§ 84. Mr. P. Noel-Bakerasked the Minister of Defence whether the military operations in which British forces have been engaged since 1955 in the Arabian Peninsula have now been completed.
§ Mr. SandysNo. So long as those States in the Arabian Peninsula for whose protection we have special responsibilities have unsettled relations with their neighbours, we must expect the recurrence, from time to time, of frontier incidents and other troubles, calling for assistance by Her Majesty's forces.
§ 85. Mr. P. Noel-Bakerasked the Minister of Defence what was the nature of the 12,000 operational sorties flown by the Royal Air Force in the Arabian Peninsula in six months in 1958; what total tonnage of bombs was dropped in these operations; and in how many ground attacks aircraft of the Royal Air Force took part.
§ Mr. SandysThese sorties were carried out for the purpose of reconnaisance, air cover, transportation of personnel and freight, leaflet dropping, sky shouting, artillery observation, bombing, ground attack and operational training. There were 1,300 ground attack sorties and about 780 tons of bombs were dropped.