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"A well-kept secret beyond Stirling Lines, The Battle of Mirbat has been the stuff of Regimental legend for as long as I can remember. Quite simply, it was the SAS's answer to Rorke's Drift. Catapulting us from the cockpits of heavily armed, low-level attack jets to the beating heart of elite Special Forces soldiers under siege, STORM FRONT tells this epic story as only the author of VULCAN 607 can. It's as vivid and compelling as the best adventure thriller, and a fitting tribute to a small band of men who became heroes."--Andy McNab
"Gripping, revealing and extraordinarily well-researched, STORM FRONT is a riveting new account of a little known, but crucial war. Combining page-turning military action in the air and on the ground with a clear-sighted understanding of the big picture it brings to life the campaign in Oman more vividly than any other book I've read."--Sir Ranulph Fiennes
"The best account I’ve ever read of this legendary battle. Takes you right to the heart of the action."--Sgt Dan Mills, author of Sniper One
"This is a rare insight into the battle that defined the modern SAS. Storm Front is the best book you will read this year."--Tim Collins
"I loved Storm Front. A period of history--and more particularly a single shining moment--that has been obscured by myth and legend. Here is the truth of it all at last in all its spine-tingling, spine-straightening glory"--Neil Oliver
"Exceptionally, writers appear, like Antony Beevor in Stalingrad and his other books, who manage to convey the picture of a campaign as a whole with the real drama experienced by the individual soldiers. Rowland White is such an author who combines the ability of a thriller writer with the historian’s well researched accuracy."--The Centurion
"This gripping, page-turner of a book switches from action on the ground to that in the air more vividly than any I have read. It comes highly recommended."--Aeroplane Magazine
"Gripping, revealing and extraordinarily well-researched, STORM FRONT is a riveting new account of a little known, but crucial war. Combining page-turning military action in the air and on the ground with a clear-sighted understanding of the big picture it brings to life the campaign in Oman more vividly than any other book I've read."--Sir Ranulph Fiennes
"The best account I’ve ever read of this legendary battle. Takes you right to the heart of the action."--Sgt Dan Mills, author of Sniper One
"This is a rare insight into the battle that defined the modern SAS. Storm Front is the best book you will read this year."--Tim Collins
"I loved Storm Front. A period of history--and more particularly a single shining moment--that has been obscured by myth and legend. Here is the truth of it all at last in all its spine-tingling, spine-straightening glory"--Neil Oliver
"Exceptionally, writers appear, like Antony Beevor in Stalingrad and his other books, who manage to convey the picture of a campaign as a whole with the real drama experienced by the individual soldiers. Rowland White is such an author who combines the ability of a thriller writer with the historian’s well researched accuracy."--The Centurion
"This gripping, page-turner of a book switches from action on the ground to that in the air more vividly than any I have read. It comes highly recommended."--Aeroplane Magazine
Book Description
The thrilling new military history title from the bestselling author of Vulcan 607 and Phoenix Squadron
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Two years after the appearance of Phoenix Squadron, Rowland White author of Vulcan 607 returns to the bookshop shelve with his new work Storm Front
Set during the early years of the 1970's the author takes us through the formation of the gulf state of Oman by coup d'etat, in which Her Majesties Government complicit and indeed assisted if only by turning the occasional blind eye, through to the fierce fighting between the men of the Special Air Service and the insurgent forces or Adoo, and includes the operation of Strikemaster jets flown by Royal Air Force pilots that were not officially in theatre. The story develops and reaches its climax with a graphic description of the battle for the BATT house, near the tiny fishing village of Mirbat, where 9 SAS men fought for their lives under overwhelming odds against several hundred Adoo insurgents. Their bravery under fire is aided by the RAF pilots and their Sultan of Oman's Air Force Strikemasters performing some of the RAF's first Close Air Support missions, firing 7.62mm gun pods and Rockets into the advancing terrorists to slow there advance.
The author has, as is his usual style, relied on detailed research and first hand interviews of those that were there to ensure that the chronology of the event as written is correct and that the full intimate detail of the story is gained. The book also contains names that in 1972 would have meant nothing to the man on the street but would later become household names. In early career form we meet with the likes of Sir Peter de la Billiere, later to command British forces during the first Gulf War against Iraq, Lofty Wiseman SAS Quartermaster and survival expert, Sir Jock Stirrup, a Flight Lieutenant with the Sultan Of Oman's Air force who would later be Chief of the Defence Staff, and at Mirbat itself, SAS Trooper Pete Winner who would later take part in the relief of the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in London.
For the aviation or military history aficionado Storm Front, while a veritable boys own story of daring do, is a superb work that highlights the trouble the Arab peninsula has been subjected to long before peoples interest increased with Desert Storm in the early 1990's and more recent operations further east in Afghanistan. Indeed it could be said that what is seen in Storm Front on the front of Arab armed insurgency is possibly the genesis of later, larger terrorist action to come. I can only highly recommend this book.
Set during the early years of the 1970's the author takes us through the formation of the gulf state of Oman by coup d'etat, in which Her Majesties Government complicit and indeed assisted if only by turning the occasional blind eye, through to the fierce fighting between the men of the Special Air Service and the insurgent forces or Adoo, and includes the operation of Strikemaster jets flown by Royal Air Force pilots that were not officially in theatre. The story develops and reaches its climax with a graphic description of the battle for the BATT house, near the tiny fishing village of Mirbat, where 9 SAS men fought for their lives under overwhelming odds against several hundred Adoo insurgents. Their bravery under fire is aided by the RAF pilots and their Sultan of Oman's Air Force Strikemasters performing some of the RAF's first Close Air Support missions, firing 7.62mm gun pods and Rockets into the advancing terrorists to slow there advance.
The author has, as is his usual style, relied on detailed research and first hand interviews of those that were there to ensure that the chronology of the event as written is correct and that the full intimate detail of the story is gained. The book also contains names that in 1972 would have meant nothing to the man on the street but would later become household names. In early career form we meet with the likes of Sir Peter de la Billiere, later to command British forces during the first Gulf War against Iraq, Lofty Wiseman SAS Quartermaster and survival expert, Sir Jock Stirrup, a Flight Lieutenant with the Sultan Of Oman's Air force who would later be Chief of the Defence Staff, and at Mirbat itself, SAS Trooper Pete Winner who would later take part in the relief of the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in London.
For the aviation or military history aficionado Storm Front, while a veritable boys own story of daring do, is a superb work that highlights the trouble the Arab peninsula has been subjected to long before peoples interest increased with Desert Storm in the early 1990's and more recent operations further east in Afghanistan. Indeed it could be said that what is seen in Storm Front on the front of Arab armed insurgency is possibly the genesis of later, larger terrorist action to come. I can only highly recommend this book.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I appreciate that the work of the SAS means that the covert nature of what they do generates less in the way of medals than `normal soldiers', but, The Battle of Mirbat and the war in Oman is no longer a secret. It has been written about before but not in such well researched detail ... Now it is firmly in the public domain, surely Laba can have his VC now!
This book really puts you there: In the BATT house, next to the .50 Browning, the GPMG firing to your right and with a relentless line of adoo attacking from the front. You can imagine the 25 pounder, manned by Laba blasting off rounds. Then the book takes you to the artillery gun pit, the cockpits of the Strikemaster jets as if you were there yourself. It really is brilliant.
The build up in the book to the decisive Battle of Mirbat consists of intricate detail on the war in Oman and the background to its origins. Also included, are the backgrounds of the key players at the Battle of Mirbat, soldiers and pilots as well as all the key decision makers. This makes you feel as if you have almost `got to know' the men involved in the drama. By the time you get to The Battle, you also have a really good idea of the whole tactical and political situation.
I expected a lot from this book as I really enjoyed Rowland White's previous books. Also, having read other accounts of The Battle of Mirbat, this book had a lot to live up to and it did! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
For those involved who are still alive, I know you have heard this before but I'll say it again ... Well done! You make me proud to be British, and proud that we have such brilliant and brave soldiers serving in the British Army from Fiji. To the author, thank you for writing the book. I look forward to your next ...
This book really puts you there: In the BATT house, next to the .50 Browning, the GPMG firing to your right and with a relentless line of adoo attacking from the front. You can imagine the 25 pounder, manned by Laba blasting off rounds. Then the book takes you to the artillery gun pit, the cockpits of the Strikemaster jets as if you were there yourself. It really is brilliant.
The build up in the book to the decisive Battle of Mirbat consists of intricate detail on the war in Oman and the background to its origins. Also included, are the backgrounds of the key players at the Battle of Mirbat, soldiers and pilots as well as all the key decision makers. This makes you feel as if you have almost `got to know' the men involved in the drama. By the time you get to The Battle, you also have a really good idea of the whole tactical and political situation.
I expected a lot from this book as I really enjoyed Rowland White's previous books. Also, having read other accounts of The Battle of Mirbat, this book had a lot to live up to and it did! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
For those involved who are still alive, I know you have heard this before but I'll say it again ... Well done! You make me proud to be British, and proud that we have such brilliant and brave soldiers serving in the British Army from Fiji. To the author, thank you for writing the book. I look forward to your next ...
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Since the end of World War II and the coming of "peace", there has only been one year in the 20th century where no British serviceman was killed in action - 1968. The British had abandoned much of their Middle East responsibilities, in particular leaving Aden and abandoning Yemen to decades of communist-backed drudgery, deterioration and latterly savagery. Next door in Oman, the situation looked to be similarly grim. This is where Storm Front starts off, chronicling the removal of Oman's Sultan Said bin Taimur and replacement with his son Qaboos bin Said. Qaboos wanted to drag Oman out of its increasingly desperate slide into the past but he was up against the same sort of communist-backed guerilla warfare that had led the British to abandon Aden.
Britain had no appetite - or money - to fight a war for Oman, but the Sultanate was of truly stategic importance so, as on so many other occasions, the British did what they did best - muddled through. With grudging dribbles of funding and minimal manpower and support, the British propped up the Sultanate of Oman's Armed Forces against a rising tide of rebellion from Dhofar. Storm Front concentrates on the SAS troopers sent in to support civil development, and the RAF officers on detachment flying Strikemasters, Hueys and Skyvans for the SAF. As you can expect by now from Rowland White the book rattles along at quite a pace, taking in incidents of horrific savagery but also plenty of humour and the occasional truly bizarre incident (exploding camels, anybody?). The background to the conflict is explained very well, so that by the time you get to the climactic battle for Mirbat that so few people have ever heard of you feel you know every character involved and exactly the sort of hopeless situation they are facing.
The heroism of the 9 SAS troopers involved in that battle against 300 enemy soldiers, and the importance of the air support they received in weather that would ground most air forces makes for a stunning story and Rowland pulls no punches with every detail of the battle meticulously recorded. This is not, however, a dry history book and as with his previous books Rowland brings events to life more in the style of a novel than a documentary. This is a book absolutely begging for a movie deal, and unlike, say, Vulcan 607, this one wouldn't be quite so impossibly expensive to film. We can but hope. Men like Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba deserve wider recognition for their incredible heroism on that day - single-handedly manning a 25 pounder gun that would normally need a crew of 4, 'Laba' held back the initial enemy thrust and fought until cut down, while his friend Trooper Sekonaia Takavesi reached him in time to take over and fight on despite being badly wounded himself. The bare bones of this story are incredible enough but the way it is told here will hopefully bring it to a whole new audience. Backing up the text is a selection of rare photos and maps giving an idea of the areas of the country involved.
Oman, of course, prevailed with eventual backing from other Arab countries (notably Iran - that's "good" Iran, not the "bad" Iran we have now) and dragged itself out of the dust to become a successful modern state, and British forces have gone on ever since fighting the same sort of battles even while their political masters fail to heed the lessons of the past. I hope Storm Front reminds just a few of them. To finish off with, just one criticism - no mention that the 25 pounder gun involved in the action is now to be found in Firepower, The Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich!
Britain had no appetite - or money - to fight a war for Oman, but the Sultanate was of truly stategic importance so, as on so many other occasions, the British did what they did best - muddled through. With grudging dribbles of funding and minimal manpower and support, the British propped up the Sultanate of Oman's Armed Forces against a rising tide of rebellion from Dhofar. Storm Front concentrates on the SAS troopers sent in to support civil development, and the RAF officers on detachment flying Strikemasters, Hueys and Skyvans for the SAF. As you can expect by now from Rowland White the book rattles along at quite a pace, taking in incidents of horrific savagery but also plenty of humour and the occasional truly bizarre incident (exploding camels, anybody?). The background to the conflict is explained very well, so that by the time you get to the climactic battle for Mirbat that so few people have ever heard of you feel you know every character involved and exactly the sort of hopeless situation they are facing.
The heroism of the 9 SAS troopers involved in that battle against 300 enemy soldiers, and the importance of the air support they received in weather that would ground most air forces makes for a stunning story and Rowland pulls no punches with every detail of the battle meticulously recorded. This is not, however, a dry history book and as with his previous books Rowland brings events to life more in the style of a novel than a documentary. This is a book absolutely begging for a movie deal, and unlike, say, Vulcan 607, this one wouldn't be quite so impossibly expensive to film. We can but hope. Men like Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba deserve wider recognition for their incredible heroism on that day - single-handedly manning a 25 pounder gun that would normally need a crew of 4, 'Laba' held back the initial enemy thrust and fought until cut down, while his friend Trooper Sekonaia Takavesi reached him in time to take over and fight on despite being badly wounded himself. The bare bones of this story are incredible enough but the way it is told here will hopefully bring it to a whole new audience. Backing up the text is a selection of rare photos and maps giving an idea of the areas of the country involved.
Oman, of course, prevailed with eventual backing from other Arab countries (notably Iran - that's "good" Iran, not the "bad" Iran we have now) and dragged itself out of the dust to become a successful modern state, and British forces have gone on ever since fighting the same sort of battles even while their political masters fail to heed the lessons of the past. I hope Storm Front reminds just a few of them. To finish off with, just one criticism - no mention that the 25 pounder gun involved in the action is now to be found in Firepower, The Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent book
Thoroughly enjoyed the book.
It was a very good blend of history, geography, boots on the ground & wings in the air. Read more
It was a very good blend of history, geography, boots on the ground & wings in the air. Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. Jenvey
Another great from Rowland White
In his third book, Rowland White writes about a part of the Sultanate of Oman's history, and as in his other books, Vulcan 607 and Phoenix Squadron, what part the British military... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. P. Holt
A hot time in the Cold War
For those of us serving in Europe at the time of this story, the Cold War seemed an unreal time: nuclear weapons, missiles, all kinds of high powered fighters and bombers, tanks... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Martin Johnson
Good book but...
Interesting book, but as a British author, why the Americanism? See bottom of page 332 (hardback edition) "de-planed"!!!! Please use proper English words.
Published 4 months ago by A. Morris
Storm front
As a retired SAS operative who was in the OMAN conflict,the book was well sourced there was minor discrepancies and omissions but good reading for the non participants/afficiandos... Read more
Published 7 months ago by kisinc
Good read
Exccellent follow up to the other too books. Air support is only part of it, SAS are somewhere else, what courage!
Great read highly recommended.
Great read highly recommended.
Published 7 months ago by Crush
Inspiring
I whole heartedly agree with the reviews here, it is truly an inspiring read and an absolute must for all those interested in the secret wars of the time. Read more
Published 8 months ago by MP Collins
Excellent read
Rowland White's epic account of a key event in the UK's involvement in Oman in the early 70's is by far the best account i have read of the events leading up to, and the actual... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Zuluwarrior
A must for all Salalah vets
This is a must for anyone who served in Dhofar with the Army or RAF in the 1970's.
The strategic importance of that campaign probably never interested most soldiers and airmen... Read more
The strategic importance of that campaign probably never interested most soldiers and airmen... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Neil
I read this 6 weeks too late...
I had this book on the day of release and due to a move abroad have only just had the time to read it - damn! It was a very good, very addictive read. Read more
Published 9 months ago by A. Orchard
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