Roll of Honour - Aden

23709939 Corporal L.W.R. Collings The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry 9th - September - 1966

Roy Collings was in charge of a patrol and was killed when his vehicle was blown up.. Roy was a very popular member of the regiment and was well renowned for his running abilities. Roy rests in Silent Valley, the British Cemetery in Aden.

Corporal L.W.R. Collings grave being guarded by his comrades (Stephen Taylor)

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This picture was supplied by The War Graves Commission and taken in November 2006 and sent to webmaster for inclusion on this website.

The inscription on the stone reads:

Your Loving Wife Rosemary, for remembrance always.

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This picture recently appeared in the Soldier Magazine as a group of Aden Veterans had returned to Aden to view the graves.

24078593 Private L.E. Oakley The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry 11th July -1966

Leonard Oakley, a young soldier who had just joined the battalion from Shrewsbury LI Depot, was fatally injured by the explosion of a terrorist grenade. Pte. Oakley's funeral took place with full military honours at The Commonwealth Graves Commission Cemetery, Na Alla, Aden.

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This picture was supplied by The War Graves Commission and taken in November 2006 and sent to webmaster for inclusion on this website.

The inscription on the stone reads:

In our mind and constant thoughts, our hearts a silent sorrow.

Major Gooch P F. P/358950 (HQ. FED. REG. Army.) 3rd Sept 1967

Major Peter Frederick Gooch. P/358950 (HQ. FED. REG. Army.) - Missing, believed killed on 3rd Sept 1967, aged 42 - when the helicopter was shot down 200 miles east of Aden. He was born in Kenya in 1925, enlisted in Kenya Regiment in 1944 and was awarded the 'Belt of Honour'. He was accepted for a regular commission in SomLI in 1947 and served in BAOR and Malaya. He fulfilled a staff appointment at HQ Western Command in 1959 and in 1961 did a tour of service with The Durham Light Infantry. This was followed by a further staff appointment at the School of Infantry and Ministry of Defence AFD 12. In 1966, he volunteered for service with the South Arabian Federal Regular Army. His last appointment was as GSO 11 GHQ South Arabian Army.

Major Gooch (SCLI & AAC) with an SAS patrol in the Thumier Pass - (Photo Tim Gibb)

Major Peter Gooch was an Army Air Corp Pilot attached to the South Arabian Army as an escort for Emir of Wahidi, the only eastern state of Aden to join the new Federation. On the 3rd of September 1967, in an attempt to quell the outbreak of local civil unrest the party arrived from Beirut to Beihan. As they landed there was a disturbance and Major Gooch and his co pilot were both raked with machine gun fire as they attempted to lift off.

The helicopter crashed with no survivors - the National Liberation Front, desperate not to risk RAF retaliation swiftly used a bulldozer to bury the evidence.

EDWARDS Captain Robin Christopher 455015 30th. April 1964
Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry & 3 Troop A Squadron 22nd. Special Air Service Regiment
Killed in Action - Radfan

On the 30th April 1964, killed in action in the Aden Protectorate, Captain Robin C. Edwards aged 27. Capt. Edwards was commissioned into the DCLI in December 1957 and served in Osnabruck, Germany with 1st DCLI and after amalgamation with 1st SCLI, until being appointed training subaltern at the Regimental Depot Bodmin.

On the closure of the Depot he volunteered for the SAS and while training for this duty he contracted poliomyelitis from which he made such a remarkable recovery he was able to continue serving with the SAS and was so serving when he was killed.

The tragic circumstances of his death are so well known that further mention of them is not required, suffice to say that he died, as he lived, gallantly and fearlessly leading his men into action. He was buried with full military honours in Aden on 15th May 1964.

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This picture was supplied by The War Graves Commission and taken in November 2006 and sent to webmaster for inclusion on this website.