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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [132r] (263/336)
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.
130 -
I stripped off my sweat-sodden clothes and had my camp-bed placed under a
large tree which I hoped would afford some protection from the heavy dew
which was already falling. After supper I lay on ray back and made plans for
the next day. One thing was quite clear and that was that there could be no
question of an early start. The animals would certainly have to be rested
until midday. The real question was whether I should continue to go on by
land or whether to abandon that part of the programme and continue to Sur by
sea. If the terrain was no worse than that over which we had come I could
continue by land, but the high precipitous mountains which I had seen along
the coast before the sun went down gave rise to doubts in my mind about the
feasibility of getting to Sur along the coast in the time I had at my dis
posal. I would make careful enquiries in the morning and then decide. The
track, if there was one, either ran between the hills and the sea and if so
we could reconnoitre it from the launch which could be kept well in-shore or
else it ran behind the hills and that would take far too long. With these
thoughts running through my mind I fell asleep and woke to find it daylight
and Salem, the slave lad, standing by my side with a tray of tea and biscuits. I
I sent for Naser and ordered him to let the donkey men know we would not start
until after noon and then to seek out and bring to me anyone he could find who
was able to give authentic information about the road. This done I dressed
and sat under a tree near an old mast lying on the sand and waited for results.
While I was waiting, a dirty-looking fellow who wanted to hire me camels for
the onward journey, came and sat on the mast and remarked as he did so that it
was only four hours to Tiwi, our next night's stopping place. This immedi
ately started an argument with a respectable-looking person who, it appeared,
was the principal shop-keeper and who arrived opportunely with Naser. The
spectators joined in against the camel man, spectators always collect when
there is an argument, even in the remotest parts of Arabia. I asked if there
was sweet water to be had this side of Tiwl and the camel man's affirmative
answer produced an indignant outburst from everyone. There was water, yes,
and it was drinkable if one was thirsty enough, but to call it sweet was a
barefaced lie. At the end of half an hour I had no doubt in my mind that I
should want nine hours at least to reach Tlwi and that no-one seemed to know
much about the track thereafter. It was too late to start that day and
although I had a day or two in hand, I doubted whether I would have enough
time to cooqplete the journey by land. I decided against further torment of
the flesh and ordered Naser to pay off the donkey men and be ready to embark
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' [132r] (263/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411639.0x000040> [accessed 7 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.