Prince Harry Unveils Statue Of Fijian SAS Hero

Prince Harry poses for a photo with local dignitaries (Picture: Kensington Palace/Twitter).

The Duke of Sussex has unveiled a statue of a British-Fijian SAS soldier who died in the Battle of Mirbat.

Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba, of the Special Air Service (SAS), single-handedly held off 250 insurgents with a 25-pounder field gun after being shot in the jaw during the battle in Oman in 1972.

He was part of a nine-strong SAS team which was attacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG).

For a year the unit had been on a secret assignment, code-named Operation Jaguar, to protect the Sultan of Oman from the insurgent force.

On the morning of 19 July 1972, 250 of the Front's best fighters stormed the port in a surprise attack that left the nine SAS men pinned down inside their fort.

Sgt Labalaba, then 30, knew that without heavier fire power, the unit faced almost certain annihilation.

He sprinted across an exposed 800-yard stretch to reach a 25-pound field gun, which would usually require three men to operate.

Ignoring his wounds he continued to hold off the 250 Front fighters for six hours.

Fellow trooper Roger Cole wrote in his book ‘In SAS: Operation Storm’ that the fight would have been lost had Sgt Labalaba not taken the 25-pounder.

The British-Fijian hero, an enduring legend among locals, was posthumously mentioned in dispatches for his bravery in battle.

At the unveiling was Sergeant Labalaba’s son, Isaia Dere Labalaba, 53, and he spoke of his pride: "I'm so excited, so happy today. I last saw him in 1971 when he left for his tour of duty.

"He was meant to come home again within days when he died. I was just four years and 11 months old.

"He was a real family man, my father. It is a great honour that he (Harry) has agreed to do this."

Sekonaia Takavesi Wakolo, 75, who was with Sgt Labalaba when he died and was himself shot in the shoulder, said they were "blood brothers":  

"We have campaigned for a long time for a statue to commemorate him.

"It is wonderful to have a memorial to him here in Fiji. It is very important to the Fijian people.

"We were very proud to serve the Crown so it means a lot to us to have Prince Harry here to unveil it.

"His brother Prince William unveiled a statue on Hereford in 2014."

After the ceremony in Nadi, western Fiji, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex departed for Tonga.

The royal couple is on a 16-day tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.