BLAZING DESERT TRAIL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17125, 4 December 1929, Page 8

BLAZING DESERT TRAIL

MOTOR TRANSPORT IN IRAQ N.Z. MEN AS PIONEERS NAIRN BROTHERS’ VENTURE, A New Zealander, who took modern motor transport to the desert of Syria and Iraq, arrived at Auckland by the Niagara on Monday. He is Mr. Norman D. Nairn, formerly of Blenheim, who is revisiting his native land for the first time since he left early in 1916 to join the Hying corps. With his brother, Gerald, Mr. Nairn conquered the desert by motor. Now lie has just come from a business visit to the United States, as a result of wjiieli lie expects that tile Nairn Eastern Transport, Co. Ltd. will soon lie running an air service between Damascus and Bagdad, using threeengined 12-passenger aeroplanes, which will fly over 530 miles of desert in 4-j hours. THE BAGDAD MAIL. Before the motor service from Beirut to Damascus and Bagdad, a total distance of 612 miles, was begun by the Nairas in 1923, a- fast camel caravan carried mails across the desert in 11 days. The motors now do the trip in less than 50 hours.

This conquering of transport difficulties in the desert appeals lo the sense ol' romance in _several ways. Nob only had serious obstacles interposed by Nature to be overcome, but roving warlike Arab tribes were a source of frequent menace. During the Druse rebellion in 1925 the transport service was given a particularly lively time. Cars were “shot up” on several occasions, and one which Mr. Nairn was driving was pierced by 22 bullets. The serious clash between Arabs and Jews in Palestine a few months ago caused a dangerous situation for a short time, but tlie motor route was to the north of the principal disturbed area. The safety of those who use the service is now assured by a patrol of the route by last armored cars, which is provided by the French and British Governments, the former being responsible for the part which lies through Syria and the latter for the greater length, which is within the territory of Iraq. INITIATION OF DESERT TRANSPORT. War service with General AUenby’s army first took. Mr. Nairn to Palestine and Syria, lie saw an apparent opening for enterprise, obtained his discharge at the close of hostilities, arid made the most of that opening. After serving for 18 months with the flying corps at Salonika, he had been sent to England transferred as a technical officer to the mechanical transport branch, afterwards proceeding to Palestine as a transport officer. After the war he engaged in motor trading at Beirut until 1922, when the scheme for desert transport service was set on foot. The first trip across the desert to Bagdad was made at the request of a political officer to convey a political mission. Mr. Gerald Nairn was the driver on that occasion. The British Post-master-General then wrote asking Mr. Nairn if lie would start a mail service to reduce the time {24 days) taken for mails to travel from London to Bagdad. The Nairn brothers agreed, and they reduced the time to nine days. Bedouin guides showed the way to ears across the 530 miles of trackless desert for the first six months; now years of traffic have worn the equivalent of a road.

In those early days an Arab sheik, Mohammed Ibn Bassam, was paid £2OOO to guarantee non-interference with the cars. TERRIFIC SUMMER HEAT. The natural difficulties in summer are dust and heat, the temperature sometimes going as high as 125 degrees in the shade, coupled with rough surfaces, which impose great stresses on the vehicles. In winter there is mud often 18in. deep, and every two years a tremendous flooding by the Euphrates is expected, which may necessitate a detour of as much as 100 miles. At the Bagdad end of the route last May the worst flood on record occurred, and Ramadi, on the Euphrates,, 80 miles from Bagdad, was an island for two months. The cars then had to run an extra 100 miles, going south from Bagdad and crossing the Euphrates at llytndoh barrage instead of Felluja, which is 40 miles below Ramadi. A camp had to bo established to take the place of the depot at Ramadi, which is the first point of civilisation after the crossing of 470 miles of pure desert from Dam ascus. Beirut is the actual Mediterranean terminus of the service, but motors are run down the coast to Haifa, linking with the railway from Port Said. CONTINUOUS TRAVEL.

Luxurious six-wheeled motors run between Beirut and Bagdad. Apart from stops for meals they travel continuously in order to take advantage of the night coolness on the desert section as far as possible. Picturesque scenery is passed through on 82 miles of the route between Beirut and Damascus. There a modern asphalt road traverses the Lebanon Mountains, rising to an altitude of 6000 ft., and beyond them the Antilebanon range, where the road climbs again to a height of about 5000 ft.

The view inland from the top of the Lobanons is one of the finest in the world, Mr. Nairn thinks. The atmosphere is very clear, and there is beautiful coloring in the landscape. Tlie desert is not sandy; it is a waterless land with a hard-baked surface in summer.

The traffic lias developed until 15,000 passengers are being carried in a year. In 1926 the Naim brothers sold the service to an Anglo-French group, but retained an interest, and Mr. Norman Nairn is managing director.