#aden protectorate

[mostly-history]

A British combined services police patrol in Crater (Aden Protectorate, c. 1963).

Towards the mid-1960s, stop and search operations were conducted in order to identify rebels and prevent the regular transportation of weapons.  British soldiers took on the role of police, conducting regular patrols of Aden's streets, originally on foot and later in armoured cars.  Their methods were harsh, and patrols were often ambushed or attacked with rocks.

[silentambassadors]

Having just spoken about the Colony of Aden, let’s take a moment to discuss the Aden Protectorate.  As most of us (should) know, the far reaches of the colonial powers, particularly the British Empire, were only slowly, and often only tacitly, brought under British rule in a haphazard, often bizarre process.  The southern hinterland of the Arabian peninsula is one of the most remote lands on earth - not so much by distance from other areas (the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea are never terribly far), but the sheer nature of the Hadhramaut, and its desolate Empty Quarter, made southern Arabia and its small sultanates a constantly shifting geopolitical expanse.  Aden, as a port city, was much easier to pigeonhole, but Aden Protectorate was variously divided into two, 13, or even 27 different polities, before finally being subsumed into either the Federation or Protectorate of South Arabia in 1963.  [For a look at the Empty Quarter during some of these years from the perspective of an intrepid British lady adventuress, read Freya Stark - The Southern Gates of Arabia: A Journey in the Hadhramaut or A Winter in Arabia, or, really, anything by her.]

Stamp details: Top left: Issued in: 1942 From: Say'un, Kathiri State of Seiyun in Hadhramaut MC #6

Top right: Issued in: 1942 From: Mukalla, Qu'aiti Sultanate of Shihr and Mukalla MC #5

Middle stamp: Issued on: September 30, 1967 From: Mahjaba, State of Upper Yafa MC #1

Stamp on bottom: Issued on: March 12, 1967 From: Qishn, Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra MC #1

Recognized as a sovereign state by the UN: No Claimed by: The Republic of Yemen Member of the Universal Postal Union: No

[mostly-history]

A foot patrol of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry moves through a bazaar in Tawahi (Aden Protectorate, 1965).

By the early 1960s, nationalist groups within the Aden Protectorate, and from neighbouring Yemen, were threatening British security. After Britain's defeat in the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Egyptian Prime Minister Yasser Arafat, supported by the Soviet Union, began training and supplying Yemeni and nationalist fighters, to push the British out of the region.

[mostly-history]

Lieutenant Colonel “Dai” Morgan, Commanding Officer of 42 Royal Marine Commando, arrives on board the HMS Albion by Wasp helicopter shortly after 3pm (Aden Protectorate, November 29th, 1967).  Morgan was the last British serviceman to leave Aden in the evacuation that ended the Aden Emergency.

[mostly-history]

Sir Humphrey Trevelyan, the High Commissioner of Aden, boards an RAF plane at RAF Khormaksar after a short handover ceremony (November 28th, 1967).

British forces had withdrawn from the outer parts of the country by June 1967.  The National Liberation Front moved in after them, taking control of those areas, and by August they were in charge of twelve states.

In September, the Federal government ceased to exist, and Trevelyan sought negotiations with the nationalist groups over Britain's withdrawal.  But the NLF increased their attacks against the British, and the evacuation had to be sped up.  Trevelyan, and the British government, left Aden from RAF Khormaksar on November 28th, 1967.

[mostly-history]

Metal FLOSY stencil (1966 – 67?)

The National Liberation Front, a radical movement with the goal of driving Britain out of what they called South Yemen, was established in 1962.  They were organized around a secret cell structure that, unknown to the British, was able to operate in all levels of local government.

In 1966, Egypt formed the Federation for the Liberation of South Yemen (FLOSY) in an attempt to unify nationalist groups.  However, some elements of the NLF opposed FLOSY, which created tensions between the two groups.