1963 Aden airport attack

1963 terrorist incident in AdenDecember 2025 the Aden Emergency Khormaksar Airport, Aden 12 49 46 N 045 01 45 E region:YE_ADtype:event inline,title Kennedy Trevaskis 1963 12 10 08:30 UTC+3 Grenade attack No. 36 Mills bomb Yemen National Liberation Front 1 2 49 (including Trevaskis) The 1963 Aden airport attack was an incident which saw the beginning of the Aden Emergency. Arab nationalists of the NLF made a grenade attack against the British High Commissioner, Sir Kennedy Trevaskis, immediately killing one person, a local woman, and injuring 50 others. 1963-12-11 Grenade Thrown Into Aden Airport; 1 Dead. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104281378 2015-11-06 The Canberra Times 1 National Library of Australia Australian Associated Press George Henderson, the assistant high commissioner, saved Sir Kennedy's life by pushing him out of the way. Henderson later died of his injuries, making the final toll two killed and forty-nine wounded. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131737942 News In Brief. The Canberra Times 3 January 1964 6 November 2015 3 National Library of Australia The incident led to Britain declaring a state of emergency in South Arabia."Terrorist Grenade Attack", Nashua Telegraph, 9 June 1965 accessed 4 November 2013 Attack thumb|The victims of the attack were treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Steamer Point. On 10 December 1963, Trevaskis was to depart from Aden to London, where he alongside other colonial minister's would discuss issues relating to the Aden's constitution and its potential incorporation into the Federation of South Arabia with colonial secretary Duncan Sandys.French 2011 51 2020-01-01 Sheila Trevaskis, intrepid wireless operator recruited over tea in Harrods to the secret unit preparing for a German invasion – obituary https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/01/01/sheila-trevaskis-intrepid-wireless-operator-recruited-tea-harrods/ subscription live https://web.archive.org/web/20231016235346/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/01/01/sheila-trevaskis-intrepid-wireless-operator-recruited-tea-harrods/ 2023-10-16 2025-12-10 The Telegraph en-GB 0307-1235 He departed his residence alongside his wife after around 07:00, heading in an official limousine from Steamer Point (Tawahi) to the international airport in Aden,Edwards 2014 57 RAF Khormaksar. The limousine arrived outside the VIP lounge of the airport terminal as passengers were gathered to board BOAC Flight BA 237, a Comet jet airliner bound to London.Edwards 2014 57French 2011 51 Heading there alongside the officials were other "leading Aden citizens", while a group of Arab notables were also present to greet Trevaskis and wish him farewell. Meanwhile, two undercover insurgents, Khalifa Abdulla Hasson Khalifa and his accomplice Mohamed Abdul Majid Miyya, were waiting within the passenger lounge for an opportunity to close the gap to the VIP section. A witness recalled that the former was carrying a blue registrar on him, as if he was pretending to be a supervisor at the airport.Edwards 2014 57–58 At around 08:30,French 2011 51 shortly after Trevaskis had come through the gates and joined the crowd, Khalifa pulled out a No. 36 Mills bomb from his pocket and rolled it into them.Edwards 2014 58 Trevaskis later recalled in his journal:Suddenly I heard a faint hissing noise. I turned round and saw a Mills bomb coloured green lying against the kerbs of a flowerbed with smoke coming out of it. Before I had time to react I was seized round the waist by George Henderson in something approximating to a rugger tackle and propelled towards the door of the building.Edwards 2014 58Seconds later, Trevaskis alongside police commissioner Arthur Wiltshire were able to escape through the gates before the grenade exploded. Godfrey Meynell, political officer for Dhala, and Trevaskis' wife, were speaking together when the grenade was rolled in.Edwards 2014 58 Sheila Trevaskis initially believed it to be a firework, casually turning around and covering her ears before an Indian woman walked between her and the device just as it detonated, completely absorbing the blast and inadvertently saving her. Trevaskis, Wiltshire, and Henderson were immediately rushed in an official vehicle to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Steamer Point. Trevaskis, who only suffered minor wounds to his hand, implored Wiltshire to let him go back to see his wife, but was refused. Henderson last said "Thank God you are safe, sir" to Trevaskis before he lost consciousness within the vehicle. Henderson received intensive treatment at the hospital for two weeks before he eventually died, specifically by pulmonary embolism "due to a collection of blood in the chest wound caused by a jagged piece of metal which pierced his right lung" according to the resident pathologist.Edwards 2014 58–59 Two people in total had died; Henderson and the woman who stepped in front of Sheila Trevaskis. A further 49 people suffered injuries, some serious.Edwards 2014 59 They included three ministers; Wiltshire, interior minister Sharif Hussein Beiham and information minister Ahmed Abdullah, along with the British chief of public relations in Aden, Donald Foster, Sultan Ahmed Abdulla Fadhli, Colonel Lasser Saleh, BBC correspondent Kenneth Brazier, Yemeni royalist foreign minister Ahmed al-Shani, and a number of other civilians. References Bibliography French David https://books.google.com/books?id=wQbdIf2O9JQC The British Way in Counter-Insurgency, 1945-1967 2011-09-29 Oxford University Press 9780199587964 49–52 en Gangsters, Thugs, and Bandits: The Enemies of the Colonial State https://books.google.com/books?id=wQbdIf2O9JQC&pg=PA42 Edwards Aaron https://books.google.com/books?id=RW3fAAAAQBAJ Mad Mitch's Tribal Law: Aden and the End of Empire 2014-04-30 Random House 9781780577487 56–59 en State of Emergency https://books.google.com/books?id=RW3fAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 External links Aden Emergency at the Argylls Website Aden Emergency at National Army Museum Category:Aden Emergency Category:Failed assassination attempts in Yemen Category:Deaths by hand grenade Category:December 1963 in Asia Category:1963 in the Federation of South Arabia Category:Grenade attacks in Yemen Category:1963 explosions Category:Murder in Aden Category:Terrorist attacks on airports in Yemen Category:Attacks on air bases in Yemen Category:Attacks on military installations in the 1960s Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1963 Category:Terrorist incidents in Aden Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1963