Heywood Aden Remembrance day

Heywood Aden Remembrance day

On 20 June 1967, the Aden Police mutinied and guns taken from the armoury were used to fire on British troops. Although order was quickly restored, there were casualties including eight unarmed soldiers of 60 Squadron Royal Corps of Transport who were killed returning from training at the ranges.

The police in Crater, made nervous by the sound of gunfire, took guns from their armoury and began to snipe from the tops of buildings. A company of Northumberland Fusiliers, accompanied by some Argylls, was sent to restore order. Eight Fusiliers and three Argylls in the first two land rovers were killed and British troops were ordered to withdraw from Crater.

By the end of the day 22 British soldiers lay dead and Crater was in the hands of an estimated 500 armed Arab terrorists and Arab police.