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2009-10-07, 08:38 AM
http://adenairways.com/images/Dthala_Town_1906.jpg
Dthala (Dhala) Village 1906
http://adenairways.com/images/Dthala_Town_1906_De******io.gif
I reproduce below two letters written in 1906 by an unnamed officer of the 2nd Battalion the King's Own Scottish Borderers to an officer of the 2nd Battalion the Suffolk Regiment. The latter battalion was still in India and was due to relieve the former in November that year. It is an interesting coincidence that in January 1964 the 1st (and by that time only) Battalion the King's Own Scottish Borderers handed over to the 1st Battalion the East Anglian Regiment, which was the title given to the Suffolk Regiment when it amalgamated with the Royal Norfolk Regiment in 1959. The two letters are followed by a soldier's de******ion of the journey from Aden to Dthala. There are many interesting comments which highlight military life at the time, not least the preoccupation with health in the tropics and the wide differences in the life-style of officers and soldiers. The notes on game shooting prospects in the Dthala area were strictly for the benefit of the Suffolk's officers! There are also several points of military interest. My comments and additions are in italics in square brackets.
“Dthala, June 1906
The Dthala camp is situated about one mile from the village of the same name where the Amir resides, and is inside a zareba [from the wars in the Sudan, where a zareba was some form of stockade, usually a thick thorn-hedge. From the Arabic word zaribah, a pen or enclosure for cattle]. The gates are closed at Retreat 6-30 p.m. and no one is allowed outside after that hour. We furnish a guard of six men by day and eighteen by night; the sentries have to keep their wits about them as it is very unsafe after dusk. As regards this place as a station it is one of the finest, and most quiet we have had during our Indian tour, but as to health it cannot be beaten.
We have four companies here at Dthala but we understand that the Suffolk Regiment is to bring six. We find two detachments from here, one at Dubajat about 12 miles off and another at El Hkl 10 miles distant which is an outpost near Kartaba where the Turkish outpost is; both detachments are relieved fortnightly. Dubajat detachment consists of 1 Officer 1 Sergeant 1 Corporal and 20 men and the other detachment of a like number. Dubajat is on the line of communication and is a transmitting signalling station. [When the visibility was above average it was possible to signal by heliograph to the signal station on the summit of Shamsham (http://adenairways.com/shamsan.htm), about 75 miles as the crow flies. In good conditions a message could be relayed via a signal station at Chakka, which was on a low hill a few miles South of Nobat Dakim.]
There is in addition to us here, six companies of the 81st Pioneers and a Camel Battery, composed of some men of the 60th Company Royal Garrison Artillery. [During the demarcation of the border by the Aden Boundary Commission 1902-04 it had been necessary to reinforce Aden quite considerably. In 1906 there was still a second Indian infantry battalion in Aden and this was kept in the hinterland, partly because there was no suitable (barrack) accommodation in Aden itself. The 81st Pioneers were an infantry battalion, but also trained as assault pioneers. They would return to Aden in December 1914 as a reinforcement to the garrison.]
It is fairly warm and comfortable just now but in the winter months it is terribly cold, I should advise anyone coming here to bring a good supply of warm clothing. You will find the march up from Aden fairly trying as the distance is 94 miles [actually about 90] and mostly uphill, but after all it is well worth the journey to get 5,000 feet above the sea level. The rest camps from Aden are:-
1. Sheik Othman 2. Bei Syed Ali 3. Bei Selim 4. Nobat Dakim
5. El Millah 6. Hardaba 7. Rado
Sheik Othman is one of the most pleasant of the rest camps, there being several large shady gardens and it is much patronised by the elite of Aden for Picnic excursions.
There is a small detachment of Pioneers at each rest camp where a supply of water is kept, which is very scarce and can only be got up by camel transport. We came up in two parties and were at Sapper's Bay near Steamer Point for five days before coming up here. All spare kits we left at Crater as we were only allowed to bring a small quantity with us; we left two men per company at Aden to look after the kits, rifles etc. You will find servants a source of annoyance, we brought all our ****s, dhobies, etc, with us from Burma but they were soon hustled out of it by the Somalis, who are absolute thieves.
There are three shops kept here by Parsees who are very obliging but naturally everything is very dear. There are also a few Jewish traders who are allowed to dispose of their goods to the troops, but they rarely trade in other things than eggs, tomatoes or small provisions which are very cheap. We have a fine Regimental garden that keeps us well supplied with vegetables which grow luxuriously here. The men only get from three to four nights in bed [a week]but with your six companies, duties will be much lighter. We have been at musketry nearly the whole time we have been here and expect to keep it up until our expected move on the 15th November next. The Arabs in the Hinterland are all armed to the teeth but although continually fighting amongst themselves, rarely interfere with European soldiers.”
The second letter was written three months later
“Dthala, September 1906
The camel (http://adenairways.com/Camels.htm) is not of the same worth as the Indian camel and is supposed to carry only 300 lbs. It would be advisable to bring as much as possible on the march up in the first instance and I should advocate bringing quantities of stores to avoid the extra charges by the Parsee vendors.
http://adenairways.com/images/cameltrain.jpg
[This photograph was on a postcard sent in late 1906 to a sergeant major in the 3rd Rifle Brigade, the battalion which was relieved by the KOSB. It probably shows camels loaded with barrels of beer about to leave for Dthala. Notice how lean the camels look!]
Dthala is the name of the principal town of the Upper hinterland and the Amir of Dthala is the friendly chief acting under our protection. The town, or better described as a large village, is built at the head of a valley on the left side of which looking north are situated the British camps and a general perimeter is built forming a defensive post. The altitude of the camp is 4,800 feet, but the surrounding hills are however higher, and in rear of the camps run up to 7,500 feet. The valley is broad and facing south east; an uninterrupted view for a mile can be obtained. This valley is richly cultivated and wells abound. Ten miles off is the transmitting signalling station at a height of 6,000 feet, occupied by eight signallers and twenty men under an officer. Aden can occasionally be called up. It is in communication with Dthala and all stations on line of communication. A small officer's house and outbuildings have been constructed, and a rideable road to same.
http://adenairways.com/images/dthalacamp.jpg
http://adenairways.com/images/Dthala_Camp_1906.jpg
[The first photograph is the Dthala camp of the Hampshires in 1903. The second photograph taken by Company Sergeant Major William Tait shows the camp occupied by the KOSB as it looked in 1906. The cross marked on the tent to the right of the second photograph was Williams.
The letter above mentions camps in the plural. The Pioneers would have had their own camp, or their own lines within a larger defended locality. The zareba can be made out around the perimeter. I think the high feature in the background may well be Dubiyat (or Dubajat) on the top of which was the signalling station. From the de******ion the KOSB’s camp would appear to have been only about one kilometre from the south-west end of the Dthala airstrip.]
At Dthala October, December, January, February and March are really cold months and the climate is bracing and wonderfully healthy. May and June are the hot months, when the thermometer averages about 94 degrees by day in the tents, but the nights are cool and malaria slight. July, August and September I am led to suppose are very rainy, and in September malaria should be guarded against. In the hot weather drill is mostly done in shirt sleeves and back pads are worn.
The rainfall is only officially quoted at 20 inches for the year, but statistics show that it is very variable as to time of coming, and also in yearly quantity. From experience gained, rain may be expected in February or March and from the latter end of June onwards. The storms are as intense as in the Himalayas, and great supervision has to be exercised over tents. The soil is of a nature that dries quickly. At present the officers live in B.P. [Baden Powell] tents in an enclosure in the camp. It is not known if this will be allowed to continue owing to the various schemes of barrack building, but at least for another year, I am inclined to think, it will.
Very little sport is obtainable, a few chicore have been got also a few hares and silver foxes. Ibex are said to be only forty miles away but none have been obtained. The neighbouring country is barren and rocky with high cliffs and little vegetation, very suitable for manoeuvring and khud climbing. The men are in B.P. tents, they mostly have beds primitively made by themselves or bought from Arabs. No bed cots could be sent up. Thieves at night will be found at first to be numerous and in consequence the perimeter takes seven sentries at night but only gate sentries by day. In January, February and March, the garden supply is plentiful and of excellent quality, cauliflower’s and lettuces being the best growing vegetables. Owing at present to late rains, the supply has shortened and the heat has tried the gardens very much. It would be advisable to bring quantities of seeds, (Sutton's seem to do best) and the early year appears to be a good time to plant. Flower gardens have not been a success owing to heavy storms and also a limited supply of water in the dry season. But it would seem advisable to bring flower seeds as for short periods results could be obtained which might repay the planting.”
Also of interest is an essay written for the Army 2nd class education certificate by a KOSB soldier in 1906 on any journey he had made:
“We were a party of about twenty-five, mostly invalids, so camels were provided for use. We left Aden about five o'clock in the evening for the first stage. Our destination was Sheik Othman which is 7 or 8 miles from Aden.
Only ordinary transport saddles were provided, which are simply made of wood and sacking without stirrups of any sort. The latter deficiency was got over by making a loop at each end of a piece of rope and hanging it over the saddle. After a journey of about 5 or 6 hours the first stage was reached tents pitched and then bed. The next day we struck camp about four in the afternoon and set off again. This was a journey of about 10 miles and was reached that same evening, and again tents were pitched. We took transport carts with us for the first four days and the work was exceedingly hard for the camels. The wheels were frequently up to their axles in sand. It often fell to the lot of the invalids to get off their camels and push the carts along. On the fourth day we struck a river and the bathing which could be got was very acceptable. At this place the carts were left behind and all the stores packed on camels. No event of any importance took place during the journey but no one was sorry when Dthala was reached for more comfortable modes of traveling can be found than on camel back for nine days."
[The transport carts would have been left at Nobat Dakim, which in 1902-03 had been established as a forward logistic base for the units operating in the mountains further North. At one stage the garrison at Nobat numbered around 500 men. It was one of the worst places for malaria. In 1964 we were warned not to even paddle in the rivers and streams in the hinterland due to the prevalence of bilharzia. The term ‘invalids’ covered those unfit for duty due to malaria or other diseases or ailments such as TB. The invalids would have been going to a temporary sanitorium which had been established near Dthala; at one stage, in 1904-05, it had been the intention to build a permanent sanitorium on the Jebel Jihaf at around 6,500 ft above sea level. This plan was abandoned when it became likely that the garrison at Dthala would be withdrawn, which happened in 1907.]
This page last updated Saturday, 02 August 2008
http://adenairways.com/images/dhow4.jpg P (http://adenairways.com/Membership.htm)
اعطونا فرصه لترجمة التقرير التاريخي
Dthala (Dhala) Village 1906
http://adenairways.com/images/Dthala_Town_1906_De******io.gif
I reproduce below two letters written in 1906 by an unnamed officer of the 2nd Battalion the King's Own Scottish Borderers to an officer of the 2nd Battalion the Suffolk Regiment. The latter battalion was still in India and was due to relieve the former in November that year. It is an interesting coincidence that in January 1964 the 1st (and by that time only) Battalion the King's Own Scottish Borderers handed over to the 1st Battalion the East Anglian Regiment, which was the title given to the Suffolk Regiment when it amalgamated with the Royal Norfolk Regiment in 1959. The two letters are followed by a soldier's de******ion of the journey from Aden to Dthala. There are many interesting comments which highlight military life at the time, not least the preoccupation with health in the tropics and the wide differences in the life-style of officers and soldiers. The notes on game shooting prospects in the Dthala area were strictly for the benefit of the Suffolk's officers! There are also several points of military interest. My comments and additions are in italics in square brackets.
“Dthala, June 1906
The Dthala camp is situated about one mile from the village of the same name where the Amir resides, and is inside a zareba [from the wars in the Sudan, where a zareba was some form of stockade, usually a thick thorn-hedge. From the Arabic word zaribah, a pen or enclosure for cattle]. The gates are closed at Retreat 6-30 p.m. and no one is allowed outside after that hour. We furnish a guard of six men by day and eighteen by night; the sentries have to keep their wits about them as it is very unsafe after dusk. As regards this place as a station it is one of the finest, and most quiet we have had during our Indian tour, but as to health it cannot be beaten.
We have four companies here at Dthala but we understand that the Suffolk Regiment is to bring six. We find two detachments from here, one at Dubajat about 12 miles off and another at El Hkl 10 miles distant which is an outpost near Kartaba where the Turkish outpost is; both detachments are relieved fortnightly. Dubajat detachment consists of 1 Officer 1 Sergeant 1 Corporal and 20 men and the other detachment of a like number. Dubajat is on the line of communication and is a transmitting signalling station. [When the visibility was above average it was possible to signal by heliograph to the signal station on the summit of Shamsham (http://adenairways.com/shamsan.htm), about 75 miles as the crow flies. In good conditions a message could be relayed via a signal station at Chakka, which was on a low hill a few miles South of Nobat Dakim.]
There is in addition to us here, six companies of the 81st Pioneers and a Camel Battery, composed of some men of the 60th Company Royal Garrison Artillery. [During the demarcation of the border by the Aden Boundary Commission 1902-04 it had been necessary to reinforce Aden quite considerably. In 1906 there was still a second Indian infantry battalion in Aden and this was kept in the hinterland, partly because there was no suitable (barrack) accommodation in Aden itself. The 81st Pioneers were an infantry battalion, but also trained as assault pioneers. They would return to Aden in December 1914 as a reinforcement to the garrison.]
It is fairly warm and comfortable just now but in the winter months it is terribly cold, I should advise anyone coming here to bring a good supply of warm clothing. You will find the march up from Aden fairly trying as the distance is 94 miles [actually about 90] and mostly uphill, but after all it is well worth the journey to get 5,000 feet above the sea level. The rest camps from Aden are:-
1. Sheik Othman 2. Bei Syed Ali 3. Bei Selim 4. Nobat Dakim
5. El Millah 6. Hardaba 7. Rado
Sheik Othman is one of the most pleasant of the rest camps, there being several large shady gardens and it is much patronised by the elite of Aden for Picnic excursions.
There is a small detachment of Pioneers at each rest camp where a supply of water is kept, which is very scarce and can only be got up by camel transport. We came up in two parties and were at Sapper's Bay near Steamer Point for five days before coming up here. All spare kits we left at Crater as we were only allowed to bring a small quantity with us; we left two men per company at Aden to look after the kits, rifles etc. You will find servants a source of annoyance, we brought all our ****s, dhobies, etc, with us from Burma but they were soon hustled out of it by the Somalis, who are absolute thieves.
There are three shops kept here by Parsees who are very obliging but naturally everything is very dear. There are also a few Jewish traders who are allowed to dispose of their goods to the troops, but they rarely trade in other things than eggs, tomatoes or small provisions which are very cheap. We have a fine Regimental garden that keeps us well supplied with vegetables which grow luxuriously here. The men only get from three to four nights in bed [a week]but with your six companies, duties will be much lighter. We have been at musketry nearly the whole time we have been here and expect to keep it up until our expected move on the 15th November next. The Arabs in the Hinterland are all armed to the teeth but although continually fighting amongst themselves, rarely interfere with European soldiers.”
The second letter was written three months later
“Dthala, September 1906
The camel (http://adenairways.com/Camels.htm) is not of the same worth as the Indian camel and is supposed to carry only 300 lbs. It would be advisable to bring as much as possible on the march up in the first instance and I should advocate bringing quantities of stores to avoid the extra charges by the Parsee vendors.
http://adenairways.com/images/cameltrain.jpg
[This photograph was on a postcard sent in late 1906 to a sergeant major in the 3rd Rifle Brigade, the battalion which was relieved by the KOSB. It probably shows camels loaded with barrels of beer about to leave for Dthala. Notice how lean the camels look!]
Dthala is the name of the principal town of the Upper hinterland and the Amir of Dthala is the friendly chief acting under our protection. The town, or better described as a large village, is built at the head of a valley on the left side of which looking north are situated the British camps and a general perimeter is built forming a defensive post. The altitude of the camp is 4,800 feet, but the surrounding hills are however higher, and in rear of the camps run up to 7,500 feet. The valley is broad and facing south east; an uninterrupted view for a mile can be obtained. This valley is richly cultivated and wells abound. Ten miles off is the transmitting signalling station at a height of 6,000 feet, occupied by eight signallers and twenty men under an officer. Aden can occasionally be called up. It is in communication with Dthala and all stations on line of communication. A small officer's house and outbuildings have been constructed, and a rideable road to same.
http://adenairways.com/images/dthalacamp.jpg
http://adenairways.com/images/Dthala_Camp_1906.jpg
[The first photograph is the Dthala camp of the Hampshires in 1903. The second photograph taken by Company Sergeant Major William Tait shows the camp occupied by the KOSB as it looked in 1906. The cross marked on the tent to the right of the second photograph was Williams.
The letter above mentions camps in the plural. The Pioneers would have had their own camp, or their own lines within a larger defended locality. The zareba can be made out around the perimeter. I think the high feature in the background may well be Dubiyat (or Dubajat) on the top of which was the signalling station. From the de******ion the KOSB’s camp would appear to have been only about one kilometre from the south-west end of the Dthala airstrip.]
At Dthala October, December, January, February and March are really cold months and the climate is bracing and wonderfully healthy. May and June are the hot months, when the thermometer averages about 94 degrees by day in the tents, but the nights are cool and malaria slight. July, August and September I am led to suppose are very rainy, and in September malaria should be guarded against. In the hot weather drill is mostly done in shirt sleeves and back pads are worn.
The rainfall is only officially quoted at 20 inches for the year, but statistics show that it is very variable as to time of coming, and also in yearly quantity. From experience gained, rain may be expected in February or March and from the latter end of June onwards. The storms are as intense as in the Himalayas, and great supervision has to be exercised over tents. The soil is of a nature that dries quickly. At present the officers live in B.P. [Baden Powell] tents in an enclosure in the camp. It is not known if this will be allowed to continue owing to the various schemes of barrack building, but at least for another year, I am inclined to think, it will.
Very little sport is obtainable, a few chicore have been got also a few hares and silver foxes. Ibex are said to be only forty miles away but none have been obtained. The neighbouring country is barren and rocky with high cliffs and little vegetation, very suitable for manoeuvring and khud climbing. The men are in B.P. tents, they mostly have beds primitively made by themselves or bought from Arabs. No bed cots could be sent up. Thieves at night will be found at first to be numerous and in consequence the perimeter takes seven sentries at night but only gate sentries by day. In January, February and March, the garden supply is plentiful and of excellent quality, cauliflower’s and lettuces being the best growing vegetables. Owing at present to late rains, the supply has shortened and the heat has tried the gardens very much. It would be advisable to bring quantities of seeds, (Sutton's seem to do best) and the early year appears to be a good time to plant. Flower gardens have not been a success owing to heavy storms and also a limited supply of water in the dry season. But it would seem advisable to bring flower seeds as for short periods results could be obtained which might repay the planting.”
Also of interest is an essay written for the Army 2nd class education certificate by a KOSB soldier in 1906 on any journey he had made:
“We were a party of about twenty-five, mostly invalids, so camels were provided for use. We left Aden about five o'clock in the evening for the first stage. Our destination was Sheik Othman which is 7 or 8 miles from Aden.
Only ordinary transport saddles were provided, which are simply made of wood and sacking without stirrups of any sort. The latter deficiency was got over by making a loop at each end of a piece of rope and hanging it over the saddle. After a journey of about 5 or 6 hours the first stage was reached tents pitched and then bed. The next day we struck camp about four in the afternoon and set off again. This was a journey of about 10 miles and was reached that same evening, and again tents were pitched. We took transport carts with us for the first four days and the work was exceedingly hard for the camels. The wheels were frequently up to their axles in sand. It often fell to the lot of the invalids to get off their camels and push the carts along. On the fourth day we struck a river and the bathing which could be got was very acceptable. At this place the carts were left behind and all the stores packed on camels. No event of any importance took place during the journey but no one was sorry when Dthala was reached for more comfortable modes of traveling can be found than on camel back for nine days."
[The transport carts would have been left at Nobat Dakim, which in 1902-03 had been established as a forward logistic base for the units operating in the mountains further North. At one stage the garrison at Nobat numbered around 500 men. It was one of the worst places for malaria. In 1964 we were warned not to even paddle in the rivers and streams in the hinterland due to the prevalence of bilharzia. The term ‘invalids’ covered those unfit for duty due to malaria or other diseases or ailments such as TB. The invalids would have been going to a temporary sanitorium which had been established near Dthala; at one stage, in 1904-05, it had been the intention to build a permanent sanitorium on the Jebel Jihaf at around 6,500 ft above sea level. This plan was abandoned when it became likely that the garrison at Dthala would be withdrawn, which happened in 1907.]
This page last updated Saturday, 02 August 2008
http://adenairways.com/images/dhow4.jpg P (http://adenairways.com/Membership.htm)
اعطونا فرصه لترجمة التقرير التاريخي