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Warrant Officer Class Two (Squadron Sergeant Major)
George ‘Tex’ Matthews
Late Grenadier Guards and Special Air Service
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George ‘Tex’ Matthews, who has died aged 85, was awarded a Military Medal while serving with the SAS in the Dhofar War in southern Oman.
The conflict, which lasted for twelve years, was fought against Marxist and Arab nationalist revolutionary organisations backed by the Soviet Union and China. Matthews served as Squadron Sergeant Major of G Squadron 22 SAS Regiment and commanded an independent group of Arabs and British numbering over 100 men. The Dhofaris were firqats, bands of local fighting men loyal to the Sultan, trained to defend their settlements on the plains and defeat the Communist-backed Adoo in the hills.
On the night of 22nd September 1972, in an operation eighteen miles from his base and well out of range of artillery and mortar support, Matthews mounted a daring ambush. He divided his force into two separate units and, under cover of darkness, he and his men concealed themselves on the reverse slope of a thickly bushed hill. The other group was 800 yards to the rear.
At about 0945 the next morning, the enemy moved into a thicket overlooking Matthews’s position. He allowed the enemy to approach to within about twenty-five yards before opening fire. All five were killed but he was immediately attacked by ten men on one flank while fifteen moved around to his other flank intent on cutting him off from his support group.
Hard-pressed as he was, with great coolness he rallied his men and called up an airstrike. One firqat had been killed but Matthews inflicted further casualties on the enemy without further loss.
While he was still under fire, he controlled a helicopter evacuation of bodies and the equipment before making his own withdrawal. The citation for his award of a Military Medal paid tribute to his courage and stated that it was only his determination and outstanding leadership that kept the firqat soldiers in the fight.
George Rex Matthews was born in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, on 20th February 1940. Always known as ‘Tex’, he enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in 1958 and served with the 3rd Battalion in Cyprus. He served with the Guards Parachute Company in Borneo in the Confrontation with Indonesia from 1963 to 1965.
In 1966, a small cadre from the Company formed the nucleus of G Squadron 22 SAS Regiment, and he became involved in operations in the Dhofar and in the close protection of Sultan Qaboos.
For his last two years in the British Army he served with the British Commander-in-Chief’s Mission to the Soviet Forces of Occupation in Germany (BRIXMIS). It had its main office in the British sector of West Berlin and a mission compound in Potsdam, half an hour’s drive away. The Soviet equivalent, known as SOXMIS, was set up in Bünde, West Germany.
BRIXMIS was not originally intended to become involved in covert reconnaissance but it developed into an arm of British Intelligence with a specialist map-making team, electronic, signals and photographic experts and light aircraft with dedicated RAF pilots. Its staff were able to penetrate training areas, retrieve unexploded missiles and snatch video footage of top-secret Russian armour and aircraft. The Soviets responded with harassment of BRIXMIS staff, and sometimes with violence. Car chases, collisions and rammings were routine.
Matthews subsequently returned to Oman, and after appointments as Training Major of the Sultan’s Special Forces and the Firqat Force, he was OC of the Sultan’s Armed Forces Officer Training School at Aydim in southern Oman. In the mid-1990s he left Oman, but for several years he continued to work overseas advising international companies on security matters.
In his retirement, he divided his time between Hereford and his house near Limassol in Cyprus. He enjoyed spending time with his family and walking his dog and he had a keen interest in reading both historical and current military affairs. He was a fan of all sports, rugby in particular, and as a young man he played for Derby, Moseley, Hereford and various Guards’ XVs.
George Matthews married Linda Emery in 1967. She died in 2019 and he is survived by their son and daughter.
With thanks to The Daily Telegraph |
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