With tribute to:

Martin Spirit

James Paul

Co-written by:

David Carter

Britain's Small Wars

The preservation of British Military History

Launched, Sunday 11th November 2018. Dedicated and paying tribute to veterans who have served in small conflicts since World War Two. This is an unofficial website with no ties to the Ministry of Defence. We would also like to pay a special tribute to Martin Spirit. For more information please read the About BSW page.

Latest updates

Last updated: Feb 10, 2019

The Aden Withdrawal November 1967 - Aden - 1964-1967

In 1966 whilst onboard H.M. Submarine Auriga, I spent a most enjoyable stay in Aden stopping there enroute for a long commission based on Singapore. From my diary of that time, I note that we arrived at 1340 on Sunday the 20th February when the weather was 85f... read more.

Last updated: Feb 10, 2019

The Ever Readies Aden 1965 - Aden - 1964-1967

I became involved in the British Army's operations in Aden as a member of the Territorial Army; I was not a regular soldier. I had originally joined the services as a boy seaman in the Royal Navy, aged 15, in 1951.... read more.

Last updated: Feb 10, 2019

Tales from Aden 1955 to 1957 - Aden - 1964-1967

I remember when we were in Aden in 66 Rifle Squadron and we used to go up country when the natives got restless. One time we were going up with a convoy of supplies and we came under fire.... read more.

Last updated: Feb 10, 2019

RASC in Aden and the Radfan - Aden - 1964-1967

I was posted to Aden from Aldershot in Feb 1964 after basic training as a driver in the RASC, at Yeovil, & Aldershot. I was so excited to be going to a place like Aden and not Germany... read more.

Some of the Featured

On the Verge - India - 1945-1948
Medal Ribbon

When the Cabinet mission arrived in Delhi in March, it had three members, Cripps, A.V. Alexander and Pethick-Lawrence.... read more.

The Inchon Invasion - Korea - 1950-1957
Medal Ribbon

The Inchon Invasion was first brought up in the early weeks of July 1950 when the UN position at the Pusan perimeter was desperate and looked unlikely to hold.... read more.

Medal Ribbon

45 Royal Marine Commando served in Aden from 23rd April 1960 until November 1967 and the advance party arrived on the 10th of March 1960. One of the first tasks of the advance party was to take over the camp in Little Aden from the British Petroleum Company.... read more.

Medal Ribbon

In May 1967, HMS Victorious was coming to the end of the Far East foreign leg of a general service commission. We were looking forward to heading west from the Singapore area to rendezvous with HMS Hermes in the area of Gan.... read more.

Medal Ribbon

Within a few days, following the allied initiation of retaliation, we were now getting into the routine of what was happening. The air raid sirens would sound with a deafening and ear piercing tone and it was on with your chemical suits, now a lot quicker then before... read more.

Medal Ribbon

Korean Veteran Ted Beckerley wrote about his horrific experiences of years in a prisoner of war camp in North Korea before his death. Ted, who came from Rushden died at the age of 78 on September 27, 1998... read more.

Medal Ribbon

The booklet was issued with the intention of providing each one of us in the Commando with a souvenir of our short, but extremely, valuable stay in Palestine.... read more.

Medal Ribbon

The SAS Selection course was, and still is, incredibly tough, designed to weed out the candidates not suited to the service's special sort of operations. At that time, the SAS was only operational unit in Malaya,... read more.