The Perim Car

When the Perim Coal Company withdrew from Perim responsibility for the civil administration of the island passed to the Aden Police, who for the previous seven years had been responsible for the defence of the island. The Commissioner of Police was appointed ‘Administrator Perim’ and he assumed this appointment on 10 November 1936. His representative on Perim was the Inspector commanding the detachment of Armed Police, whose isolated existence was therefore very similar to that of the OC Detachment in the days before the coming of the Perim Coal Company some 53 years previously. But at least he did have the Perim Car.

 
However on 5 May the car was sent to Aden for rewiring. Once there the car was found to be beyond economical repair and the mechanic who examined the car was amazed that the Inspector had had it in running order. It was sold for Rs130. Without a car the Inspector could not do his job effectively. On 21 May he wrote to the Administrator giving his reasons why a car was a necessity. The biggest problem was that he had to meet all aircraft and they arrived with no notice at all hours of the day. In addition he had to go down to ‘Company Side’ and up to the lighthouse almost daily.

The Acting Police Commissioner, Mr Ropner, put forward his views towards the end of June. Perim was a military responsibility and either the Army should provide a light lorry with driver or Government should provide another car. The latter course was the one preferred but Mr Ropner was also asked if a motor cycle would do; his reply was that the roads on Perim were too bad for a motor cycle. It took some weeks to find a suitable second-hand car in Aden and eventually an Austin 12, that had been owned by an Italian and had been confiscated, was purchased from the Custodian of Enemy Property for Rs600, but which then required a further Rs150 spent on it.

The car arrived on Perim on 15 August but on 15 May the following year the Inspector was forced to report to the Administrator that ‘I beg to state the Perim Car gave the last hope after you left.’ It had been an unsuitable car for Perim as it was too heavy and clumsy for the job. It had been ‘knocking about Aden’ for some considerable time before being purchased and the Administrator admitted that ‘quite frankly he had been sold a pup and ordered that the next car should be given a thorough mechanical examination prior to purchase. The car was considered quite unserviceable and as it was not considered cost effective to bring it back to Aden for disposal it was auctioned on Perim. Against an estimate of Rs150-200 it actually fetched Rs300, Rs15 of which was paid to the auctioneer.

At this stage of the war cars were beginning to be in very short supply and second-hand prices had more than doubled. Authorisation was given to spend up to Rs1,000 on a small car but it was soon realised that this sum would not be sufficient. A good Morris 12 was found for Rs1,300 but the seller withdrew at the last moment. No other car was available. The Treasury suggested a motorcycle but this was again considered unsuitable for Perim’s roads, and anyway what would the Administrator and other visitors use for transport? A motorcyle with sidecar was the natural follow-up suggestion but there wasn’t a purpose-built one for sale in Aden and a locally built sidecar would not have lasted a moment on Perim. A donkey was also considered but this was reckoned to be a probably slower means of transport than the Inspector was achieving on foot. Eventually, well into 1942, it was accepted that a motorcycle it would have to be.

Fortunately, for the Inspector, a donkey was not chosen as his mode of transport

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