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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [129r] (257/336)
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.
127 -
We followed a broad pathway on either aide of which were the mud walla of
the gardena and I was hot and out of temper, and all I wanted was to rest
awhile under a shady tree near running water. In pursuit of this objective
I directed the donkey men to lead the way straight through the village
avoiding the Sheikh's house to the gardens on the other side. I dismounted,
sore and thirsty, under some palm trees on the bank of the conduit which
brought the water for the gardens from the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Madai’ik and I looked around
for the donkey with the drinking water. Naturally it was not with us; it
was the only one which had fallen behind and did not appear for ten minutes
by which time I was too out of temper to question the donkey man rationally
and he too stupid to answer intelligently, so we did not get very far. My
views on his work and his family were interrupted by the appearance of a
Baluchi who announced that he was the custodian of a garden belonging to an
acquaintance of mine in Muscat and Insisted that we go and rest in his gar
den. I fought hard to stay where I was, but it was no vise and with very ill
grace I retraced my steps through the village. A voice called out from one
of the palm leaf huts and the Baluchi turned back to answer the question that
had been asked. I waited until he rejoined us and asked who it was that had
called and was told it was the Sheikh himself. The Sheikh, who is of the
Beni Battash tribe, was having a mid-morning coffee with a friend and was
startled by the unexpected appearance of a European in his remote head
quarters and was curious about my identity. After this momentary interrup
tion, we went on and passing through a gap in a mud wall, found two servants
spreading carpets under a fine mango tree. I sat down with relief, only to
be brought to my feet again in five minutes by the arrival of visitors.
A respectable looking man, who I realised must be the Sheikh, appeared, fol
lowed by two servants and accompanied by an elderly person with a grey beard
and but two teeth in the middle of his upper jaw, which wobbled when he spoke,
dressed in dirty garments which at some time in the distant past may have
been white. The usual civilities and handshakes were exchanged and down we
sat on the carpets. Coffee was brought and a tray of dates and vermicilli
boiled in milk, a favourite morning dish in this part of the world. There
was also a kettle of milky sweet tea and a sufficiency of cups. We ate and
drank and talked of the War, of Zanzibar and Mombasa, both of which places
the Sheikh had visited and, of course, local politics. It was hot, incred
ibly hot, and the tea did not make me any cooler and I craved solitude and
rest, but it was not to be. Here was an opportunity to make contact with
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' [129r] (257/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411639.0x00003a> [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.