Book Review of
The War in Northern Oman
Muscat & the Sultanate of Oman, 1954-1982
Author: Peter Shergold
Middle East @ War Series No 34
Helion & Co. Ltd.
ISBN: 978-1-913336-33-2
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-913336-33-2
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $29.95
HISTORY:
The war fought in Northern Oman from 1954 until the mid-1960s is almost completely forgotten. Even amongst contemporary military historians, it is considered less frequently than the subsequent – and widely published – Dhofar War.Though “small”, it was a conflict of crucial importance for the nations on the South-eastern side of the Arab Peninsula.
While usually thought to have been fought - and won – exclusively by special forces, capacity building, and training of native forces, a clearer look reveals an entirely different picture. The victory and lasting peace were actually secured by a conventional military campaign dominated by offensive operations, followed by an entirely separate civilian development programme. The role of special forces was over-emphasised – not only in regards of their impact – while the insurgency was suppressed by punitive means, and the capacity building remained limited during the war.
It was only once offensive operations were completed that the development programme contributed to the lasting peace. This peace , in turn, would have been impossible without the conventional military campaign. As such, this “small” conflict proved of crucial importance for the nation on the South-eastern side of the Arab Peninsula.
The War in Northern Oman provides a detailed account of the political dynamics which led to the eruption of violence, but foremost examines the use of force, the wider conventional military campaign, operations by special forces, military-capacity building . Moreover, it emphasizes the process of reconciliation and international engagement
Based on extensive research in official documentation, and including numerous personal testimonies, this volume – richly illustrated by photographs provided by veterans – provides exclusive coverage of one of very few wars in which a grass-roots insurgency suffered a clear-cut military defeat.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 56 pages (one of which is blank) in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format
The orange cover has a black and white photo across the center that shows a crew atop the wall of a fort firing old muzzle-loading cannons as a salute in Muscat.
Below the photo there is a color side-view of a Venom FR.Mk. 1 jet fighter, that was rotated by the RAF to Sharjah Airport during the war.
It is overall medium-grey, with yellow wing tip tanks, yellow letter “R” on the sides of its nose, a wreath with a crown on it logo on the wing tip tank.
Fuselage code is four diagonal yellow bars=roundel=four more yellow bars and black WR531 and a red, white and blue vertical flash on the rudder.
The book contains 6 maps, a poster requesting enlistment, 8 pages of NOTES at the end of the book, 6 color photos, 62 black and white ones and 11 color profiles.
The black and white photos show, light-aircrafts, jeeps, combatants, forts etc. The color photos also show combatants (one with a horse) jeeps, and aircraft and forts again.
The color profiles show:
A 15th/19th Hussars-deployed Ferret armoured car. That is overall dark green.
A Land-rover jeep. Also overall dark green.
A Bedford SCL truck, also overall dark green.
A 25 pounder field gun, again overall dark green.
An image of:
A standing bare-chested British soldier wearing a brimmed cloth hat, shorts and black knee-socks. He is standing and leaning on his rifle.
A standing Sultan Princes Guard soldier, wearing a white uniform with baggy pants that are bloused over black socks, shoulder straps across his chest, ammo belt with a curved dagger on it and a turban on his head. He too is leaning on his rifle.
A standing sniper from the 22 SAS Regiment, He wears a green cloth side cap, camouflage jacket, white belt and green trousers. He is holding his rifle with both hands,
A seated soldier of the Northern Frontier Regiment. He wears a tan uniform with short sleeves, a white cloth rimmed hat and is holding his machine gun,
The Venom shown on the cover art of the book is next (already described above)
A side-view profile of a Avro Shackleton is shown. It has a white spine over jet-black body. Fuselage no. is red 37 outlined in yellow, with British roundel and vertical red,white and blue flash on rudder.
A side-view of a DeHavilland of Canada DHC-2 Beaver AL.Mk. 1. It is overall white with a black anti-glare panel in front of the windshield, a black nose with a black stripe extending from it down the side of the fuselage. Black serial no. XR215 on fuselage sides and a black shield with white crossed swords on it on the rudder.
This is a nice photo album about the war. It will be of more interest to military historians than modelers however.
I wish to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Helion books and all Helion titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The war fought in Northern Oman from 1954 until the mid-1960s is almost completely forgotten. Even amongst contemporary military historians, it is considered less frequently than the subsequent – and widely published – Dhofar War.Though “small”, it was a conflict of crucial importance for the nations on the South-eastern side of the Arab Peninsula.
While usually thought to have been fought - and won – exclusively by special forces, capacity building, and training of native forces, a clearer look reveals an entirely different picture. The victory and lasting peace were actually secured by a conventional military campaign dominated by offensive operations, followed by an entirely separate civilian development programme. The role of special forces was over-emphasised – not only in regards of their impact – while the insurgency was suppressed by punitive means, and the capacity building remained limited during the war.
It was only once offensive operations were completed that the development programme contributed to the lasting peace. This peace , in turn, would have been impossible without the conventional military campaign. As such, this “small” conflict proved of crucial importance for the nation on the South-eastern side of the Arab Peninsula.
The War in Northern Oman provides a detailed account of the political dynamics which led to the eruption of violence, but foremost examines the use of force, the wider conventional military campaign, operations by special forces, military-capacity building . Moreover, it emphasizes the process of reconciliation and international engagement
Based on extensive research in official documentation, and including numerous personal testimonies, this volume – richly illustrated by photographs provided by veterans – provides exclusive coverage of one of very few wars in which a grass-roots insurgency suffered a clear-cut military defeat.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 56 pages (one of which is blank) in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format
The orange cover has a black and white photo across the center that shows a crew atop the wall of a fort firing old muzzle-loading cannons as a salute in Muscat.
Below the photo there is a color side-view of a Venom FR.Mk. 1 jet fighter, that was rotated by the RAF to Sharjah Airport during the war.
It is overall medium-grey, with yellow wing tip tanks, yellow letter “R” on the sides of its nose, a wreath with a crown on it logo on the wing tip tank.
Fuselage code is four diagonal yellow bars=roundel=four more yellow bars and black WR531 and a red, white and blue vertical flash on the rudder.
The book contains 6 maps, a poster requesting enlistment, 8 pages of NOTES at the end of the book, 6 color photos, 62 black and white ones and 11 color profiles.
The black and white photos show, light-aircrafts, jeeps, combatants, forts etc. The color photos also show combatants (one with a horse) jeeps, and aircraft and forts again.
The color profiles show:
A 15th/19th Hussars-deployed Ferret armoured car. That is overall dark green.
A Land-rover jeep. Also overall dark green.
A Bedford SCL truck, also overall dark green.
A 25 pounder field gun, again overall dark green.
An image of:
A standing bare-chested British soldier wearing a brimmed cloth hat, shorts and black knee-socks. He is standing and leaning on his rifle.
A standing Sultan Princes Guard soldier, wearing a white uniform with baggy pants that are bloused over black socks, shoulder straps across his chest, ammo belt with a curved dagger on it and a turban on his head. He too is leaning on his rifle.
A standing sniper from the 22 SAS Regiment, He wears a green cloth side cap, camouflage jacket, white belt and green trousers. He is holding his rifle with both hands,
A seated soldier of the Northern Frontier Regiment. He wears a tan uniform with short sleeves, a white cloth rimmed hat and is holding his machine gun,
The Venom shown on the cover art of the book is next (already described above)
A side-view profile of a Avro Shackleton is shown. It has a white spine over jet-black body. Fuselage no. is red 37 outlined in yellow, with British roundel and vertical red,white and blue flash on rudder.
A side-view of a DeHavilland of Canada DHC-2 Beaver AL.Mk. 1. It is overall white with a black anti-glare panel in front of the windshield, a black nose with a black stripe extending from it down the side of the fuselage. Black serial no. XR215 on fuselage sides and a black shield with white crossed swords on it on the rudder.
This is a nice photo album about the war. It will be of more interest to military historians than modelers however.
I wish to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Helion books and all Helion titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Recommended.