British Forces Aden

British Forces Aden
Active	1928–1961
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Air Force

British Forces Aden was the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the Aden Protectorate during part of the 20th century. Their purpose was to preserve the security of the Protectorate from both internal threats and external aggression.

History

British Forces Aden was originally formed as Aden Command in 1928.^[1] On its establishment, Aden Command was a Royal Air Force (RAF) command which was responsible for the control all British armed forces in the Protectorate. It was renamed British Forces in Aden, or simply British Forces Aden, in 1936 and renamed again in 1956 as British Forces Arabian Peninsula.^[1] In 1959 Middle East Command was divided into two commands split by the Suez canal.^[2] The two parts were British Forces Arabian Peninsular, which was based at Aden, and the rump of Middle East Command which was based in Cyprus and which on 1 March 1961 was renamed Near East Command.^[2] In 1961 the command was renamed, again, this time as Middle East Command (Aden).^[1] In 1967, following the British withdrawal from Aden at the end of the Emergency, the remaining British Forces in the Arabian Peninsula, including units at Salalah and Masirah, were reorganized under Headquarters British Forces Gulf,^[1] which was based at RAF Muharraq in Bahrain.^[3][4][5]

Commanders

Commanders have included:^[1]

Aden Command

• 8 March 1928 Group Captain W G S Mitchell
• 5 September 1929 Group Captain C T MacLean (later Air Commodore)
• 7 August 1931 Group Captain O T Boyd
• 20 January 1934 Group Captain C F A Portal (Air Commodore from January 1935)
• 2 December 1935 Air Vice-Marshal E L Gossage

British Forces Aden

• 1 July 1936 Air Commodore W A McClaughry
• 28 September 1938 Air Vice-Marshal G R M Reid
• 10 September 1941 Air Vice-Marshal F G D Hards
• 12 January 1943 Air Vice-Marshal F H MacNamara (RAAF)
• 12 March 1945 Air Vice-Marshal H T Lydford
• 8 March 1948 Air Vice-Marshal A C Stevens
• 1 March 1950 Air Vice-Marshal F J Fressanges
• 11 March 1952 Air Vice-Marshal D Macfadyen
• 12 October 1953 Air Vice-Marshal S O Bufton
• 17 September 1955 Air Vice-Marshal L F Sinclair

British Forces Arabian Peninsula

• 30 September 1957 Air Vice-Marshal M L Heath
• 19 September 1959 Air Chief Marshal Sir Hubert Patch
• 3 August 1960 Air Marshal Sir Charles Elworthy

Commanders (Air Forces)

Air Forces Middle East

• 1959 Air Chief Marshal DJ Pryer Lee
• 1961 Air Chief Marshal F Rosier
• 1963 Air commodore J E Johnson
• 15 December 1965 Air Vice-Marshal AH Humphrey

See also

• RAF Khormaksar
• List of British Army installations

References

Overseas military installations of the British Armed Forces
Active	RAF Ascension Island HMS Juffair British Army Training and Support Unit Belize British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories British Forces Brunei British Forces Cyprus British Army Training Unit Suffield British Forces South Atlantic Islands British Forces Germany British Forces Gibraltar British Army Training Unit Kenya British Gurkhas Nepal Naval Party 1022 RAF Al Udeid British component, NATO Enhanced Forward Presence
Dissolved	British Forces Overseas Hong Kong British Forces Aden