The Trucial Oman Scouts was a paramilitary force raised by the British to serve in their Trucial States.
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The Trucial Oman Scouts were established at Sharjah originally as the Trucial Oman Levies in 1951. They were originally to be used as an internal security and rural gendamerie, suppressing banditry and the slave trade, but became a military force after the arrival of a Saudi Arabian force in the Buraimi Oasis in September 1952. It was commanded by a British Army Major with two Jordanian officers seconded from the Arab Legion. Its ranks consisted of 32 other ranks also seconded from the Arab Legion. It was later expanded to 30 British officers in command positions with a handful of Arab officers. Its soldiers were locally recruited mostly from Abu Dhabi. There were also Yemeni soldiers assigned to the Trucial Oman Scouts from the Aden Protectorate Levies (APL), a British colonial militia based in south Yemen. It finally reached Battalion strength.
In November 1952, some soldiers of Trucial Oman Levies were believed to be selling ammunition to the Saudis in Buraimi. Major Otto Thwaites, the commander of the Trucial Oman Levies, went to Buraimi to investigate, and was shot dead by three Yemeni soldiers of the TOL. A Jordanian Regimental Sergeant Major, Daud Sidqi, and a British Royal Air Force medical doctor, Flying Officer A.L.C Duncan, were also killed in the attack. Two British NCOs, SGT Chinn and CPL Cruickstank, were wounded in the attack, but were able to drive away and get help. The three Yemeni soldiers who killed the British officers fled to Saudi Arabia, but were eventually returned to Sharjah to stand trial after the intervention of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. The shootings revealed a key weakness in not screening the Yemeni soldiers from the APL before they joined the Trucial Oman Levies.
By 1955 the Trucial Oman Levies had 500 paramilitary personnel who were organized into 3 Rifle Squadrons. In 1956, the Trucial Oman Levies had 500 paramilitary personnel organized into 4 Rifle Squadrons including 1 Squadron based at the Al Buraimi Oasis. They were renamed the Trucial Oman Scouts in 1956. By 1957 the Scouts included 160 British officers & soldiers and by 1960 had 1,000 paramilitary personnel.
During the 1962-1965 Dhofar Rebellion it was believed that many members of the Dhofar Liberation Front were former soldiers of the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces (SAF), or of the Trucial Oman Scouts.
In 1964 the scouts had 1,324 men which including 38 British officers and 85 British other ranks. It was organized into five Rifle Squadrons, each with three British and three Arab officers and 145 Arab other ranks, and one Group equipped with machine guns and 3-inch mortars. There were also a Signals Squadron, a Motor Transport Squadron, a Medical Centre, a Workshop, a Cadet Squadron, a Cadet School, and a Training Depot.
In 1967 a Captain in the Trucial Oman Scouts flying a Percival Prentice (G-AOPL) from Shackleton Aviation at Sywell and flew it to Sharjah where, later it was flown on to South Africa where it remained until it ceased flying.
In 1969 British General Roland Gibbs was appointed Commander of British Land Forces in the Persian Gulf [1] where he re-organised the Trucial Oman Scouts and laid the foundations for what is now the Sultan of Oman's Land Forces.
The Scouts then expanded from 1,600 to 1,700 personnel in 1970 to 2,500 in 1971.
The Trucial Oman Scouts were a highly respected impartial paramilitary armed regular internal security and rural police force and were regarded as a well trained, well paid, and efficient military unit. It cost the United Kingdom two million pounds a year to maintain the Scouts in 1971.
Headquartered in Sharjah, the Scouts maintained small garrisons in most of the coastal towns and other key posts. The Scouts had a base in Dubai from 1952 and maintained a permanent garrison - 1 Field Squadron - at Buraimi Oasis.
The UDF was organized as highly mobile light armored cavalry and included 40% locally recruited Arab personnel including: 50 Jordanian NCOs, Omanis (bulk of troops), Iranians, Indians, and Pakistanis. It remained under the command and control of 30 British officers until the mid 1980's. Head Quarters at Sharjah [since 1951]
The Trucial Oman Levies (TOL) fought in two military campaigns. They first fought a brief battle at the Al Buraimi Oasis on October 26th, 1955. Two Field Squadrons were deployed, along with troops from the Sultan of Muscat and Oman personal guard to forcibly evict a 40 man Saudi Arabian armed police garrison in an old fort and the village of Hamasa. The Saudi garrison had been based there since August 1952 when they forcibly occupied the Buraimi Oasis following an armed clash in which 3 people were killed with 9 people killed in October 1955, including 7 Saudi policemen/military personnel and 2 TOL soldiers .[2] The two TOL soldiers who were killed in action were Jundi (private) Obaid Mubarak al Katabi and Jundi Sayid al Hadhrami.
Three TOL soldiers were decorated for gallantry during this battle. Captain A. R. Steggles was awarded the Military Cross, for saving a wounded TOL soldier under heavy fire. Sergeant Mohammed Nakhaira was awarded the Military Medal for his "courage, cool nerve and leadership." Lance Corporal Said Salem was awarded the Military Medal for driving a vehicle under heavy fire to deliver ammunition and retrieve wounded. Lance Corporal Salem was wounded in the fighting, and showed "the highest standard of personal courage and devotion to duty."
The Trucial Oman Levies, now renamed the Trucial Oman Scouts, also fought at the Jebel Akhdar War in the Sultanate of Oman in 1956. Sergeant Major Khamis Hareb was awarded the Military Medal for his "fine leadership and courage" on August 21st, 1956. Sir George Middleton, the British Political Resident in the Trucial Coast, pinned the medal on Sergeant Major Hareb.
In 1971 the Scouts were renamed Union Defence Force (U.D.F.) upon the formation of United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and consisted of 2,500 regular military personnel. In May 1976 the Union Defence Force unified its military forces of the various U.A.E states and they then lost their unit's individual identity.
In 1975 had 3 250 regular military personnel organised into 6 Mobile Squadrons, an Air Detachment with 7 helicopters, and was equipped with Scorpion light tanks, Ferret armoured cars, Land Rovers, eight 81mm Mortars, and two Dhows.
The Union Defense Force were used on two occasions in Sharjah Emirate.
In January 1972 during an attempted coup d'etat in which 18 armed supporters of the former ruler of Sharjah, who actually included the former ruler, Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan (who ruled from 1951 until deposed by British in 1965), attacked and seized the palace. Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, ruler since 1965, was killed along with one of his bodyguards in the process. The palace was then surrounded by Sharjah soldiers and troops of the Union Defense Force. Several UDF troops were wounded, including a British Captain, before the rebels surrendered next morning. Sheikh Saqr was then exiled.
In February 1972 there was a brief Border War between Bedu tribesmen from Sharjah and Fujairah over a disputed area that only covered a quarter of an acre but included water wells and date palm trees. Twenty-two people were killed and another 12 were wounded before UDF troops were able to impose a ceasefire.