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Damman compound (Al Khobar) very early days
Black John in middle, me on left, just wish i could remember who had Volvo & Merc. My idea of keeping a very low profile meant that i never really got to know the guys i ended up living with, just that i had a bee in my bonnet in those days to be my own man, i had met too many ‘Experts’ in previous years that knew [zb] all, so apologies to any i met that really knew whats what, i really, REALLY, beleived that it was all down to me if i survived or not, and thank god for the few blokes that helped out when i needed it, but they were always unknown to me, French, German, Swiss, Dutch and of course ANY Brit in the area,
Who owned the Saviem?? (or was it a Berliot?) rings a bell, think i ran with him but not sure, a Rare truck in saudi
The Volvo belonged to Peter Best. It’s not the same one as the other photo. Peter’s was in the same colours as Trevor Cooper’s, but had a tag axle. When Joe lost his rag - and his job, Peter was offered and took, the job as transport manager. He sold the Volvo to John Longhorn (facebook won’t allow John to use his surname - it thinks it’s rude!). However, as you say, early days, so Joe still there and it must be Peter driving. Next to him is either my brother Andy’s Merc, or that of Andy Sindstat, his boss. They subbed off caravan for a few months. Note the radiator cover removed to try and improve the cooling!
I’m fairly sure that these pictures must be late '77. Correct me if I’m wrong. I think you would be loaded for the pink palace in Riyadh. We took thousands of tons there. This was King Saud’s palace and contained among other things, a magnificent onyx bath. Saud had been deposed by Faisal in 1964 and the palace had stood empty ever since. God it was dusty! It was refurbished by an American company employing British labour (very Auf Wiedersehn pet!) and was finished in time for Jimmy Carter’s visit to Saudi in January 1978.
[edit] Just googled Carter’s visit and I’ve got the dates wrong - it was October '78, so that sounds more likely. Also as the radiator cover is off the Merc, it would have been unlikely that it was winter - it was still hot, but not like Summer. Oh, and I notice that the American Ambassador to Saudi at the time was John West, but alas, it was not me![/edit]
As an aside, at the end of the Aramco TV programmes, they started playing the news in English, taped earlier from Saudi TV. It had a completely different slant from the news back in the UK, as you can imagine. I was astounded one evening to see one of the foremen from the Pink Palace job, in a suit, reading the news! Saudi at the time was very much an ‘if you can do it, you’ve got the job’ sort of place.
The Saviem was one of two, which started on overland for Douglas Freight, but finished up in Dammam. Eric Collins (Geoff’s brother) bought one. Sometime later, I bought the other. At the time I would have had the day cab Scania that I bought from Paul Kerr. Like the Mercs the Saviems had to be kept well away from top gear in the summer to avoid overheating.
John
