Soldier in the Sun (1964) Aden/Yemen BBC

From 1964, this "informational programme" follows the British Army in Aden (Yemen) during the state of emergency in 1964.
Aden was one of the last outposts of the British Empire and a strategic part of the Arabian Gulf guarding access to the Suez Canal. The British colony had become a hotbed of insurgency, supported by Egypt. The film follows British (occuypying) troops as they try to keep order in an increasingly violent mountainous region from where the insurgents regularly attack the Port area.

[@andrewpagella9941]

what memories this made ,lived in aden 1960 -65 dad was in RAF and also worked at AFBA the forces radio station

[@angloaust1575]

Im glad i wasnt there! I even missed out on the draft In 1966 when australia sent troops to vietnam!

[@horatiohornblower4123]

My Grandad was a Corporal in the RAOC there for 2 years from 1964-1966. Cheers.

[@sandycatanach]

I was a British infantryman there in 1960/61.

[@abdaljalh99]

Another murder

[@sandycatanach]

@@abdaljalh99 What does this mean?

[@abdaljalh99]

@@sandycatanach all the British who were in great Britain army in Aden during the revolution were evil killers who destroyed villages and killed old people, women and children, Britains weren't as good as BBC would lie about it, they were more to a more beautiful version of the Nazis back in the 60s to all other racists, maybe better than French but still bad too.

[@sandycatanach]

@@abdaljalh99 Very interesting, when were you in Aden?

[@abwshamsalgabri7789]

@@sandycatanach I am from Aden Al Mualla

[@cobbler1539]

We were there as a family with my father in R.E.M.E ‘65-‘67, it’s quite something to watch this now to understand what was going on when I was just a child. Thank you for uploading.

[@Mango62uk]

Thanks for that. It's always amazing when people who lived through these events comment on them. If you have any pix, videos etc, why not upload them to KZbin?

[@cobbler1539]

Thank you@@Mango62uk , some photos of the quarters & leisure on the beach (too hot to walk on as a child!), a nice idea to think about.

[@Mango62uk]

I wanted to add, someone somewhere will be offended by your pix - just be prepared :) Best thing to do is block them and tell 'em to bugger off :)

[@cobbler1539]

@@Mango62uk many thanks for that pearl! It staggers me some of the comments on here, it’s clear what the video’s about so they really shouldn’t have watched it. Stay strong & best wishes.

[@Mango62uk]

@@cobbler1539 Actually most of the comments on my "Rome" and "Death of Stalin" clips are actually really good. i.e. knowledgeable people sharing their info. And for more good comments, check out the Synth Britannia and Krautrock documentaries. So, there are good people, but trolls are a fact of life! :)

[@williamfitch1408]

Thanks for posting. My old man was out there with the air force.

[@Mango62uk]

Glad you liked it!

[@mhassan2969]

Hello dear, it is very interesting to see all this memories from long time ago. It was not really klear what is going on. Actually till this day still a lot of problems over thier. I'm from Radfan living in the EU right now. I would like to have contact with you guys who was there at that time. We can remember that times together and share some vedios and photos from radfan from now and the past. Kind of regards

[@williamfitch1408]

@@mhassan2969 It was my dad who was over there, not me.

[@mhassan2969]

@@williamfitch1408 please send my regards to him☺️

[@hamadgamal4902]

you fall of shit

[@LawrenceRowe-lo2iy]

I WAS PROBALY ON THAT CONVOY UP COUNTY ROUGH DAYS

[@Richard500]

I was lucky, my first overseas posting in 1964 was to Cyprus where we listen to the news from Aden every day on BFBS - On the day The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders retook Crater you could hear the cheers from Barracks all over Dhekelia.

[@spawntrooper]

my old man was there and i have his medals as well, and i followd him as i also joined up in 1992 and ater his passing, i found all the pictures one of them is somewhat like one of the porsitions in this video The Royal Anglian Regt (1st Bt Northfolk and suffolk regt) he was origanly sufffolk regiment, before they malgamaited!

[@michellechilton3345]

My dad was a paratrooper, there at time of filming ❤️❤️

[@amogus360noscope3]

He was not 😂

[@amogus360noscope3]

Give proof

[@michellechilton3345]

@@amogus360noscope3 I don’t need to prove it to anyone lol. I’ve got pics that I treasure ❤️

[@pjmoseley243]

@@amogus360noscope3 my dad was not out there and neither was I just thought you might like to not know that.

[@seantiernan-sm8qe]

how many people did he torture and murder

[@columbmurray]

I remember those Bedford 3 tonners so well , they wee aways breaking down . Or maybe because they were still around in the 60s when I served .

[@paulvickers3800]

My late Dad drove them in the 70s, i was only a kid. Remember him pushing us up, to get in the cab..

[@iLoveBeingDelusional4U]

In my 22 years service we were never issued beer on operations.

[@user-zy8bm8vl6o]

برع يا استعمار برع من ارض الأحرار برع الرحمة على الشهداء الذين ضحوا بحياتهم لأجل هذا الوطن

[@charliepearce8767]

Top video.

[@columbmurray]

I joined the Royal Marines in 1964. I really missed out that I never went to Aden. 😄

[@magirusdeutzjupiter2234]

Why did Britain leave Yemen? After British humiliation in Suez in 1956, Egypt's President Nasser supported by the Soviet Union pushed to evict Britain from South Arabia by training and supplying Yemeni tribesmen and nationalist fighters to attack British personnel in Aden

[@Stanly-Stud]

Probably weren't needed anyway

[@Shaun137]

Way to go, 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers. My old regiment but well before i joined.

[@kingharryannis]

A box of OMO. Placed in the kitchen window . Signal - Old Man Out, hanky panky time.

[@scottleft3672]

This is true, on many Australian bases.

[@PeterMaddison2483]

My Dad was Royal Artillery, he was there early 60's

[@Mango62uk]

If he's got any film and/or photos, why not put them up on YT? There's a lot of interest in this kind of info.

[@PeterMaddison2483]

@@Mango62uk Afraid I got no video, but do have some pictures, not sure of location though. How would I put pictures up here on YT? He passed away in 2004 too

[@Mango62uk]

@@PeterMaddison2483 What you can do is to use Powerpoint or similar to make a presentation, using his photo. Add captions to each photo, giving details. Then you can create a movie with some background music (if necessary) and upload it to YT as a film. You could also do a voice-over explaning the history behind the photos. I use the iPhone's voice memo facility to voiceovers on my bike videos! If you have a Mac, you'll have iMovie, which is provided free. All of my own movies have been produced using iMovie.

[@wor53lg50]

​​@@Mango62ukwhy you got that red star in your PFP....are you just a shit stirring self loathing own country hater!??, is that why you make content like this, admit it you aint even native to the UK really are you?.

[@andrewcombe8907]

God the mountain warfare fought by an isolated platoon is like straight out of Afghanistan.

[@johndavies1564]

I was stationed up country at Al Milah and at Al Habilayn in 1965/66 for a 13 month tour. One word sums the place up for me and that is 'shithole'.

[@Mango62uk]

Yeah - I'm sure the locals loved you, too. Colonial retreat campaigns are never pretty, The locals can't wait get rid of the colonisers, the colonisers resent having their "natural" superiority questioned.

[@SA-yn6pg]

maybe you shouldn’t have come into Yemen to start with. You come on to this country, blow up the place, demand superiority and leadership and expect them to just remain silent?

[@alexweatherburn4390]

@@SA-yn6pg Are the local people happy now since they became part of the Yemen?

[@cliffordcasnermillar4976]

Thanks for your service.

[@johndavies1564]

@@SA-yn6pg I was a soldier and did as i was told, was not my call.

[@freebeerfordworkers]

A colleagues brother went out in 1966 to manage the NAAFI he said it was the ----hole of the world.

[@bronoun8884]

My old fencing instructor was out there with Queens regt . His other job Errol Flynns fight double

[@Mango62uk]

Holy Moly. Tell us more!

[@bronoun8884]

@@Mango62uk that might not be very gentlemanly of me given nature of them 😂

[@Mango62uk]

That's OK. No-one will know.. except those people who frequent this channel and I'm certain, being honourable men and women, they'll keep their silence. :)

[@bronoun8884]

@@Mango62uk imagine you are a burglar. You re sneaking up someone’s stairs and you get intercepted by a naked man holding a razor sharp rapier to your adams apple . You get walked downstairs to where the phone is on the wall . You call the police 😂😂😂 Aden how do you know who the bad guy is when everyone in town is blasting guns in the air for hours at time

[@jimmyoconnell6167]

My old man was in aden 2 para

[@vespelian5769]

In the days when the BBC could treat its audience as intelligent human beings, and no surprise that of all the newspapers airlifted to the troops it had to be the Daily Express.

[@mickeydodds1]

An awful lot of very strange looking - for year 2023 - kit, aeroplanes, helicopters, armoured cars etc, that I simply can't name or identify. How much has military technology has moved on in 60 years! This all looks as weird and exotic as footage from 1914.

[@Mango62uk]

Except for drones and mobile comms, I reckon any squaddie from 1964 will fit right in. They'll probably be appalled by having to use a SA-80 :)

[@redlabel3977]

My father was there with 3 Para .

[@b3a5t34]

BIG UP LINCOLNSHIRE

[@jamiejack764]

My uncle was a para, frightening place

[@mohll4616]

Any way he get f*cked up in Yemen And you get out of there

[@jamiejack764]

@@mohll4616 you wouldn't say that to his face even now and his 80,you would end up in hospital

[@mohll4616]

Why you delete my comments b*..?

[@mohll4616]

@@jamiejack764 shut up bitch

[@narcissa1112]

@@jamiejack764 no ones afraid of your war criminal grandpa ill drop both of u

[@user-om5gp1oh5e]

Second Btn Coldstream Guards 1965 me, & 2 others involved in a mortar explosion, still suffering the effects today

[@jimholloway615]

Actually, a fascinating insight into the attitudes of the time, when the Empire was already almost over. The contrasting accents of the public school presenter and the salt of the earth soldiers, the recognition that the war might have been avoided if the British had done a better job running the place, the clichéd descriptions of Aden, the absence of any input from Arabs, the casual collective punishment of the Radfan people driven off their land .... Of course the presenter and soldiers were not to know that the war would be proved pointless when the British abandoned Aden shortly afterwards.

[@ponymoore6140]

Been there, done that - 45 Commando Royal Marines.

[@Stanly-Stud]

Wow..just wow

[@ywiwar7872]

Cap Badge

[@stephenrandall3551]

Were you with 45 Commando?

[@dulls8475]

@@stephenrandall3551 My father was with 45 in Aden twice. 65 approx.

[@magirusdeutzjupiter2234]

Where the british go, theres always trouble 😪they sowed the seeds for a lot of conflicts in the world, it never seems to end.

[@SoloTravelBlog]

Don’t be racist

[@wor53lg50]

The same as Muslim, china, and Russia, i nearly said the froggies but they always have been irrelevant on the world stage, all they can do is boss skinny malnourished Africans about, but cant even do that now..

[@wor53lg50]

​@@SoloTravelBlogthe froggies snail is deleting comments, free speech for some obviously not for others... The Hypocrisy of French is laughable they as bad as Indians and Irish with it..

[@user-tu5ww2qe5s]

الجنوب العربي - عدن - ردفان

[@abdaljalh99]

What a pleasure to see the usual English lies all again in modern days, so what about the British cruelty, did someone mention it? How they killed incessant and murder families ?

[@Mango62uk]

It's not easy running an Empire. It's even harder to give up being an Empire.

[@peterfrazer1943]

Sorry my friend but you have not got a clue. How old are you?. I was amongst the last Troops out of Aden and I was talking to the Arab Superintendent at Malla Wharf. He said to me"I dread what will happen to us when the British leave" look at Aden now and tell me the people have a better Life.

[@abdaljalh99]

@@peterfrazer1943 they had until westerns came back again, and to be a lil bit of thinking you guys did put a communist worm among them, how can it be better at all

[@stephenarnold5981]

Oh course it's all peace and harmony there now !

[@nucleargaz1]

keyboard warrior