Just received this fantastic photo of our late mate George Fardell care of Steve Lacy aka flyingflash007. Even has the ugly little troll which George likened to Staggie our then transport manager which he would thrash at every opportunity with the small whip he kept handy.
And what’s that ZB plate doing there! George hated the word Zimbabwe it was always Rhodesia to him.
Georges fridge was always handy and full to the brim with Coke of course. Not Pepsi or any of that other rubbish, just Coke.
Owing to illness in George’s immediate family they have decided on a private cremation but there will be a memorial service in one or two months time. I’ll post further details on here.
In the early to mid 80’s I visited the head office of the Rafidain Bank in Baghdad on a number of occasions. I was after copies of the bank guarantees put in place to cover the cost of the equipment sent by British companies to the Baghdad Fair. I always had to return a few days later as the place and system were so disorganised it was almost impossible to find them.
The first photo shows Lansing Bagnall forklift trucks being unloaded outside the bank. Although the company was a good customer of ours this wasn’t one of our loads but it does show what we had to put up with. It seems the Iraqis didn’t have the equipment to unload the machines so their first idea was to roll them off onto some tyres, however, the driver soon vetoed that idea so a crane on the back of a small lorry was tried next with the inevitable result as can be seen.
The other photos were taken in 85 after the building was hit by an Iranian scud missile. Talk about luck. Those missile were lucky to hit Baghdad so the chances of landing on the bank could be compared to winning the lottery. I saw the ruins of the building many times after the hit but all the masonry and the like were removed just leaving the metal frame. As it was one of the tallest buildings in that area it could be seen for miles.
sandway:
In the early to mid 80’s I visited the head office of the Rafidain Bank in Baghdad on a number of occasions. I was after copies of the bank guarantees put in place to cover the cost of the equipment sent by British companies to the Baghdad Fair. I always had to return a few days later as the place and system were so disorganised it was almost impossible to find them.
I had a bank transfer of money sent to pay the Fair Authorities… Naturally the bank couldn’t find the money so I went with one of the translators, an Assyrian girl called Liliane, into Baghdad centre to see what could be done… It took most of the day - a very memorable day - and involved combing through huge ledgers… Not a job for the faint-hearted. We eventually found the money and all was well. But not confidence inspiring.
Obviously there was no GDPR in those days as Liliane was allowed to see everyone else’s money transactions. I couldn’t have done it without her as everything was in Arabic.
sandway:
In the early to mid 80’s I visited the head office of the Rafidain Bank in Baghdad on a number of occasions. I was after copies of the bank guarantees put in place to cover the cost of the equipment sent by British companies to the Baghdad Fair. I always had to return a few days later as the place and system were so disorganised it was almost impossible to find them.
I had a bank transfer of money sent to pay the Fair Authorities… Naturally the bank couldn’t find the money so I went with one of the translators, an Assyrian girl called Liliane, into Baghdad centre to see what could be done… It took most of the day - a very memorable day - and involved combing through huge ledgers… Not a job for the faint-hearted. We eventually found the money and all was well. But not confidence inspiring.
Obviously there was no GDPR in those days as Liliane was allowed to see everyone else’s money transactions. I couldn’t have done it without her as everything was in Arabic.
I’m intrigued by the Assyrian girl! According to Wiki, Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and then as a territorial state and eventually an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC.
ERF-NGC-European:
I’m intrigued by the Assyrian girl! According to Wiki, Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and then as a territorial state and eventually an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC.
There are large numbers of people in Iraq (or were untill 2003 and Gulf War II) who call themselves Assyrians. They are a distinct group and Christian rather than Muslims. They have been regularly massacred by the Turks (1916), Kurds (1845 and 1915) and Iraqi Muslims (1932) so there aren’t too many left.
Wiki (Assyrians in Iraq - Wikipedia) says “Assyrians in Iraq are an ethnic and linguistic minority group, indigenous to Upper Mesopotamia. Assyrians in Iraq are those Assyrians still residing in the country of Iraq, and those in the Assyrian diaspora who are of Iraqi-Assyrian heritage. The Assyrians are typically Syriac-speaking Christians who claim descent from Assyria, one of the oldest civilizations in the world, dating back to 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.”
My grandfather (a Buff) was in Mespotamia in WWI (1915-1922) and at the end of the war ran a camp for displaced Assyrians at the Baqubah Refugee Camp until circa 1922
The Baqubah Refugee Camp: An Account of Work on Behalf of the Persecuted Assyrian Christians is a first hand account of the establishment of the refugee camp that was built in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) to house the Assyrians and Armenians following the exodus from their homelands in Turkey and Persia in World War I]
ERF-NGC-European:
I’m intrigued by the Assyrian girl! According to Wiki, Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and then as a territorial state and eventually an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC.
There are large numbers of people in Iraq (or were untill 2003 and Gulf War II) who call themselves Assyrians. They are a distinct group and Christian rather than Muslims. They have been regularly massacred by the Turks (1916), Kurds (1845 and 1915) and Iraqi Muslims (1932) so there aren’t too many left.
Wiki (Assyrians in Iraq - Wikipedia) says “Assyrians in Iraq are an ethnic and linguistic minority group, indigenous to Upper Mesopotamia. Assyrians in Iraq are those Assyrians still residing in the country of Iraq, and those in the Assyrian diaspora who are of Iraqi-Assyrian heritage. The Assyrians are typically Syriac-speaking Christians who claim descent from Assyria, one of the oldest civilizations in the world, dating back to 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.”
My grandfather (a Buff) was in Mespotamia in WWI (1915-1922) and at the end of the war ran a camp for displaced Assyrians at the Baqubah Refugee Camp until circa 1922
The Baqubah Refugee Camp: An Account of Work on Behalf of the Persecuted Assyrian Christians is a first hand account of the establishment of the refugee camp that was built in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) to house the Assyrians and Armenians following the exodus from their homelands in Turkey and Persia in World War I]
Interesting stuff! Although I visited the towns, sites and people of that demographic in Syria itself, I never heard them called by that name. Perhaps they use it more in Iraq. ISIS had a good crack at destroying their cultural bases in Syria in more recent years, alas.
Sad to say but since Gulf War II a very large part of the remaining Assyrians have been forced to flee Iraq because Christian. In 1950 there were about 1.5 million now reduced to around 151,000.
I posted a photo of a Promotor lorry in Volos on a Trucking F/B site recently and someone who lives in the town asked if I had any others. I once spent a week there waiting for a ferry to Tartous so had plenty of time to take photos, unfortunately not many of lorries though. The ones I posted on F/B received a great reception and although they have been seen before here on Trucknet I thought you may be interested to see them again. It will take a number of postings to show them all so here are the first ten.
I was in Volos on the 25th March 1979. I remember it well as it was the ‘Greece National Day’ and there was a grand procession through the town.
Some more photos of my ‘week off’ in Volos in March 79. The guy in Volos who asked for any photos of his town has just told me that one of them was taken quite a long way from the port and did we get a bus there! Now, let me think-------
sandway:
I posted a photo of a Promotor lorry in Volos on a Trucking F/B site recently and someone who lives in the town asked if I had any others. I once spent a week there waiting for a ferry to Tartous so had plenty of time to take photos, unfortunately not many of lorries though. The ones I posted on F/B received a great reception and although they have been seen before here on Trucknet I thought you may be interested to see them again. It will take a number of postings to show them all so here are the first ten.
I was in Volos on the 25th March 1979. I remember it well as it was the ‘Greece National Day’ and there was a grand procession through the town.
Just putting 2 and 2 together, Mr sandway, you must be Brian.
sandway:
Some more photos of my ‘week off’ in Volos in March 79. The guy in Volos who asked for any photos of his town has just told me that one of them was taken quite a long way from the port and did we get a bus there! Now, let me think-------
That first picture shows one of Jenkinsons DAF’s IIRC.
sandway:
I posted a photo of a Promotor lorry in Volos on a Trucking F/B site recently and someone who lives in the town asked if I had any others. I once spent a week there waiting for a ferry to Tartous so had plenty of time to take photos, unfortunately not many of lorries though. The ones I posted on F/B received a great reception and although they have been seen before here on Trucknet I thought you may be interested to see them again. It will take a number of postings to show them all so here are the first ten.
I was in Volos on the 25th March 1979. I remember it well as it was the ‘Greece National Day’ and there was a grand procession through the town.
Just putting 2 and 2 together, Mr sandway, you must be Brian.
The chap in Volos who asked me for any photos I had of his town sent me a screenshot of one of the locations where my picture was taken. He asked how I got there? Did I walk or catch the bus? Seems now the Number 6 from Volos town passes by the church. I said I couldn’t remember how the three of us got there but as its only 5km there and 5km back maybe we walked. After all we were stuck there for a week!
sandway:
Some more photos of my ‘week off’ in Volos in March 79. The guy in Volos who asked for any photos of his town has just told me that one of them was taken quite a long way from the port and did we get a bus there! Now, let me think-------
That first picture shows one of Jenkinsons DAF’s IIRC.
David
Had a reply from Peter Fambely. He was the driver of that DAF.
Just had a very spectacular sandstorm here in Almeria Province in southern Spain. Winds been blowing in from the Sahara bring higher temperatures but also this bl–dy horrible sandy dust which has blanketed everything.
It reminds me of the storms we had during my time in the Middle East. I used to hate them. The temperature could be very high and it was almost impossible to get away from the choking dust. Worst place I found was the customs at Fallujah outside Baghdad when scores of lorries were on the move.
Photo 1 shows our weather here Sunday. But what a difference a day makes;—
Photo 2 shows the incredible scene late yesterday.
Photo 3 was taken as a storm approached whilst I was in the Syrian desert.
Hi Brian, I love that second photo of yours and wished that I had taken a chance with taking a decent camera with me all those years ago.
If you remember, when you entered some of the old Soviet Block countries they made you fill out a form to say that you had a camera or a C.B. which you then had to show when you were leaving the country. If your camera happened to get stolen, then they would just presume that you had sold it and then you might have had some problems and no doubt a bit of cash would have to be exchanged.
Brian, you have just reminded me about standing in the post office for over three hours in Fallujah, waiting to make a phone call back to the depot. When we finally got through and I told them that we were tipped the reply was “good, nip up to The Telex Motel in Ankara and we will send you some reload instructions”. It took us four days to nip up to Ankara.
sandway:
Just had a very spectacular sandstorm here in Almeria Province in southern Spain. Winds been blowing in from the Sahara bring higher temperatures but also this bl–dy horrible sandy dust which has blanketed everything.
It reminds me of the storms we had during my time in the Middle East. I used to hate them. The temperature could be very high and it was almost impossible to get away from the choking dust. Worst place I found was the customs at Fallujah outside Baghdad when scores of lorries were on the move.
Photo 1 shows our weather here Sunday. But what a difference a day makes;—
Photo 2 shows the incredible scene late yesterday.
Photo 3 was taken as a storm approached whilst I was in the Syrian desert.
Photo 4 was taken in Fallujah customs in 79.
My sister lived overlooking Mojacar for 25 years, lovely area.
