Cliff Lord served in Britain’s Royal Signals during the 1960s as a cipher operator in England, Germany and on active service in Aden and the East Aden Protectorate. After the Army, Cliff worked in Paris for the Washington Post and later moved to New Zealand working as a computer operator, a communications network controller for Air New Zealand, and Team Leader International Operations for the Southern Cross fiber optics trans-pacific cable before retiring. He is Honorary Historian for Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals. Cliff has written nine books on military history and insignia.

The late David Birtles died before the second edition came out. David was a keen collector of Aden badges and Aden history. He served for a few years in the Merchant Navy before joining Royal Signals. He was posted to Aden in 1960 and spent a period of time serving with the Aden Protectorate Levies. After leaving the army, he became active in security and owned his own company. He was also involved in driving and motorcycle instruction, in addition to police dog training and handler instruction.

Helion’s latest book in the Middle East @ War series is a square back soft cover includes 104 gloss paper pages. The cover color photograph features a Douglas R4D-1 operated by Aden Airways under the registration of VR-AAN [A smaller photograph can be found on page 44xi]. This photo was taken in 1961 at Ataq Airstrip with FNG officers and men in the foreground. Unfortunately, this aircraft was blown out of the sky when a bomb went off in the passenger cabin at 6,000 feet about 20 minutes after take-off from Mayfa’ah, Yemen, on November 22, 1966. 30 people died, including the crew. The color profile by Tom Cooper is of a Hawker Hunter FR Mk 9. The rear cover features color illustrations by David Bocquelet. The top is a Canadian Otter armored car of the 4001 Flight of the RAF. Below that is a front and side view of a HBL Land Rover. I counted 29 color pictures and 203 black and white photographs. There also six color side aircraft profiles by Tom Cooper, six black and white maps and one color map. David Bocquelet contributes six color side AFV profiles along with three scrap views. David Birtles and Renato Dalmaso add 24 color illustrations of personnel highlighting uniform colors.

This is the Third Edition of Cliff Lord and the late David Birtles on the Aden Protectorate Armed Forces under British rule. The East India Company’s Navy occupied Aden in January 1839 due to its excellent natural harbor near the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Britain announced it would relinquish control on November 29, 1967, where the battle for the control of what is now known as Yemen began. The authors’ painstaking review of all the military and police forces during this time period is presented, providing individual unit histories that encompass WWI, WWII, and the increasing tribal conflict to hold power when the British left. This includes details on uniforms, badges, medals, awards, and equipment of the plethora of units, notably locally raised forces.

The sections include:

• Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Preface for the Revised Second Edition
• Introduction
  • Treaties of Protection
  • Advisory Treaties
  • States with Advisory Treaties with Britain [Table 1]
  • The States of the Federation of South Arabia in 1967 [Table 2]

1. Evolution of the Military and Political Forces in Aden
   • The Annexation of Aden
   • Operation in the Aden Hinterland and the Anglo-Turkish Boundary Commission
   • British Military Forces in Aden 1914 – 1919
   • The War in Aden
   • Military Railway
   • Units That Served in Aden in 1914 – 1919
   • Royal Naval Air Service in the Protectorate
   • Aden Command (Royal Air Force) 1928
   • Air Control
   • British Military Forces in Aden 1939 – 45 [Table 3]
   • British Military Forces in Aden 1939
   • Post-Second World War: 1945 – 1963 [Page 16]
   • British Military Forces in Aden 1964 – 67 (The State of Emergency)
   • The Withdrawal From Aden
   • Royal Navy Warships at the Evacuation of Aden in 1967 [Table 4]
2. The Armed Forces of Aden
   • 1st Yemen Infantry
   • Uniform
   • 23 (Fortress) Company, Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners
   • 45 (Aden) Rifles
   • 90 Company Royal Army Service Corps
   • 633 Squadron Army Air Corps
   • 1401 (Aden) Company, Pioneer Corps
   • 1402 (Aden) Company, Pioneer Corps
   • 1422 (Sultan Saleh’s Hadhramaut) Company Pioneer Corps
   • Aden Air Raid Precautions (ARP)
   • Aden Defence Light Section, Indian Submarine Corps
   • Aden Home Guard
   • Aden Labour Corps
   • Aden Ordnance Depot
   • Aden Police
   • Shurtat AND
   • Aden Protectorate Levies
   • Jaish Mahmiyyat AND
   • Masirah Detachment
   • Aden Guards
   • Camel Troop
   • Armoured Cars
   • Aden Armoured Car Section & 4001 Flight Armoured Fighting Vehicles Establishment 1928 – 1950 [Table 5]
   • Aden Transport Company
   • Aden Troops
   • Counter Intelligence Company Aden
   • Desert Guards
   • Federal National Guard
   • Federal Regular Army [Page 37]
   • Government Guards
   • Titles and Badges of Rank for the Government Guard [Table 7]
   • Hadhrami Bedouin Legion
   • Kathiri Armed Constabulary
   • Lahej Police
   • Lahej Trained Forces
   • Composition of the Lahej Trained Forces in September 1940 [Table 9]
   • Mahra Tribal Guard
   • Military Assistant to the Resident Advisor (Mara), Eastern Aden Protectorate
   • Mukalla Prison Police
   • Mukalla Regular Army [Page 53]
   • Qu’aiti Armed Forces Ranks [Table 10]
   • Qu’aiti Sultans [Table 11]
   • Qu’aiti Armed Constabulary
   • Riyan Guards
   • Royal Air Force
   • RAF Units Were Based in South Arabia [Table 12]
   • RAF Squadrons in Aden, 1956 [Table 13]
   • Operational Units Permanently Located at RAF Khormaksar, 1 January 1964 [Table 14]
   • 8 Squadron Royal Air Force Aden [Page 60]
   • RAF Squadrons and Flights were Based in Aden [Table 15]
   • Royal Air Force Regiment in Aden
   • RAF Regiment in Aden [Table 16]
   • Royal Navy
   • Royal Signals
   • School for the Improvement of Army Units
   • South Arabian Army
   • South Arabian Police
   • Sultan Awadh Bin Omer’s Arab Regiment
   • Tribal Guard
   • Wahidi Tribal Guard

• Color Profiles [Page 44ix]

3. Badges and Insignia of the Police and Armed Forces of Aden
4. Awards, Orders, Decorations and Medals
   • Awards of the Abdali Sultanate of Lahej
   • Awards of the Qu’aiti Sultanate of Hadhramaut
   • British General Service and Campaign Service Medals

• Appendix I: Vocabulary Used by the South Arabian Military Forces
• Appendix II: British and Indian Regiments and Units that Served in Aden
• Appendix III: British Residents and Political Agents at Aden [Table 17]
• Bibliography