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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [27r] (53/336)
The record is made up of 1 volume (168 folios). It was created in 1982?. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
25
The discourse had gone on for three-quarters of an hour when suddenly he
stopped speaking and complained of the heat and seemed slightly exhausted
by his effort, which was not surprising for he had spoken with great ani
mation and with one slight pause only when he looked out of the window.
However, he had not quite finished and began to talk of the tribesmen
camped outside his gates and how they came from far and near and how they
stayed as his guests for the customary period of three days and how each
party received its annual gift of from one thousand to fifteen thousand
Saudi rials and a quota of rice and grain. When again he paused 1 felt
that much as I would have liked to have gone on making the most of this
great opportunity to listen to the words of a master, the time had come
when I should ask his permission to retire and leave him to his unending
task of taking care of his people. My request was granted with a charming
smile and he asked what I would like to do, but before I could answer,
suggested that I should go to A1 Karaj to see the agricultural development
there. Without waiting for my answer, he summoned Rushdi and told him
that I would leave immediately after lunch that day for A1 Karaj where I
would remain for the nigfrt. Sheikh Abdullah Suliman, the Minister of
Finance, who was at A1 Karaj would be my host and was to be informed by
radio telephone of my impending arrival. I would return the following
afternoon in time to dine with him in the evening. Rushdi would not him
self accompany me but Tahir Effendi Radhwan, the nephew of Sheikh Yusuf
Yasin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, would be in charge of the arrange
ments and was to see that everything I required was available. These
orders were given clearly and swiftly, and with another charming smile, he
shook hands and I left the presence.
Once outside the Palace I drove to the Post Office and bought some stamps.
Later Rushdi found out about the stamps and was upset, pointing out that I
could have had all the stamps I needed without troubling to go to the Post
Office. That was very true but I would not have had the fun of going to
the Post Office. Back at the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Hanifa, I was joined at lunch by Tahir
Effendi. As soon as we had finished our meal we left for A1 Karaj in
accordance with the Ibn Baud's command and drove for fifty miles through
the heat haze across the bare desert and then came suddenly to fields of
Alfalfa or lucerne, wondrously green, cool, and kind to the eyes after the
blinding glare of the desert. Amidst these fields we were met by the
nephew of Sheikh Abdullah bin Suliman who guided us to a small village
About this item
- Content
This volume is a set of typewritten memoirs by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, a retired officer of the British Indian Army and the Indian Political Service 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. . Hickinbotham held various positions in India and in the Middle East, and these memoirs recount stories from his time in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Quetta, Persia [Iran], Aden, Audhali, Bahrain and North Waziristan.
The memoirs were most likely completed in 1982-83; they cover the period 1927-1982, although most of the chapters relate to events from the 1930s and 1940s.
Hickinbotham writes not only about his official duties but also about various trips taken during periods of leave. Below is a list of the chapters, with a short summary of each:
- 'No Medals This Time' (ff 3-6) – details of an incident in Kuwait involving a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. that caught fire off the foreshore at Shuwaik [Ash Shuwaykh]
- 'The Silver Coin' (ff 7-10) – thoughts on the use of the Maria Theresa thaler in Arabia
- 'The Golden Dagger' (ff 11-36) – an account of Hickinbotham's unofficial visit to Riyadh to meet Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] in May 1942
- 'The Brass Pencase' (ff 37-53) – memories of a journey undertaken from Quetta to Europe via north Persia in 1927, travelling in a Fiat Tourer with Colonel T Nisbet (also referred to as the 'purple emperor'), on what Hickinbotham claims to have been the first trip taken by car from India to the Mediterranean
- 'The Bronze Boy' (ff 54-72) – reminiscences of weekends spent in 'Little Aden' (a rocky peninsula seven miles west of Aden), in 1938, and a later visit, in December 1961
- 'The Silver Letter Case' (ff 73-118) – details of a ten-day trip on the Audhali plateau in the summer of 1938, and a return visit, in December 1960 (the chapter ends with remarks on the situation in Yemen generally from the late sixties to the time of writing, i.e. 1982)
- 'The Agate Ring' (ff 119-144) – memories of travelling in Oman during the summer of 1940 and how this compared with Hickinbotham's last visit to the country in 1980
- 'The Pearl Tie Pin' (ff 145-151) – thoughts and anecdotes on the pearl trade in Bahrain
- 'A Point of View' (ff 152-157) – a story told to Hickinbotham, possibly fictional, of a pearl trader in the Gulf who lost his fortune and livelihood, and eventually his sanity
- 'Snakes Alive!!' (ff 158-161) – an account of a near-fatal encounter with a krite [krait] in Waziristan
- 'The Queen's Visit' (ff 162-168) – memories of the Queen's visit to the Aden Protectorate in 1954, where Hickinbotham was serving as Governor.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (168 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains an index of chapter headings on folio 2, which includes some handwritten corrections and annotations.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 168; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-168.
Condition: The original plastic comb binding ring has been replaced with a wider one to facilitate flat opening of the volume. Polyester film covers have been added to protect the first and last folios.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [27r] (53/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411638.0x000036> [accessed 3 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F226/13
- Title
- '"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE'
- Pages
- 1r:168v
- Author
- Hickinbotham, Sir Tom
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.