Perim Chronicle 1936 - 1948
Back to Being an Outpost

When the Perim Coal Company withdrew from Perim responsibility for the civil administration of the island passed to the Aden Police, who for the previous seven years had been responsible for the defence of the island. The Commissioner of Police was appointed ‘Administrator Perim’ and he assumed this appointment on 10 November 1936. His representative on Perim was the Inspector commanding the detachment of Armed Police, whose situation was therefore very similar to that of the OC Detachment in the days before the coming of the Perim Coal Company some 53 years previously. The Aden Police were to remain responsible for Perim until 1959, when the island passed back to being administered directly by Government. This article is a chronicle of bits of information on Perim during the first 12 years of this administration; some are mundane, some trivia but the whole gives a picture of Perim having returned to being a sleepy outpost. It also covers the period of the Perim Car, as well as Perim’s involvement in WW2.
 

On 17 September 1936 some 550 small and 300 large bombs which were stored in the ‘South bomb dump’ had been handed over to the Inspector. On 23 April 1937 he took over 5,520 gallons of petrol, also stored in the ‘dumps’, of which 3,864 gallons remained on 13 December. The balance had been used by the weekly mail flights from Aden to Kamaran, presumably less a few used by the Perim Car, which was to arrive shortly.

In October 1937 an Italian tug entered the harbour; some of the crew went ashore under the pretence of wanting to see the doctor but appeared to be unnaturally interested in the installations. From Aden the Inspector was told to charge double price for water if they requested it, but not to sell them any coal without approval from Aden.

In November the new doctor refused to accept orders from the Inspector regarding the periodic medical examination of government employees; he was told that the Inspector was the representative of Government and that he had to accept his orders. Dr Singh was soon sacked and replaced by Dr E Shellin who arrived at Perim on 21 December on the same ship that brought the Perim Car.

Early in 1938 there was an inspection of the 112 pdr bombs (the 300 large bombs), which included their being banded. This task took about a fortnight and was carried out by a team of five RAF personnel and six locally engaged coolies. In July orders came that most of the bombs, and all the 112 pdrs, would be removed from Perim. An RAF sergeant arrived on 29 July to supervise the move which was to be by camel down to the pier where the bombs would be loaded onto a lighter for transfer onto a steamer which was due to arrive on 31 July. In the event it was not a steamer that collected the bombs but one of Antonin Besse’s motorised dhows, the Assa Dek, flying the Red ensign and en route from Djibouti to Aden. The coolies worked extremely hard and had all the bombs, including all the 550 small bombs (20 pdrs), loaded on a lighter by first light on 31 July. The Assa Dek sailed for Aden 24 hours later with the bombs aboard.

In May the doctor moved to quarters in the fort, occupying the rooms used by the Assistant Resident Perim up to 1906 when Murray House became the Residency.

During 1938 the Inspector reminded the RAF in Aden that two small buoys for mooring flying boats had been in store since October 1936, together with seven fathoms of chain and a sinker for each buoy. These dated back to the time Singapore flying boats alternated with planes from 8 Squadron on the weekly mail run to Perim and Kamaran in 1935-36, when three flying boats had been sent from the Persian Gulf to Aden during the Abyssinian crisis [See 203 FB Sqn].

During 1938 the Police Inspector was ordered to dredge for coal in the harbour during fine weather. The aim was to provide locally sufficient coal to run the condenser; during June 15 tons were brought up and 22 tons in July. On 11 October the stock was 67 tons but on 31 December only 30 tons remained. Only two days dredging were possible in January during which a further two tons were recovered. The Administrator then worked out that the cost of dredging was nearly as much as the 20/- per ton that was being charged (to Government). As Welsh coal was selling in Aden for 50/- and South African coal for 41/- he ordered the Inspector to sell dredged coal in future at 30/- per ton.

In 1939 Cowasjee Dinshaw submitted a request to the Perim Administrator to purchase much of the remaining infrastructure on Perim that had been left behind by the coal company. This included the T pier, all buoys, tank sites and all buildings in the vicinity of the tanks as well as all former coolies’ quarters. Cowasjee Dinshaw also wanted a section of the former coal ground on which to erect a godown. In total they offered to pay Rs 5,000, plus a ground rent of Rs 5 per acre per annum, on a 99 year lease, with the option to terminate the lease at one year’s notice. The Administrator (the Chief of Police) thought this to be an excellent idea as the cost of the Perim budget was more than double the current income and also because it would help to revitalise life on the island. He accepted Cowasjee Dinshaw’s offer, but then interested parties in Aden - the Port Trust and Shell - got wind of things and the protectionist lobby got to work and the matter was referred to Government. It was ruled that the Administrator did not have the authority to have accepted Cowasjee Dinshaw’s offer and that the firm could not obtain a foothold on the island.

On 31 August 1939 the doctor on Perim was already requesting that a red cross be painted on the roof of the hospital building. He also requested that a dugout be constructed in the vicinity of the hospital.

In 1939 there was concern regarding the safety of money being sent to Aden by the weekly air mail. There were two types of consignment: money being sent by members of the police detachment to their families and money being sent by traders. The problem was that money sent air mail could not be insured by the post office. The suggested solution was to send money only by sea by Insured Letter on the monthly steamer. This was not entirely satisfactory and permission was given for police monies only to be sent air mail by Registered Post if contained within the closed bag being sent to the office of the Perim Administrator. The Armed Police Inspector was the Postal Agent on Perim and neither he nor his clerk quite understood the procedures for Registered or Insured post. On 12 September a postal clerk from Aden arrived on the RAF air mail plane to explain the system. [See Air Mail Service to Perim and Kamaran.]

A number of dhows and a gang of coolies would be required. Much of the cargo was bagged coffee and some bags were stolen from the quayside after they had been brought ashore. The Inspector reported that:

Many non-residents from outside land daily and cause great botheration. There is danger of cargo being smuggled especially when they bring their own dhows.

The Roslin Castle was refloated on 18 April and she then sailed into Perim harbour to reload cargo. She finally left Perim on the 28th. She was the first of the Union-Castle’s ‘R’ class of refrigerated motor vessels, of just over 7,000 tons.

On 14 February 1940 the Inspector reported that the telephone wire and telephones had ‘gone very bad’ and that there was no trained government mechanic. However he added that the tindal at the Balfe Point light:

knows all the work and has been only paid a few times and that too not enough for his work. One can’t order or request him to do us a favour and one has to be at his mercy. He is quite competent having learnt the work in Perim Coal Company.

He also reported that the government camels were being worked very hard and were ‘losing health’. He suggested that all water for Meyun village and the hospital be carried in the sail boat that was bringing water across for the destitutes, or by hiring another boat. The three camels were currently carrying 9,200 gallons a month on their deliveries to the lighthouse, Meyun, the hospital, Balfe Point and within Company Side. The destitutes were the families of former employees of Government pre-1936, and included a number of elderly. They were entitled to a free daily water ration.

A letter dated 23 March 1940 refers to ‘weekly mail planes’ and another on 24 April to the ‘weekly RAF Kamaran service’. [See the article on Air Mail Service to Perim and Kamaran 1929-39. The article infers that this service was terminated in 1939, but it appears it continued well into 1940. It certainly would have ceased being a regular service once war with Italy was likely.

Italy entered the war on 10 June. On 25 June the Inspector asked for an increase in the strength of the police detachment, currently 30 strong, due to the number of extra guards and patrols. 20 extra men were sent there early in August and at the end of September the detachment was reorganised into two platoons, for which an extra Jemadar was required and provided. In Aden a Jemadar’s water allowance paid for seven gallons per day. Since the cost of water on Perim was more than in Aden his allowance was increased to buy 10 gallons at Aden rates, which got him his seven gallons on Perim. In October the Inspector was given a free allowance of 30 gallons per day.

On 10 August two sail boats were hired at a cost of Rs8 per month each ‘for emergency night duty’. Five stretchers were also sent to Perim to be stored around the island in different locations in case of need.

Perim’s involvement in WW2 was limited to naval and air activity in 1940-41, until such time as Italian forces in Eritrea and Ethiopia had been eliminated. No anti-aircraft guns were ever placed there and there is no record of army troops having ever been based on the island. Perim’s problem was that it was just too close to Italian airfields on the African coast.
The two major naval activities involving Perim (the sinking of the Italian submarine Toricelli and the subsequent beaching of HMS Khartoum in Perim harbour , plus the activities of the Light Dhow Patrol are described in Navy – WW2 . Apart from the dhows, proper warships were based there from time-to-time until such time as the Italian squadron in Eritrean ports was no longer a threat.
In the period between war with Germany being declared and Italy entering the war, the airfield on Perim had two major uses: as a base for ‘enemy’ planes in practice attacks to test Aden’s air defences (seven Blenheims were based there for one such exercise) and as a temporary base for aircraft from Aden providing air cover for troop convoys sailing to Egypt from India and Australasia.
Once Italy entered the war Perim for a short period was used as an advanced airfield to mount surprise attacks on targets in Eritrea. It was also an emergency refuelling stop for planes returning to Aden from raids, but this required the presence of one or more Gladiators of 94 Squadron from Aden to provide air cover whilst aircraft were being refuelled.

In 1943 the oldest of the three camels used for transporting water needed replacing; in fact all three camels had been there since 1936, and all were ‘pretty worn out’.

Once the PCC had been closed down there was no longer a requirement for there to be two water condensing plants on Perim. The one on Government Side was closed but the tanks there were continued to be used for storage and as a reserve. From 1937 the water in the reserve tanks at Meyun needed changing every 12 months or so. This involved taking newly condensed water from the condenser on Company Side to the tanks in Fisherman’s Bay - quite a major task which it normally took about six weeks to complete. There were four rectangular tanks there, each more or less of identical length and breadth and differing only slightly in height. Each one held between 146 and 148 gallons per inch of depth and their total capacity was worked out by the police inspector to be 54,744 gallons. The job was put out to tender each year, with government providing either six gallon camel tanks or four gallon empty kerosene tins for transporting the water. In 1944 there were seven tenders, the cheapest being submitted by the Perim kat seller! He was not considered suitable. The others were submitted by two of the Perim boatmen, two Perim shopkeepers, the lighthouse tindal and the nakhuda of a dhow. The police inspector recommended one of the three next lowest tenders, that of one of the boatmen, which was accepted.
On Company side there were five tanks, only four of which were serviceable. These four, and the tanks at Meyun, leaked from time to time. Two of the Company side tanks were circular, with a diameter of 14ft and a depth of 12½ft; these two were normally used to temporarily store the water due to be taken across to Meyun. In 1944 the level in these tanks fell nearly 20 inches in four days due to leakage, the subsequent use of three hundredweight of cement not solving the problem entirely.

On 24 April 1944 the police inspector reported that a visiting projectionist had been showing films for the last three nights.
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A letter dated 13 June 1944 requested the supply of a medium-sized tent for the police guard ‘posted at the Naval Radar’ as there was no accommodation for them at that place and they were having to remain in the sun. Another letter dated 3 October 1944 mentions ‘naval men at the lighthouse’ under the command of a Leading Seaman. On 27 October an aircraft float light was washed up on a beach; it was thought that it might have belonged to a plane that having overflown Perim had subsequently gone missing. The ‘navy signallers’ on Perim cabled their report to the Commodore at Aden.

A consignment of 12,000 fish hooks of varying sizes, as well as other fishing equipment, was sent to Perim during 1944.
 

The cost of administering Perim was partially offset by charging for utilities and other services; for example in 1945 receipts totalled Rs12,301, of which Rs11,565 was from the sale of water. The next biggest earner was renting accommodation which brought in Rs463. The following year water receipts had fallen to Rs9,707, the decrease partially due to the withdrawal of Cable & Wireless staff on 1 November. During 1946 Cable & Wireless were paying a concessional rate of Rs4 As8 per 100 gallons of water collected from the condenser tanks; mariners and others were charged Rs8 per 100 gallons and for ‘retail sales’ the charge was As2 for a four gallon tin. Cable & Wireless were also paying Rs5 per month for each living quarter and Rs15 per month for medical supervision of employees, including ordinary medicines. The charge for water was at some stage considered to be excessive as by 1947 this had been reduced to Rs3 for 100 gallons.

In March 1946 the Inspector reported that ships were signalling with flags by day but the police could not reply as they were not trained in this form of signalling. Ships were wasting their time calling up, thinking the signal station was still in use. If an Aldis lamp and a telescope could be provided a reply of some kind could be given. No Aldis lamp was immediately available, but one was sent to Perim in January 1947. The staff of Cable and Wireless, the successors of the Eastern Telegraph Company, were not withdrawn until 1 November 1946 although the cable link between Aden and Perim continued to be used until June 1947 when the cable was cut. The Administrator requested a wireless set be sent to Perim as the only means of communication was the weekly aeroplane and an occasional dhow. There was also no prospect of a cable ship repairing the cable ‘for a long time’.

A fishery expert visited Perim in early July 1948. In the report on his visit he mentioned that:

between 1939 and 1945 a small garrison of military and naval personnel were in occupation and consequently there was a market for fresh fish and there were about 100 fishermen. But after the war there are now only 20 working fishermen who own between them seven sumbucks and four huris, a type of canoe. The sumbucks measure 30 feet overall, with a five foot beam. They are built on Perim. The huris are 12-15 foot long and are imported from Aden. The peak of the fishing season is between July and October when kingfish and barracuda appear. These are caught by trolling with grey mullet or mackerel. The basic fishery is by single hook landline catching seabreams and seaperches in depths of 6-25 fathoms. Hooks Nos. 5 and 6 costing two Annas each are used; the fish are beheaded, split along the belly, salted and dried in the sun. The solar salt comes from Yemen and costs five rupees a sack. This dried salted product is purchased by a small merchant in Perim for 5-6 rupees for 28 pounds, i.e. £36 a ton and sold to an Aden merchant for £48. Only 25-30 tons of dry salted fish is exported to Aden annually.
The obvious and natural line to take in developing the fishing industry is shark fishing. Perim Island is strategically situated to become a shark collecting centre. There are four shark dhows based on Perim and their owners and crews are French Somalis with mainly family connections at Perim. These four boats fish off the African coast and take their catch direct to Aden. The method adopted by them is catching the shark by net. Each boat expects to catch at least 300 sharks a year. Dried salted shark is bought from fishermen in Perim at £18 per ton and sold to Aden at £30 a ton. Shark fins sell at £180 per ton. During the six days of my stay in Perim Island I laid each night an experimental shark long line composed of 38 hooks in a depth of water ranging from 20-40 fathoms. The catch consisted of 16 sharks of four different species, the larger ones were about 12 foot, weighing over 700 lbs. Such sharks had not been seen on the island before. This demonstration greatly impressed the local fishermen and I think it is true to say they are now all keenly shark conscious. In the circumstances I deemed it expedient to present the length of shark line to the head fisherman in the full expectation that it will induce the other fishermen and merchants seriously to consider the prospects of shark fishing around this island. Should this development go forward, the introduction on the island of a shark liver oil extraction point to render down all livers produced from this wide area would produce an oil rich in Vitamin A suitable for a western market, instead of the wasteful way of handling this valuable product practiced at the present. It is used solely for oiling dhow hulls and sells for 8-10 rupees for a 4-gallon tin. Pearl shell grounds exist in the vicinity of Perim Island and could doubtless be developed but it is to be noted that pearl collecting is a specialized profession and never undertaken by normal fishermen. Oysters appear to be plentiful within the confines of Perim Harbour and the possibilities of oyster cultivation should not be overlooked in the event of the island's general development. The existing condenser and plant consists of two very old units capable of delivering 300 gallons an hour.

Also in 1948 a study was conducted into the future of Perim Island. One idea that was seriously considered was replacing the old water condenser with a machine driven by wind and/or solar power. The Administrator (still the Police Commissioner) made the following suggestion:

Another industry which I think could be developed would be the cultured sea pearl industry, and if power and water supplies proved satisfactory, a small canning industry for crayfish, oysters, etc. It is clear however that the development of industries depends entirely on the success of the wind motors and the water producing apparatus, and this must be proved first of all. Once the water and power problem is solved cheaply and satisfactorily other industries could also be considered. Among them would be a button factory or salt fish industry since the evaporation of sea-water, will, if properly controlled produce a salt at least as good as the Aden variety.

He also recorded that there were two tennis courts, an indoor badminton court and a 9-hole golf course, excellent and safe bathing and excellent fishing and sailing. The community consisted of 82 males, 124 females and 134 children. Of these 101 were in receipt of rations or poor relief, most of them being elderly people who had stayed on after the collapse of the Coaling Company. The great majority had been born on Perim. There were too many Armed Police, 35 at that time and therefore one for every ten members of the local population. With a population of about 350 the water condenser needed to be used for about three days per month. There were also about 50 goats on the island.

In 1948 one of the fishermen on Perim requested permission to dive on the wreck of HMS Khartoum to recover scrap brass and iron. He needed to do this as:

It transpired last month I exported in the dhow fish shark (salted) etc amounting to Rs5,000 and as soon as dhow left the port, made an accident with the ship now lying in the port [the Khartoum] with the result that all my goods drowned in sea, and I had become totally empty-handed.

Authorisation was given and in 10 weeks he had recovered some 78 hundredweight of scrap. He was understandably somewhat upset when he then found that he was required to pay for what he had collected, to the extent that his profit was small.

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