Battlefields›Battle of Crater
modern

Battle of Crater

1967
Scotland
Era
modern
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Combatant
Unknown
Strength
1 helicopter
VS
Combatant
NLF
Strength
FLOSY: 400
Outcome
British victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Crater, also known by the British as Operation Stirling Castle, was a battle that took place in July 1967 during the Aden Emergency. After the mutiny of the Arab Armed Police and ambush of British troops by them, the Crater district in Aden was abandoned by British troops. The British then decided to enter Crater and retrieve the bodies of dead British soldiers.

The operation began on 3 July 1967 with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders commanded by Lt-Col Colin Mitchell ("Mad Mitch") performing a night invasion of Crater, which he termed Operation Stirling Castle, after the Argylls’ regimental headquarters. The enemy was taken totally by surprise, and effective resistance ceased. A particular sign of Mitchell’s confidence was his decision to order the pipe band to march down the main street of Crater, playing regimental tunes, for which the Pipe major was mentioned in despatches. British troops remained in Crater until the end of the Emergency.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Crater lies on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.

Casualties & Losses
  • NLF; FLOSY: 11 killed
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Crater

Bucharn, cairn 215m ESE of
Bucharn, cairn 215m ESE of
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Bucharn is a cairn located in Kincardineshire, Scotland, situated approximately 215 metres east-south-east of Bucharn. The monument stands upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic formation comprising psammite, semipelite and pelite that underlies much of this region. These metamorphic…

Bridge of Dye, pill boxes 60m & 35m W of
Bridge of Dye, pill boxes 60m & 35m W of
Scheduled monument · ~3.9 mi

Bridge of Dye Pill Boxes is a pair of Second World War concrete defensive structures located in Kincardineshire, Scotland, situated approximately 60 metres and 35 metres west of Bridge of Dye. These small fortifications were constructed as part of the extensive anti-invasion preparations undertak…

Finzean House,long cairn 390m N of
Finzean House,long cairn 390m N of
Scheduled monument · Neolithic · ~4.6 mi

Finzean House long cairn is a Neolithic monument located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated 390 metres north of Finzean House itself. Like other long cairns of its type, it dates to the early Neolithic period and would originally have served as a communal burial structure. The monument is const…

Cairnfauld, stone circle 120m NNE of
Cairnfauld, stone circle 120m NNE of
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~5.6 mi

Cairnfauld is a Bronze Age stone circle situated in Kincardineshire, Scotland, approximately 120 metres north-north-east of the settlement. The monument stands on bedrock formed from the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic sequence of metamorphic rocks comprising psammite, semipelite and pelite. These…

Kincardine o'Neil, old church and hospital
Kincardine o'Neil, old church and hospital
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~6.4 mi

Kincardine o'Neil old church and hospital is a medieval religious foundation in Aberdeenshire, situated on bedrock of the Argyll Group, Neoproterozoic psammite and pelite which would have shaped medieval quarrying and building practices in the locality. The settlement developed as both a place of…

Cairn o'Mount, cairns
Cairn o'Mount, cairns
Scheduled monument · ~7.2 mi

Cairn o'Mount is a cairns located in Kincardineshire, Scotland, and protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The monument sits upon bedrock of the Southern Highland Group, formed during the Middle Cambrian period and composed of alternating psammite and pelite deposits.…

Castle Hill,motte 130m S of Castlehill
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.5 miles
Eslie, stone circle 730m S of
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~3.3 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Crater

Thistleycrook
~6.6 miles away
Battle of Corrichie
1562
~7 miles away
Pictish Civil War: Battle of Monith Carno, 729
729
~7.2 miles away
Cairn O' Mount
~7.7 miles away
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Sources
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