Our speaker on 19th July 2019, Robert Aplin, gave a fascinating talk about a period of his life serving in the middle east with the Jebel Regiment, Sultan’s Armed Forces at the time of the Dhofar Rebellion and general political unrest in Oman. He emphasized the complexity of this region of the world and the approach of the British – including use of special forces working alongside locals – to achieve change by winning “hearts and minds” rather than just raw military power. It was a fascinating insight into what Robert described as ‘in some ways a secret war which received little coverage in the British press.‘
The talk turned out to be particularly well timed given troubles in this general area being the main news this week.