I first saw Aden from the deck of a Norwegian Tanker called the Beaufighter in September 1949 when I was a 16 year old mess boy. 

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We were on our way to Ras Tanura in the Persian Gulf for a cargo of oil. The bosun, who seemed in my eyes to be about 100 years old, pointed Aden out to me and said, "Too hot, no good."

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Little did I realise that in two years time I would be looking at the same place from a troopship called the Empire Pride.

Steamer Point Harbour

We made our way down some steps on the side of the boat into barges which then took us ashore. My first sight of interest was a large ape in a cage up against a building, then it was aboard two army lorries and into the unknown. I had to go with the kit in an open lorry because I had wandered off to look at the ape whilst the others followed in a lorry with a canopy. But at least I saw more on the drive than they did.

Barrack Hill

I remember the lorry climbing up a winding road and onto a square next to a block of barracks, two stories high with a veranda back and front. We were told to take our kit into the barrack room and claim a bed space. The barrack room was high and fairly wide with plenty of bed space, a stone floor and walls with large slow moving fans over the beds. Two high arched doors on each side, back on to the square, up a short flight of steps onto a balcony with a row of rooms overlooking the square, on the other side of the square on a lower level was another row of buildings which we found out were the barbers, tailors, and dhobi wallahs room for ironing. The washrooms were in a room under the barracks just below ground level. Another small building just off the square housed a row of toilets. This consisted of a row of cubicles with half doors the toilets consisted of a box with a container and a door at the back where the Beesti wallahs could get to the container to empty it. It was not unknown for the container to be taken away while in use but quickly returned with a “Sorry sahib”. 

Roundabout, Fort Morbut

Some of the lads were detailed off to go to Fort Gold Mohur, others to Fort Morbut, which to us at the time were just names. I stayed at Chapel Hill for driver training and I suppose as a driver I saw more of Aden than the lads detailed for the forts. Fort Tarshyne housed the Officers Mess which they shared with the RAF. 

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We were only a small unit although we were named the 51st Coastal Regiment and our main task was maintenance on the guns and forts at Fort Morbut. There was a battery of four 25 pounders used for salutes, the two forts had 6 inch and twin 6 pounders and at Fort Morbut we also had a searchlight section with two lights. 

6" Gun at Fort Morbut

One of the biggest surprises, and a pleasure, was the news that there would be no more kit cleaning as it was going to be done for us by the bearers. I couldn’t believe it, no more brasses, no more blanco or boots to be cleaned and no more ironing or pressing, even our bed spaces kept clean and beds made all for two shillings a week, and every day clean and starched KD, we had just come from the 47th Coast Regt School of Coastal Artillery where even the bottoms of our boots were inspected. I was a little disappointed when I found out that not too many months before the Regt in Aden had worn Bush Hats with the side turned up, I rather fancied one of those, but to cap it all (no pun intended) we only worked till around midday unless you were on duty. 

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It was like a step back in time, Aden was like I would imagine India to be in the days of the Raj, even some of the terms seemed to be from that time, we were called Sahib, the Somali girls who looked after the children were Ayahs, some of the restaurants in Steamer Point even had there menus priced in Anna’s, we had Beesti Wallahs, Bearers, we drank Char, Taxi’s were Gharries, our midday meal was Tiffin, and so on, this was in 1951/1953 I suppose things changed after that. 

 

 

The vehicles above were parked up in Crater after towing the guns there for the opening of the 1st Aden Parliament, The white walls on the tyres of the jeep was simply good old British army bull. I didn't tow a gun, I just led the procession with the O/C and the 2 I/C in the jeep. The C/O liked to ride in the jeep on parades like that. He used to sit there very upright and proper. On other occasions he used his staff car, a Standard Vanguard. The guns were towed to the spot and then us drivers parked up as in the picture. I have a photo of the return trip to Steamer Point taken on the Maalla straight, where the O/C got a bit worried because the road through wasn't very wide and we could have easily got split up.

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Maurice Darling is sitting in the Jeep.

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A popular place was the open air picture house in Steamer Point; we could book a ticket by sending the bearer down to the RAF police office near the medical centre, after we had taken our seats any over went to locals who waited outside, when I say locals it was Indians who filled the vacant seats, Officers always had the front seats, they really dressed for the visit, Dark Trousers, Short white jackets and a wide cummerbund, (sash). When I first arrived in Aden we had our meals with the RAF at Steamer Point, it was a pleasant walk in the morning across the cricket pitch, with a lift down for Tiffin and  evening meal, later we had our meals on Chapel Hill in our own dining room with an Army cook.

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I also remember the sunsets across the bay they were a wonderful sight, we would go onto our veranda just to see it. Steamer Point itself was a good place to spend time, some of the streets way back were out of bounds and had a disc hanging there to warn you, I saw another flash back to another age here, a scribe writing a letter for a customer, there was also a native picture house in one of the back streets. This was the age of the cheap Emigration to Australia, we had ships packed with British people calling in at Aden on their way to a new life, they were always glad to speak to us and the Arabs had a field day selling to them.

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We had a trip or two across to Little Aden as recreation, we went out on an Aden Port Trust launch with a meal of sandwiches and a Dixie of tea and spent the day swimming off the beach and exploring, its funny we didn’t seem to think about the sharks and there were plenty of those in the bay. 

 

Little Aden

We also had a liberty vehicle to Crater sometimes so there was plenty to do in our spare time. Most days we went to the Lido; it had a swimming bath as well as the bay, plus snooker etc. The snacks there were quite cheap one of my favourites, and the other lads, was “egg banjo fried bread”. How it got that name I don’t know because it was just a fried egg in a roll. As a driver I saw more of Aden than most of the other lads whose main job was maintenance on the guns etc. 

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At Fort Morbut we had a saluting battery of four 25 pounders which fired salutes whenever a warship came in or sometimes we had a full rigged sailing ship  and the lads fired a salute for that. 

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We were at a football match one day on the sports field in front of the Lido and an officer came dashing over and stopped the match because King George VI had died. The lads at Morbut were firing a salute next day, I think it was a 101 gun salute which is the most a salute can be fired I believe. We also took the guns to Crater one day, to fire a salute for the opening of the Aden's first Parliament. The guns fired up a blind valley and the report caused a lump of rock to fall down. Some of the natives must have thought we had fired a live round because quite a few of them turned and ran. When it was all over we towed the guns back to Fort Morbut.

101 Gun Salute for Death of King George VI. Fort Morbut 1952

 

There were herds of fat tailed goats roaming everywhere. We often had to stop and wait till they had crossed the road and often on the way to the Airfield or Crater we would see lines of camels  loaded up with goods either coming in to Aden or going out, the loads they carried was amazing. It was all new to us but I was enjoying myself, with lots of swimming in the sea at the Lido or in the pool there. Sometimes one of the officers decided we could do with some exercise before breakfast so we jogged down across the cricket  and football pitch to the Lido for a swim, we were given the chance to take the RAF Swimming Proficiency Certificate 150 yards using three different strokes. 

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As a driver I often had to go to a warehouse between Steamer Point and Maalla to pick up rations. I think it was Jardine Matheson I went to. Another favourite job was to the ice house in Steamer Point to pick up ice blocks.  On the veranda of our billet was a large container made of wood and if you lifted the lid you would see a zig-zag arrangement of pipes with a tap on the outside. Every day we would put two of these ice blocks onto the pipes so we always had cold water to drink. 

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We had to take the same to Gold Mohur and Fort Morbut. When I collected the ice I used to go into the cold room where the ice was kept, and so it was great going from the heat into the icy cold. We used to look forward to the passenger liners coming in because that meant parcels and papers, they came by sea but our other mail had to be picked up from Khormaksar.

6" Gun at Fort Morbut. Little Aden in the distance.

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The locals were quite friendly but we still had places we were not allowed in, which didn’t mean we didn’t go, we just had to keep our eyes out for the RAF patrols. The Arab bus was something else, brightly painted and people hanging on to the sides, we went to Crater on one once it was during the day and it was jam packed even the driver was crushed up. We had a demonstration shoot there one night, firing our twin six pounders and  one of our 6 inch guns  at a target towed by an RAF launch with the target pinpointed  by our searchlight from Fort Morbut, I had to drive our officer who was reporting the fall of shot to the jetty where the launches were moored, I think it was Maalla, I parked on the jetty and the officer asked me if I wanted to go on the launch, it was a toss up between being shot at by my mates or waiting on the jetty, I decided to go on the launch, I undid my shoes and the officer asked me why, I told him it was one less thing to kick off if the lads hit the launch instead of the target, it was quite a sensation to see the lights pick up the target and then the guns opened up, we had some hits from the twin six’s but the six inch went over top every time, they might have hit little Aden for all I know. 

At the front of the Bhicajee Cowasjee store in The Crescent, Steamer Point

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If we had a Church service it was held in the Protestant church at Steamer point, it was always cool in there, especially after the march from Chapel Hill. As a driver I often had to drive through Maalla and I mean through it, our CO had the idea of showing the flag every time, motor bikes and private cars used the Maalla straight, all Maalla was then was really a fair sized village with no pavements  and not a very good road, we were fair game for the locals especially the young lads, very often we had things thrown at us which if we managed to get hold of we threw back, I was surprised when I heard that married quarters had been built there a few years later, I often wondered what I would do  if ever I broke down going through the place, we once unloaded shells from a ship off Maalla Wharf  and the CO insisted we drive through there and back, we had the usual barrage of missiles, still I think it was high spirits more than anything, because on the whole the natives weren’t too bad at that time.

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While I was there I experienced a dust storm some of the lads called it a sandstorm but it was too fine to be sand, it got everywhere, we closed the doors of the barrack room but it still got in, we looked out and we couldn’t see Barrack Hill or the RAF Hospital, it didn’t last long but what a mess, another time we had a swarm of locust’s they filled the sky, it was a huge cloud that seemed to go on forever, some were flying and some seemed to be hopping along, they were quite big we stood on the veranda watching them for some time some of them were banging into us, so we went into the barrack room, one of the lads who had been in Aden for some time said the Arabs fried them and ate them, whether that’s true or not I don’t know.

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Chapel Hill also had wild dogs (pyards) and apes, the apes were ugly looking things, and it’s a fact, they threw stones at you, I suppose they had picked it up from having stones throne at them over the years. I think the hill led up to a mountain called Sham Sham, it was a rough old road up to the top, and there we had a radar station, we also did maintenance on that, so one of us drivers often had to take men up there, the road wasn’t very wide but with a jeep it was easy, but one time I will never forget, it was a Sunday and the choki  (watchman ) was killed, the body had to stay there till Monday, so we had to provide a guard up there overnight, I was duty driver that day so I took the lads up there in the jeep, and then in the Evening I had to go back up there to take dixi of tea and one of sandwiches up there, the orderly sergeant detailed one other lad to go with me, don’t take the jeep you might put it over the side he said so it was a walk for us, off we went, it was pitch black but you couldn’t take a wrong turning because there was only one track, when we got up there the lads had locked the door of the radar station, we had to bang and shout to make them open the door, do you want to see him they said, of course we had to say yes, he was lying in the moat round the station, then we started back, you can imagine what happened, what was that? One of us said, we walked a bit quicker, “Can you hear footsteps” was the next thing, then we started running, we were both laughing but we were glad when we reached the guardroom. 

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Another time I took an officer to the races near Sheik Othman, he said he would not need me for the return trip so I had an afternoon to my self, there was camel racing as well as horse racing, it surprised me how fast the camels went, they looked such clumsy beasts round Steamer Point. We had lots of sport such as football, cricket and hockey, we also used to go and watch the water polo matches at the swimming bath next to the Lido, so all in all Aden was a cushy posting as far as I was concerned. It all came to an abrupt end as far as I was concerned when one day the MT Sergeant called me over just as I parked up, I wondered what I had done, this was at midday, "Get your kit packed you're leaving for Egypt in the morning", he said, then it was one mad rush, that night I went to the pictures for the last time.

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I often think even now of the fantastic sunsets across the bay, of the Arabs carrying large fish they had caught and jogging into Steamer Point with them across their shoulders, of the fruit Chico sitting on our veranda with his box of goodies. I sign the pay book next pay day and then it was off to Egypt the following day.

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My last sight of Aden was a camel caravan crossing the road near Khormaksar as I was on my way to the airport, headed for Egypt. That night I was on Guard at a Camp near Fayid in Eqypt with my rifle strapped to my wrist and ten rounds in the magazine. That’s when I really missed Aden and Steamer Point.

 

All the B&W pictures in the above article were taken between late 1951 and early 1953   ~ Maurice Darling