Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

The rare and historically important SAS Military Cross group of awards to Lieutenant-General Sir John Peter Barry Condliffe Watts, K.B.E., C.B., M.C., Royal Ulster Rifles and 22 Special Air Service Regiment, comprising: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Military Division, Knight Commander's Neck Badge and Star, silver-gilt and enamels, in Garrards's case of issue; The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Military Division, Companion's Neck Badge (C.B.), silver-gilt and enamels, in Collingwood's case of issue; Military Cross, Elizabeth II, reverse dated 1959; General Service Medal 1918-62, Elizabeth II, with Mention in Despatches emblem, 4 clasps: Canal Zone, Cyprus, Malaya, Arabian Peninsula (LT J P B C WATTS PARA), lightly engraved in plain capitals, a late issue with clasps mounted in the foregoing order*; General Service Medal 1962-2007, 3 clasps: Borneo, South Arabia, Dhofar (MAJOR. J. P. B. C. WATTS. M.C. R.U.R.), officially impressed; Jubilee Medal 1977, unnamed as issued; Oman: Order of the Special Royal Emblem; Accession Medal; Peace Medal; 10th National Day Medal; 15th National Day Medal; the last nine awards court mounted, the order insignia extremely fine, the mounted group good very fine or better [11]; offered with the following associated items:
The recipient's court mounted set of dress miniature medals, corresponding in most respects to the forgoing medals and including miniatures for the Order of Sultan Qaboos and the Order of Oman**; Grants of Dignity for the recipient's C.B.E., C.B. and K.B.E., each with covering letter; a typed signed letter from Lt Gen David Mostyn, on MOD letterhead, dated December 1984 and advising the recipient of his admission to the Order of the Bath; a typed signed letter from Maj Gen Desmond Rice, C.V.O., C.B.E., Deputy Secretary of the Order of the Bath, dated 9th of May 1985, explaining procedural aspects of the order; statute books for the Order of the Bath and the Order of the British Empire; a small collection of the recipient's insignia and medals ribbon bars, and his dress spurs.
Notes: “ [A] formidable SAS commando … tough and, some would say, ferocious .. he used every opportunity to get onto active service.” 1
“… a great deal of the success [of the assault on Jebel Akhdar] can be attributed to his courage and leadership.” 2
“..an extremely brave and fearless commander as well as … an outstanding tactician.” 3
“It has been as a result of his overriding direction and training that the Special Air Service have [sic] played such a significant role in counter-terrorism … few officers have done so much to contribute to the overall defeat of terrorism.” 4
“The name of the Special Air Service, already a legend in its own right, has been enhanced even more during his period in command.” 4

John Peter Barry Condliffe Watts (1930-2003) was a gallant soldier and an exemplary special forces officer and is a towering figure in the post-war history of the SAS. He excelled at all levels of command, combining fearlessness, fortitude and tactical acuity with exceptional leadership qualities and uncommon powers of diplomacy.
Born in Portsmouth on the 27th of August 1930, John Watts went to school in Cornwall before joining his mother and stepfather on the North West Frontier of India, where he spent much of his boyhood and early education. He later attended Westminster School and Andover Academy in Massachusetts, USA.
Watts’s military career began in 1949 when he was called up for National Service in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. He subsequently attended the Officer Cadet School at Eaton Hall and, his leadership potential having been recognised, proceeded to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst whence he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Ulster Rifles on the 30th of March 1951. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1953, and after two years in Hong Kong with the RUR he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and he joined the 3rd Battalion in Suez in 1954.
The British Special Air Service (SAS), famous for the groundbreaking methods that it employed in the Second World War, had been re-formed in the Territorial Army in 1947, and its regular army regiment was raised in 1952 as 22 SAS. The recipient’s long and distinguished association with the regiment began in 1955 when his company was attached to 22 SAS for an Operational tour in Malaya. In 1957 he passed selection and embarked upon direct service in the SAS. In this period he also served with 1 RUR in Cyprus before being recalled to Malaya to command D Squadron 22 SAS. By this time a Captain, he took his squadron deep into the jungle in a series of raids against Communist guerillas. He led with great courage and panache and was mentioned in despatches following this tour.
In 1957 a long standing contention between the British-supported Sultan of Oman and the Saudi-backed tribes of Oman’s hostile interior regions had escalated into a full-blown conflict known as the Jebel Akhdar War, so-named for the commanding massif that forms part of the Hajar Mountain range separating the coastal plain of Oman from the arid interior, and which provided the rebel forces with a virtually impregnable base.

A combination of regular British personnel and the Sultan’s armed forces under the command of mainly British ‘contract officers’ succeeded in securing certain key locations and in restricting the movements of the rebels, but they were unable to address the overwhelming challenge of assaulting them in their mountain fastness. It was decided that the task must fall to the SAS, and at the request of the leader of the Sultan’ Armed Forces – Colonel David Smiley, on secondment from the Blues – Captain John Watts arrived from Malaya at the head of D squadron in the last week of November 1958.
The Jebel Akhdar had last been scaled against armed opposition by the Persians in the 18th century, at great loss of life. Its central plateau stands at 6,600 feet above sea level and its highest peak at 9,902 feet. The heights are approached by narrow and precipitous trackways, and the altitude, gradients, and extremes of temperatures make it one of the harshest environments on earth. Immediately upon his arrival Captain Watts, appraised by Smiley as “a stocky, tough, and dedicated professional” 5, set about acclimatising his men to their unforgiving surroundings and mounting a series of aggressive operations that cut off the rebel’s supplies and probed the approaches to the Saiq Plateau, where three key rebel villages and their entrenched position at Aquabat al Dhafar were situated.
The final assault took place on the 26th January 1959. Watt’s squadron had been joined in theatre by A Squadron, and a plan had been formed to circumvent the pathways – which were guarded - and take the heights in a surprise attack up a narrow, trackless ridge while the rebels were distracted by a demonstration against their main position. It was a risky undertaking and in the final stage of the ascent, when even his pack animals had proved unequal to the task, Watts made the difficult decision to order packs abandoned and to lead his men on with only their rifles in an arduous race to the top. Opposition was encountered but the first-class planning and execution of the operation meant that British casualties were light and the raid was a complete tactical success in the best traditions of the British special forces. For this action Captain Watts was awarded the Military Cross.
Following the Jebel Akhdar War Captain Watts rejoined the RUR in the British Army of the Rhine, and went on to serve as GS02 at Headquarters Berlin. He was promoted to Major on the 9th of February 1964, in which year he rejoined 22 SAS in Borneo, where the British were supporting the recently formed state of Malaysia, who’s territory in the North of the island was under attack by Indonesia in the South.
The campaign in Burma involved intensive fighting patrols in dense and inhospitable jungle along a 900 mile border to intercept and defeat the relentless incursions of the Indonesians. In addition, the SAS undertook the extremely high risk -and at the time clandestine - task of crossing the border into Indonesian territory to gather intelligence and conduct ambushes against the enemy. Major Watts was once again in his element. He raised and trained a new B Squadron which mounted raids up to an unprecedented six miles behind enemy lines.
In 1965 Major Watts took B squadron to Aden where the British supported federal government was under pressure from an Egyptian and Yemeni backed insurgency. This was a vicious and bloody campaign, in which the SAS was employed in a covert capacity, and Major Watts displayed enormous flair in intelligence gathering and anticipating the actions of his enemy.
Various other postings followed and in 1967 Major Watts returned to Hong Kong as brigade commander of the 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade. In the following year he was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Irish Rangers (newly formed by the amalgamation of the RUR with the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers), and in December 1969 he resumed his special forces role upon being appointed CO of 22 SAS.
In 1965 the Omani province of Dhofar had risen in rebellion against the increasingly unpopular and illiberal Sultan Said bin Taimur, and in the summer of 1970 Said was overthrown by his son, the progressive Qaboos bin Said. Qaboos wished to enact a program of reform but before reconstruction could begin in Dhofar the threat posed by the communist sponsored Adoo rebels had to be confronted. Lieutenant Colonel Watts masterminded a comprehensive plan that included the recruitment of local irregular fighters known as Firqats, and extensive intelligence gathering activities. The responsibilities that he assumed were not restricted to the military sphere, and his sagacity and organisational powers were brought to bear on such matters as agriculture, civic reform, and medical and veterinary aid – all vital to the stabilisation and reconstruction of the war-torn region.
In October 1971 John Watts led elements of 22 SAS supported by a regiment of the Sultan’s Armed Forces and the Firqats in a major effort to seize control of the rebel dominated hill country under the codename ‘Operation Jaguar’. During this protracted period of hard fighting his preference for leading from the front saw him accompanying his troopers on patrol and the example of his bravery and coolness under fire “spurred the men under his command to greater efforts in spite of fighting under extremely difficult conditions against a highly skilled enemy” 3. When one of his men was badly wounded giving covering fire to a firquat in a forward position, Watts risked his life to bring the casualty in under fire 6. On the conclusion of this tour he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.)
A posting as an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, was followed by promotion to Colonel and a job in the Ministry of Defence. Then, on the 26th of September 1975, John Watts was made Director SAS and Commander SAS Group, in the rank of Brigadier. He took on the huge responsibilities of this prestigious appointment with his accustomed skill and energy, meeting the political demands of the job with the same adroitness that he brought to military matters. The fearsome warlike qualities that weighed so heavily against his adversaries were matched by a warmth and humanity that enabled first class relations with colleagues and collaborators at every level, from soldiers to senior politicians at home and abroad.
The 1970s saw an increase in global terrorism, and under Watts’s guidance the SAS rose to the challenge, growing and adapting to become, in the words of one of his superiors, “… the finest counter-terrorism force in the world.” 4. The scope of their activities was considerable, with operations conducted in Northern Ireland and around the world. Brigadier Watts excelled in an advisory and diplomatic role with foreign powers, an example being the assistance given the West Germany in saving the lives of the hijacking victims of Lufthansa Flight 181 in Mogadishu in 1977. In recognition of this outstanding devotion to duty and “… effort … consistently … beyond that which his job requires” 4 he was elevated to Commander in the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in 1979.
Brigadier Watt’s tour as Director SAS concluded at the end of 1978, and in April of the following year he was called on to return once again to Oman. The post of Commander of the Sultan’s Land Forces was still being filled by officers on secondment from the British Army, and in 1979 Sultan Qaboos rejected the British Government’s nominee and out of the confidence and esteem in which he held John Watts, requested him instead. Long experience and his affection for the people of the region made Watts ideal for the job, and, by now a Major-General, he applied himself to the modernisation of the Sultan’s forces, with the particular aim of transferring the balance of control to Omani officers. In 1984 he was raised to the position of Chief of Defence Staff in the Sultan’s Government and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (C.B.), and in 1987 he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and was knighted by progression to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.).
After leaving the Sultan’s service Lieutenant-General Sir John Watts remained his friend and frequent guest. He also hosted many Omani friends in his retirement in Wiltshire. He died in December 2003 after a life of extraordinary courage and attainment, and of dedication to the security of the United Kingdom and the success and prestige of her armed forces.

M.C. London Gazette 25/08/1959
C.B. London Gazette 31/12/1984
K.B.E. London Gazette 31/12/1987

Obituary, The Times, 15/12/2003
2. Recommendation for the Military Cross, WO 373/125/1
3. Brigadier R.F. Semple in his recommendation for the OBE. WO 373/174/341
4. Maj. Gen. M. B. Farndale in his recommendation for the CBE, WO 373/177/232
5. David Smiley, ‘Arabian Assignment, Operations in Oman and the Yemen, 1958-1961 and 1963-1968’, p. 93
6. Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 15/12/2003
Other sources: John Hayward, Diana Birch and Richard Bishop, ‘British Battles and Medals’; P. E. Abbott and J. M. A. Tamplin, ‘British Gallantry Awards’; S. Monick, ‘Victory in Hades: The Forgotten Wars of the Oman, 1957-1959 and 1970-1976’.
*The order in which the clasps are mounted, and the late naming style, may be connected to the fact that the Canal Zone clasp was authorised close to the end of the recipient's life.
** full-size insignia not present.