Talaiasi Labalaba BEM (13 July 1942 – 19 July 1972) was a British-Fijian sergeant in the SAS who was involved in the Battle of Mirbat on 19 July 1972. Labalaba initially served in the British Army in the Royal Ulster Rifles.He is listed under that regiment and not under SAS in his entry on the Armed Forces Memorial Roll of Honour. His government-issued headstone bears the RIR regimental crest, with the SAS 'winged dagger' a subsidiary depiction.
Battle of Mirbat
On 19 July 1972, the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG) attacked the British Army Training Team (BATT) house, which housed nine SAS soldiers, based just outside the port of Mirbat, Oman.
Labalaba, aged 30, was shot dead in the neck whilst firing a 25-pounder gun at the attacking guerrilla forces.
He displayed notable bravery by continuing to fire the 25 pounder single-handed in spite of being seriously wounded when a bullet hit him in the face, after his Omani loader was seriously wounded early in the battle. Captain Mike Kealy, fellow Sergeant Tommy Goodyear and Trooper Sekonaia Takavesi ran a gauntlet of enemy fire but arrived too late to save Labalaba. The trooper was also hit, Takavesi was wounded in the shoulder, head, and stomach while Dunkley was killed when a round penetrated the sand-bagged walls and hit him in the face. Labalaba's actions helped to keep the insurgents pinned down until Strikemaster jets of the SOAF arrived to drive back the attackers while reinforcements from Salalah could be organised.
In his book of the battle, SAS: Operation Storm, fellow SAS trooper Roger Cole paid tribute to Labalaba saying "if the guerrilla force had taken the 25-pounder, then the SAS would have lost the battle."
Honours
Labalaba was awarded a posthumous Mention in Despatches for his actions in the Battle of Mirbat, although some of his former comrades have campaigned for him to be awarded the more prestigious Victoria Cross.Description of the battleAt the time, the Victoria Cross and Mention in Despatches were the only combat decorations which could be awarded posthumously. His body was returned to England and buried in the cemetery at St Martin's Church, Hereford.
In 2012 he was chosen as one of BBC Radio 4's 60 New Elizabethans in celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.
A statue of Labalaba was erected in 2009 at the SAS headquarters in Herefordshire, and another, at Nadi International Airport in Fiji, dedicated in 2018 during a visit by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Footnotes
References
BBC News Article