The middle East

A new beginning

My life was about to change. The two years I had spent making a modern village cinema even more successful had also been spent in study. I had been taking a correspondence course in accounting and had reached a level to obtain a post with the I. P. C in the middle East…….more about a new beginning>>>

All about oil

Just before the Great World War, Britain began to show interest in the possibility of finding oil in Arabia. In 1913 the British Government signed an agreement with Kuwait for exclusive rights for oil exploration in Kuwaiti territory. A year later a similar treaty was signed with the Sheikh of Bahrain. These treaties…….more about oil>>>

Qatar

The fifty-foot dhow on which we embarked with two boxes full of food and squash drinks was also being used as a water carrier. I learnt later, from the bills of account that the Company paid four annas a gallon for water, “sweet” water, much of which was scooped up from the “fresh” water pools at…….more about Qatar>>>

Marriage

A few months after returning to the desert I met and married the woman of my life. We were married in the Embassy in Bahrain and flew off to Beirut and Cyprus for our honeymoon. In Beirut we were taken everywhere in huge American limousines and lived in the luxury of the St. George Hotel…….more about marriage>>>

London to Baghdad by car

The Green Goddess was a well-known motorcar around Kirkuk in the late fifties. Having arrived in Iraq in the Spring of 1955 we were soon to go on leave but delayed until later in the year. We now had a daughter as well as the first son and we wished to enjoy the spring and early summer in England. However as was often the case, my leave was delayed and my wife and children went home some months earlier. We had…….more about London to Baghdad>>>

Driving in Lebanon

In the summer of 1961 I left Iraq to take up the post of Assistant D.A. in Lebanon. I well remember, I asked the pilot to let the cabin staff know when we were over the Iraqi border and for a bottle of champagne to be brought to celebrate flying out of the repressive atmosphere of the Kassem regime. Other expatriates…….more about driving in Lebanon>>>

Back to the Gulf

At the end of 1962 my tour of duty in Lebanon came to and end. On the three hundred and sixty fifth day I flew to London, enjoyed a few days leave and spent ten days in London Headquarters being briefed for my new assignment…….more about back to the Gulf>>>

The accident

Someone pushed my shoulder. I woke up from a deep sleep. Blood was slowly seeping down my forehead. My passenger was slumped across his seat, his head resting in an unusual way near my shoulder. I gently pushed his arm away from me; no response. My God, he was dead! No he was…….more about the accident>>>

Second hand car dealer

By the year 1967 the State infrastructure was established and functioning. A number of roads had been constructed and more were being built to deal with the fast growing number of cars and lorries on the road. This was the time of plenty; plenty of work; plenty of money; plenty of pleasure. At the beginning…….more about second hand car dealing>>>