A ride back in time

During a reunion visit to the UAE, a group of retired veteran British officers, who served in the 1960s in Abu Dhabi and the coast of Oman, are amazed at the developments in the region


Endless sand had stretched before them where they now find glass-panelled buildings reaching for the sky. The terrain of oases islands in a sea of dunes has been transformed into a land of plenty, where the monotony of high tech construction is broken by state-of-the-art golf courses. Camel caravans winding their way through vast empty stretches have been replaced by the most modern cars on the best modern highways. Yet, a few vestiges of the past remain. And so does history. The mix thus served can only be called nostalgia.

During a reunion visit to the UAE, a group of retired veteran British officers, who served in the 1960s in Abu Dhabi and Coast of Oman, were amazed at the developments the region had made.

The British Embassy in Dubai held a reception in celebration of this reunion between the British officers and Men of the Trucial Oman Scouts (TOS) and Union Defence Force Association, following the 50th Anniversary of the Trucial Oman Levies. The delegation is visiting the UAE in response to an invitation by Lt. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces.

Colonel (retd) Jeremy Rawlins and Lt-Colonel (retd) David Sievwright, played a very major role in reuniting the group of veteran officers.

In an interview at the reception Rawlins told Gulf News about the TOS. He said: "In 1952 the British Government was in charge of internal security of Trucial Oman. They raised an army of British officers commanding Arab soldiers and lieutenants, called Trucial Oman Levies (TOL). Most of the trainees were Jordanian soldiers. Two or three years later, the TOL became Trucial Oman Scouts (Light Infantry Army).

"That force protected the Trucial States until 1970, when the UAE was federated. Again the force changed its name to the Union Defence Force, which continued and was funded by the Federal Government of the UAE. On May 6, 1976, all the armed forces of the UAE became the Federal Army. Once more the name changed to Al Yarmouk Brigade and later on it changed to Sheikh Zayed Brigade."