Talk:Talaiasi Labalaba

A Fijian 'first'?

Can he be confidently claimed as the first Fijian to die in action serving in the British Army?Cloptonson (talk) 12:49, 25 December 2014 (UTC)

Yes offcourse he actually saved most of them ~2026-10313-83 (talk) 19:36, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

The Account of the Fight is Garbled

This article needs to be overhauled by someone who actually has decent information on the battle.

The article says: 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.

This does not agree with the wikipedia article on the Battle of Mirbat. Among the differences: 1. There was no Omani loader. There was an Omani policeman by the 25-pdr, who had been seriously wounded prior to Labalala reaching the gun (so, presumably, unable to load). 2. When Trooper Takavesi arrived at the gun pit, Labalaba was still alive. An Omani soldier joined the pair. Labalaba and the Omani were killed and Takavesi wounded. 3. After this, Captain Kealy and Trooper Tobin arrived.

According to on-line information, there was no Sergeant Tommy Goodyear at Mirbat. [WO I Goodyear was involved in the Iran Embassy Siege.] The British SAS Sergeant at Mirbat was Bob Bennett.

When the article says "... the trooper was also hit", which trooper are they talking about? Takavesi is the only one mentioned so far in which case it should read "... Trooper Takavesi was wounded ...".

Who is Dunkley? He is not listed as one of the nine SAS personnel at Mirbat. Should this be Trooper Tobin, who arrived at the gun emplacement with Kealy and was killed when a bullet struck his face? The only info I can find about an SAS man called Dunkley is a Sergeant Frank Dunkley who was executed by the SAS in August 1944.Glevum (talk) 14:50, 18 July 2026 (UTC)