Career Wilfred Thesiger

wilfred thesiger british delegation in addis ababa in 1930



thesiger in horn of africa in 1934

in 1930 thesiger returned africa, having received personal invitation emperor haile selassie attend coronation. returned again in 1933 leader of expedition, funded in part royal geographical society, explore course of awash river. during expedition, became 1 of first europeans enter aussa sultanate , visit lake abbe.

between 1935 , 1940, thesiger served sudan political service stationed in darfur , upper nile.

second world war

at outbreak of war, thesiger joined sudan defence force, helping organise abyssinian resistance occupying italians. awarded dso capturing agibar , garrison of 2,500 italian soldiers.

he later served special operations executive in syria , special air service during north african campaign, attaining rank of major. 1943 1945 acted political adviser crown prince asfa wossen of ethiopia.

travels

after second world war, thesiger travelled across arabia, lived years in marshes of iraq, , travelled in iran, kurdistan, french west africa , pakistan. lived many years in northern kenya.

he best remembered arabian expeditions. in 1945, entomologist, o.b. lean, acting on behalf of middle east anti locust unit (mealu), hired thesiger search locust breeding grounds in southern arabia. led 2 crossings of great arabian desert, rub al khali or empty quarter, , travels in inner oman. rode camels in company of bedu guides through remote areas potentially dangerous on account of tribal tensions , opposition of local rulers presence of foreigners.

thesiger s first crossing began in october 1946 when, bedouin companions, left salalah in dhofar province of oman , travelled mughshin oasis. there, entered sands there dissent among party, of whom unwilling travel farther. thesiger continued 4 members, 2 rashid , 2 bait kathir tribes. reached liwa oasis in abu dhabi in mid december, visited abu dhabi town crossed oman, heading towards salalah via dhofar , ending journey @ salalah on 23 february 1947.

his second crossing began in december 1947, @ manwakh in yemen. king of saudi arabia did not agree thesiger entering territory, , imprisoned thesiger , party when arrived @ sulayil. released, travelled liwa oasis , abu dhabi town, arriving on 14 march 1948. in april, thesiger visited buraimi oasis, iraq petroleum company (ipc) held oil concession, operated through associate company, petroleum development oman. dick bird, company s representative, concerned thesiger s attitude towards oil exploration. thesiger disapproved of company’s activities, believing discovery of oil destroy bedouin way of life. however, need finance expeditions led explorer accept funding oil company in exchange providing information garnered travels.

after travels over, thesiger returned england in 1990s , knighted in 1995.

he known 2 travel books: arabian sands (1959), recounts travels in empty quarter of arabia between 1945 , 1950 , describes vanishing way of life of bedu; , marsh arabs (1964), account of madan, indigenous people of marshlands of southern iraq. latter journey covered travelling companion, gavin maxwell, in reed shaken wind – journey through unexplored marshlands of iraq (longman, 1957; new edition eland in 2003).

thesiger took many photographs during travels , donated vast collection of 38,000 negatives pitt rivers museum, oxford. books analysed, collector s point of view, in book , magazine collector magazine, no.65, august 1989, , again in 2008, issue no.295.