The Position at Defa
The
caves at Sherishitti were used by the Adoo to store a vast collection of
arms and ammunition. Troops of the Sultan's forces and SAS Firqats launched
an attack to capture the caves in January 1975. The operation was mounted
from one of the government outposts at Defa, known as 'The position at
Defa'. The position was constantly attacked through out the war and was
called upon often to give artillery fire support to other operations. At
one stage over 2,000 rounds were fired from the position in one week.
The
fighting in the wadi, in front of the caves in the dense undergrowth, was
a hard fought and bitter match against a determined Adoo. On the second
day of the fighting, a company of the Sultan's forces attempted to cross
some open ground in the wadi, despite their commanding officer being told
by the SAS that it was a bad idea. The Adoo could not believe their luck
and easily cut down the advancing troops as they tried to cross the wadi.
In less than an hour the casualties amounted to 13 dead and 22 wounded.
For the rest of the day the SAS were forced to take on the Adoo single
handed to restore some fighting spirit in their allies. The SAS poured
machine gun and mortar fire into the Adoo positions and provided covering
fire for the survivors of the Sultan's forces. One SAS Fijian trooper carried
out a wounded Arab under fire after the man had been dropped three times
by his fleeing comrades.
The caves did not fall into government hands until after the war but the Sultan's forces denied the Adoo from using them again by bombarding anything that moved near the caves from positions on the high ground taken on the first day of fighting.
In
September of the same year, an SAS patrol was sent out from 'The position
at Defa' to neutralize an Adoo Katyusha (122mm Soviet made missile) that
the Adoo were firing at Defa. The SAS patrol made contact with the Adoo
and a fierce firefight ensued. Lance Corporal Geordie Small was hit and
bled to death before he could be casevaced out. Lance Corporal Tony Flemming
was also hit with the bullet severing his spinal column. A third SAS solider
was hit with the bullet passing through his neck. The SAS broke contact
with the Adoo knowing that they had given as good as they got.
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