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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [111r] (221/336)
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.
109 -
fit tightly so he took a tyre lever out of his tool box with which to prise
the lid open. For a minute after he opened the lid nothing happened, and
getting more frightened he called out and was answered by a weak voice and
two hands clutched the rim of the manhole and slowly there rose the head
and shoulders of one of the Iraqis, soaking wet and looking more dead than
alive. The man tried to struggle out and the driver started to help him and
asked if the other men were all right. He became panic stricken at the reply
which was that four of them were dead. He stopped helping the man and terri
fied that he would give evidence against him, struck him a heavy blow on the
back of the head with the tyre lever. The Iraqi died Instantly, half in and
half out of the tanker. The driver shoved him in again and started to drive
across country with the intention of burying the dead in the desert where
they might not be found for years. Unfortunately for the driver the tanker
was sighted by some police in a patrol car who were surprised to see the
vehicle going across the open desert away from the known tracks. They sus
pected the driver of smuggling and gave chase. They quickly overhauled the
tanker and signalled to the driver to stop and get down from his cab. He
switched off the engine and obeyed the order, almost shaking with fear, but
prepared to tell some plausible tale to explain what he was doing away from
the track and hoping that only the cab would be searched. Before he had time
to say a word there came a faint sound of someone calling from inside the tank.
The police were surprised, but acted Instantly and two of them climbed into
the tank through the open manhole which the driver had forgotten to close and
helped the sixth man out into the open. When he had recovered somewhat he
explained that when the fifth man was killed by the driver he dared not dis
close his presence in case he met the same fate. That is my tale, and all
that remains is to say that the driver was tried for murder and executed on
the evidence of five dead men and one whom he had forgotten.
One day I slipped and fell off the lorry, broke my arm and damaged my leg and
was for weeks in hospital, during which time I came to the conclusion that as
it seemed to be God's will that I should never have enough money I had better
starve at home among my own people rather than abroad among strangers. So
back I came, no richer and probably no wiser, but God is generous; who knows,
one day maybe you will become rich and I can work for you again. Don't forget
to send in a Football Pool entry each week for me. Where is the money to come
from, you ask? Oh, add it to the money I owe you."
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' [111r] (221/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411639.0x000016> [accessed 15 June 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.