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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [160r] (319/336)
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.
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158 -
alked|fup to the Post with the escort who were carrying the currency chest. I
was fornally introduced to the Garrison and then we set about paying out the
men and dealing with reports and complaints. After our work was finished, Mac
and I had a cup of tea with the Post Commander and then wandered down to the
Bedford. The currency chest had been brought down from the post and as soon
as the clerk and the escort had taken their places I joined Mac, who was driv
ing, on the front seat. There was not a great deal of room in the front seat
so for greater ease I stretched my right arm along the top of the seat behind
his back. We were both clad in shorts and short-sleeved shirts. My shirt was
an inconspicuous khaki and his the finest of fine white. I have never believed
in ein: too outstanidng, especially where passions are sometimes more normal
than civilised peace. Hence possibly the lack of adventures which I deplored
in the beginning of this book.
We drove back the way we had come, down the pass and along past the Scout Post
at Dousalli and on towards Miranshah. We were only a few miles past Dousalli
when I became aware of something cool tickling my bare forearm. I glanced
round and was horrified to see a snake lying across my arm, peering uncertainly
into the back of the bus where the escort and the clerk stared back with
expressions of shocked surprise on their faces. We had all become aware of
the animal at the same time and they were momentarily glued to their seats,
quite unable to move. Somehow I conquered an almost overwhelming impulse to
pull my arm away. A sudden movement would have startled the snake and I should
have been bitten. I held by breath and strove desperately to decide what to do
while Mac, all unheeding of the drama behind him, went on driving and talking
about Khassadars. The Bedford must be stopped and we must get out and give
ourselves room to deal with the intruder, that was obvious, but how to get Mac
to stop without startling him into making a sudden movement. If I just said
"Stop" would fae do so7 he might if the tone of my voice was urgent enough but
I was doubtful. Was it worth trying? I wasn't sure but I could think of
nothing else and time was important because the escort were beginning to
recover from their first shock, and when they did their natural fear and loath
ing of snakes would produce a violent reaction to the animal whether it was on
my arm or not. My doubts were resolved by the snake which had become aware of
its enthralled audience and I am sure the aura of hostility and fear which they
must have exuded left it in no doubt that it was among enemies. It turned
slowly and slithered down between the back of the seat and Mac's back inade
quately protected by the thin cotton shirt which was in fact no protection at
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' [160r] (319/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411639.0x000078> [accessed 17 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.