'Memoirs and Recollections of An Officer of the Indian Political Service' [‎5r] (9/156)

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CHAPTER 2: POLITICAL PROBATIONER. SERVICE IN ADEN 1934 - 1935
In Aden I found myself appointed as Personal Assistant to Colonel Sir Bernard
Reilly, K.C.M.G., C.I.E., O.B.E., the Resident etc of Aden. Under him, I served for
the requisite six months, and from him I received much kindness and good advice and
guidance. Colonel Reilly had spent nearly the whole of his political career in
Aden and the Protectorate, first under the Bombay Government and subsequently under
the Foreign Department of the IPS The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. . He was the acknowledged expert on everything to
do with Southern Arabia and was exceedingly popular with, and respected by, the
variagated population of Aden - Indians, Yemenis, Arabs, Somalis, Jews, and Europeans
alike. Aden at this time was an important link in the strategic Imperial lifeline
which stretched to India, Australia and the Far East. All British and foreign
passing ships, passenger liners and cargo vessels, entered the port to bunker with
oil or coal. The port and settlement were defended by large coastal artillery
batteries (some of whose guns were embedded in bastions under or near the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. ),
and by units of the RAF. The Commanding Officer of all the troops in Aden was the
Air Officer Commanding. During 1934-35 the post was filled by Group Captain Charles
Portal, afterwards Marshal/ of the RAF, Lord Portal of Hungerford. My own duties
were largely social, particularly during the early months of 1935 which was the Silver
Jubilee Year of King George the Fifth and Queen Mary. Many Empire statesmen and other
prominent people passed through Aden on their way to England to attend the celebrations,
and it was my job to board the liners, to welcome them, to offer them hospitality at
the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. and, if time permitted, to conduct them on a brief tour around the
famous rain water tanks of Aden and the Oasis of Sheik Othman. For me, it was an
interesting and useful initiation into the life of a Political Officer. But, I had
other duties as well. As a junior magistrate I dispensed justice in court mainly to
Somalis who were much addicted to litigation over minor grieviences with their
neighbours. I was also Passport and Visa Officer, and handled all the incoming and
outgoing Cypher traffic for the Resident. For relaxation, I played polo and golf,
of which I have been a lifetime devotee. Although Aden, lying as it does at the
entrance of the Red Sea, was hot and humid, the nights were cool in the shelters in
which we slept on the roofs of the houses; and it never rained!
At the end of 1935 I was getting ready to return to India at the end of my six months
tour of duty to continue my training in District and Administrative work, when, one
morning, I decyphered a telegram from New Delhi instructing me to report myself with
all due speed to H.M. Minister at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia for temporary duty in the
Legation there. As an assignment this was something quite out of the ordinary as
Ethiopia was outside the jurisdiction of the Government of India. Apart from other
unspecified duties, I was told that my services were being requisitioned in this way
as there had been trouble, together with a certain loss of discipline amongst the