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'"NO MEDALS THIS TIME" by Sir Tom Hickinbotham, KCMG, KCVO, CIE, OBE' [164r] (327/336)
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.
/6a
- 3
Everywhere in Aden British officials were clinibing into tropical uni forms
and civilians were putting on well-preseed tropical suits while their ladles,
who have all the fun on these occasions, were engaged in their own way in
’’getting ready”. The population was similarly engaged but their problem was
simpler, just a gay cotton or silk kilt or sarong and a brightly coloured
shirt of the same material with a new headcloth and shoes and then they were
ready to enjoy themselves. The Protectorate people took rather longer over
their toilet for they took great pride in their bobbed hair which required
constant combing and creaming to bring it to perfection, also the eyes had
to be attended to and antinomy rubbed round the edge of the lid. The
effect was alluring but no-one would confess that there was any vanity in
the business, one and all maintaining that it was done to clean the eyes.
Curious that the eyes needed cleaning on saints' days and holidays more than
on any other day.
I must not forget the ladies, Arab and Indian and Somali, most of whom would
not be able to show their finery in public for custom forbade them to appear
outside their houses unless covered from head to foot in a black cloak.
They would be on their rooftops and at their windows to see the Queen and
would have tea parties and invite their friends, especially those whose
houses were on the Royal route. They were in no way behind their western
sisters in donning their finery and beautifying themselves.
By 9 o'clock the troops lining the streets were in position, the troops
taking part in the military parade were in position with detachments of the
Government Guards, Hadhrami Bedouin Legion and the armed Police on the foot
ball ground at Tawahi which had been enlarged and had the railings removed
ror the occasion. The main road had been incorporated in the area covered
by the stands facing the parade in the centre of which was the Royal dais.
In these stands were seated already the important spectators without regard
to colour or creed and on the Royal dais were the very important people,
those receiving an Honour from Her Majesty, those who were to play a leading
part in the ceremonies and the members of the Executive and Legislative
Council and the Military Commanders. They all knew what to do. There was
no reason why they should be in any doubt at all. The Investiture and the
presentation of Royal addresses had been rehearsed first of all with stand-
ins until the Stage Manager and the producer were satisfied and then with the
principals themselves. The Governor of Somaliland rehearsed and an Air
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' [164r] (327/336), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F226/13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100094411639.0x000080> [accessed 14 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.