I was just surfing the net about Aden because I was curious what had happened to the refinery what with the unrest in the Middle East and was pleasantly surprised to find this site. As a 10 year old boy, I lived in Little Aden for 18 mos. in 1953-54 during the refinery construction. My father, David McNabb was a piping asst. superintendent for Bechtel. My father, mother Ila faye McNabb and my brother David McNabb II lived in C-7. It was quite a reminiscence to see the "shark net. I lived there when they put in the first one, held with floating oil drums. That net did not survive a monsoon and the one with pilings followed. We have many memories and perhaps a suitcase full of photos. We also have a clandestine 16mm film my father took of a jobsite-wide riot that shut the project down for about a week.

Not included in the photos of Queen Elizabeth's visit are photos of bleachers that were set up so we could view and greet her. I was one of the lucky ones who got to shake her hand. I had a desire to revisit Aden but wonder if Americans will be welcome in the region within my remaining years. Thanks for keeping this site active. I plan to scan some of the more interesting photos we have in the next few months and figure out how to post them. Thanks, Ned McNabb.

Email: nmcnabb@hughes.net

Hi Ned

Looking forward to seeing the photos! Somewhere (!) we have a film, taken by my father, of some fishermen searching for a shark in the "fenced" swimming area and a very good shot of the shark swimming up to and past my father's legs!

It must have been after you left that BP blew up a mountain and dumped it into the ocean to create a slightly safer swimming area - although one side was left as netting to allow the tide to clean the water. Still had to be cleared ocasionally by the Marines practising hand grenade drills from the, created, bund.

Fun!

Cheers,

John

Email: shute.john@gmail.com

THE BUND - happy memories !
when they installed the mesh it enabled us kids to climb along to the long bund facing the sea. One brave adult soul used to snorkel there and wash shocked when I dived in as well!

The best but was the side wall adjacent the army beach where the swell would sweep decent waves past so you could body surf towards the shore with the aid of a piece of wood.

Parents banned us from swimming outside the bund but where theres a will theres a way!

I have it on good authority that The Officers realised grnading sharks would look good on their CV's and took over the task, paddling out whilst very drunk and lobbing grenades about the place. we used to find the piles of dead fish and sting rays whenever they did it

The worst time was when the dozers and graders adjsuted the beach profile, great to play on but they stank of diesel and lube oil

The mudflats were a source of oily sand that made great "grenades" and "machine gunning" the girls with a handful of sand was very poular

from wikipedia - Bund is also an English word deriving from the Urdu word band, which means embankment, levee or dam.

Email: gordon-clark@blueyonder.co.uk

Hi John, I appreciate the reply. I have so many friends and none even have any idea where Yemen is, let alone a concept of what living there was like. My three family members with whom I lived in Aden are gone now so its nice not to reminisce alone. The sharknet was most welcome to all the kids when they first put it in. The first was held with floating oil drums above water and concrete weights below. One major monsoon destroyed and sank most of the drums and we were without any swimming save for a little wading (at least when supervised!).
The second net was held with steel pilings driven into the sand below and the net was welded to the pilings. That one lasted for the duration of our stay and longer I am sure. I saved the pictures of the net and the floating "dock" as we called it. Often a number of us would swim or row out to it and sit, dive, swim and flirt with the girls!. A few times we rode down to the beach at night with my Dad in the Bechtel Land Rover and I remember the thousands of hermit crabs that would scurry for cover. Thanks for the reply I will have those pics in a couple of months. Ned McNabb.

Email: nmcnabb@hughes.net

Hello Gordon, thanks for the reply. The Bund was not there and to my knowledge, not contemplated at the time we were there. (1954-55). I do recall that when each of the two sharknets were built, the demolition employees of Bechtel-Wimpey dynamited the water to kill all the fish within the enclosed region- this to ensure the sharks were killed. Of course, smaller fish eventually migrated into the area (we called it "Shark Bay"). I remember swimming out to the "dock" and could clearly see all the way to the bottom. On the other side of the peninsula, a couple of my friends and I, (Chris and Peter) would ride the company bus over there and watch as the huge jetty was build for docking the oil tankers . Of course the tankers were not to come until late in 1954 I believe, after we were gone. Peter's father was the chief of the Dutch dredging company that dredged out the bay on that side to make the waters deep enough for the draft of the expected tankers. The dredged sand was pumped in as the fill for the jetty.

One significant event I recall is a major dynamiting of the quarry ("Quarry Hill" ) that occurred while we were there. For some reason, the quarry engineers decided to blast the entire mountain. Two blasts, one of 4,000 tons of TNT and a second of 29,000 tons of TNT were set off. I am not kidding about the numbers. We were miles away at home on the other side of the peninsula but had to open all the windows in the company house to ensure they were not blown out! My father later told me the blast was equivalent to a small A-bomb! Thanks, Ned McNabb.

Email: nmcnabb@hughes.net

Hi Ned

Thanks for the interesting posts. Most of the original beach pilings are still in place. That is nearly 60 years since they were driven in. Probably used some good rust proofing on the metal. I have made 3 trips to Aden in the past 5 years and have been made very welcome by the locals. Just knowing you lived there before Independence elicits a great deal of friendly interest and usually results ina discussion aboutthe old days.I have dual nationality i.e British and US, that caused some amusement at the immigration desk at Aden airport as the officials were usure which passport to stamp. If you have pictures / articles you wish to share with the site please send them in. I will be delighted to upload them to the site.
Best wishes
Jonathan W

Email: n606jp@comcast.net

Thanks Jonathan. I am encouraged enough to consider planning a visit to Aden. My wife has no interest, but my memories are positive enough and vivid enough to make me want to go there perhaps just to recapture that feeling I had when there. I must scan the pics and my daughter has them at the moment, so getting them to you will be in the near future. Thanks, Ned.

Email: nmcnabb@hughes.net