Keith Ryde

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Colin McLean on Thursday 9th April 2026. Colin had been ill for some months having been diagnosed with Leukaemia in late 2025. He spent his final days in care in North London and staff at the care home reported that he had a steady stream of visitors and that he was a much loved patient. Several members of the SAF Association committee were able to visit him during his last few weeks and reported quite lively and coherent conversations...

We are very sorry to pass on the sad news of the death of Philip Brooke-Popham, late Commander Royal Navy of Oman, on Saturday 4th April 2026 aged 97. Philip commanded the navy, then the Sultan of Oman's Navy (SON), from 1973 - 76 in the very early stages of its existence and during the challenging last 2 years of the Dhofar war. He supervised the introduction of modern warships into the navy. A full obituary will be published in due course. Funeral details are as follows: 21 April 2026 at...

Major Colin Garland died on 19th January 2026 in Cyprus, aged 93. Colin was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Transport and served on loan service in Oman from 1963 until 1965 as the Force Transport Officer at Bayt al Falaj. He returned to Oman a little over ten years later in 1976, this time on contract, taking on the same role. He finally retired from SAF in 1980 and began a long and fulfilling second career with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), working with...