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 description
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, 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 cooks, 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 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.
[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.
[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 description 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.]
