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Where Soldiers Fear to Tread. Signed copy
A British look at the civil war in Oman.
256 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1975
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About the author
Ranulph Fiennes
97 books286 followersSir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE, better known as Ranulph (Ran) Fiennes, is a British adventurer and holder of several endurance records.
Fiennes has written books about his army service and his expeditions as well as a book defending Robert Falcon Scott from modern revisionists. In May 2009, aged 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. According to the Guinness Book of World Records he is the world's greatest living adventurer.
Fiennes has written books about his army service and his expeditions as well as a book defending Robert Falcon Scott from modern revisionists. In May 2009, aged 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. According to the Guinness Book of World Records he is the world's greatest living adventurer.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 13, 2016
Like me, Ranulph Fiennes was an officer in a tank unit in Germany. Unlike me, he decided that was boring, so he volunteered for a tour in the army of the Sultan of Oman. Apparently the British army let its officers do this kind of thing in the late 1960s. The sultan was then fighting an insurgency in Dhofar, in the south of the country. A crash course in Arabic and Ranulph is on his way. He takes charge of a reconnaissance platoon, with 5 Land Rovers (only one of which works) and about 25 soldiers (no one is sure exactly how many). Some are from northern Oman, others are Bedouins from the interior, others are Zanzibaris. About half are Urdu-speaking mercenaries from Baluchistan. This is what the US Army would refer to as a leadership challenge.
It was interesting reading this book with the experience of the Iraqi and Afghan armies in mind. It's often averred that these armies are performing poorly because their soldiers don't have any sense of loyalty to the nation. Well, Fiennes's soldiers don't really either, but they fight bravely and endure significant hardships without much complaining. (The terrain in Dhofar is brutal and when they're not in the scorching desert, they're on the humid and almost tropical coast.)
Lots of interesting detail about Oman. Male children in Dhofar have their heads shaved, with a mohawk. The locals hoard Maria Theresa dollars and flintlock rifles aren't uncommon. Camel milk, apparently, is very salty. The culture of the British officers is interesting as well. The Empire is well and truly gone, and Fiennes and his contemporaries poke fun at the one or two officers whose bearing and attitudes indicate that they haven't gotten the memo. But the remnants of the empire are still around. Some of Fiennes's fellow officers are British and Australian mercenaries--ex-Army officers who couldn't adjust to the new era and so make a living fighting the 1960s version of Queen Victoria's little wars. One did a previous stint in the Rhodesian army, fighting the "Zambian terrorists."
It's not a dramatic book, but, underneath all the military and ethnographic detail, it follows a tried-and-true formula. A new leader takes over. After an unprepossessing start, the unit slowly becomes a team, after a tough training regimen. Certain members have unexpected talents that are revealed. There are successes and tragedies that knit the group closer together. By the time the leader's tour is over, they are, to coin a phrase, a band of brothers. That said, I don't doubt that Fiennes told the story as he remembered it and that the "keen sense of loss" he feels when he finally says goodbye to his men and boards the plane was genuine.
It was interesting reading this book with the experience of the Iraqi and Afghan armies in mind. It's often averred that these armies are performing poorly because their soldiers don't have any sense of loyalty to the nation. Well, Fiennes's soldiers don't really either, but they fight bravely and endure significant hardships without much complaining. (The terrain in Dhofar is brutal and when they're not in the scorching desert, they're on the humid and almost tropical coast.)
Lots of interesting detail about Oman. Male children in Dhofar have their heads shaved, with a mohawk. The locals hoard Maria Theresa dollars and flintlock rifles aren't uncommon. Camel milk, apparently, is very salty. The culture of the British officers is interesting as well. The Empire is well and truly gone, and Fiennes and his contemporaries poke fun at the one or two officers whose bearing and attitudes indicate that they haven't gotten the memo. But the remnants of the empire are still around. Some of Fiennes's fellow officers are British and Australian mercenaries--ex-Army officers who couldn't adjust to the new era and so make a living fighting the 1960s version of Queen Victoria's little wars. One did a previous stint in the Rhodesian army, fighting the "Zambian terrorists."
It's not a dramatic book, but, underneath all the military and ethnographic detail, it follows a tried-and-true formula. A new leader takes over. After an unprepossessing start, the unit slowly becomes a team, after a tough training regimen. Certain members have unexpected talents that are revealed. There are successes and tragedies that knit the group closer together. By the time the leader's tour is over, they are, to coin a phrase, a band of brothers. That said, I don't doubt that Fiennes told the story as he remembered it and that the "keen sense of loss" he feels when he finally says goodbye to his men and boards the plane was genuine.
May 12, 2007
Who knew Oman experienced a communist supported guerilla warfare in the late 1960s? Class? Anyone? Me neither. Fiennes was there as a Brit officer supporting the Sultan's forces, and offers an enlightening, albeit colonialist look at this Gulf State at the dawn of its oil age, and communist attempts at intervention in a Muslim country. Can you imagine a atheist state in the Middle East? Yeah right.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews