British Somaliland History

Lieutenant-Colonel David Rose

2010-10-27T11:21:00.005+01:00

Lieutenant-Colonel David Rose, who has died aged 98, was awarded a DSO during active service in British Somaliland and a Bar while commanding a battalion of the Black Watch in the Korean War.

Rose (right), in command of 1 BW in Korea, accompanies General Collins, the US Army Chief of Staff, during the latter's visit to the Battalion Command Post on The Hook.

In 1940 British Somaliland was defended by a small force mainly composed of colonial troops, with the 2nd Battalion the Black Watch (2 BW) held in reserve. Five Italian brigades, stiffened by Black Shirts and supported by aircraft, armour and artillery, forced the main British contingent to withdraw towards Berbera, having fiercely defended the only natural obstacle, a dry wadi known as the Tug Argan.

On August 17 the battalion, equipped with a single anti-tank gun, was at Barkasan and acting as rearguard. After a long day's fighting, ammunition was running short and Rose, then a captain commanding the forward company, found himself at great risk of being cut off.

He decided to counter-attack and led his men down the hill in a fierce bayonet charge. After being wounded in the shoulder, he stuffed his arm into his belt to stop it flopping about and continued to lead the attack.

The Italian forces broke and fled, and many of their native levies were shot down by Black Shirts who had been waiting at their rear. The Highlanders pursued the enemy for a mile and left them so demoralised that they offered no further interference to the battalion's withdrawal under cover of darkness. Rose was awarded his first DSO, at that time an unusual award for a junior officer.

David MacNeil Campbell Rose, the son of Brigadier John Rose, was born at Alverstoke, Hampshire, on March 23 1912. His three brothers had distinguished careers in the Army in the Second World War; two of them were highly decorated.

After Glenalmond and Sandhurst, David was commissioned into the Black Watch. Army service in Scotland included a period spent on the Royal Guard at Balmoral. King George V was Colonel-in-Chief of the Black Watch and nearing the end of his reign. On one occasion, at the Ghillies' Ball, he discovered Rose and a fellow officer helping themselves to a bottle of champagne which had been specially left out for himself.

As a "punishment" he ordered both young officers to dance with the Queen and then come shooting with him the next day. During the shoot, Rose's overenthusiastic dog retrieved a grouse from immediately behind the King's butt.

"My bird I think, Rose!" said the King.

Not wishing to be deprived of one of his small bag, and aware that the King was very proud of being a superb shot, Rose, in some trepidation, replied: "No, Sir, it must be one of mine. It's a runner!"

After a snort, the gruff reply came back: "Proper little courtier, aren't you, Rose? All right. I suppose you can count it as one of yours!"

In 1938, 1 BW was deployed to Palestine. The troopship docked at Tangiers, allowing time for a run ashore. While visiting the souk, Rose was astonished to recognise his youngest brother dressed as an Arab and begging. The young man subsequently joined the Foreign Legion and was awarded the Croix de Guerre and Médaille Militaire.

After his exploits in British Somaliland, Rose attended Staff College in Haifa. But soon after taking up his first staff appointment in Cairo, 2 BW urgently needed reinforcements following its attempt to break out from Tobruk, and he returned to the battalion as adjutant.

Rose was subsequently posted to Burma to command one of the two Black Watch columns in the second Chindit campaign. There he was wounded again in the shoulder, but managed to continue in command behind Japanese lines for some weeks before severe blood poisoning forced his evacuation and a long period of convalescence.

After a spell on a military mission in Cairo and a posting to Tripoli as brigade major, he was recalled from commanding the regimental depot in Perth to take command of 1 BW shortly before its departure for Korea in June 1952.

That autumn the battalion took over defence of "The Hook", a prominent salient dominating the Samichon river valley. With the help of the Royal Engineers, deep tunnels were excavated in each company position to provide protection from bombardments and allow the soldiers to take cover if they were overrun. Rose was able to call for airburst shelling to be brought down on his own positions to break up enemy attacks before clearing the trenches by bayonet.

On November 18 and 19, 1 BW was subjected to repeated assaults from two Chinese battalions. On the first night, when they came under heavy bombardment, Rose was never out of touch with his forward platoons. The Hook was held and the Chinese suffered large losses. In recognition of his outstanding leadership, Rose was awarded a Bar to his DSO.

In August 1953 he took the battalion to Kenya to help suppress the Mau Mau uprising. On returning to England, he went to the small arms school as chief instructor.

He retired from the Army in 1958 and, having settled in Perthshire, enjoyed shooting and fishing and creating a garden.

David Rose died on October 24. He married, in 1945, Lady Jean Ramsay, younger daughter of the Earl of Dalhousie. She predeceased him, and he is survived by their son and daughter.

Source: Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/army-obituaries/8088407/Lieutenant-Colonel-David-Rose.html

"The Invisible Country," by Tristan McConnell and Narayan Mahon, Virginia Quarterly Review

2010-01-17T14:04:00.001Z

"The Invisible Country," by Tristan McConnell and Narayan Mahon, Virginia Quarterly Review

Posted using ShareThis

Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson, VC: Camel Corps officer

2009-05-01T16:51:00.004+01:00

For valour: Wilson, who left the army in 1949, is seen here at a 1988 VC and GC Association reunion in London, with Gurkha holders of the decoration

Somaliland, 1940: Wilson is seated in the front of the truck holding the dog. It was killed on the first day of the action in which Wilson was taken prisoner

Eric Wilson won the first Victoria Cross to be awarded in the campaigns in Africa during the Second World War. His story is one of persistent yet seemingly nonchalant gallantry as, by his lights, he was simply doing what he was trained to do. He stuck to his precious guns to the bitter end and so certain was the brigade staff that he had been killed in the enemy’s final attack he was awarded a posthumous VC. But he survived to fight in two more campaigns.

Mussolini’s declaration of war on June 10, 1940, two weeks before the fall of France, found him with no enemy immediately to hand. He therefore ordered his forces in Abyssinia to attack the nearby British colonial garrisons. In August, three columns each of brigade strength with tanks and supported by bomber and fighter aircraft crossed into British Somaliland south of Hargeisa and headed for the Tug Argan pass leading to the seaport capital, Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden. The Somaliland Camel Corps delayed the advance from the frontier, covering as best it could preparation of the main defensive position astride the Tug Argan pass.

Wilson, then a captain, commanded the Camel Corps machinegun company. His task was to provide fire support for the Northern Rhodesia Regiment manning the central sector of the front across the enemy’s path. So far as the terrain allowed, he positioned his water-cooled Vickers medium machineguns where they could strike the enemy in the flanks when they moved forward. But, because of the width of the front, several had to be sited frontally with wide arcs of fire. Having briefed all his gun crews, he joined the most forward pillbox on Observation Hill overlooking the enemy’s main approach.

The Italian attack opened on the morning of August 11 with an artillery bombardment of Wilson’s positions. A shell of the first salvo exploded immediately outside the embrasure of his pillbox, blowing the Vickers off its tripod and wounding one of the crew. To Wilson’s surprise the weapon was undamaged and he had it in action again within minutes, but the next salvo killed the corporal in charge of the gun, wounded Wilson in the right shoulder and left eye and smashed his spectacles.

During the afternoon he detected an Italian mountain artillery battery working its way up from the road to the pass. He had its range and opened fire, only to receive an immediate retaliation from the enemy’s fixed-charge high-explosive shells. Counter-battery fire from his own artillery and a tropical downpour brought action to a halt for the day.

Next morning the Italians began to push forward small groups of infantry and artillery that worked their way along the sides of the Tur Argan gap to attack the British positions at close quarters. Then, on August 13, the enemy launched a large-scale assault, overran the British artillery position and renewed their fire on Wilson’s machinegun posts. On the 15th two of his guns were blown to pieces but he continued to man his own gun until the position was overrun. The citation for his VC, gazetted on October 11, 1940, opened with the words, “For most conspicuous gallantry on active service in Somaliland” and ended with, “The enemy finally overran the post at 5pm when Captain Wilson, fighting to the last, was killed.”

He had been taken prisoner, however, not just wounded but suffering from malaria. This only became known in April 1941 when the 5th Indian Division captured the prisoner-of-war camp at Adi Ugri in Eritrea, where Wilson was being held. Together with other prisoners, he had almost completed a tunnel for a mass escape attempt when they awoke one morning to find all their guards had gone. By then he had learnt of his award from an RAF officer who had been shot down and taken to the same camp.

Eric Charles Twelves Wilson was born in Sandown, Isle of Wight, the son of the Rev C. C. C. Wilson. He was educated at Marlborough and Royal Military College Sandhurst from where he was commissioned into the East Surrey Regiment in 1933. He had been attracted to Africa since boyhood through stories told by his grandfather, who had founded the Church Missionary Society station in Buganda in 1876. So, after four years with the East Surreys, he volunteered for secondment to the King’s African Rifles and served in Tanganyika with the 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion until he secured a second secondment to the Somaliland Camel Corps in 1939.

On release from the Italian PoW camp he volunteered to join the Long Range Desert Group operating round the flanks of Rommel’s Afrika Korps in the Western Desert. His knowledge of desert conditions proved a useful asset but, at the end of the North African campaign, he went to Burma as second-in-command of a battalion of The King’s African Rifles. He took part in the advance of the 11th East African Division down the notoriously disease-ridden Kabaw Valley to establish a bridgehead over the Chindwin at Kelawa. He then contracted scrub typhus and spent two months in hospital before being medically downgraded and returned to East Africa. He spent the final months of the war commanding the Infantry Training Centre at Jinja in Uganda.

Wilson left the Army in 1949 to join the Overseas Civil Service in Tanganyika, where he served until independence of the British East African countries led to his retirement in 1961.

He joined the staff of the London Goodenough Trust for Overseas Students, where his fluency in Kiswahili, Gikuria and Chinyakusa stood him in good stead. He was the honorary secretary of the Anglo-Somali Society, 1972-77, and again from 1988 to 1990.

He married Anne Pleydell-Bouverie in 1943. The marriage was dissolved in 1953, and in that year he married Angela Joy, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel J. McK Gordon. He is survived by his second wife, one of the two sons of his first marriage and one son of his second. His death leaves nine surviving holders of the Victoria Cross.

Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson, VC, was born on October 2, 1912. He died on December 23, 2008, aged 96

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5415089.ece

Ubique - remembering Somaliland

2009-04-30T13:29:00.002+01:00

Ubique - remembering Somaliland, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Illustrating the point I made yesterday about Somaliland deserving our support, here is a quote from a debate in The House of Commons in 2004:

The people of Somaliland have worked extremely hard to rebuild their country and community, and they deserve our help and support. Somaliland supported this country during the Second World War. It is worth recalling that 91,000 Italian troops, together with 200,000 local troops raised by the Italians, confronted 9,000 soldiers, mainly from the Somaliland Scouts and the Somaliland Camel Corps. The BBC documentary, "The Second World War", reported that the Italians

"were held at bay for four days"

and that our troops had

"inflicted over 2,000 casualties at a cost of around 250 men."

The documentary concluded:

"Furthermore, the impression that their defence left on the Italians would greatly influence future actions."

The people of Somaliland stood shoulder to shoulder with us in the past and, as the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie said, they have done everything asked of them. They have had free and fair presidential and municipal elections. When we addressed both their Houses of Parliament and said that they would need parliamentary elections, there was no dissent. They said that they had to address some issues to achieve that, but that they want to do so. If ever a community deserved long-term development assistance, it is the people of Somaliland.

Source: Charles Fred Blog:

http://charlesfred.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

RAF 1920 - Somaliland Camel Corps in British Somaliland

2009-04-30T13:02:00.001+01:00

1920

Jan - Feb 1920- The RAF's first "little war". RAF units were involved in operations with the Camel Corps in British Somaliland (now Somalia) to overthrow Dervish leader Mohammed bin Abdullah Hassan, the "Mad Mullah". The airborne intervention was "the main instrument and decisive factor" in the success of the operation. Ten dH9s were dispatched to form "Z Force", and were used for bombing, strafing and as air ambulances.

5 Feb 1920- The RAF College opened at Cranwell, Lincolnshire.

1 Apr 1920- The WRAF was disbanded.

3 Jul 1920- Over 60,000 spectators attend the first RAF Pageant at Hendon, London.

Source: http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/raftimeline19181929.cfm

SOMALILAND Scouts - War Covers

2009-04-30T12:36:00.001+01:00

No. 736

1947 cover & letter - SOMALILAND Scouts

£45

1947 (Oct.) cover & letter from NYASALAND to 'c/o Major H French, SOMALILAND Scouts, British Somaliland' with s/r. HARGEISA receipt p/m. Roughly opened. BRITISH PROTECTORATE. Fighting Nov. & riot in Dec. 1947.

Source: http://www.warcovers.com/news_e_1.htm

Somaliland: UK ignores potential commonwealth member

2009-04-30T12:23:00.004+01:00

The Prime Minister at that time, Harold Macmillan, told the House of Parliament:
“I should like to say, however, that it is Her Majesty’s Government’s hope that whatever may be the constitutional future of the Protectorate, the friendship which has been built up between its people and those of the United Kingdom for so many years will continue and indeed flourish.” – [Official Report, 11 April 1960;Vol.621,c.104W.]

By Jamal Ali Hussein

6 November 2007

As the Commonwealth countries meeting is about to start in Uganda during November 2007, the United Kingdom citizens who are originally from Somaliland are currently worried about the situation of their original mother country. They are amazed by the lack of Britain’s role in leading the way to promote Somaliland to a successful re-recognition. Somaliland Community particularly want the British Government to remember the words of its Prime Minister Harold Macmillan during early 1960s when Somaliland was about to receive its independence from Britain. The Prime Minister at that time, Harold Macmillan, told the House of Parliament:

“I should like to say, however, that it is Her Majesty’s Government’s hope that whatever may be the constitutional future of the Protectorate, the friendship which has been built up between its people and those of the United Kingdom for so many years will continue and indeed flourish.” – [Official Report, 11 April 1960;Vol.621,c.104W.]

Somaliland Republic (former British Somaliland) received its independence from Britain on June 26 th, 1960, and it was immediately recognized by 34 UN Member States, including the five Permanent Members of the Security Council. This made Somaliland to be the first independent Somali country to become a member of the United Nations before uniting voluntarily with the Italian Somaliland (current Somalia) on July 1 st, 1960 to form what was known as the Somali Republic in pursuit of irredentist dream of “Greater Somalia” including parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti. Somaliland decided to re-instate its sovereign independence from Somalia after the fall of Siyad Barre regime in 1991. Somaliland is only seeking re-recognition within the borders received at the time of independence from Britain 1960. Somaliland, not officially re-recognized by any state, has been functioning as a constitutional democracy with a president directly elected by the people, added by a parliament and local government also directly elected by the people. Somaliland’s existing multi-party democracy system is rarity in Africa and the Muslim world.

British Somaliland was either a protectorate or colony for Britain nearly 80 years. Somaliland Scouts regiment even played an important role during Second World War. There is no doubt that Somaliland people feel let down by the British Government since Somaliland re-instated its sovereignty due to their historical relationship. But with Prime Minister Brown’s government, Somalilanders are hopeful that Britain will look into Somaliland’s re- recognition issue with fresh eyes. It is important to note that Somaliland is one of few African countries where the government does not receive a budgetary support from the international community; it is one of only few African countries where the President is directly elected by the people. Yet, no government came forward to recognize it. It has been reported that several countries had indicated that they do not want to be the First, but the 2 nd or the 3 rd etc to re-recognize Somaliland. Mr. Eid Ali Ahmed, member of Somaliland Societies in European and Chartered Fellow of UK Institute of Personnel and Development said “There is a long history between the people of Somaliland and the United Kingdom people. The people of Somaliland strongly believe that they need to have a powerful sponsor like East Timor, and Kosovo had in order to persuade the International Community start listening its voice, and that is where United Kingdom (Commonwealth leader) should have come in”. Mr. Eid Ali Ahmed added “ Somaliland is not the first nation that entered a voluntarily union and subsequently withdrawn from the union. Senegal and Gambia, Egypt and Syria, Senegal and Mali have all done likewise.”

It is important to note that a number of British members of Parliament visited Somaliland in many occasions, and encouraged the British Government to look into the Somaliland re-recognition issue. The most memorable debate on Somaliland issue in the house of British Parliament is the one organized by the Hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Tony Worthington) in 2004 after he and other honorable members just returned from a visit in Somaliland. There was no one who could make a better case for Somaliland re-recognition than those British MPs. The honorable Tony Worthington said during the debate “ Somaliland has rebuilt its country without international assistance. It has acted totally on democratic lines, and the demand for independence was supported in a referendum by more than 90 percent of the population. The level of stability is impressive. I was far more impressed with the country than those of several other African countries that I have visited – countries that we recognize and support. Somaliland is doing nearly everything right, but it is being ignored.” The British MP in addition said “It is worth noting that Somaliland people supported, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Britain during the Second World War.”

The private sector in Somaliland is thriving, and now boasts of several private airlines, four electricity companies and five telecommunications companies, which offer both mobile and landline telephone services. People of Somaliland would tell you that they did not have any of those businesses for 31 years of marriage with Southern Somalia. One of the most remarkable aspects of Somaliland achievements include the major contributions made by the Somaliland Diaspora community particularly the ones living in the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, and North America.

Somaliland residents in Britain have pleaded with the UN not to deny Somaliland the right guaranteed in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The people of Somaliland are questioning the world community's action as it also contradicts Articles 15 (1) and (2) which states that "everyone has the right to nationality" and that "no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the rights to change his/her nationality respectively." The action runs counter to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights -Article 1 which states that "all peoples have right of self-determination. By virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development". In the absence of codified rules, it seems that the conventional wisdom has been that states recognize or do not recognize other states on the basis of their selfish interests. In last January at a high-level meeting in Brussels, organized by Somaliland Societies in Europe and Somaliland Community in Belgium (SBC), Mrs. Gleyns Kinnock the Labor Member of European Parliament for Cardiff said, “Somalilanders’ pleas for international recognition for their country must be heard. The right to self-determination for all peoples is a fundamental principle enshrined in the UN Charter. Indeed, it is an anomaly that Somaliland is still denied recognition by the international community."

In last December Kerry McCarthy Member of UK Parliament and secretary of UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Somaliland said “ Somaliland needs the protection of the international community if it is to maintain its position as beacon of stability in a troubled region. Formal recognition of its existence as an independent sovereign state would be a significant first step.” The president of Somaliland Dahir Rayale Kahin made a speech in the British Parliament a couple of years ago, and many times repeatedly shown his concern by saying “Lack of re-recognition could mean that Somaliland cannot enter a formal trade agreements with other nations or seek assistance from financial institutions although the country has unexploited opportunities.”

The opposition leaders in Somaliland have a common stand on the issue of re-recognition with the President and the government. Mr. Faisal Ali Warabe, Somaliland’s UCID opposition party leader, and a presidential candidate in 2008 asks “"Somaliland was a recognized country until its leaders illegally merged with southern Somalia. Why is the international community reluctant to honor the wishes of the same country that now wants to go back to its statusquo ante (original status as a country)? Somaliland simply wants its UN seat back”. In addition, Somaliland’s other KULMIYE opposition party leader, and also a presidential candidate in 2008 Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Sillanyo states “Will the International Community respect the choice of the Somaliland people? Will Britain do its moral duty to influence and lead the international community to respect the choice of Somaliland people as it once did back in 1960? Will Somaliland be considered as a Commonwealth member during the upcoming meeting?”

Jamal Ali Hussein, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Citibank Cote d’Ivoire – WEST AFRICA.

First published 6 Nov 2007 Kenyan "People Daily" Newspaper.

http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2007/303/05.shtml

The Politics of Somaliland’s Self-Determination” - Feb.18, 2006

2009-04-30T12:10:00.002+01:00

Hunwick Note

Evanston, Illinois, USA, Feb. 25, 2006 (SL Times) – The note below was part of the round table discussion entitled “The Politics of Somaliland’s Self-Determination” that took place on Feb.18, 2006 at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. The Somaliland Times is pleased to share with its readers some of the insights of the participants. We are particularly pleased to know the role that professor Hunwick’s experiences in Somaliland had in stimulating his interest in Islamic and African studies. After all, despite his modesty, Dr Hunwick is the man who drew the attention of the world to the Timbuktu Manuscripts which laid to rest the notion that Africa had no written history.
My Experience of Somalia
By John Hunwick
Professor Emeritus,
Northwestern University

Although I have never done research on Somalia, part of that state was, nevertheless, the first African area that I visited, though regretfully, I have not yet returned there. In fact, some fifty years ago - before Somalia became a large independent state, I spent a year in British Somaliland, serving as a military officer of the local army, known as the "Somaliland Scouts". The British colonial area was to the north and west of the present independent Somalia, with a small French colonial area to its west, and to its east and extending down to Kenya was the Italian colony. British Somaliland also had, as its neighbor to the south of it, a part of Ethiopia, with occasional battles between nomads of both areas, which sectors of the "Somaliland Scouts" generally had to deal with and re-establish peace.

My first location was Hargeysa, the capital of British Somaliland, and the headquarters of the "Somaliland Scouts". I arrived there in September 1955, having sailed from England to Aden, and then flew over to Hargeysa. I was then sent to Burao, some 80 miles east of Hargeysa; and there I was given to learn about military vehicles including, for the first time, how to drive. Driving in British Somaliland was on desert-like tracks, except in Hargeysa (and partly in Burao), where there were regular British-style roads. After a month, or so, in Burao, I was then appointed to a regiment, and joined up with them in Ainabo to the south-east of Burao. Every regiment would change its location every six months, so before long I went back to Hargeysa with my military force, and ultimately to Adade before my military service - a total of two years - came close to an end, and I moved back to England - in August 1956.

My military service in British Somaliland was training of the soldiers of my regiment, and taking care of its vehicles (mainly small-ton trucks). However, I saw parts of the semi-desert country area, especially when my regiment was in an encampment near Adade. There were many various wild animals, including lions; and I had to take part in killing two of them: the first being a lion that had disturbed the evening practice of a group of soldiers of my regiment; and the other in help of some nomads whose sheep had been attacked - and some killed - by a lion.

British Somaliland was an attractive place for me. Many people - even in the army - spoke English to some extent, but I found it useful to be able to contact most people by speaking Somali. The Somali language had some influence of Arabic, since just about all Somalis were Muslims, and they claimed that they had moved into Somaliland many centuries ago from the Arabian Peninsula. I enjoyed working with them, and soon found their religious attitudes very attractive. Indeed, this convinced me to learn Arabic when I returned to England for university training, and with such knowledge, to learn more about Islam. Hence, I have continued to study Arabic and Islam in Africa - most especially related to West Africa, where I spent many first years of my academic career (in Nigeria and Ghana).Now, for five years, I have been running the "Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA)" through our Program of African Studies.

Source: Somaliland Times
http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2005/214/30.shtml

Somaliland Scouts

2009-04-30T12:03:00.004+01:00

The Somaliland Scouts was a Brigade in the British Army, formed after the liberation of British Somaliland from Italy in December 1941 and the dissolution of the Somaliland Camel Corps, formerly tasked with the defense of the protectorate.[1]

Originally formed as the Somali Guard Battalion, and tasked with defending the border between British and French Somaliland, it quickly rose in size and importance and became the Somali Companies in June 1942 before being renamed finally to the Somaliland Scouts in August 1943.[2]

In 1960, upon the merger of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland and the independence of the Somali Republic, the Somaliland Scouts became the nucleus for the new Somali National Army.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_Scouts#cite_note-1

Air Chief Marshal Sir John Barraclough

2008-05-19T09:50:00.002+01:00

Wartime flying boat pilot of high ability who made his career in the RAF and flew more than 70 types of aircraft.

Barraclough [right] ready for his flight in a Tornado to mark his retirement as Inspector of the RAuxAF in 1995

Air Chief Marshal Sir John Barraclough, who died on Saturday aged 90, gave an exceptionally long period of devoted service to the Crown and to defence affairs; after serving in the RAF for 38 years, in retirement he conducted various studies for the Air Force Board and the Chiefs of Staff before becoming the Inspector-General of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

During the Second World War Barraclough flew continuously on maritime air duties with Coastal Command and in the Indian Ocean. Before the war he flew Ansons with No 269 Squadron from Abbotsinch, near Glasgow, and, in a foretaste of what lay ahead, he was engaged in the air searches for the submarine Thetis when it failed to surface in Liverpool Bay in 1939.

On the outbreak of war he converted to flying boats, and in 1940 he operated with No 240 Squadron from the Shetland Islands. Flying over the northern North Sea he flew in support of the ill-fated British Expeditionary Force to Norway and on searches for German ships seeking to break out from the Baltic.

After a period flying anti-submarine patrols and convoy escorts off the west coast of Scotland, he was made chief instructor of the Flying Boat Conversion Unit at Invergordon, where he was awarded an AFC for developing innovative methods of operational training.

In February 1942 Barraclough reformed No 209 Squadron, equipped with the Catalina flying boat, before leaving in June for the Indian Ocean to support the Eastern Fleet for the Madagascar campaign.

Operating with the barest facilities from Comoro Island in the Mozambique Channel, and from other island bases, he flew intensive operations and was awarded a DFC. "This officer," the citation concluded, "has shown the greatest devotion to duty and is a born leader of men."

Barraclough continued to operate with No 209 over vast areas of the Indian Ocean, providing convoy escorts and seeking out U-boats and their mother ship, Elizabeth Schliemann.

Promoted to wing commander at the age of 24, he commanded the captured Italian airfield at Mogadishu, Somaliland, where Wellingtons conducted anti-submarine operations. On his return to Britain in May 1944 he became chief instructor at a flying-boat training unit and was mentioned in dispatches.

John Barraclough was born at Hounslow on May 2 1918 and educated at Cranbrook School. After three years' volunteer service with the Artists' Rifles while working in the City of London, in 1938 he was granted a four-year commission in the RAF to train as a pilot.

At the end of the war Barraclough was negotiating his admission to the Middle Temple as a student when he was offered a permanent commission in the RAF, which he accepted.

After completing a period of service in Egypt, he joined the Central Flying School and was appointed to its examining wing, first as a flight commander and then in command of the wing responsible for the flying instructional standards in the RAF and in many other national air forces which held the RAF in esteem.

As a staff officer at the headquarters of Training Command, he wrote an imaginative paper on the pros and cons of using a basic jet aircraft for initial pilot training, and this paved the way for the introduction into service of the long-serving Jet Provost aircraft.

Barraclough was always a restive staff officer who hankered after action – in his career he flew more than 70 different types of aircraft – and he was able to persuade his commander-in-chief that he should take the first Vampire training aircraft on a trial flight to Southern Rhodesia.

With few navigation aids, Barraclough and his fellow pilot completed the 10,000-mile round trip in the cramped cockpit of the short range, single-engine jet without mishap. He was awarded a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air.

After commanding the two fighter stations at Biggin Hill and Middleton St George (now Durham Tees Valley Airport), he served in the Far East during the campaign against the Communist terrorists in Malaya.

On promotion to air commodore in 1960 he took up the post of director of public relations at the Air Ministry, where he was deeply involved in defending the philosophy and strategy of nuclear deterrence then exercised by Bomber Command; he also defended (in the end unavailingly) the emerging TSR2 from its political opponents. His efforts on these sensitive issues were recognised with a CBE.

On completing his time as AOC No 19 Group in Coastal Command, Barraclough took a sabbatical and, at his own expense and on unpaid leave, enrolled on the advanced management course at Harvard Business School.

On his return in 1968 the RAF appointed him Air Officer (Administration) of Bomber Command to manage the imminent, and highly emotional, mergers of Bomber, Fighter, Coastal and Signals Commands. Such was his success that he was promoted and appointed CB.

He served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff before becoming the Air Secretary, an appointment he did not relish. His final post before retiring from the RAF in 1978 was as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies. He was appointed KCB in 1970.

Barraclough had a sharp intellect, a dry wit and boundless energy and enthusiasm. He was an eloquent and persuasive writer, and after retirement from the RAF was much in demand. For 12 years he served as a commissioner and vice-chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

In 1976 he had been appointed an honorary air commodore in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and, with the force employed in the ground defence role, he found himself very much at home as a former territorial rifleman.

For five years he was Inspector-General of the RAuxAF, during which time he was appointed a Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State with occasional ceremonial duties. He was able to take advantage of an informal opportunity after a State Opening of Parliament to seek the Queen's agreement to the award of a Colour.

This was granted, and in June 1989 750 serving members of the RAuxAF paraded at RAF Benson on the occasion of the presentation of the Queen's Colour.

On his farewell as the Inspector in 1995, Barraclough flew a bombing sortie in a Tornado. It was the 57th anniversary of his first flight in the RAF.

For six years in the 1970s he was editorial director of the defence magazine NATO's Nations. He was also a co-author, with General Sir John Hackett, of the best-selling book The Third World War, to which he contributed the air aspects.

In 1980 he became president of the Air Power Association, and the next year sponsored the Barraclough Trophy, awarded annually to the unit or individual member of the RAF who has made an outstanding contribution to RAF public relations in the previous year.

Barraclough was chairman of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, and then vice-chairman of the Air League, receiving its Gold Medal for distinguished services to British aviation. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and was a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.

In 2002 he was approached to support an initiative to commemorate all those who had lost their lives in Coastal Command. He was appointed chairman of the Maritime Air Trust, which under his guidance and management launched a formidable fund-raising programme with the Duke of Edinburgh as its very supportive patron.

On March 16 2004 the Queen dedicated a sculpted tribute and roll of honour in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey. Barraclough – who, aged 86, handed over the reigns of the Trust to a former Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Peter Squire – always considered it an honour to have been associated with the project.

Barraclough lived in Bath, where in later years he was invited to be chairman, and later president, of the city's Royal Crescent Society, an organisation he led with his usual vigour in countering the adverse local effects of un-managed tourism.

He was a fine sailor and horseman. In the Admiral's Cup of 1973 he navigated the Irish yacht Clarion to success in her division of the Fastnet race. In the winter he rode regularly to hounds wherever he found himself, and he followed three-day eventing with keen interest.

He was a past-president of the RAF Modern Pentathlon Association and of the Combined Services' Equitation Association. He listed amongst his hobbies, "stilt walking (retired)".

John Barraclough was a tall man with a commanding presence but an unassuming manner. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer he displayed stoical courage.

Shortly before his death he paid tribute to his late wife Maureen (née McCormack), whom he had married in 1946 (and who died in 2001), writing that "her devoted and unselfish support during a taxing career was quite simply immeasurable". He is survived by their daughter.

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1947293/Air-Chief-Marshal-Sir-John-Barraclough.html

Squadron Leader 'Bam' Bamberger

2008-05-09T13:45:00.002+01:00

From The Times

February 20, 2008

Air ace who fought in the Battle of Britain and the defence of Malta

After joining the Auxiliary Air Force as a photographer before the war, “Bam” Bamberger saw action as a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain, after which he was posted to Malta where he took part in the desperate air defence of the island during 1941. He was subsequently involved in fighter operations in support of the invasion of Sicily and the Eighth Army's drive up through Italy.

Cyril Stanley “Bam” Bamberger was born in Hyde, Cheshire, and educated locally. He left school at 14 and joined Lever Brothers as an electrical aprentice in 1934. In 1936 he volunteered for the Auxiliary Air Force and was posted as a photographer to 610 “County of Chester” Squadron, which had been formed that year as a bomber squadron at Hooton Park in the Wirral, not far from the company's Port Sunlight headquarters. He was accepted for pilot training in 1938, not long after which the squadron became a fighter unit and received its first Spitfires early in 1940.

In July 1940 the squadron was moved to Biggin Hill, and Bamberger flew with it as a sergeant pilot during the early air fighting over the Channel that followed the Dunkirk evacuation. The squadron suffered heavy casualties but Bamberger was credited with a “probable” Messerschmitt Me109 on August 28 in combat off the Kent coast.

When 610 was withdrawn to rest in mid-September Bamberger was posted to 41 Squadron and was soon back in action over Kent, where he gained his first confirmed combat victory, again over an Me109, on October 15.

With the Battle of Britain winding down, Bamberger volunteered for Malta, and on November 17, 1940, was in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier Argus from which a dozen Hurricanes were flown off, led by two naval Skuas, for the 450-mile flight to the island. As he was not familiar with the Hurricane he was not among those pilots selected to fly, and hence was spared the tragedy that ensued.

Many of the pilots, unused to long range flying, had set their engine revs too high for a flight of that length, and the navigator of one of the guiding Skuas was fresh from training school. Eight Hurricanes and one Skua ran out of fuel and were lost. The four fighters that reached Malta safely did so with respectively, 12, four, three and two gallons of petrol in their tanks.

Bamberger reached Malta in December in the destroyer Hotspur. With the island under heavy air attack, he was soon in thick of the action with 261 Squadron, and he shot down two Ju87 Stukas on successive days in January 1941 over Grand Harbour.

After a period back in the UK where he was commissioned and helped to train arriving American pilots in gunnery, he was back in the Mediterranean, this time as a flight commander with 93 Squadron, scoring further victories in the Sicilian and Italian campaigns before returning to Britain as a gunnery instructor in late 1944. By then his leadership and fine shooting had earned him the DFC and Bar.

After demobilisation he returned to Lever before joining the management of a Guinness subsidiary. When 610 Squadron was reformed as a Royal Auxiliary Air Force unit he rejoined it as a flight commander and became its CO in 1950, by when it had converted to Gloster Meteors. When the RAuxAF was mobilised after the outbreak of the Korean War he accepted a permanent commission, and for most of the duration of that conflict was an intelligence officer at the Air Ministry.

He later converted to helicopters and served in a squadron of Bristol Sycamores in Aden, finally retiring in 1959, by which time he had also received the Air Efficiency Award and Bar.

He then went into business, founding a packaging materials company, and then running an antiques business.He remained active in RAF matters and was closely involved with the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust, of which he was vice-chairman.

“Bam” Bamberger is survived by his wife Heather, whom he married in 1954, and by three sons and a daughter.

Squadron Leader “Bam” Bamberger, DFC and Bar, AE and Bar, wartime fighter pilot, was born on May 4, 1919. He died on February 3, 2008, aged 88

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3398890.ece

Invisible Warriors- Somaliland Camel Corps History

2008-04-29T23:42:00.001+01:00

Somaliland Camel Corps - The Somali people are natural camel riders it's in their blood. Camel's are in were as important as the pony's of the mongols. In the drought striken land the camel is really thing other than goats that proved worth domesticating. The British recognized their affinity and after creating the colony the British set out to create a Somaliland Camel Corps. During the Mad Mullah period of Somali history the camel Corps included had grown to included some 700 mounted riders they served gallantly enough against the bandit and captured his Jidali hideout. During the same period they set a an impressive standard by covering 150 miles in 72 hours.

Beginnings

The British immediately recognized the affinity between the Somali people and camels. Soon after acquiring the East African colony, the British set out to create the Somaliland Camel Corps. During the "Mad Mullah" (Sayid, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan) period of Somali history, the camel corps grew to include some seven-hundred mounted riders. The corps served gallantly against this Somali bandit. But, after four major campaigns to capture him, Hassan remained on the loose. During the same period, the corps set an impressive standard by covering one-hundred-and-fifty miles in seventy-two hours.

In 1920, a combined British land and air offensive -- which included the Somaliland Camel Corps, Somaliland Police, elements from the 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion and 6th (Somaliland) Battalion of the King's African Rifles (KAR) finally defeated Hassan's army. Despite this defeat, many Somalis continued to hail Hassan as a warrior hero and he remains the source of modern Somali nationalism.

During the period between World War I and World War II, the Somaliland Camel Corps was re-configured to better defend the colony in case of a future war. Colonel Arthur Reginald Chater of the Royal Marines was placed in command of a slightly smaller corps of five-hundred troopers. Like many other colonial unit, the Somaliland Camel Corps had a British officer. In the late 1930s, the corps was givien nine-hundred British pounds to build pillboxes and reserve water tanks.

In September 1939, the Somaliland Camel Corps had a total strength of fourteen British officers, one British non-commissioned officer, and five-hundred-and-fifty-four non-European other ranks. Initially, the corps was placed under the garrison commander of French Somaliland. The Somaliland Camel Corps fought alongside units of the KAR and the Northern Rhodesian Regiment. The Somaliland Camel Corps' four companies were split among five different locations in the colony. Only "A" Company retained its camels. The other companies had become infantry units.

Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief of the Middle East Command, was apalled by the under-equipped force that was supposed to defend an entire colony. As a result of his concern, in 1940, the unit was partially mechanized and further defenses were built. But, before the upgrades could be completed, the funds dried up.

World War II

At the beginning of the East African Campaign, the Somaliland Camel Corps only had a total of one-thousand-four-hundred-and-seventy-five men to defend the colony. This number includes a battalion of the Northern Rhodesian Regiment. Reinforcements were eventually sent in a vain hope to stop the Italian invasion.

During the Italian invasion of British Somaliland, the Somaliland Camel Corps skirmished and screened the attacking force along the border before pulling back to more defensible poistions. At Observation Hill, the corps made a formidable stand. One of its officers, Captain Eric Charles Twelves Wilson of the East Surreys, received a Victoria Cross (VC) for his use of a machine gun during the defense. Despite wounds, malaria, and having several guns destroyed out from under him, he stayed at his post. Wilson was the only VC recipient during the Italian invasion of British Somaliland and his was the only VC ever earned in Somalia. Only six other VCs were issued for operations in East Africa. Luckily for Wilson, he was later found alive in an Italian prisoner of war camp.

However, despite a spirted defense, the British were over-matched and withdrew from Berbera on 17 August 1941. With the final withdrawal, most of the Somali troops of the Somaliland Camel Corps were disbanded.

On 16 March 1941, less than one year from the date of withdrawal, the British returned to the colony. Soon afterwards the Somaliland Camel Corps was re-founded. By 18 April, the unit was at about 80% of its former strength. The camel corps spent the following months rounding up stray Italians and policing against local bandits.

In 1942, the Somaliland Camel Corps did become a mechanized regiment. For some time there were plans to send the unit to Burma. But, after several mutinies in 1943, the unit was disbanded for good.

Organization

In 1939, on the brink of war, the Somaliland Camel Corps was organized as follows:

Headquarters and Headquarters Company, The Somaliland Camel Corps: Laferug
A- (Camel) Company: Hargeisa
B- (Nyasa Infantry) Company: Tug Argen
C- Company: Burao
D- Company: Tug Argen (Less 2 Platoons at Sheik)

Uniform

The troopers of the Somaliland Camel Corps had a distinctive dress which was based on the standard British Army khaki drill, but included a knitted woolen pullover and drill patches on the shoulders. Shorts were worn with woolen socks on puttees and chaplis, boots or bare feet. Equipment consisted of a leather ammunition bandolier and a leather waist belt. The officers wore sun helmets and khaki drill uniforms. Other ranks wore a kullah with puggree which ended in a long tail which hung down the back.

wikipedia

Many of the other Peace Corps volunteers were jealous because they did not have a tribe by Jeanne

2008-04-29T23:17:00.003+01:00

Ali was my protector from the very first day I came to live in Arabsiyo. I was 22, I didn’t speak very much Somali and I was alone. No other Peace Corps volunteers came to live in Arabsiyo

It was with deep sadness that I have heard of the death of Ali Hanfi. Part of my sorrow was the thought that I might never return to Somaliland. I heard from friends who have visited Arabsiyo that Ali still remembered me and it has been 40 years since I lived there. Somehow, as long as Ali was alive I thought I would be able to go back. Time and trouble make this more and more unlikely as I get older and it is more difficult to travel and now that Ali is gone I fear it may never happen.

Ali was my protector from the very first day I came to live in Arabsiyo. I was 22, I didn’t speak very much Somali and I was alone. No other Peace Corps volunteers came to live in Arabsiyo. Many people in town said they surprised that a young woman would live without the protection of her father and brothers in a far away country but Ali Hanfi did something about it. He decided I should be a Sa’Ad Musa and have the protection of his tribe. He announced one day that I was Sa’Ad Musa and I have been proud of this my whole life. Many of the other Peace Corps volunteers were jealous because they did not have a tribe. Since Ali had decided this, there was little discussion and people accepted it. Some afternoons after we taught at the school, Abdirahman Subti, one of the teachers, and I would walk back to town through the wadi. If a nomad came to state at me, Subti would tell them that I was Sa’Ad Musa and that I was actually his sister. “It was quite a surprise to my mother that her skin is white like that!” he would tell them. The nomads would point and stare even harder in disbelief at this strange brother and sister. Perhaps a djinn did this they would say shaking their heads.

Ali also took care of the food and other supplies that I needed. I would go into his shop at the edge of town and point to whatever I needed. A bottle of kerosene for my lamp, some soap to wash my clothes, a packet of tea, spices and sugar. Ali would write down what each item cost and keep the little papers in a sack. Every month or so, he would come to my house with one of his sons and they would add up all the amounts. I tried at first to add the long list of numbers myself- but I never came up with the same amount twice. I have never been very good a math. Eventually I paid Ali whatever he said I owed him. He was an honest man and I trusted whatever he said.

I had a machine that could make copies of papers for my students at the school. The machine used a special paper and spirits. Sometimes it was hard for me to find spirits because the machine used a whole bottle to make one set of copies and I would go from store to store to see who had any I could buy. One night Ali Hanfi and several of the village elders came to my house. They said that I seemed sad to be living so far from my family. I told them I was happy to be in Arabsiyo. Ali explained that they had noticed that I was buying all of the spirits and they thought I was drinking it. They had come to warn me that I would go blind from drinking pure alcohol spirits. I laughed very hard and invited them to the school to see how I could make copies for my students with the alcohol spirits.

Ali took care of me when I was a helpless stranger and I will always remember this honest, thoughtful and powerful man with gratitude and love. I will continue to hope that someday I will return to Arabisiyo, even though Ali Hanfi will be in paradise.

prepared by professor of Jeanne Dhaem

Source: Gabiley Net

Founder member Henry Allingham on the RAF at 90

2008-04-29T23:14:00.001+01:00

Henry Allingham

It is 90 years today since the first Royal Air Force plane took to the skies. Henry Allingham, who at 111 years old is the only surviving founding member of the RAF, will be the guest of honour at RAF Odiham, Hampshire, to mark the anniversary. Here, with remarkable clarity for a man his great age, he tells Matt Roper of those early days.

By Matt Roper

1 April 2008

'I actually took my first flight three years earlier in 1915 and over all these years I remember it like yesterday.

It was still the Royal Naval Air Service then and I was the engineer in an Avro 504 biplane flying a reconnaissance mission over the North Sea.

This was only a dozen years after the Wright brothers flew the first plane, so it was the most amazing adventure for a young bloke like me.

It was so noisy, I do remember the deafening throb and the chap on the ground shouting "Chocks away!"

Then we were up, the freezing wind gushing past my face as we climbed steeply, my heart in my stomach as we banked.

My pilot and I had left Great Yarmouth armed with a rifle, two pigeons, and just enough fuel to get us to the Dutch coast and back again.

The pigeons were there for if we crashed - they would fly back to base with the message. The rifles were in case we saw the enemy... we had no built-in guns, so we would just have to fire from the cockpit.

To be honest, all the planes were so flimsy and unpredictable that both British and German pilots would immediately turn back rather than face each other in the skies.

With just a small windshield to protect us, we wore scarves and sheepskin and smeared Vaseline on our faces. Even so, it was still bitterly cold and I wished I'd wrapped up warmer.

But I remember getting back on the ground and just itching to take off again.

I'd enlisted as a mechanic in September 1915 and joined the Royal Naval Air Service at Great Yarmouth, one of 14 new recruits.

When I joined up lots of people doubted that air power would ever be any use.

Even General Haig though it's only use was for reconnaissance. From our first day, we set out to prove the doubters wrong.

I was involved in everything from repairing and maintaining the aircraft, pulling up seaplanes from the water's edge and helping night landings by using rows of flares to light up the runway.

In September 1917, after graduating as an Air Mechanic, I was posted to the Western Front where my job was recovering planes - often under sniper fire - that had been shot down.

But I most looked forward to the occasions when I would go up in the planes, flying off into the North Sea to look for enemy ships.

Some of the pilots were real Jack the Lads... I once helped strap one into his plane so he wouldn't fall out when he looped the looped - an offence that was punishable by court martial. Even then, I knew airplanes would play a major part in the military history of our country.

But in the end it was the raids by German bombers across London and Kent in 1917 that persuaded the powers-that-be that Britain needed a proper air force.

I read later that Lloyd George said: "Every time the Germans raid London, British airmen must blot out a German town."

A year later the RAF was formed with Hugh Trenchard as its first commander and I was proud to transfer across on April 1, 1918.

Without those early days and our scrappy little biplanes, the Second World War couldn't have been won.

It was wonderful to have been part of it.'

1918-2008 THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

Apr 1, 1918: The Royal Air Force is formed by merging the RFC and RNAS. First mission is carried out by 22 Squadron. Women's Royal Air Force formed but disbanded two years later.

May 13, 1918: The Independent Force, RAF is created - world's first air force not controlled by an army or navy.

Jan-Nov 1918: The RAF destroy 2,953 enemy aircraft.

Nov 11, 1918: At the end of WWI the RAF is largest air force in the world with 27,333 officers, 263,837 other ranks and 22,647 aircraft.

Feb 1920: RAF aircraft acting with the Somaliland Camel Corps overthrow Somali's "Mad Mullah".

March-May, 1925: The RAF's first independent air action, bombing the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in Waziristan.

Dec 23, 1928: The world's first air evacuation is carried out by the RAF when the British Legation in Kabul is flown to safety.

June 1939: Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), later the Women's Royal Air Force, is instituted.

July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain begins.

Sept 1940: 554 German planes downed by Spitfires and Hurricanes as the Luftwaffe fails to gain air superiority over Britain.

May 17, 1943: Eighteen Lancasters take part in the famous "bouncing bomb" Dambusters raid. Only 11 return.

Oct 31, 1956: Canberras bomb airfields on the first night of Suez War's air campaign.

30 April, 1982: Operation Black Buck. Vulcan bombers go on the first raids on Argentine positions in the Falklands.

1994: RAF and WRAF merge.

1991: RAF pilot Lt John Peters and navigator John Nichol (right) are shot down and captured by Iraq. They are released at the end of the war. Sept 2, 2006: Fourteen RAF personnel killed when a Nimrod surveillance plane crashes in Afghanistan in 2006.

42,000 The current strength of the RAF.

1,452 mph. The top speed of the Tornado, the RAF's main strike plane.

55,000 bomber personnel killed over Europe 1939-45.

13 nationalities that served in the RAF in WW2. They included Irish, Poles, Americans and Belgians.

Source: The Mirror (UK)

http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2008/324/140.shtml