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The Aden Emergency 1963-67, is another one of those forgotten conflicts that marked the end of the British Empire.

Over 90 British servicemen were killed and 500 wounded in a 4-year war that not only has been largely forgotten but which Britain never really wanted to fight in the first place.

It brought to the end, the 128-year British rule on this southern tip of the Arabian Peninsular.

It also brought to the fore a maverick British Army officer, Lt. Colonel Colin Mitchell, dubbed by the press “Mad Mitch”.

 I wanted to tell this story because my dad served in Aden, although just before the emergency, and was constantly humming the pipe tune “The Barren Rocks of Aden”.

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