About the Book
September, 1962, Middle East: A lightning coup dtat is launched in the Yemen, backed by that scourge of the British at Suez six years earlier, the Egyptian president Nasser. A primitive nation descends into civil war. British interests in the region are threatened.
March, 1963, London: A coterie of distinguished political and military figures sip brandies in Whites Club on St. Jamess Street, discussing the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. A call is made to one Colonel Jim Johnson, an ex SAS officer of fine standing, and a favour is asked. Would he mind awfully sorting out this problem in the Yemen?
Well, yes, Johnson replies Ive nothing particular to do in the next few days. I might have a go.
So began one of the most secretive and wholly deniable campaigns that the British waged in the 20th century. Johnson arranged for a few British mercenaries to travel to the harsh mountains of the Yemen to arm, train and lead Royalist tribesmen in their fight against a 70,000-strong contingent of Egyptian soldiers. It was one of the most uneven running battles ever fought. The Egyptians fielded a huge, professionally-trained army and a modern air force. The British, living in flea-infested caves, frequently bombed with high explosive and poison gas, galvanised a ragtag force of tribal warriors so tenaciously that in the end Nasser lost more than 20,000 men and declared that the Yemen had been his Vietnam.
This is the first full account of the covert war an adventure-packed story told with huge panache and flair, based on the journals, letters and interviews with surviving soldiers and orchestrators of the campaign.
Also by Duff Hart-Davis
Earlier books include:
Ascension: the Story of a South Atlantic Island
Peter Fleming
Monarchs of the Glen
Hitlers Games: the 1936 Olympics
Armada
Wildings: the Secret Garden of Eileen Soper
When the Country Went to Town
Raoul Millais
Audubons Elephant
Fauna Britannica
Philip de Laszlo
As Editor:
End of an Era: the Letters and Journals of Sir Alan Lascelles: 1887-1920
In Royal Service: the Letters and Journals of Sir Alan Lascelles: 1920-1929
Kings Counsellor: the Letters and Journals of Sir Alan Lascelles: 1936-1952
Novels:
The Megacull
The Gold of St Matthew
Spider in the Morning
The Heights of Rimring
Level Five
Fire Falcon
The Man-Eater of Jassapur
Horses of War
THE WAR THAT NEVER WAS
THE TRUE STORY OF THE MEN WHO FOUGHT BRITAINS MOST SECRET BATTLE
Duff Hart-Davis
For Jan Johnson and her family
Authors Note
It was Jim Johnson who first suggested that I should write this book. He and I talked over the possibility some time during the 1990s, but he decided that it was still too soon to tell the story of the unattributable campaign waged by his private army in the Yemen from 1963 to 1967. Then in 2006 he made contact again, and I went to see him at his cottage in Wiltshire, where I met Tony Boyle, who had worked as his second-in-command during the war. At my behest Jim and Tony began to talk about their operation, and I recorded their conversation. But after an hour or so I stopped them and said, This is ridiculous. Ive never been to the Yemen, and I know hardly any of the people who were involved. Tony was there throughout and is familiar with every aspect of the story. Far better that he should write the book.
So it was agreed, and he began work. He already had in his possession files containing reports, cables, radio messages and correspondence generated during the war, and over the next two years he went to great lengths to amass further material, seeking out the diaries, tapes and logbooks of survivors, and collecting relevant published books. He drafted some parts of the story, concentrating on Aden (where he himself had worked at the outset) and on the Emirates of the South Arabian Federation. In his mind were all the details of the ultra-secret Israeli parachute-drops of weapons and ammunition, which he himself (a former fast-jet pilot) had organised.
Then, alas, in May 2008 Tony died suddenly of a heart-attack at the age of only seventy-three, and in due course I was asked to take the book over. Jim outlived him by less than two months, dying on 20 July 2008 after a long illness, aged eighty-three.
It should be emphasised that the campaign in the Yemen was not an official SAS operation. On the contrary: it was entirely unofficial, it had no name and it was denied by the British Government. Although most of the men who took part had been in 21 SAS (the territorial regiment) or 22 SAS (in which personnel serve full-time) all were either on leave or had been granted leave of absence from the regiment for the duration of their tours. The regiment did not organise the campaign, and Her Majestys Government (hereafter known as HMG) did not pay for it.
In most of the narrative I have used Christian names, for the mercenary force was so small that this was how its members knew each other. I am enormously indebted to Tony Boyle for his painstaking research, and to the executors of his estate for entrusting me with the papers that he assembled. These led me to numerous survivors of the operation, among them Fiona Allen (formerly Fraser), David Bailey, Mick Facer, Philip Horniblow, Alastair Macmillan, Jack Miller, Bernard Mills, Frank Smith and Kerry Stone, all of whom I should like to thank for their cooperation. I am most grateful to Nahum Admoni, Brian Cluer, Sultan Ghalib al-Quaiti, John Harding, David Harrington, James Nash, Arieh Oz and Stephen Walton (Archivist at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford), for help of various kinds; and to the following for permission to publish extracts from family books and papers: Ben Cooper, Alexander Kennedy, Jack Miller, Christl Pearson, Xan Smiley and Michael Woodhouse. I owe particular thanks to Jims widow, Jan, and to his children, Rupert and Lottie, for entrusting me with their family memories.
Sources
Much of the material in this narrative is taken from the archive of reports, letters, diaries, logbooks and other documents amassed by Jim Johnson and Tony Boyle during the covert operation in the Yemen. The papers are still in private hands; and because they had not been numbered or indexed at the time of writing, it was not possible to give individual references for passages quoted.
Other primary sources
The National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office) at Kew. Records available under the 30-year rule include documents with the following prefixes:
| CAB | Cabinet Office |
| CO | Colonial Office |
| DEFE | Ministry of Defence |
| FO | Foreign Office |
| MINT | Mint |
| PREM | Prime Ministers Office |
| WO | War Office |
Imperial War Museum, Duxford
Papers of Lieutenant Colonel Neil (Billy) McLean. Many of these are duplicated in the Johnson/Boyle private archive.
Dramatis Personae
With approximate ages (if known) in 1963
The Saudis
generally in Riyadh (the capital) or Jeddah
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