ABSTRACT
Aboard a BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation, now British Airways) VCIO heading for Jeddah that day in August 1969, I did not know what to expect. The last time I had been near the Arabian Peninsula was in 1946 when I had been an airline captain with KLM and we made a regular fuel stop in Bahrain en route to Djakarta (then named Batavia). I knew it would be very hot and humid and absolutely dry as far as alcoholic drinks were concerned. It was quite amusing as the stewardess appeared during the last hour of the seven hour flight and asked disembarking passengers for Jeddah if they would like a drink. She offered me a whisky and said, 'Last chance, you know'.
