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Having been a Soldier
In July, 1967, the First Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders under Mitchell's command with great skill gained control of the Arab city of Crater in Aden, which had fallen into the hands of armed police mutineers and terrorists, and so inspired a renewal of faith in British arms and courage. Within a few moths the Government had decided to disband the Regiment, and Mitchell had retired from the Army. This account of his Army life, which began in the Home Guard when he was fifteen, reveals him as a man of strong principles and ambitions, courage and intellectual accomplishment.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 1, 2022
General Overview
A read I was recommended following a lecture, Having Been a Soldier by Colin Mitchell was a light read into the personal account of a soldier and an officer. I found it in places strangely familiar to current military issues, whilst also clearly sitting in a different age. It was a treat.
Style
Written in a frank and easy to follow style Lt Col Ret'd Mitchell does a great job of laying out his scenes. He is clear, and gives his opinion. This openness with his reader I found informative and trusting. It really helped pull me into this read further.
The pacing is well established, and the flow from campaign to campaign is good. Overall, exactly the level of writing ability I would expect.
Story
From his time as a 2nd Lieutenant in WWII, to his roles as a Battalion Commander in the last days of the British Empire, this book is a combination of personal and war diary for the author.
It clearly has its slant and view. I'm sure in its day this book would have been a controversial read. This views on the issues with Government, Whitehall, etc are clear to see, and following the end of his career in the Army, its clear, rightly or wrongly, that Lt Col Ret'd Mitchell had an axe to grind.
Despite this however, this book delivers good lessons in leadership, from a perspective grounded in many different types of military campaign and situation. It is therefore, a good read for anyone in a leadership position.
Final Thoughts
A fine read, covering a period of British history I am sadly lack knowledge about. Would recommend.
A read I was recommended following a lecture, Having Been a Soldier by Colin Mitchell was a light read into the personal account of a soldier and an officer. I found it in places strangely familiar to current military issues, whilst also clearly sitting in a different age. It was a treat.
Style
Written in a frank and easy to follow style Lt Col Ret'd Mitchell does a great job of laying out his scenes. He is clear, and gives his opinion. This openness with his reader I found informative and trusting. It really helped pull me into this read further.
The pacing is well established, and the flow from campaign to campaign is good. Overall, exactly the level of writing ability I would expect.
Story
From his time as a 2nd Lieutenant in WWII, to his roles as a Battalion Commander in the last days of the British Empire, this book is a combination of personal and war diary for the author.
It clearly has its slant and view. I'm sure in its day this book would have been a controversial read. This views on the issues with Government, Whitehall, etc are clear to see, and following the end of his career in the Army, its clear, rightly or wrongly, that Lt Col Ret'd Mitchell had an axe to grind.
Despite this however, this book delivers good lessons in leadership, from a perspective grounded in many different types of military campaign and situation. It is therefore, a good read for anyone in a leadership position.
Final Thoughts
A fine read, covering a period of British history I am sadly lack knowledge about. Would recommend.
May 8, 2026
Here’s a more polished and professional version that keeps your core sentiment and admiration intact while giving it a more reflective, authoritative tone:
Colin Mitchell’s Having Been a Soldier is more than a military memoir; it is the account of a life and career lived with conviction, courage, and an unwavering sense of duty. Understanding the origins of Mitchell’s military journey gives the reader valuable insight into the leadership style that would come to define both his reputation and legacy.
Mitchell was never a man to lead from behind. He embodied the principle of “lead from the front” throughout his career, earning the loyalty and respect of the men under his command. It was precisely this uncompromising approach to leadership that ultimately brought him into conflict with senior authority during the Aden crisis of 1967.
This book makes a compelling case that Mitchell was operating within an almost impossible environment, one shaped by political hesitation, strategic ambiguity, and a culture of appeasement that appeared prevalent within the higher levels of military command in Aden at the time. Faced with these realities, Mitchell chose to prioritise the safety, morale, and effectiveness of his battalion above all else.
Whether one agrees with every decision he made or not, the defining impression left by this memoir is of a commander willing to accept personal and professional risk in defence of his men. In an era often characterised by caution and bureaucracy, Mitchell’s actions stand as a powerful example of decisive leadership. To many readers, me included, this is the very essence of what a leader should be.
Colin Mitchell’s Having Been a Soldier is more than a military memoir; it is the account of a life and career lived with conviction, courage, and an unwavering sense of duty. Understanding the origins of Mitchell’s military journey gives the reader valuable insight into the leadership style that would come to define both his reputation and legacy.
Mitchell was never a man to lead from behind. He embodied the principle of “lead from the front” throughout his career, earning the loyalty and respect of the men under his command. It was precisely this uncompromising approach to leadership that ultimately brought him into conflict with senior authority during the Aden crisis of 1967.
This book makes a compelling case that Mitchell was operating within an almost impossible environment, one shaped by political hesitation, strategic ambiguity, and a culture of appeasement that appeared prevalent within the higher levels of military command in Aden at the time. Faced with these realities, Mitchell chose to prioritise the safety, morale, and effectiveness of his battalion above all else.
Whether one agrees with every decision he made or not, the defining impression left by this memoir is of a commander willing to accept personal and professional risk in defence of his men. In an era often characterised by caution and bureaucracy, Mitchell’s actions stand as a powerful example of decisive leadership. To many readers, me included, this is the very essence of what a leader should be.
April 8, 2013
This memoir is Lt-Col Colin Mitchell's defense of his leadership during the final days of Britain's rule over the colony of Aden.
To those that don't know the story, Mitchell was in command of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders regiment in the late 1960's. In 1967 the Argylls were tasked with pacifying and stabilizing the city of Crater in the Aden colony. At the time, the cities of Aden were experiencing a spasm of nationalist violence prompted by Israel's victory in the Six Day War. Several Argylls were murdered in Crater at the outset of Mitchell's deployment. Being a British soldier of the colonial old school, Mitchell saw the murders and the deterioration of security in the city as an affront to Britain and his regiment. According to his memoirs, this became the impetus behind the employment of a very domineering and punitive counterinsurgency strategy. Mitchell succeeded in bringing about an end to the violence in his sector of Aden, securing a tactical victory, but earned the ire of his superiors due to his methods and ultimately doomed his own career, almost getting his beloved regiment disbanded in the process. His penchant for self-promotion did not aid his case.
The situation that faced Mitchell in Crater is roughly analogous to what American troops have experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan- mainly in that the police force Mitchell was supposed to support was complicit, or actually committed most of the violence he was ordered to stop. Much of the Aden portion of this memoir discusses Mitchell's frustrations to having a partner in security, who wasn't much of a partner at all, and practical solutions to being saddled with very restrictive rules of engagement. Additionally, he describes the difficulties presented by the existence of culturally sensitive no-go zones in his area of operations (mosques) that acted as sanctuaries for the terrorists.
Taking a bigger picture view of the event, the book also demonstrates the tension between conducting effective military operations, the political sensitivities of the civilian leadership and public perception. Though Mitchell made a concerted effort to involve the press at every opportunity, in the end it backfired. In the abstract the worldwide press coverage must've simply shown British soldiers conducting very aggressive patrolling in a colony that the British were giving up in a brief time anyways. In a period where Britain was divesting itself of its image as Imperialists, this must've come across as very indelicate. Not to mention that Mitchell's amount of face time on TV probably created animosity among the military leadership in Whitehall and other officers involved in stabilizing the colony outside of Crater.
The memoir also has chapters detailing Mitchell's service in WWII, Palestine, Korea, Africa, Borneo and Malaysia. Each of these could easily have been expanded. I found myself wanting to know more about his experiences and the problems presented to him in each of these conflict zones.
Most disappointingly, Mitchell doesn't offer deep penetrating ruminations on his tactical decision-making. He mentions a technique and moves on quickly. Even less useful, is that Mitchell's thoughts on the efficacy of his methods among the civil population and the terrorists are full of suppositions. He constantly makes statements assuming a state of mind in his opponents that he couldn't possibly know.
All in all, this was an interesting book that left me with more questions than answers.
To those that don't know the story, Mitchell was in command of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders regiment in the late 1960's. In 1967 the Argylls were tasked with pacifying and stabilizing the city of Crater in the Aden colony. At the time, the cities of Aden were experiencing a spasm of nationalist violence prompted by Israel's victory in the Six Day War. Several Argylls were murdered in Crater at the outset of Mitchell's deployment. Being a British soldier of the colonial old school, Mitchell saw the murders and the deterioration of security in the city as an affront to Britain and his regiment. According to his memoirs, this became the impetus behind the employment of a very domineering and punitive counterinsurgency strategy. Mitchell succeeded in bringing about an end to the violence in his sector of Aden, securing a tactical victory, but earned the ire of his superiors due to his methods and ultimately doomed his own career, almost getting his beloved regiment disbanded in the process. His penchant for self-promotion did not aid his case.
The situation that faced Mitchell in Crater is roughly analogous to what American troops have experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan- mainly in that the police force Mitchell was supposed to support was complicit, or actually committed most of the violence he was ordered to stop. Much of the Aden portion of this memoir discusses Mitchell's frustrations to having a partner in security, who wasn't much of a partner at all, and practical solutions to being saddled with very restrictive rules of engagement. Additionally, he describes the difficulties presented by the existence of culturally sensitive no-go zones in his area of operations (mosques) that acted as sanctuaries for the terrorists.
Taking a bigger picture view of the event, the book also demonstrates the tension between conducting effective military operations, the political sensitivities of the civilian leadership and public perception. Though Mitchell made a concerted effort to involve the press at every opportunity, in the end it backfired. In the abstract the worldwide press coverage must've simply shown British soldiers conducting very aggressive patrolling in a colony that the British were giving up in a brief time anyways. In a period where Britain was divesting itself of its image as Imperialists, this must've come across as very indelicate. Not to mention that Mitchell's amount of face time on TV probably created animosity among the military leadership in Whitehall and other officers involved in stabilizing the colony outside of Crater.
The memoir also has chapters detailing Mitchell's service in WWII, Palestine, Korea, Africa, Borneo and Malaysia. Each of these could easily have been expanded. I found myself wanting to know more about his experiences and the problems presented to him in each of these conflict zones.
Most disappointingly, Mitchell doesn't offer deep penetrating ruminations on his tactical decision-making. He mentions a technique and moves on quickly. Even less useful, is that Mitchell's thoughts on the efficacy of his methods among the civil population and the terrorists are full of suppositions. He constantly makes statements assuming a state of mind in his opponents that he couldn't possibly know.
All in all, this was an interesting book that left me with more questions than answers.
November 12, 2015
Excellent book. I borrowed it from a friend and then had to have my own copy. It arrived a few weeks ago from a small bookshop in Inverness, Scotland. Well worth the read if you can find it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews