The honorary president of the Trucial Oman Scout Association died in England early on Tuesday morning. He was 87.
Lt Col Harold Wallace Dee served with the Trucial Oman Scouts (TOS) from 1959 to 1961 at a period when the British-led security force set the framework for the foundations for the Union Defence Force.
“His legacy was like so many others. He paved the way for the modern army of the United Arab Emirates,” said Allan Stanistreet, who served under Dee from 1960 to 1961. “They regard us as the founders of the modern army and many of their systems are based on what we did and that was our joint legacy I suppose you can say.
“We never treated the Emiratis as second-class citizens which is, I think, why we enjoy such good relations with them today. We worked hard out there with very little.”
Dee was famous and well-loved for what the TOS did best: he developed trust and mutual respect with Arab, English and Emirati people at a time when scarce resources could quickly strain tribal relationships. The fair-haired moustached man from Chester-Le-Street in north-east England won respect and hearts through his strength of character, exuberance and wit.
He received the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an order of chivalry, in 1974 and a second-class Al Qasimi Medal in 2003. To those of higher and lower rank, he was known simply as “that gent Geordie”.
“To sum up Geordie Dee he had a magnetic personality, a brilliant sense of humour,” said Terry Ward, a TOS who first met Dee in the early 1960s. “Rank meant little do him as long as you got on and did the job. If you didn’t do the job he might pull some rank on you. He retained that attitude right throughout. All he wanted was efficiency.”
Dee was acting quartermaster, responsible for military supplies in a land of scarcity. From a small barasti office he secured food, ammunition, bedding and tailored uniforms for outposts across the Trucial States.
“It was just being in the place we were because we were so far from everywhere and communications were not good,” Mr Stanistreet said. “Well, we had aircraft and things. There were no telephones. If you wanted anything from outside you had to send a signal by Morse code.”
Dee started his service in the early days of the Second World War, enrolling in a Home Defence Battalion in 1940, aged just 15.
By the time he arrived in Sharjah, he had served in Greece, Malaysia, Korea and Kenya. Dee retired from active duty in 1982 after serving in Malaysia, Mauritius, Australia, Germany, Cyprus and Northern Ireland. He retired fully in 1990.
He is survived by his step daughter, Shelley, and one grandchild.
Funeral services will be held on April 18 at 2.30pm in Gateshead, County Durham.
azacharias@thenational.ae
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
The specs: 2017 Dodge Viper SRT
Price, base / as tested Dh460,000
Engine 8.4L V10
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 645hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 813Nm @ 5,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 16.8L / 100km
The Ashes
Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
