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← Friends Of Hadhramaut

2024-12-31-accounts

NUMBER 28 NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2024

PLEASE INFORM US IF YOUR POSTAL/EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED

COMPLETED PROJECTS

Ambulance for Wadi Hajr

The trustees allocated the generous bequest from the late John Ady of £11,000 towards the purchase of an ambulance for the people of Wadi Hajr who have no means of conveying their deceased relatives from hospitals in Mukalla back to their burial grounds in Wadi Hajr. This request came to us from Dr. Khaled Saleh Abdulmanea via FOH Muhammad Bin Dohry. Our Vice-Chairman Salah has found a second-hand Land Cruiser in Dubai, costing approximately £30,000 including its conversion, refurbishment and shipment to al-Shihr. Photos in 2026 Newsletter!

A total of £3,525 was raised at our garden party in July and a further £15,500 was raised from Friends‟ donations.

Wadi Hajr (population approximately 25,000) is about 105 kms from Mukalla and is one of the poorest districts in Hadhramaut, comprising several villages and a few towns such as Sidara and Maifa‟ah. Its people find it impossible to afford the high cost of fuel in the current deteriorating economic situation.

Salah writes: The needs of the people are dire. This is our first major project for Hajr. Most roads are not asphalted; therefore, a Land Cruiser Ambulance will be purchased and transported to al-Shihr. Each return trip will cost YR 48,000 (approximately £150 ) for 40 litres of diesel which the Al-Sadara Foundation (local charity registered under Ministry of Social Affairs) will pay for, including the salary of the dedicated driver. The ambulance will be used every time a death occurs. Family members will accompany the body from alMukalla for burial in Hajr and will occasionally contribute towards transportation costs. Muslim burial rites stipulate that the deceased are buried as soon as possible.

This ambulance will also be used to transport not just the dead but the living as well. Pregnant women requiring a caesarean and/or emergency response and other sick patients will be using the ambulance to transport them to Ibn Sina Hospital in al-Mukalla. The ambulance will be fully equipped with a stretcher bed, first aid box and a medical assistant will always be on call as and when required.

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Al-Jol Mashah Medical Centre

This clinic lies about 15 kilometers east of Mukalla in the area of al-Harshiyyat on the road to Riyan Airport. FOH have provided inhalers, medicines, laboratory items. The trustees agreed to build 2 rooms with a corridor and 1 lavatory within the compound at their request. One room will be used for examination by the Doctor. The second room will be used as a store/pharmacy and the connecting passage may be used as a waiting area for patients. Two air conditioners and a geyser for hot water have been installed.

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11 11141 *p

Al-Himam Handicapped Centre, Al-Qatn

FOH has provided white boards and other educational materials for classrooms. Pupils have been helped with uniforms and stationery.

Medical Centres

FOH is supplying medicines to clinics to be given to poor patients who cannot afford to buy them. 70 individuals have been helped with medical assistance.

Ruqib Centre for Family Medication

Ruqib lies about 10 kilometers from Mukalla on the coast between Al-Jol Mas‟ha and Riyan Airport along what was previously known as the West Road. FOH supplied this Centre with medicines, BP gauges and a laptop for office use.

Ramadan 2024

Salah distributed food baskets to 250 families located in Ghail BaWazir, Shehr, Mukalla, Tarim and al-Qatn. Each basket contained rice, sugar, flour, tuna, cooking oil, cream caramel, milk, jelly and tomatoes. Salah hopes to help more families in Ramadan 2025.

PENDING PROJECTS

Al Khansaa Secondary School for Girls, Al Qatn

The buildings renovated 13 years ago need painting and maintenance which the trustees agreed to after an inspection visit by Salah. Between 2011-2014, 6 classrooms and 2 verandahs were renovated and 6 new lavatories constructed. From 2016-2019, renovation of the roofs and general maintenance was carried out. In 2017-18, classrooms were repainted and floors repaired.

Gymnasium for Sports, Youth and Culture Club, al-Qatn, Wadi Hadhramaut

FOH would like to construct a gym for the local population with the stipulation that 2-3 days a week be set aside for women only. Estimate approximately: £20,000 .

GARDEN PARTY, WYCH ELM, AMPNEY CRUCIS, 27[th] JULY 2024

Unprecedented that our Patrons hosted a Garden Party twice within a decade!

Unprecedented that our gracious hosts John and Patricia Ducker funded the entire costs of the party from their own pockets, making sure every penny went towards our Ambulance Appeal.

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Unprecedented that 5 Trustees and 5 Local Coordinators attended a FOH event.

Maija, Wolfgang, Mick, Rukhsana, Sverre, Nina & our new Independent Examiner Tariq Isa

Here are some comments from amongst the 80 guests which attest to the general feeling of conviviality and togetherness which FOH engenders.

It was heartening to see the generosity of those who travelled far and wide to a small village in the Cotswolds to raise money for our Ambulance Appeal: Norway, Germany, France, Haiti, Pakistan, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the UK.

The people of Hadhramaut and in particular of Wadi Hajr half way across the world, thank the Duckers most warmly for raising funds towards purchasing the much-needed ambulance.

Extracts from Speech by FOH Treasurer

In 2014 John and Patricia Ducker hosted a marvelous garden party attended by 85 guests including 7 former British political officers who had served in the former Aden Protectorates. A decade later, the Duckers have again graciously invited over 80 guests to their beautiful home and grounds, hosting this summer garden party entirely at their own expense as they wish every single penny raised today to go

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towards our fundraising. This is a remarkable act of generosity.

They have been working tirelessly for several months seeing to all the excellent arrangements. The tea has been outstanding. They have kindly agreed, in consultation with the trustees, and at Muhammad bin Dohry‟s instigation, that all funds raised from today‟s event will go towards the purchase of an ambulance.

I would like to thank all the trustees today for their very hard work. Several amongst you have personal links with the Hadhramaut: Rupert Wise was born in Mukalla; Patricia Loudon and Corinne Hillman lived with their parents in Mukalla, not forgetting our dear patrons John and Patricia who served in the Hadhramaut and came to know it so well.

Special thanks to our outgoing patron John Harding, who cannot be with us today, for all his services to the charity. A gentleman of great distinction and an accomplished mountaineer, we wish him and Georgina our very best for the future.

I am delighted to introduce our newly appointed patron Angela Kilmartin who was the very first person to join FOH along with the late Leonard Ingrams. She has hosted no less than 5 fundraising events for FOH.

We remember some dear departed Friends: Alan D‟Arcy, who died in Torquay in 2022. Most of the books on sale today were left to FOH in his will; Joan Wilson who died in Deddington at the age of 95; William David Booth who died in Almeria; Nazar Mustafa MBE who died in Croydon; Lady Anne Walker who died in London; Dick Eberlie who died in Tavistock at the age of 91; Anthony Colantonio who died in Canada; Ambassador Werner Krebs who died in Bonn and Abdullah Zain, whose generosity was unsurpassed, who died in London.

A lot of hard work goes into the newsletter, thanks to Rukhsana Rashid and Muzna al-Qu‟aiti. We continue to focus on distributing food and medicines to poor families as that is the dire need of the day.

A special vote of thanks to all our trustees, Francis Sidwell, Timothy Ducker, Suleyman Pasha, Ismail Hafiz and the wonderful catering staff and helpers for all their hard work today. Thank you to Jane Taylor, David Halford, James Budd and Angela Kilmartin for donating the raffle prizes.

I now invite Asmaa Hafiz, our youngest FOH here today, to present our wonderful patrons John and Patricia with a small token of our appreciation.

S. al-Qu‟aiti

The event was like a vicar's tea party on steroids, with an abundance and variety of sandwiches, cakes and scones with cream that could hold its own in any setting. A fine combination of an English Cotswold-style barn with elements of the exotic, wall hangings from Kyrgizstan and a Hadhrami door. The invitees, supporters of FOH from around Europe, throughout the British Isles and the wider world, were treated to a true classic of an English tea party. Short of Alice (of Wonderland fame) making an unscheduled appearance with the Mad Hatter in tow, all the essential ingredients were there in spades. What a treat for all!

D. Halford

This was my very first garden party since joining FOH last year and it was a very special experience. There was so much attention, dedication and generosity shown in those few hours, and I left with a fantastic haul of art, books and stories about Hadhramaut. A huge thank you to the Duckers for hosting a truly memorable event!

A. Ibrahim

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A beautiful sun dappled afternoon in a magical Cotswolds setting with family, friends and supporters from far and wide made for a very successful and productive charity fundraiser for the ambulance appeal. Setting up and running the traditional crafts stall with fellow trustees was hard work but enormous fun, especially the sight of all the big smiles on the buyers‟ faces as they headed home with their unique purchases in aid of a very good cause.

F. al-Qu‟aiti

A fulfilling day was spent after a long absence from FOH events. The opportunity to serve the charity, socialise and enjoy afternoon tea was a refreshing experience in the green idyllic surroundings of the Duckers' blessed home.

M. al-Qu‟aiti

£3,525 was raised in Ampney Crucis for FOH.

Owain & Fflur Raw-Rees with J Price, J Budd, T Wise, Eileen & Peter Crichton R Loudon, V Brown, G Hancock, A Ibrahim

Nina, Vanja, Pius, Sverre Wolfgang, Patricia, Huda Luqman, John

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J Taylor, P Vaughan, R Sultanova Don’t miss Hadhrami window!

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Sandra Hawkins & Clara Rachel A Forrest, Lady & Lord Green, B Hawkins

OUR NEW TRUSTEE

We welcomed Asma Ibrahim (FOH 26.06.23) as our 8[th] trustee on 23[rd] August and are delighted that she has come on board. She writes: “Thank you very much for your invitation to become a trustee. I gratefully accept the position and look forward to working with the rest of the team”. Asma graduated from Cambridge (Newnham College) with a BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in July 2022. As a student, she founded the Cambridge University Yemen Society. She is co-director of Al Yamaniah , a bilingual digital network for female creatives in both Yemen and the diaspora. She speaks conversational Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic.

OUR NEW INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

We welcomed Tariq Isa (FOH 26.04.97) as our third Independent Examiner on 18[th] August and are very pleased that he has come on board. He served as our Webmaster from 20072013. Tariq read PPE at Mansfield College, Oxford (1987-1990) and lives in Gloucestershire. Maija Calvert adds: “Congratulations Tariq! My Dad would be very proud of you and would have wished you good luck with the Independent Examiner position”.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS

Fondation Berfred

We have no words to thank Fondation Berfred yet again for the most magnanimous donation of £17,323.52 which they granted FOH in October. On behalf of FOH, the trustees and the Hadhrami people, whose welfare we have been striving since 1997 to improve, we would like to offer our deep appreciation to the Fondation. We could not continue our efforts without the generosity of donors such as Fondation Berfred. It is indeed deeply moving to Hadhramis that there are people halfway across the world in Switzerland who care for them. The Berfred board has stipulated that the FOH trustees are “best placed to determine where there is the greatest need and priority for financial help on which to spend the donation”.

Alex Ingrams MargarethaØstern Richard Saville
David Grainger Sir Harold Walker DimitySpiller
Abdullah & Zaida Zain Norma & Jim Turnbull Mark Blackett-Ord
Syroon Karrim Philippa Vaughan Lord & LadyGreen

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Maurizio Ferroni Jean Franco Dr. Daniel Medina
Sir Tom & Lady Anne
Phillips		 Christopher & Primrose
Arnander		 Muhammed, Fatma &
Mubarak bin Dohry
Anna Haug Mrs. Hydes Jamie Bowden
Javid & Karim Mustafa Marc Girgis Mohammad A Khan
Mohamed Ali Foundation Nuria Iqbal Sonia Sheharyar
Ulla & Maija Calvert Quentin Rappoport Phillipa Pardue
John P BrysonQC Hazel Strouts James Budd
Anne Carey Taha & Renate Husseini Teresa Adderley
Daniel Hayes Shama Husain Shahnaz Jafar
William J Maxwell Ian Wildy Paul Hughes-Smith
Francis Sidwell Angela Kilmartin F & L Fernandez-Armesto
Charles Nolda Nina Kneppen Caroline Islam
Dina von Randow Inger Kristoffersen Julia Basirov
AndyBickle Dr. Naheed Khan Jim Maxwell
Jean Bowyer Patricia & Richard Loudon Caroline Dawnay
Vivian Brown Dr. Razia Sultanova Robert & Tempe Mansfield
Juli Avedissian Huda Luqman DorothyCockrell
Clara Rachel Colle Zahra Afsah LadyWright
Peter & Eileen Crichton Julia & Hugh Miles Dr. D W Bryer
Peter Danby-Smith Rukhsana Rashid Carolyn Snelling
Susie Harding-Edgar Tom & Rupert Wise Major W J Yeoman
Nanina Shaw-Reade Norman Cameron Robert Shipman
Sameera Misbahuddin Suleyman Pasha Asma Ibrahim
Dr. Julian Reade Vanja Pantovic TariqIsa
Yoko Miyazaki Alison & John Price Francis Witts
Ann Forrest D & P Silve Mick Walton
Pius Fischer Nicholas Pelham Beatrice Wiesemann
WolfgangGaerte Dr. Olivia & Laura Reade George Hancock
Jane Taylor Peter & Pat Taylor David & Elizabeth Halford
Alexis de Vivenot Aaron Yeganeh Marco Livadiotti
Alexandre Cumas Owain & Fflur Raw-Rees Farida Riaz
Bernard Hawkins Edda Henry Corinne Hillman
Sandra Hawkins Andrew Dawson Chris Bradley
Dr. Willi Steul Dr. Hanne Schȍnig Sverre & Elisabeth Driveklepp
Sarah Searight Lush Dr. Alex Ingrams Dr. Stephan & Renate Keller
Daphne Sanders Maamoun & Mona Zahid John, Patricia & Timothy
Ducker

Our heartfelt thanks to these Friends who continue to support us through Standing Orders: Dr. David Bryer , Emma Whitaker , Lady Bute , Lord Green of Deddington , Suad al-Juffali , Dr. Ronit Lami , Dr. Thanos Petouris , Canon Peter D Ingrams , Dr. Iain Walker , BA Fyfield-Shayler , Yumna Zain, Julian Lush and Dr. FJ Pocock . We hope other Friends will consider setting up Standing Orders to help our cause.

Our profuse thanks to Zaki Farooq for his generosity and to donors in the United Arab Emirates .

John Ady (FOH 1.12.98) generously bequeathed £11,000 in his will to FOH in January 2024. We are most grateful to this outstanding FOH for his munificent bequest.

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Query: In September we received a donation from D and P Silve . The treasurer would like to know who this couple is in order to thank them.

NEWS OF THE CHAIRMAN

Saleh, currently based in Riyadh/Jeddah, would be happy to meet any FOH passing through: salehbinghalib@hotmail.com

NEWS OF THE VICE-CHAIRMAN

Salah was very happy to meet Alexis de Vivenot in Ghail BaWazir in September and show him round. Alexis adds: “The last few days have been such a pleasure, but most of all it was so delightful to meet Salah at last and see the fruits of all his painstaking and tireless labour for FOH.” It goes without saying, to echo Alexis‟ remarks, that Salah‟s entirely voluntary work and support to FOH on the ground, is exemplary. He labours on, always putting the needs of the poorer sections of the Hadhrami population uppermost in his mind, especially when distributing food aid and medical help. There are no words to thank him and his family for their loyal commitment to the charity and for their extraordinary support on so many levels.

Dr. Muhammad Salah al-Qu’aiti in Azal Hospital, Sanaa performing Cranioplasty surgery

Salah with his sons Ali & Ghalib in Aden where the al-Qatn Handball team won the Republic of Yemen Hand Ball Championship after beating Taez in February 2024

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Salah with renowned Pakistani volleyball star Wasim Afridi in Aden

L to R: Salah; Naif al-Bakri, Minister of Youth & Sports; Hussain Awadh, acting head of Yemeni Volleyball Union; during Volleyball Championship in Aden in which al-Qatn Sports Club won the trophy

NEWS OF THE ADVISER

The Treasurer is in touch with Brian Fyfield-Shayler by telephone. He likes to keep abreast of what is happening in FOH and sends his warm regards to all Friends. He regrets his inability to attend any events related to FOH.

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Charles & Julia Sanders with Brian in Tavistock in February

NEWS OF THE TREASURER

In Jeddah, Sultana was delighted to meet Anne Carey from London, Jean Franco from Amsterdam, the Misbahuddin family from Essex, Dr. Aina Khan OBE from Hertfordshire and Seemi Ghazi from Vancouver. In June she and other FOH participated in the BYS AGM. In September she attended the online AGM of the Friends of Socotra in Vienna where she was delighted to reconnect with Marco Livadiotti and connect him with his old friend JoséMarie Bel. Marco ran the largest tour company Universal in Sanaa for decades, which organised all the FOH tours Sultana led with Alan D'Arcy until her last tour in 2007. Marco writes: “It is quite extraordinary to reconnect again after so many years. I am currently working on my Yemen dossiers. I have been working for the last 3 years on some important project proposals for Socotra. It is a great pleasure for me to be part of Friends of Hadhramaut. Yemen is a very special, precious and unique place with its amazing people. I hope to contribute whatever will be possible to FOH given my long experience in Yemen, in the cultural and natural heritage conservation fields”.

Sultana hosted FOH loyalist Chris Bradley (FOH 20.7.97), one of our earliest Friends in Jeddah along with 9 Australian tourists he was guiding on a tour of the Kingdom. “It was a highlight of 2024 for myself and the group to meet you in Jeddah and reconnect with the Hadhramaut”. Chris delivered a memorable talk at the October Gallery in 2011 on his epic solo walk from Wadi Hadhramaut to the Arabian Sea.

NEWS FROM CANADIAN BRANCH

LC Alexandre Cumas enlisted Marc Girgis, a new FOH from Quebec in May. He hopes to organise a fundraising event in Montreal in 2025.

NEWS FROM FRENCH BRANCH

LC Maija Calvert continues to update our Facebook/Instagram pages. We were delighted to see Maija at our summer Garden Party.

Jose-Marie Bel gave a talk Les plantes odoriférantes, mythiques, historiques en Arabie du Sud, Hadramawt et Oman .. Les arbres à encens et à myrrhe, sur les routes caravanières in Asmara in January in the presence of the French Ambassador. Bel adds: “J'ai parlé de la valeur exemplaire du Hadramawt”. He was able to visit Aden in June after a gap of 16 years

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and met many old friends. FOH is very grateful to Jose Marie Bel for promoting our work.

JM Bel participated in the Maritime Festival in Brest in July where he transported a Hadhrami “ boutre ” (small Hadhrami sailing dhow ) and Ethiopian “ pirogues ”. Please visit his website: www.espacereinedesaba.org

NEWS FROM GERMAN BRANCH

Our intrepid LC Wolfgang Gaerte has yet again written an excellent article for the DJG (Deutsche-Jemenitsche Gesellschaft) magazine Jemen Report: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zmatbdorxiieyft0vo025/JR-24-Sultana-al-Qu-aiti-WolfgangGaerte.pdf?rlkey=eeupydtnsht2pp8saq1ua15op&st=7mtl4spj&dl=0

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----- Start of picture text -----
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Wolfgang at Garden Party Ruth & Joachim at the DJG AGM
----- End of picture text -----

We remain beholden to him for his constant support of our work. He attended the AGM of the DJG in Nuremberg in April along with FOH Ruth Hildebrandt (current treasurer DJG), FOH Joachim Dȕster and Sultana al-Qu‟aiti on Zoom. We were delighted to see Wolfgang and his sister Beatrice at our summer Garden Party in July.

NEWS FROM ITALIAN BRANCH

LC Mick Walton very kindly donated proceeds from book sales at the Sir Richard Burton meeting in Vienna in October 2023 to FOH.

Hats off to Mick for organising the 7th International Sir Richard F Burton conference in Dublin in October, featuring no less than 4 FOH speakers: Mick Walton, Carolyn Snelling, Dr. Shahina Ghazanfar and Alison Dingle. The title of Mick‟s lecture Captain Burton’s Diet – but not of Worms!

Mick, Carolyn, Shahina, Alison

Mick writes from Pordenone:

Best wishes to you all from Italy. Carolyn and I were very pleased to attend the summer garden party - thanks to the hosts - and meet so many FOH from all around the world. Much of my free time this year was spent organising the 7th International Sir Richard Burton Conference in Dublin. Let‟s hope to have a greater turnout for the 8th Conference in Tangier in October 2025.

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I would be grateful if some of the “Old Hands” who knew Hadhramaut in the 1950-70s could send me a short video of their reminiscences (just 5 minutes or so, filmed on a mobile phone) so I can put together a short documentary about Hadhramaut. These videos can be sent via any app or programme to me at: mickwalton@libero.it

NEWS FROM NETHERLANDS BRANCH

LC Dr. Alex Ingrams is the great-great nephew of W H Ingrams OBE CMG whose wife Doreen Ingrams was our first patron. He will be organising an event with Friends of Birzeit University (FOBZU) in 2025 to commemorate the 10[th] death anniversary of our second patron Leila Ingrams.

Alex writes from Utrecht:

2024 saw the arrival of some new FOH members. We are delighted to be joined by Jean Franco, who is studying for a Master‟s degree in Anthropology at Amsterdam University, researching the Hadhrami diaspora in South Asia; Waleed al-Ward, a graphic designer and freelance artist, also at Amsterdam University who has recently worked on art and media projects celebrating Yemeni literary and cultural heritage and Ahmed al-Hagri, a film maker from al-Mukalla.

Alex feels privileged to be part of Leiden University which has a vibrant academic environment for scholarship on Yemen. Scholars at Leiden recently were awarded a prestigious Horizon 2020 grant that - among other things - funded a series of online lectures raising awareness of scholarly knowledge and history of Yemen. These regular lectures continue into 2026:

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/series/leiden-yemeni-studies-lecture-series

Two excellent Yemeni restaurants - Bab Al-Yemen in Utrecht and Reef Al-Yemen in The Hague - recently opened and have received glowing reviews in the national media. These add to several existing places such as Restaurant Hadramout in The Hague. Not only is this good news for Dutch culinary life, but it provides a lovely way for visitors to the Netherlands to experience a meeting of cultures and see places where the Yemeni diaspora is thriving. Please contact me if you are on a visit and would like to hear more: alex.ingrams@gmail.com

NEWS FROM NORWEGIAN BRANCH

A total of £7,003 was raised at our successful Oslo event attended by 61 guests. It was very well organised and we were lucky to have 3 patrons there. We were delighted to see Sverre, Nina, her daughter Elisabeth and her mother Inger at our summer Garden Party in July.

NEWS FROM PAKISTAN BRANCH

We are very grateful to LC Rukhsana Rashid for helping the Editor with the production and compilation of this newsletter and for completing numerous secretarial and administrative tasks on behalf of FOH throughout the year. We were delighted to see her at the Garden Party.

NEWS FROM SINGAPORE BRANCH

A message from Zahra al-Juneid (zahra.aljuneid@gmail.com) in Singapore: My book A Reverent Journey was published in 2022 and launched by the then President of Singapore,

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Madam Halimah Yacob in December 2022. The book is on my Hadhrami ancestor, Syed Omar Aljunied, who came to Singapore in 1819 and built the first house of worship here in 1820. The book was to commemorate the bicentennial celebration of the mosque. In September 2023 it won the Singapore Book Award 2023 for the Best Publishing Title. The book is available for purchase online: https://wardahbooks.com/collections/singapore-sea/products/a-reverent-journey-masjid-omarkampong-melaka

NEWS FROM USA BRANCH

LC Johnny Mulholland is very keen on hosting an event in USA and would be very grateful for a FOH in North America to come up with any ideas.

CONDOLENCES

Our deepest sympathy to the family of Amna Yaghmour on the death of her husband Saleh Saeed Ahmad Baothman Al-Amoudi in Jeddah in October 2022

Our deepest sympathy to the family of Joan Wilson (FOH 1.11.2001) who passed away in Deddington, Oxfordshire in November 2023 at the age of 95

Our deepest sympathy to Beryl Booth on the death of her husband William David Booth (FOH 1.11.2004) in Almeria in December 2023

Our deepest sympathy to Begum Karim Mustafa and family on the death of their husband/father Nazar Mustafa MBE (FOH 7.1.1999) in Croydon in January

Our deepest sympathy to Sir Harold ("Hooky") Walker on the death of his wife Lady Anne Walker (FOH 23.2.22) in London in January. Her funeral was held at Chelsea Old Church London in February and attended by several FOH

Our deepest sympathy to Joan Eberlie on the death of her husband Dick Eberlie (FOH 5.11.99) who died in Tavistock in January. He was 91 years old. Dick had been Private Secretary to Sir Richard Turnbull, the High Commissioner in Aden between 1964 and 1966, and as such participated fully in Turnbull's discussions with the various parties in the Federation of South Arabia over that period. Aden was a very important part of Dick's life because it was there that he met and married his wife Joan and started 57 years of happily married life. He wrote about all these events in the third volume of his memoirs, 'Aden - The Curtain Falls' . He also authored District Officer in Tanganyika and The Winds and Wounds of Change

Our deepest sympathy to Pina and family on the death of Anthony Colantonio (FOH 1.8.18) in February in Terrebonne, Canada

Our deepest sympathy to Lina Mukharesh and her family on the death of her mother Amal Al-Ahdab in Syria in March

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Our deepest sympathy to Katharina Krebs on the death of her husband Ambassador Werner Krebs (FOH 14.4.97) in Bonn in March. Sultan Ghalib and Sultana remember them with particular affection during their posting to Jeddah (1977-80)

Our deepest sympathy to Seemi Ghazi on the death of her uncle, the well-known author, poet and journalist Tariq Ghazi (formerly managing editor of Saudi Gazette) who passed away in Canada in April

Our deepest sympathy to the Zain family on the death of Abdullah Zain (FOH 2.9.98) in London in April

When Abdullah and Zaida Zain joined FOH in i September 1998 (and their daughter Yumna in sara tio ‘ 2001), we had no idea that they would become the most generous, committed and loyal supporters of 1) Bye 4 | the people of Hadhramaut. We mourn Abdullah‟s passing deeply. He made FOH his main cause throughout his 26-year affiliation. When Abdullah first heard about FOH in the Croydon Mosque thanks to an ad in Q Magazine (courtesy Fuad Nahdi RIP), he decided to drive all the way to the registered office to find out what exactly FOH was! There he met Sultan Ghalib al-Qu‟aiti who listened rapt to Abdullah‟s recounting his ancestral connection to Ghurfa in Wadi Hadhramaut and how his grandfather had migrated to South Africa. Abdullah was ecstatic at reconnecting with his homeland on a FOH tour in October 2000 with Zaida, where he met members of his al-Toufah family.

In 1999, the family started their very generous annual donations in cash and kind for the poor and needy especially during Ramadan. They donated an amazing amount of medicines, surgical equipment, spectacles and material, which went to Mukalla in our sea shipment in 2000. The family helped our former patron Leila Ingrams at an evening of Uzbek music at the Royal Asiatic Society in 2000 in memory of our patron Jim Ellis. In 2001 the family bought an ambulance for Tarim Hospital; 40 beds and mattresses for hospitals in Shihr, Hami, Raydah and Qusair; 200 blankets and a generator for Bayn al-Jabal School on the Jol and 55 stretchers. Abdullah would always search out the lowest price for medicines in the UK for onward transportation to Hadhramaut. In September 2001 an insurance surcharge of £1,000 was imposed on our shipment and who met the cost? The Zain family. Who can forget the meal the family provided at Goodenough College to the group of Hadhrami musicians from Seiyun in June 2002. May God rest his soul in peace. Ameen.

S. al-Qu‟aiti

Our deepest sympathy to Bozena Baker on the death of her husband Chris Baker (FOH 21.12.97) in June in Beckenham, Kent. We are delighted that Bozena has taken on his membership. Chris was an early supporter of FOH and a loyal donor and retained fond memories of the Hadhramaut where his father was posted (Seiyun) from 1965-67

Our deepest sympathy to Ulla and Maija on the death of their husband/father Geoffrey P S Calvert OBE (FOH 20.2.97) in London in August

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Sultan Ghalib al-Qu‟aiti adds: Dear old Geoff's demise brought back a flood of cherished memories going back well over five decades. I wish I had been able to bid him farewell. He was such a precious and kind soul, always ready to offer invaluable advice, ever so quietly and without the least pretense. I first met him at Oxford in 1970, where we read Islamic History together, but before that, and unknowingly at the time, I had come to know his godfather James Bridges, who had been a Political Officer in South Arabia. I know that he will always be with us in spirit and sorely missed by all who knew him. May the Almighty keep his beloved wife and daughter in His benign care. Ameen.

John Bunney adds: I treasure the memory of the pleasure we had in each other's company. I carry the fondest memories of a person whose terse conversational manner hid a man of huge good sense, clarity of view and compassion. He was the most untypical Banker! One of the striking characteristics was Geoff‟s care and support for his local members of staff. He looked after them and maintained a helping contact long after he had left that particular posting.

Our deepest sympathy to Maha Bahamdoun on the death of her husband Sultan Aziz in Portland USA in October

Our deepest sympathy to Shima Khan and her family on the death of her father in law Mushtaq Ahmad in Massachusetts in December

THANKS

Huraiby el-Huraiby, our wonderful webmaster, for all his help in constantly updating the FOH website

Dr. Anne Regourd for mentioning FOH in a special entry in Nouvelles Chroniques du Manuscrit au Yémen of which she is the Director

Jean Franco, Dr. Naheed Khan, Virginia Gray Henry & Chris Bradley for posting newsletters in UK

Andrea Hess for donating catalogues, a book on Yemen and silver jewelry to the garden party

Dr. Marie-Christine Heinze for sending 2 copies of Jemen Report to FOH and for including German LC Wolfgang Gaerte‟s article on FOH in the Report

Jane Taylor , David Halford , James Budd & Angela Kilmartin for donating raffle prizes at

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the summer garden party

CONGRATULATIONS

Owain Raw-Rees on being made a Freeman of the City of London in January. Owain writes: “One of the few rights left to a Freeman is to herd sheep across London Bridge. Once a year, in September, there is a team event for such. Apparently, I am also exempt from being press ganged into the Navy!”

Sabiha Omar on her daughter Mahera‟s documentary film Sometimes Even the Shore Drowns which received the Best International Special Mention Award at the 5[th] Nepal Cultural International Film Festival in March and on her son Abid Omar‟s founding of Pakistan‟s Air Quality Initiative

Alison Shan Price MBE on her 40th wedding anniversary

Ann Grainger , a loyal Friend, on her 80th birthday

Pia Kanaan on her appointment as Junior School art teacher at the new Misk campus in Riyadh

Dr. Nile Green , Ibn Khaldun Endowed Chair in World History at UCLA, USA on his latest book Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah (W.W. Norton, 2024) and on a lecture: Persian Printing in Comparative Context: The Place of Iran in 3 Technological Diffusion Zones at the Faculty of Arts and Science at The University of Toronto in September

Shama Husain on her daughter Mishal Husain‟s new book Broken Threads published in June by Harper Collins and on her talk at the FT Weekend Festival in September - In the Footsteps of My Grandparents in Pakistan’s Mountainous Far North

Dr. Razia Sultanova & Dr. Hamid Ismailov on the marriage of their son Daniyar in London

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in June

Amna Yaghmour on the marriage of her granddaughter Leen BaOthman in Jeddah in June

Anne Carey on her 90[th] birthday in July

Andrea Hess & Lyn Taylor (Mut und Feder) on their joint publication Löffel & Co - ein Bilderbuch (Bad Hindelang 2023)

Dr. Nizar Ghanem on his new book Pockets of Arabian Musical Genres in Popular Sudanese Song

Salah al-Qu’aiti on becoming a grandfather in July

Fay Huidekoper-Cope on her 93rd birthday celebrated in Breda, The Netherlands

David & Ann Grainger on their granddaughter Heidi's admission to Sheffield University

Mehryar Ali Khan on his marriage to Maria Hashmi in Islamabad in September

Eva Bekkelund-Eriksen on her new novel Gutten published in September by Kagge Forlag Norway

Dr. Noel Brehony CMG on his lecture to the Royal Society of Asian Affairs in October - The Houthis, the Red Sea and the Future of Yemen

Basileus Vladimir A Gorshkov-Cantacuzene on his new book The Opera on the Plague published by Moscow University Press 2024 in which the author expresses his gratitude to the al-Qu‟aiti family

Dr. Fiona Kerlogue on her talk Textile Travels of a Museum Curator for the Oriental Rug and Textile Society in Bristol in October. The ORTS Journal is edited and produced by Fiona and her team

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Dr. Shahina Ghazanfar on her presentation Plants of the Quran at the Lahore Literary Festival in February and on her presentation Sir Richard Burton’s Visit to the Land of Midian to the International Sir Richard F. Burton conference in Dublin in October. She is an Honorary Research Associate and Science Editor Flora of Iraq at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Alison Dingle with Carolyn Snelling on their joint presentation Isabel Burton: Childless Cat Lady? at the International Sir Richard F. Burton conference in Dublin in October

Wolfgang Gaerte on singing in the choir at the Düsseldorf Aquazoo performance of Mozart‟s Cosi fan tutte

Christine Dayananda on her cousin-in-law Dr. Harini Amarasuriya‟s election as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Nadia Isa on being awarded 1[st] position in the Riding Competición de Doma Territorial, repris San Jorge ( pre-Saint George ) in Madrid

Zeenut Ziad on her son Dr. Waleed Ziad‟s appointment as Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University in Qatar

Reverend Helen Burnett on organising an interfaith carol concert for Palestine in Parliament Square London in December

Dr. Abdurrahman Azzam on his lecture A Tale of Two Heroes: Salah ad-Din and Lopes in Jeddah in January 2025

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Please visit Mark Whitcombe’s website: www.olives-en-Provence.com

FOH looks forward to continued cooperation with the BYS under its new chairman Tahir Qassim MBE

Dr. Iain Walker has sent us a link to the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft based in - Halle, Germany https://dmg web.de/page/home_de

Owain Raw-Rees has had two books published by TSL Publications: Solomonic Decorations - A History of the Ethiopian Order of the Seal of Solomon and Somalia - The Awards of a Fallen State. His most recent book was launched at Spinks in November

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Magdalen College celebrated the 80th birthday of Professor Oliver Taplin and marked his 50th anniversary as a Tutorial Fellow

Dr. Razia Sultanova organised a Kazakh traditional music concert with artist Ayaulym Zhumkenova in Cambridge in March. Her book Afghanistan Dispossessed: Women, Culture and the Taliban was published in 2022 by Pen & Sword Books

Dr. Olivia Reade, Dr. R Sultanova, Ayaulym Zhumkenova & Nanina Shaw-Reade

The British Yemeni Society (BYS) in conjunction with the Royal Geographical Society held an event in March, ‘Echoes of Yemen: Maps, Manuscripts, and Memories’ : an exploration of the rich history and culture of Yemen through a rare exhibition of photographs, documents, maps and stories from the RGS Collections

From Sicily to Sumatra a Conference in honour of Professor Jeremy Johns was held at The Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford in May https://krc.web.ox.ac.uk/article/from-sicily-to-sumatra-conference-inhonour-of-professor-jeremy-johns

Dr. Ingrid Hehmeyer , Toronto Metropolitan University, gave a presentation on History of Water Management in Yemen: An Interdisciplinary Study at Leiden University in May

In June, renowned photographer Peter (Abdul-Adheem) Sanders gave an online talk entitled Shajarat al Nur Tree of Light . He serves as a permanent ambassador for MOSAIC, a charity established by HM King Charles III

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Ambassador Aftab Khokher took up his new appointment in Jeddah as Assistant Secretary General (Science and Technology) to the Organisation of Islamic Conference in July accompanied by his wife Begum Afshan Khokher

The Friends of Socotra held its AGM and annual conference in Vienna in September

Here is a link to a photograph of the harbour of Mukalla, South Arabia which Maggs Bros (48 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DR) is selling: - - - https://www.maggs.com/departments/travel/authors/yemen anonymous/albumen photograph of-the-harbour-of-mukalla/209887/

ABCD (Action around Bethlehem Children with Disability) bade farewell to Val Jourdan MBE as she stepped down as Chair of Trustees. Val has been at the helm of the charity since she founded the organisation 4 decades ago. We are honoured to count her as a Friend

Trevor Mostyn has reviewed The Selected Writings of Dervla Murphy: Life at Full Tilt edited by Ethel Crowley for the Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs

Alison Shan Price MBE FRGS is pursuing a PhD „ From Personal to Political Space: the British woman Arabist in the Near/Middle East (1815-1945) ‟ at Newcastle University under Professor Mark Jackson with the aim to create an exhibition. She presented a day programme in October at Rewley House, University of Oxford, entitled The Middle East and Victoria's Women . Both included information about the Hadhramaut and Doreen Ingrams where she also publicised the work of FOH

Jean Franco started a Master‟s degree at Amsterdam University in September

Frank Gardner OBE participated in the Barnes Bookfest in September

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles was a keynote speaker at Arabia Phoenix: Vision, Change and Growth at the Royal Geographical Society, London in October

Michel Mouton (CNRS France) is now in the Sultanate of Oman pursuing research in the vicinity of Mleiha, an important settlement in the late Pre-Islamic centre of the South-East Arabian Kingdom of Uman, where he worked as an archaeologist from 1986-2011

On the occasion of the 37th Founder's Day of Mukarram Jah School, Hyderabad Deccan, a historically significant book titled The Nizams Sikander Jah, Nasir-ud-Daulah, Afzal-udDaulah, the Subsidiary Alliance, and the Two Great Indian Rebellions authored by Sultan Ghalib bin Awadh al-Qu’aiti was launched in October (Published by the Mukarram Jah Trust for Education and Learning). He has also authored a book: Faisal bin Abdul-Azeez Aal Saud: A Perspective of a Modern Islamic Leader (available from: ayubkhan2020@gmail.com)

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Dr. Heather Elgood on her appointment as Director of the Global Alumni Network and Founder SOAS-Alphawood Postgraduate in Asian Art SOAS University of London

Dr. Miranda Morris has co-authored a fascinating article in the latest issue of TAYF (Issue 20), the Friends of Socotra (FoS) bulletin about the Soqotra Folklore Museum in Riqeleh. FOH Dr. Sue Christie compiled the first issue in 2003, which was then called Dioscorida . FOH values its continuing cooperation with FoS and its Chairperson Dr. Kay Van Damme

Afshan Waheed on becoming a grandmother

Please visit Kristiane Backer’s website: www.barakaconsultants.com

Gavin Strachan gave a talk on Textiles of the Balkans in November as part of the World Textile Weekend in Edinburgh

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Editor: Muzna al-Qu’aiti Co-Editor: Rukhsana Rashid

We welcome comments, suggestions and contributions and reserve the right to edit any material submitted to hadhramaut@btinternet.com

The password for reading newsletters on our website www.hadhramaut.co.uk is frankincense

The trustees agreed to award Dr. Aina Khan OBE Honorary Life Membership in view of her generous assistance in setting up our Virgin Money account in 2023

2 0 new Friends joined in 2024 from Canada, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, USA and Yemen

FOH CURRENT MEMBERSHIP

Country **Number ** Country **Number **
UK 311 Russia 3
USA 47 Spain 3
Germany 36 Australia 3
France 35 Switzerland 3
Canada 28 Montenegro 3
Saudi
Arabia		 28 Barbados 2
Italy 25 Denmark 2
Pakistan 14 Kuwait 2
Singapore/
Malaysia		 11 Belgium 2
Norway 9 Greece 1
UAE 8 Qatar 1
The
Netherlands		 6 Sri Lanka 1
India 5 Morocco 1
Austria 4 Iran 1

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Yemen 5 Oman 1
Egypt 4 Japan 1

Corrigendum

Inadvertently, Emma Whitaker’s name was not included in the list of Standing Orders in Newsletter 27. We would like to apologise to her for this oversight.

We would like to apologise to Dr. Anne Regourd for failing to mention (Newsletter #27) her valuable presentations at the Yemeni Studies Manuscript workshop held at Leiden University Library in June 2023. Dr. Regourd presented a paper on Zabid-Africa, scribes put themselves to the test: the case of Kitab Unwan al-Sharaf and went on to show us the actual manuscript from the library's collections: ' Unw n al-sharaf al-w f f al-fiqh wa-al-na w wa-al-ta r kh wa-al- ar wa-al-qaw f by Ibn al-Muqriʾ (b.754/1353 or 755/1354 – d. 837/1433 in Zabīd). Dr. Regourd is a researcher at CNRS, France. She is a papyrologist, codicologist and an epigraphist working on texts in Arabic. Since 2001, she has been the academic director of the programme for safeguarding manuscripts in the private libraries of Zabid. She is the Director of the Journal Nouvelles Chroniques du Manuscrit au Yémen : www.anne.regourd.org

Comments on Newsletter 27

United Kingdom

London

Devon

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Surrey

Oxfordshire

Gloucestershire

Essex

Norfolk

East Sussex

Kent

Germany

Dȕsseldorf

Laatzen

Berlin

Turkey Istanbul

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France

Paris

Gye sur Seine

Pyrenees

Norway

Oslo

Italy

Pordenone

Pakistan Islamabad

Singapore

Canada

Ottawa

United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi

Saudi Arabia

Jeddah

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Australia New South Wales

Austria

Zeiselmauer

ARCHIVE ON HADHRAMAUT

We ask Friends to contribute short articles for this section and to send us any rare/interesting photographs of the Hadhramaut

Nicholas Morris’ account of his trip to South Arabia

We are delighted to add Nicholas Morris' (FOH 3.11.22) fascinating account of his trip to South Arabia in 1962, which he has kindly allowed us to reproduce. It is particularly heartening to read about the parents of Rupert Wise, Andrew Dawson and Richard Day. These connections between the older generation and the younger ones are what makes FOH very special.

A week in the Hadhramaut March 1962

After completing training at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1961, I crewed on Marlet, one of the college’s yachts, in the Fastnet race and then joined HMS Chichester in mid-August. Shortly thereafter we made a fast passage to Kuwait to provide air radar cover during the crisis caused by Iraq’s threats to invade. By the end of the year we were in Hong Kong, then back to the Persian Gulf and on to Aden. The text that follows is based on a draft that ends half way through the week and thereafter on a letter to my parents, begun during the week and completed two days after it. I have left the text largely as I wrote it aged just 21 except where changes were needed for clarity. The photo captions are as on the original slides.

When I realised that HMS Chichester would be in Aden for ten days in March 1962, I remembered an invitation during a chance encounter with an old family friend in a pub in Kent the previous August and his invitation: “do come and see me if you are ever in Aden.” He was Michael Crouch, an officer in the Aden Political Service some six years older than me, and I still had a card of his with “The Residency, Mukalla” as his address, to which I wrote from Bahrain. We arrived in Aden on Saturday, 17th March. There was nothing from Michael in the mail awaiting us but there was a letter from my mother enclosing one from Michael‟s mother with a different address for him and information on a weekly Department of Agriculture flight that could take me there. Michael‟s parents and mine had first met in the Sudan and his parents had taken over my mother‟s cheetah, Maggie, when my mother left El

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Fasher in 1940 to go to my father‟s parents in Australia for my birth.

Taking a lift in a BP launch, I soon found myself at the Dept. of Agriculture. Yes, they knew Mr. Crouch: he was the Assistant Adviser (AA) in Wahidi State, about 180 miles east of Aden by air, but they had no flights there so my only option was an Aden Airways flight which operated every Sunday. Within an hour I had booked a seat on the plane and drafted a cable to Michael, to go via the army, saying that I “might, repeat might” arrive at Rawda at 0900 the next day.

In the launch returning to HMS Chichester our postman gave me a letter from Michael that had been waiting for me at HMS Sheba, the Aden shore base. He had received mine and I was relieved to find myself again invited and told to go and do what I had already done. The next hurdle was official permission, and the inevitable question, “but how are you going to get back?”. I said that there was a possibility with the RAF and that the Dept. of Agriculture had a Land Rover going into the area which might be able to give me a lift on its return, but that I already had my return Aden Airways ticket back from Rawda on Sunday 24th March. “Deadline 2359 on Sunday 24 March – off you go.”

I spent the night ashore at HMS Sheba and rose at dawn to be at the airport at the prescribed 0630 for a 0700 take off. The crew, however, worked to an 0800 schedule on Sundays. At

0810 the DC3 was airborne and with a dozen local passengers we headed along the coast and then inland. I spent the flight in the cockpit, trying to glean from the extremely helpful pilots what I was in for. The hilly buff-coloured countryside was enlivened by the occasional green wadi but looked rugged. Rawda appeared as a flat stretch of stony desert with the largest stones removed and boasted a tattered windsock. [A 2013 satellite image

shows there is still a rough strip there.] With scarcely a bang we were down and as we taxied to a halt at 0930 I saw my host. His letter had told me that he had just got engaged, and as the Aden Airways flight was his lifeline for mail and supplies, I was hopeful that he would meet it even if he hadn‟t got my cable, but it was a relief to see him there. The Dept. of Agriculture had quoted 24 hours for the transit time for my cable, but Michael had received it just as he was leaving Maifa‟ah (the capital of Wahidi State) to camp for the night by the runway.

While Michael was unloading two weeks‟ worth of stores and mail I took stock of the countryside around me. We were on a plateau, surrounded by steep cliffs and scored by wadis. With the Land Rover loaded, we headed for Habban, some 40 miles away, as I listened avidly to the programme ahead. My timing was perfect. Wahidi, one of the richest states in the East Aden Protectorate (AP) was joining the Western AP Federation and the Senior Assistant Adviser (SAA) of the eastern section of that Federation, Michael‟s boss, was arriving that morning for a six-day tour of Wahidi. I could accompany him as “Assistant Naval Adviser”, and would see as much of the area and its people as was possible in a week. We were on our way to meet him.

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As we bumped along the track I listened fascinated as Michael explained what would be the programme. Everywhere we stopped we would be greeted by the traditional rifle shots over our heads, the round of hand-shaking and greetings, and then retire to drink sweet tea with biscuits and tinned fruit, or a full Arab meal. Michael explained the customs and formalities: sitting cross-legged and decently, not showing the soles of one‟s feet, eating with the right hand and the knack of doing so without making a mess, the art of eating rice, and more. I still have the „Beihan chair‟ I was given, a continuous woven belt for sitting on the ground that fits in the small of the back and round the knees. (Editor: in the Hadhramaut it is called a “habwah”).

We reached Habban first and I was introduced to the State Secretary, Wahidi, and the Commander of the Wahidi Tribal Guard, a force about 200 strong that manned some 20 forts along

the border of Wahidi. As we sat waiting a single shot rang out from the tower above the town, signaling that the SAA‟s party was in sight. The SAA is Ralph Daly; he was in the Sudan from 1948 to 1954. Ralph was delightful, late 30s and the most amusing raconteur I have ever met. With him was Bill Heber Percy, ex-Welsh Guards and Captain in the AP Levy, who is to become AA in the next State west. I learned that “Assistant” in the titles does not reflect reality – Michael is the political officer for the state and organizes the financial assistance to it; his responsibilities seem close to those of a colonial district commissioner. The SAA

i n

spected the guard and was greeted by the fusillade of shots that I came to take for granted.

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Greetings over, I had my first meal and found it excellent. I soon became quite adept at eating with my hand. As the „learner‟ I was fed with many titbits by my Bedouin hosts (but no sheep‟s eyes). After a meeting of the town council and farewells, we were off in a convoy of

four Land Rovers, back along the wadi to Rawda and then to the end of the new Jirdan road. Hitherto the only vehicular access to the Hadhramaut plateau has been from Mukalla. At considerable expense, Wahidi was building a road from Rawda along the old camel spice route up onto the desert plateau. The road was well up into the mountains in the most difficult section, and was now being cut and blasted through

sand and rock as it wound up towards the clifftop nine miles ahead. Almost 200 tribesmen were working on the road, under the command of the Deputy AA, a Bedouin who had won the MC fighting Saudis as an officer in the AP Levy.

We camped one mile from the end of the road, with every mod con including a hot hip bath. After it, we walked down the hill to the main camp for dinner. Tribesmen from all over the north of Wahidi had been gathered to demonstrate their loyalty. The scene was timeless. 60 or so tribesmen were squatting round the fire in colourful clothes, with their rifles stacked like stooks behind them. Visible behind the circle round the fire were others, the „miskeen‟ waiting on our leftovers. A full moon shone down between the steep sides of the wadi. It was a timeless scene, the clean mountain air, the cries of the night birds, the sound of the camels chewing, and the circle round the fire unchanged from two thousand years ago. Only the shadows of the vehicles and the new rifles brought us back to the 20[th] century.

Awoken at 0615, I took my cup of tea outside the tent and watched the first rays of sunlight etch a golden rim round the top of the wadi. As the golden band thickened I could see the ancient track which the new road was to follow. Breakfast over, we walked up to the very end of the workings and watched the preparations for two small explosions, timed for our benefit, which were to remove rocks from the path of the road. Further back the tribesmen were working quickly bringing rocks up to build the road and keeping up a swift chant. The bangs over, and suitably impressed, we moved up to see how the black powder had been measured; each explosion had achieved exactly the desired effect.

Camp broken, we headed back down the valley, stopping at Rawda to meet the notables, including one reputed to be 120 years old, a white-haired man with clear eyes and a strong sense of humour. He had made a rare descent from his house to meet the SAA and we felt very honoured. Rawda is a town with small groups of trees and a reputation for the longevity of its inhabitants, but also with many children visible. We had a tight schedule and were soon heading for Hauta for more gunfire, handshakes and sweet tea with the Town Council and notables; then on to Azzan where we were to meet the Sultan of Wahidi, Sultan Nasser, and some of his family (“the princes” says our programme) and have lunch with him.

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The Sultan is the ruler and is assisted by a State Secretary, Ben Said, described to me as the “wicked

uncle” of the Sultan, and one of the most powerful men in the Aden Protectorate, of which Wahidi is one of the biggest and richest states. The inhabitants are a very proud people with a traditional way of life. Each village has its notables, its descendant of the Prophet, tribesmen and „miskeen‟. They are very courteous but impetuous: Wahidi and its western neighbour have been fighting off and on for years over a barren strip of desert on their border. All the tribesmen carry guns, many loaded and some cocked. One of the dangers of the traditional greeting is that once it is over the rifles are slung over the shoulder and inevitably some point at you as you walk towards the meeting house – safety catches are rarely used.

Azzan is known as the town from which one of the three wise men came, and like all the towns in Wahidi except the administrative capital, Maifa‟ah, is very old. After an excellent late lunch at the Sultan‟s palace we set out in convoy to visit an old fortification at Naqab AlHajr. The Aden Protectorate is rich in sites of archaeological interest. This one dated from the Himyaritic era (around 110 BC – 520 AD) and several of the very thick walls of the fortress were completely intact with inscriptions clearly visible. We then parted company with the Sultan and State Secretary and arrived in Maifa‟ah in the late afternoon. Maifa‟ah is only eight years old and built on an island in the wadi, with fresh water close to the surface. The whole town turned out to greet us. We then retired to the residency, Michael‟s home and headquarters, a large white house with electric power from a generator. After a hot bath and another excellent meal, I was ready for bed.

At Azzan I had met Don Willcox of the Dept. of Agriculture, who is responsible for most of the East AP: a very nice man of about 30, who was in Somaliland for six years. He has an experimental agricultural station at Maifa‟ah, with bulldozers, tractors etc., and a workshop run by Vincent, a deserter from the Italian Navy. The two of them and Michael are the only non-locals resident in the state. The programme the next morning, Tuesday, was for discussion on state affairs at the secretariat so I spent it with Don, visiting his very attractive gardens and then driving out to look at wells with Mr. Henson, the sales director of a Danish pump manufacturer, who had arrived unexpectedly and was completely out of his depth. I then joined up with the SAA‟s party for lunch with the State Secretary, followed by a siesta. In the early evening we drove to a spring where sand grouse came in to drink at dusk and shot eight. That evening Vera Dawson joined us for dinner. She is a SRN and based in Mukalla. Being the only health professional in the East AP with access to sick women, she is regularly on tour, and stayed through Wednesday.

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More discussions at the secretariat on Wednesday while I toured cotton fields with Don. Then lunch at the residency, followed by a tour of the Sultan‟s gardens and our delicious sand grouse for dinner. We left Maifa‟ah at 0800 on Thurday for Rodhum, a town on the way to the coast which has hot springs. After the usual round of meetings, we continued to Balhaf, the port of Wahidi, where we visited a proposed quarry site and water supply scheme before having lunch. After lunch we left for Bir Ali, an old sultanate that had just joined Wahidi State. Bir Ali is also a port and the only one with all-year access on this stretch of the coast. After meeting Sultan Nasser‟s deputy, Sultan Alawi, and other notables, inspection of the guard of honour, and “horrible sweet tea and flies”, we drove along the beach to swim by a huge rock, some 300 feet high and about half a mile long (Husn Ghurab). We then climbed the rock to find the remains of a huge fortress on top, which had apparently guarded the port of Cana through which the vast spice trade in Himyaritic times passed. We returned to Bir Ali for dinner with Sultan Alawi.

Ralph Daly and Bill Heber Percy left by Land Rover on Friday morning for Aden and Michael and I set off along the beach for Mukalla, with a critically ill old man whom we were taking to hospital there. After an hour and a half, we came to the mouth of a tidal lagoon, where a strong current was draining back to the sea as the tide fell. As we were fording this, the Land Rover stalled and the force of the water started to dig it into the sand. Within an hour, the vehicle was completely under water. We evacuated our sick passenger immediately and left him with locals as we set off on foot for the house of the Schlatholts – he being the

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area. To quote a letter home written three days later: “Michael said gaily, „let‟s run; only five miles along the beach‟. In fact, nine miles and he didn‟t know the way so we left the beach much too early and did five miles barefoot across baking sand and thorn scrub. What fools! However, no ill effects;it took from 1135 – 1425. Me in underpants with strips of Michael‟s pants on my feet and he with the tails of my shirt on his feet. Very funny on reflection.”

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We had lunch with the Schlatholts and he then drove us back. We were very sad to find the old man dead, but it seems he might not have made it to Mukalla in any event. We were obviously not the first vehicle to suffer there, and with the tide down the men of the nearest village had lifted our Land Rover out for the standard rate of 150 shillings. We towed it back to the workshop, where Schlatholt flushed the engine through with oil, and it was ready at 10:15 the next day. So, we spent the night at the Schlatholts lovely house with, he proudly told us, the only flushing WC in the East AP outside Mukalla. They are a most amusing couple. He is very tough, ex-German Navy. His ship was scuttled off Somaliland at the end of the war and he and another rowed across to the Arabian Peninsula where they were captured by Arabs, made to work for them, turn Muslim, and he to then marry a local girl (later divorced). He escaped in 1951. Mrs. Schlatholt is German and charming and they were most hospitable to us. Over dinner I learnt that they had only been to England once for three weeks in 1956, and had stayed in Cedar Lodge, the house in Kent my parents had rented when they returned from the Sudan in 1948.

We left on Saturday morning and in just over two hours had driven, largely along the beach, the 75 miles to Mukalla. Mukalla deserves its description as the Venice of Arabia (without the canals) and is most attractive. There we had lunch with the Deputy British Agent, Mr. Wise, and his wife. He had been a Commander in the RNR and both were very nice. I was then taken to RAF Riyan, which is just a strip with a few facilities, and found a flight to Aden which left at 17:40. Two hours later I was clearing customs and at 2100 I arrived back onboard HMS Chichester. The total cost of an amazing week was £12.5.0 in air fares and £1.5.0 in tips at Michael‟s recommended rates. He had been a splendid host. In my letter of thanks, I wrote that “I could not have been made to feel more at home if I had been „budgeted‟ into the programme for Ralph‟s visit from the start”.

Postscript

I was back in Aden for two days almost exactly a year later, on board HM Yacht Britannia, returning from the royal tour of Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. In my next letter home, I wrote that I had spoken to Michael Crouch by radiophone.

“He is now Assistant Adviser to the Sultan of Lahej, 20 odd miles N. of Aden, and at the moment is Senior Adviser for the whole of that area as his boss is on leave. A responsible job – he is overall in charge of two battalions on the Yemen border. The Lahej post is the senior AA‟s one in the Protectorate and has with it an old palace close to the Sultan‟s, peacocks in the garden, and (empty) lion cages at the back. The next day I had lunch and tea at Lahej. Ralph Daly also came to lunch and I heard all the news about Wahidi. They [Michael, his wife Lynette, her sister Angela Waudby, who had driven me to Lahej, and Ralph] came back on board to a cocktail party that evening. I found Arabia, even on such a fleeting visit, still held a great attraction for me.”

A year after that, in 1964, I was back in Aden as first lieutenant of HMS Kemerton, a minesweeper. We were based in Bahrain but in Aden for several weeks for a refit. Michael and Lynette were about sail for the Far East on a French cargo liner, the Cambodge , and we met up several times before they left. Michael‟s sister, Sabrina, was an air hostess with Aden Airways, and Lynette‟s sister, Angela, and their mother were staying with Michael and Lynette. Michael was to become Senior Assistant Adviser for the Hadhramaut on return from leave, a choice posting. He introduced me to Stephen Day, a political officer like Michael, and Assistant Adviser to four Federation States, based in Zinjibar, close to the productive Abyan cotton scheme. Again, from a letter home:

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“Stephen collected me on Sunday afternoon [22 March] and we drove the 50 miles along the beach and inland to his house in Zinjibar for the night. We were shaken at five on Monday morning and drove about 70 miles out to Mudia in Dathina State where we spent the night. On Tuesday afternoon we left Mudia and after a brief stop at Lawdar we climbed the incredible road up the escarpment and on to the Yemen plateau, reaching Mukeiras, about five miles from the border, at 7 pm. We spent the night as the local notable‟s guests in a very squalid disused hotel and flew back to Aden on Wednesday afternoon. The road up the escarpment was completed about four years ago by a South African and makes the Simplon Pass look very tame. The mountains rise almost vertically 3,000 ft from the lower plateau (the Khor) to an initial height of 6,000 ft. The road has been blasted out of the mountainside, except for one stretch along a spur. There are 51 hairpin bends in it, and parts are so narrow that the three tonners have to take two or three bites at the corners. We saw several vehicles that had gone over the edge for the thousand-foot drop. Even in our Land Rover there were moments … Stephen Day is a delightful person and very good company, about 27 and has been out here for three years. He read anthropology at Cambridge and led the widely publicised Oxbridge expedition from Dakar to Tangiers in 1960. He is most amusing about this part of the world. He was driving the Land Rover containing four Labour MPs when they were stoned a few months ago. He lives in a glorious house set in a small plantation, with gazelle in the garden and dozens of cool rooms. I felt a new man on my return.”

I visited Aden briefly twice in December 1965, with the navigating officer of HMS Berwick. Michael and Lynette came on board for lunch during the second visit. We were there again in August 1966, but just for a few hours to fuel. After a gap of 35 years, I returned to Aden in February 2001 on an inspection mission for UNHCR. Proper hard-top roads connected the places I had visited in 1962, and we drove to a refugee camp that must have been in or near the old Wahidi State and back to Aden in a few hours. UNHCR (2015) has a field office in Maifa‟a, assisting refugees from the Horn of Africa.

Michael Crouch died in July 2013. He would surely have approved of – could even have written - his Daily Telegraph obituary. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/10326913/MichaelCrouch.html

Ralph Daly died in September 2006. His Daily Telegraph obituary includes details of his efforts to save the Arabian Oryx, with which Michael was closely involved in the early stages. (Michael was a key member of the first expedition of Operation Oryx, which took place shortly after my visit.) The obituary also confirms my assessment of Ralph as a raconteur. - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1536280/Ralph Daly.html

Nicholas Morris December 2015

The Hadhrami Arab Diaspora in Indonesia: A Rich and Complex History The Qatar National Library hosted this conference in February 2024. https://ssl.eventilla.com/event/VD02d/EN

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Shibam

The inauguration in April 1955 of the first hospital in Shibam (previously a clinic) in honour of Dr. Eva Hoeck (1917-1995), a remarkable German doctor from Hamburg who worked in the Hadhramaut. She authored Als Ärztin im Lande der Beduinen: Zehn Jahre im Yemen und Hadramout (1958) and Doctor Amongst the Bedouins (1962). In 1937, medical services started in Shibam with a health inspector and a nurse offering services to local citizens.

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Query

Here is a painting of a dhow and of the title written in ink on the back. The painting is in oil on canvas attached to a board. It is signed Frank H Mason near the bottom left-hand corner. The size is about 39 cm high and 54 cm wide. It belongs to a Friend who bought it at an auction in southern England in 2023. It has been suggested that it could indeed be al-Mukalla! https://www.pannettartgallery.org/havens-and-harbours-the-marine-art-of-frank-henry-mason/

The Editor would welcome any comments/observations from our membership on the location of the shipyard depicted.

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Photograph and Caption from Christine Gaskell, taken by her father Ernest Killby

----- Start of picture text -----
FON Ti nile Lane AS ge es SR EN ie ce Fe eli MR
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The 2 small children in this photo are Rupert Wise and Andy Dawson with their mothers Janet Wise and Vera Dawson. Rupert was born in Mukalla in May 1957 and Andrew in August 1960. My mother Sheila is the one in the middle - the man lying down in the front is Mike Newlands the doctor who worked with my father and did a huge amount of work for health including the Women‟s Hospital in Mukalla. Every Friday friends would go down to the beach for a picnic and relaxation. The white Land Rover belonged to my father.

William J Maxwell’s Expedition to the Interior of Hadhramaut in 1960

William J Maxwell has sent some pictures from an expedition he took with 12 colleagues and a local guide/interpreter, while working for the RAF at Riyan Airbase near Mukalla in 1960-61. The expedition, led by Flight Lieutenant Deacon assisted by the CO of RAF Salalah, consisted of a Land Rover and a Bedford 3-ton 4x4 truck. They travelled up the old West Road from Mukalla to Duan and camped in the open on the Jol. It was exceedingly cold and they needed 3 blankets to make up a sleeping bag. The evening meal consisted of tins of various meats and vegetables heated in a large pan and served to officers and men alike. This culinary delight was named “Hadhramaut Stew”.

A Selection of W J Maxwell’s Slides

Approaching Tarim

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Sweet shop Tarim Bazaar

Woodworker Tarim Bazaar

Roadside bike repair Donkey carrying “lakhmi” dried shark

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Wadi Doan

Wadi Hadhramaut

----- Start of picture text -----
Hadhramaut Stew
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Bedford 3-ton Truck

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Typical Seiyun House Raising Water from Well Seiyun

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BS . Sel
amn |
Hadhramaut Pump Scheme Seiyun
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Secretariat Seiyun Kathiri Sultan Palace Seiyun
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ITEMS FOR SALE

The items listed below are for sale from the FOH registered address

English bone china mugs with FOH logo at £10 each or £18 for 2

(Photograph courtesy David Halford)

Copies of Hadhramaut and its Diaspora: Yemeni Politics, Identity and Migration (ed. Dr. Noel Brehony) at £25 each

A metal/enamel lapel badge produced by Thomas Fattorini Ltd and designed by Owain Raw-Rees at £5 each

LEGACIES AND WILLS

Those thinking about leaving a legacy to FOH can check our bona fides by consulting the website of the Charity Commission of England & Wales: www.charitycommission.gov.uk. FOH is registered with the Commissioners under Charity Number 1062560 since May 1997. If you are planning your will (or making additions to an existing one) we cannot over emphasise how grateful we, and the poorest people of Hadhramaut would be for a bequest from you. If there is a particular project you are interested in supporting, or specific terms and conditions you would like to make, please contact the treasurer at our registered address, or ask your solicitor to do so.

GIFT AID

Gift Aid is extremely valuable to FOH and may be claimed only on unencumbered donations upon which the donor has paid UK Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the amount of Gift Aid claimed in the relevant tax year.

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Peter Harrigan has kindly offered FOH a special discount on his publishing firm‟s recent book Bitter Sweet: A Story of Food and Yemen . To order and avail of discount please use this link: = https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kAEN2YukipBYYkcAqLk73tihbc4CSELK/view?usp sharing

Bittersweet

A Story of Food and Yemen

By Sayed Asif Mahmud, Marta Colburn & Jessica Olney

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ISBN: 978-1-
911487-93-7 |
— Price: £30
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A captivating exploration of Yemen’s rich culinary heritage. This book takes readers on a soulful discovery of how food is intricately woven into the fabric of Yemeni identity, portraying everyday practices, cooking techniques, and livelihoods against the backdrop of Yemen’s unique landscapes, architecture and heart-warming gatherings.

Published by Medina Publishing (UK & Middle East) Co-published, USA, Europe, Turkey, Fall Line Press, Editions Caurette & Masa

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WANTED

Local Coordinators for Australia, Spain and India.

FOH ANNUAL ACCOUNTS

Our audited accounts and official returns (as required by UK law) are prepared by the Treasurer and presented to the Charity Commissioner online, after an Independent Examination by Tariq Isa. The accounts may be inspected on the Charity Commission‟s website: www.charitycommission.gov.uk

FUTURE EVENTS

Our patron Angela Kilmartin with Princess Caroline Murat

Friday 25[th] July 2025

Angela Kilmartin is graciously hosting a recital by renowned international pianist, Caroline Haffner (Princess Caroline Murat) at the church of St. Sepulchre-Without-Newgate, Holborn as part of the Bach Festival followed by an afternoon tea at Butchers Hall, Smithfield, London.

Further details will be sent in the Spring.

SAVE THE DATE: 25 JULY 2025

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CONTACT DETAILS

FRIENDS OF HADHRAMAUT: Registered Charity No. 1062560

Address: 48 Richmond Park Road, London SW14 8JT UK Telephone: +44 (0) 2083929823 (The telephone is not always attended; messages may be left and are dealt with regularly)

Email: hadhramaut@btinternet.com Website: www.hadhramaut.co.uk Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/FriendsofHadhramaut/ Instagram: friendsofhadhramaut

Please make all cheques payable to "Friends of Hadhramaut". We encourage all Friends to donate via online bank transfer for efficiency and cost saving

Sterling Account

Virgin Money United Kingdom Account name: Friends of Hadhramaut Sort Code: 821107 Account Number: 60572139 IBAN: GB35CLYD82110760572139 BIC: CLYDGB21943

Life Subscription: £25 or €30

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FRIENDS OF HADHRAMAur Registered Charity No. 1062560 STERLING INCOME & EXPENDrfuRE 21124 INCOME Brought forward from 2023 Subscriptions Donations Gift Aid 36,247.07 476.83 50,342.64 1,526.63 TOTAL INCOM 88593.17 EXPENDITURE Administratio Scrvices Accommodation Stationery Printing and Photocopying Postage Phone calls Transportation Purchases for cvent Webm&8ter and computer scrvice Bank Charges Trausf¢rs to Yemeni Rials (Vice-Chairn]an's Accouut) 181.39 241.00 445.23 262.88 585.52 197.70 1,445.60 724.14 60.00 37.10 70,620.77 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 74,80133 INCOME LESS EXPENDrruRE: Balallce at 31.122024 13,791.84 SULTANA FS AL-QUAITI MBE TREASURER

Tariq S. K. Isa Greystones Edgeworth Nr. Stroud Gloucestershire GL6 7JG United Kingdom

Dated: 25 September 2025

Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts of Friends of Hadhramaut (Registered Charity Number 1062560) for the year ended 31 December 2024

I, Tariq S. K. Isa , of Greystones, Edgeworth, Gloucestershire, confirm that I have examined the accounts of Friends of Hadhramaut for the year ended 31 December 2024 in accordance with Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 and the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission. My examination covered both the Sterling and Yemeni Rial accounts.

The preparation of the charity’s accounts is the responsibility of the Trustees. I have been engaged to conduct an independent examination. The accounts are not required to be audited under statute, and no audit has been undertaken.

My role is to review the accounts and to consider whether any material matters have come to my attention which give me cause to believe that:

Based on my examination, no such matters have come to my attention. I confirm that the accounts have been prepared by the Trustees on a receipts and payments basis and I have no reason to doubt their accuracy.

I am independent of the charity and have the requisite professional expertise. I am a serial entrepreneur and investor, and currently COO of Connexion Capital LLP, a multi-family office and investment adviser established in 2007. My experience in advising startups, analysing investment opportunities, and managing our own portfolio equips me with the financial knowledge and independence required to act as Independent Examiner.

Signed: Name: Tariq S. K. Isa Independent Examiner Date: 25 September 2025

Tariq S. K. Isa, Greystones, Edgeworth, Nr. Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 7JG, United Kingdom Contact: +44 7824 844 517 tariqisa68@gmail.com