Aden, Peaceful Again? Pictures of the Week 23 July 2015

After months of terrible fighting, in which the people of Aden have suffered from gunfire, bombing, starvation, thirst and disease, the battle seems to be over. Supplies are arriving by sea and air. To celebrate, here are a few postcard photos of Aden at peace, in around 1959. Most are by photographer Dick Ketchian.


The handsome Idrus Mosque. I hope it has survived.

Water cart in Crater

Waterfront buildings

The famous Tawila Tanks,
dating back to the 7th century

Crater town which has apparently
been badly damaged in recent fighting.





Crater Pass Bridge, Aden; Picture of the Week 22 Feb 2013

Posting yet another of my father's photographs as my Picture of the Week, but there is a valid contemporary reason for this. The bridge shown was demolished almost fifty years ago, in 1964 and is being re-built right now by an enthusiastic group of Adeni engineers and builders.

Crater pass is in Aden, Yemen. Aden was formerly a British protectorate, the occupying forces only left in the late 1960's. However the bridge in the photograph was probably built by earlier Turkish occupiers, as it is linked to a Turkish fort higher up the mountain.



Crater Pass bridge C1960, photo by Maj. John S Gilbert RAMC

The Aden peninsula juts out into the Arabian Sea on the southernmost edge of Yemen. The peninsula is largely an extinct volcano, the tallest peak on this volcanic outcrop is Jabal Shamsan at 553 metres. There is a major natural harbour between its north edge and the mainland and towns serving the port, oil refinery and fishing industry are situated around the perimeter of this harbour. The pass links the town inside the volcanic crater on the east of the peninsula with those on the north and west. The south of the peninsula is very rocky and uninhabitable.

 

The demolition of the historic Crater Pass bridge was the result of a misguided urge by British occupying forces to widen the road. As ever, traffic engineers have a lot to answer for, though at that time there were undoubtedly military reasons too. Historic buildings, like civilians, always suffer undeservedly in times of war. By the end of 1967 the British forces had left Aden, never to return.

 

 

Aircraft over Aden, Picture of the Week for 25 May 2012

Beverleys over Khormaksar, 1960's - or are they Argosys?

I spent roughly two years of my childhood in Aden at the start of the 1960's. My father, Major John S. Gilbert was a doctor with the RAMC and he worked with the Arab soldiers of the APL, later the FRA.  I found this picture amongst his photographs after his death on 24 December 1999. He was a keen amateur photographer but I don't think he took this photo. For one thing he usually didn't have access to a plane!

The jagged hills in the background are the extinct volcano which juts out into the sea forming the harbour, Aden was once the third busiest port in the world. The volcano itself houses the town of Crater, the highest point is the peak of Jabal Shamsan, 553 metres above sea level. The buildings in the foregeound are part of the Khormaksar airbase. In the distance are Maala and Steamer Point (Tawahi).

The large island in the bay was called Slave Island and the causeway road across the water was built by an American oil company to link their oil refinery on the mainland with the Aden peninsula and port. Only motor vehicles were allowed to use the causeway in those days. The camel carts were forced to use the hot coast road to reach the inland areas. Between the causeway and the beach are the salt pans. The salt was harvested and dried on the beach. The pans, once dried out, were refilled via sluice gates in the causeway, they attracted huge flocks of flamingoes, pelicans and gulls.

Can anybody shed any light on the origin of the photograph?

* Update - These are Argosy aircraft of No.105 Squadron, RAF Transport Command. Not Beverleys as I first guessed. They were the first Argosies based outside the UK and flew out of Khormaksar Airbase. They were used for desert exercises and parachute drops.

Still no information on the origin of the photograph.