Wilfred Thesiger

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Sir Wilfred Thesiger

BornWilfred Patrick Thesiger
3 June 1910
Addis Ababa,Ethiopia

Died24 August 2003(aged93)
Croydon,London,England,UK

NationalityBritish

AlmamaterMagdalen College, Oxford

KnownforExploration, Writing, Photography

Notable workArabian Sands
The Marsh Arabs

Military career

AllegianceUnited Kingdom

Service/branchBritish Army

Yearsof service1940-1943

RankMajor

UnitSudan Defence Force
Gideon Force
Special Air Service

Battles/warsWorld War II

MajorSir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger,CBE,DSO,FRAS,FRGS, also calledMubarak bin London(Arabicfor"the blessed one from London")[1][2](3 June 1910 24 August 2003) was a Britishexplorerandtravel writer.Thesiger is best known for his travel booksArabian Sands(1959), on his foot and camel crossing of theEmpty Quarterof Arabia, andThe Marsh Arabs(1964), on his time living in the marshes of Iraq with theMarsh Arabs. He donated his collection of 23,000 travel photographs to thePitt Rivers Museum,Oxford.

Contents[hide]1Early life

2Career2.1Second World War

2.2Travels

3Awards

4Books

5Reputation

6In popular culture

7Images

8References

9Sources

10External links

Early life[edit]Thesiger was born inAddis Ababa,Ethiopia, the son of diplomatWilfred Gilbert Thesiger, British consul-general and minister to Addis Ababa from 1909 to 1919. Thesiger's grandfather wasLord Chelmsford.Viscount Chelmsford, futureViceroy of Indiawas an uncle, and the actorErnest Thesigerwas a cousin.Thesiger was educated atEton College, Berkshire, followed byMagdalen Collegeat the University of Oxford, where he took aThirdin History. Between 1930 and 1933, Thesiger represented Oxford at boxing and later (in 1933) became captain of the Oxford boxing team. He was awarded a boxingBluefor each of the four years that he was at Oxford. Whilst at Oxford, Thesiger was also elected Treasurer of theOxford University Exploration Club(1931-32).Career[edit]

Wilfred Thesiger with the British Delegation in Addis Ababa in 1930

Thesiger in the Horn of Africa in 1934In 1930, Thesiger returned to Africa, having received a personal invitation fromEmperorHaile Selassieto attend his coronation. He returned again in 1933 as the leader of an expedition, funded in part by theRoyal Geographical Society, to explore the course of theAwash River. During this expedition, he became the first European to enter theAussa Sultanateand visitLake Abbe.Between 1935 and 1940, Thesiger served with theSudan Political Servicestationed inDarfurand theUpper Nile.Second World War[edit]At the outbreak of war, Thesiger joined theSudan Defence Force, helping to organise the Abyssinian resistance to the occupying Italians. He was awarded theDSO[3]for capturingAgibarand its garrison of 2,500 Italian soldiers.He later served with theSpecial Operations ExecutiveinSyriaand theSpecial Air Serviceduring theNorth African Campaign, attaining the rank ofMajor. From 1943 to 1945 he acted as political adviser to the Abyssinian Crown Prince.Travels[edit]After the Second World War, Thesiger travelled across Arabia, lived for some years in the marshes ofIraq, and then travelled inIran,Kurdistan,French West AfricaandPakistan. He lived for many years in northernKenya.[4]He is best remembered for his Arabian expeditions. In 1945, anentomologist, O.B. Lean, acting on behalf of the Middle East Anti Locust Unit (MEALU), hired Thesiger to search for locust breeding grounds in southern Arabia. This led to two crossings of the great Arabian desert, theRub al Khalior Empty Quarter, and travels in inner Oman. He rode camels in the company ofBeduguides through remote areas that were potentially dangerous on account of tribal tensions and the opposition of local rulers to the presence of foreigners.[5]Thesiger's first crossing began in October 1946 when, with his bedouin companions, he left Salalah in the Dhofar province of Oman and travelled to the Mughshin Oasis. From there, he entered the sands but there was dissent among his party, some of whom were unwilling to travel any farther. Thesiger continued with four members, two from the Rashid and two from the Bait Kathir tribes. He reached the Liwa Oasis in Abu Dhabi in mid December, visited Abu Dhabi town then crossed into Oman, heading back towards Salalah via Dhofar and ending his journey at Salalah on 23 February 1947.[6]His second crossing began in December 1947, at Manwakh well in Yemen. The king of Saudi Arabia did not agree to Thesiger entering his territory, and imprisoned Thesiger and his party when they arrived at Sulayil. Soon released, they travelled to the Liwa Oasis and then to Abu Dhabi town, arriving on 14 March 1948. In April, Thesiger visited the Buraimi Oasis, for which theIraq Petroleum Company(IPC) held an oil concession, which it operated through an associate company,Petroleum Development Oman. Dick Bird, the company's representative, was concerned by Thesiger's attitude towards oil exploration. Thesiger disapproved of the companys activities, believing that the discovery of oil would destroy the bedouin way of life. However, the need to finance his expeditions led the explorer to accept funding from the oil company in exchange for providing information garnered from his travels.[5][6]After all his travels were over, Thesiger returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.[4]He is known for two travel books:Arabian Sands(1959), which recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedu; andThe Marsh Arabs(1964), which is an account of theMadan, the indigenous people of the marshlands of southern Iraq. The latter journey is also covered by his travelling companion,Gavin Maxwell, inA Reed Shaken by the Wind a Journey through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq(Longman, 1959).Thesiger took many photographs during his travels and donated his vast collection of 23,000 negatives to thePitt Rivers Museum,Oxford. His books were analysed, from a collector's point of view, inBook and Magazine Collectormagazine, No.65, August 1989, and again in 2008, Issue No.295.Awards[edit]Master of Arts, MA, Oxon

Third Class Star of Ethiopia 1930

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, DSO 1941

Founder's Medal, Royal Geographical Society, RGS 1948

Lawrence of ArabiaMedal, Royal Central Asian Society, RCAS 1955

Livingstone Medal, Royal Scottish Geographical Society, RSGS 1962

W.H.Heinemann Award 1964

Royal Society of Literature, RSL 1965

Burton Memorial Medal, Royal Asiatic Society, RAS 1966

Honorary Dlitt Leicester 1967

Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE 1968

Fellow Royal Society of Literature, FRSL 1982

Honorary Fellow British Academy, FBA 1982;

Honorary DLitt,University of Bath, 1992[7]

Books[edit]Arabian Sands(1959)travel writingclassic1985 Penguin;ISBN 0-14-009514-4

The Marsh Arabs(1964)2007 Penguin;ISBN 0-14-144208-5,ISBN 978-0-14-144208-2

The Last Nomad(1979)1980 William Collins;ISBN 0-525-93077-9

The Life of My Choice(1987)1987 Harpercollins;.ISBN 0-00-637267-8

Visions of a Nomad(1987)1987 Collins;ISBN 0-00-217729-3

My Kenya DaysHarper Collins, 1994;ISBN 0-00-255268-X

The Danakil Diary: Journeys through Abyssinia, 1930-34Hammersmith, 1996,ISBN 0-00-638775-6. Contains the diaries he wrote in 1930 when he attended Haille Selassie's coronation, and in 1933-1935 when he explored the Awash valley and encountered theAfar people. Interspersed with letters he wrote to his mother during that period.

Among the Mountains: Travels Through AsiaHarper Collins, (1998);ISBN 0-00-255898-X. This account presents edited portions of journal entries written during trips to remote mountain areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kurdistan between 1952 and 1965, as well as numerous black-and-white photographs that he took at the time. There is little detail since the book is based on his diary entries. For a better account, readThe Life of My Choice.

Crossing the SandsMotivate Pub Ltd (2000) 176 pp;ISBN 1-86063-028-6. About his journeys in the Empty Quarter and the Arabian Peninsula during the late forties, with photographs.

My Life and Travels(anthology)2002 HarperCollins 352 pp;ISBN 0-00-257151-X

2003 Flamingo 320 pp;ISBN 0-00-655212-9

A Vanished World2001 W.W. Norton 192 pp;ISBN 0-00-710837-0

2002 W.W. Norton 189 pp, possibly the same as above, collection of photographs;ISBN 0-393-05086-6

Reputation[edit]Thesiger's reputation in England was built on his travels, writings and military service. Those who met him found him traditional and old fashioned. Among the Arabian people, his reputation was based on their personal knowledge of him as an adventurer. Salim bin Ghabaisha described him, fifty years after their travels together, as "loyal, generous, and afraid of nothing".[8]In popular culture[edit]In thefilm versionofGavin Maxwell'sRing of Bright Water,Bill Traversuses a copy of Thesiger'sThe Marsh Arabsto covertly spy on his soon-to-be close companion, Mijbil the otter.In 2008, Majid Abdulrazak (a film director from theUnited Arab Emirates) produced a film version ofArabian Sandswhich was self-funded and employed actors from the UAE andOmanin most of the major roles.A documentary about Sir Wilfred was made by producerLes Guthmanin 1999, "A Life of My Choice."[9]Images[edit]Salim Bin Ghabaisha

Salim Bin Kabina

Camels descending a dune in the Empty Quarter

Camel train

Footprints

Salim Bin Ghabaisha

Thesiger

Rub al Khali, the Empty Quarter

References[edit]Jump up^Byrnes, Sholto (12 July 2010)."Wilfred Thesiger in Africa, by Christopher Morton and Philip N Grover". New Statesman. Retrieved2013-08-13.

Jump up^Langham, Eric; Goaman-Dodson, Toby; Rogers, Lyn (2008).Mubarak Bin London: Wilfred Thesiger and the Freedom of the Desert. Abu Dhabi: United Arab Emirates Authority for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved2013-08-13.

Jump up^The London Gazette:(Supplement) no. 35396. p. 7333. 26 December 1941. Retrieved 23 June 2008.

^Jump up to:abThesiger, Wilfred (1987).The Life of My Choice. Collins.ISBN9780002161947.

^Jump up to:abMorton, Michael Q. (December 2013),"Thesiger and the Oilmen",Journal of the Petroleum History Institute14: 125-39

^Jump up to:abThesiger, Wilfred (1977).Arabian Sands. London: Allen Lane.ISBN0713910488. 0713910488.

Jump up^"Honorary Graduates 1989 to present".bath.ac.uk.University of Bath. Retrieved18 February2012.

Jump up^Stewart, Rory (2007).Arabian Sands (Introduction). London: Penguin Classics. p.xv.ISBN9780141442075.

Jump up^"A Life of My Choice"".

Sources[edit]Asher, Michael (1994).Thesiger. New York:Viking Press.ISBN978-0-670837694.

Asher, Michael (23 August 2003)."Obituary: Sir Wilfred Thesiger".The Guardian(Guardian Media Group plc). Retrieved15 January2013.

Glancy, Jonathan (29 June 2002)."The Profile: Wilfred Thesiger 'Wild at Heart'".The Guardian(Guardian Media Group plc). Retrieved15 January2013.

Maitland, Alexander (2004).Thesiger: A Life in Pictures. London:HarperCollins.ISBN978-0-002572248.

Maitland, Alexander (2006).Wilfred Thesiger: The Life of the Great Explorer. London:HarperPress.ISBN978-0-002556088.

Thesiger, Wilfred (1987a).The Life of My Choice. London:Collins.ISBN978-0-002161947.

Thesiger, Wilfred (1987b).Visions of a Nomad. London:Collins.ISBN978-0-002177290.

External links[edit]Photographs by ThesigerCollection of Thesiger's photography in Pitt Rivers Museum

Obituaries and Profiles (mostly August 2003)Daily Telegraph obituary

Review of maitland's official biographydiscusses various aspects of the explorer's life and characters.

BBC obituary (26 August 2003)contains errors such as Wilfred being the youngest son, which he was not.

Profileby Jonathan Glancy inThe Guardian

Eric Newby'srecollections of Thesiger

Frank Gardner (journalist), the BBC's Security Correspondent, recallspersonal memories of the great explorerincluding inspiring Gardner to l