A few posts back I mentioned that I had flown from Tehran to Baghdad a couple of times during the Iran/Iraq war. This happened in the mid 80’s but as no airlines dare operate that route, naturally I had to go via a third country. In my case Dubai which was the obvious choice. It was a simple operation and gave me a few days of R & R in comparative luxury. My second passport with my Iraqi visa would be flown out to whichever hotel I stayed at. However, these flights still had an element of danger as was starkly illustrated on the 3rd July 1988 when a missile was fired from the USS Vincennes bringing down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Straights of Hormuz killing all 290 people on board. Years later the Yanks paid out large sums of blood money to the families of those killed.
I wasn’t sure which years my trips occurred but after looking at some of the old photos I can confirm 1986 was one of them. During the mid to late 80’s I also handled a couple of exhibitions in Dubai itself but I have very little recollection of them. The only thing I know for sure was that Promotor shipped the freight in by container and I flew there to do the onsite work.
It wasn’t until 85/6 that the idea of tourism and mass development of Dubai was first mooted to counteract the falling price of oil. Whilst I was there I saw very little of the changes that would transform this piece of heaven into the metropolis it is today. I do remember on one occasion staying in the Hilton and catching a mini bus to the Hilton Beach Club where an enjoyable day was spent in the company of another guest of the hotel.
The first photo was taken in Tehran at the Trade Fair. We had two of our lorries there both well loaded as well as a number of subbies. One thing we were good at was loading the trailers to their full capacity. Not an inch of space wasted. The date 1986 can clearly be seen on one of the crates. That years fair was a biggie for us and we had a number of people onsite from the UK. I did the put in but left before the pullout as I had to be in Baghdad for their Trade Fair. The second photo shows Gavin Marshall, 2nd Sec Commercial at the British Embassy in Baghdad,receiving the trophy after winning the prestigious and world famous 1986 Promotor Darts Tournament. He looks a bit overcome with emotion in the photo but knowing Gavin I think it was only the drink getting at him. The remainder of the photos are of Dubai before the development started.
