 warriors armed with mostly Lee Enfield .303 rifles. About 700 meters inland was another fort from the Dophar Gendarmerie (DG) with 25 gendarmes inside. Next to the DG fort was a vintage 25pdr gun in a pit with an Omani gunner. The gun was crucial for the defence.
Barb wire was the only obstacle to keep the enemy out of the town and fort

The SAS men were:

* 23 year old "rookie" Captain Mike Kealy, in command

* Pete Wignall at the Browning .50 machinegun on the roof

* Roger Chapman with a General Purpose Machine Gun (7.62mm) on the roof

* Sek Savesaki and Harris (Fuzz) in a 81 mm mortar pit in front of the batt house

* Bob Bradshaw in the command sanger armed with a Self Loading Rifle (7.62 mm)

* Talaiasi Labalaba in the gun pit with an Omani gunner, Walid Khalfan

* Reynolds and Tommy Tobin

The attack begins...

In the morning at 5.00 shots were heard as an adoo scouting group attacked an outpost of gendarmerie (8 men) some 800 meters to the north. Four gendarmes died, the others fled to safety. Immediately six mortars, 2000 meters to the north, started firing. Two other groups of adoo were to attack either side of the town. The previous day a patrol of the local firqat had been lured away into the hills, thus, leaving the town itself with few warriors. Things were getting serious, but the SAS, so that the firing positions were not giving prematurely away, did not fire the guns on the roof.

Pete Wignal was sent down to make a radio call to Um al Gwarif, some 40 miles away, on the PRC 316 radio set. As explosions rocked the building he neglected the code procedures and send in morse: OA this is 82. Contact. Under heavy fire. Wait. Out. He went back to the roof and Labalaba went to the gun pit to assist the Omani gunner. The DG fort got a hit from a 75 mm recoilless rifle.

At about 6.00 a.m. some 40 adoo approached the wire towards the DG fort. Kealy thought it could be the firqat patrol coming back. Then the men in the Wali fort started firing and all hell broke loose. It started raining lead. Wignall and Chapman started shooting adoo at the wire. Bradshaw picked off a leader with a calm well- aimed shot with his SLR. The adoo were pulling on the barbed wire with bare hands. They kept coming in wide spread groups of 10 men and the 25pdr fired in direct-fire role at point blank. The DG fort and gun being essential received the focus of the attack. Some adoo went around to the town.

On the walkie-talkie Labalaba told Kealy that he was shot in the chin. The firing rate of the gun slowed down. Saveseki took some extra medical supplies and went for the gun pit some 700 meters away. It was the try of a lifetime for the rugby player. He made it and went to the DG fort for help. Finally the door opened and an Omani gunner named Khalid came out to help. When the men were back at the gun pit Khalid was shot in the stomach. Labalaba and Saveseki fired the gun, and had to crawl to load and shoot because of the intense small arms fire. Savesaki got hit in the shoulder, head and back. He was only able to shoot his SLR. With superhuman power Labalaba loaded and fired the gun on his own.

At 7.00 the first big crisis seemed over and there was a lull in the shooting.
A radio call was made to HQ at Salalah for helicopters for the wounded and a request for jet support. There was no radio contact with the gun pit and Kealy and Tobin went to the gun. When they were halfway all hell broke loose again. Kealy and Tobin found Labalaba still firing and Saveseki was still covering the left hand side of the fort with his SLR. The Omani gunner was seriously wounded. As Tobin started to help him he was mortally wounded. There was a big explosion and more adoo came through the wire towards the gun pit. When Labalaba went for a 60 mm mortar he was shot in the neck and killed. Kealy was firing his SLR point blank at the attackers. The Batt house was ordered, by radio, for mortar support and to fire the machineguns on each side of the fort. Harris could not make the elevation with the mortar so he held the tube to his chest to adjust the firing range.
In the gun pit rolled a grenade but it turned out to be a dud.

Suddenly, in the nick of time, at a height of 30 meters Strikemaster jets came with assistance. They fired their machineguns and rockets at the adoo. Kealy and Bradshaw directed the jets to the important places.

On the beach south of the town 23 men from G squadron SAS were dropped with some GPMG`s. They were about to go to the shooting range and directed to Mirbat. With help of some local firqat the town was cleared of adoo.
The battle was over around 12.30.

The SAS lost two men, Labalaba and Tobin.
Savesaki was badly wounded.
After the fight 38 dead adoo were brought in but about 80 died in the battle. Some dead were taken along during the retreat of the adoo.

The battle was a really close call but a turning point in the war.
In 1976 the war was over.
Mike Kealy was awarded a DSO for his actions. Directly after the battle he volunteered to go help the firqat patrol to come back safely.
Tobin and Bradshaw were awarded the Military Medal.

Labalaba got only a Mention in Despatches - he should have got the VC for what he did.

Perhaps because politically Britain had to keep a low profile.



CRUEL TWIST OF FATE

Alastair Morrison, commanding the relief force, reorganized Mirbat's defenses and with the aid of two Land Rovers started to collect the dead and wounded Adoos. The Adoos had lost 38 dead and they would never recover from the defeat. The defenders of Mirbat should have been highly decorated for their actions on that day, but because the British Government did not want to expose their involvement in Dhofar, the awards were not announced until 3 years after the battle. Kealy was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and two of this men a Military cross apiece. Trooper Tobin was posthumously awarded a Distinguished Conduct medal and Sgt. Labalaba was also posthumously Mentioned in Dispatches. Sadly Major Mike Kealy died of exposure during an SAS exercise on the Brecon Beacons in February 1979. By a cruel twist of fate, it was Johnny Watts his old Dhofar commander who found his body.