Memories of Libya 1956 to 1959

Contributed by Trevor STUBBERFIELD 52A

Libyan Scenes Part 2

Tripoli City was in two parts, the old original section was known as Oea, settled by the Phoenicians in 500 BC. The modern area architecture was heavily influenced by the Italian Occupiers when they arrived. The name Tripoli came from the Tripoli in the Lebanon which was where the first settlers arrived from. One noticeable feature in my time there was the cleanliness of the place, despite the horses and donkeys that were everywhere. An army of street cleaners kept the place spotless. Once again the photos are interspersed with some of my own black and white ones. I have many colour slides in Ektachrome and one day I hope to copy them for use on a web site.

This is a general view of the modern city and features the palace of the then King Idris, viewed from the East. Our first private hiring was on the Sciara 24^th December, some few hundred yards outside the palace walls. The entrance to the palace grounds is on the circular driveway to the right.

A view of a typically restful square in the city. The horse-drawn gharries were a cheap and pleasant way of getting around the area with the motor taxis used for travel outside of the city bounds. The army also ran a fleet of buses under the Tripoli Army Bus Service and they were supplied by the Nuffield Foundation. Towards the end of my stay we also had a few Ford Fairlanes as taxis, not a popular move with the local taxi drivers.

This is a modern photo of what was the Italian built Roman Catholic Cathedral in my time. Close examination of it shows that it is now the Central Mosque with the crescent moon atop the spires.

A view of the Cathedral taken from the roof of our private hiring quarters. It certainly dominated the skyline. From our roof we looked down into one of the main streets which were used for state visits and processions. Several times we had armed Libyan police or the military traipsing through our flat to set up watch on the roof. As we watched it would be the closest we would ever get to King Saud of Saudi Arabia, or our Suez tormentor, President Nasser and a few more notables.

This area in front of the cathedral was the setting for some of the final scenes in the film Ice Cold In Alex. As the Bedford 15cwt truck with the arrested German spy on board pulled away from the café it circled the round-about. The scene is famous for the inclusion of a Land Rover parked where the cars are, a vehicle certainly not relevant to a World War 2 film. We had a world premiere of the film laid on for the troops and howls of derision met the sighting. As the Bedford moved on, the squaddies with tears in their eyes missed the next howler which was a parked Morris Minor along with a Chevrolet Bel Air saloon car.

Once again a location for the final scenes in Ice Cold In Alex. In the building to the left was the café where the first ice cold lager was sunk by the crew of the K2 ambulance before the German was arrested. We often went in there for a long glass of squash made from locally grown fresh lemons, brimmed with crushed ice.

Viewed from our roof, this was a procession of the local Apprentice School. At one time during the Italian occupation the road was the Via Lombardia. It was renamed the ‘24th December Street’ to mark the Libyan Independence Day of 1951. Right in the middle of the city it was a convenient and very interesting place for us to live.

A fairly modern photo of Tripoli Castle with the entrance through the arch to the old city. It stands on the harbour front and was the Tripoli Museum, a fascinating place to wander around. The dockside cranes in the background were not there during my time.

A few photos taken inside Tripoli Castle along with the entrance ticket and my wife.
One of the luxury hotels in Tripoli. I have no notes on this one but think it may have been the Hotel Miramar.
The Uaddan Hotel and Casino, Tripoli. Uaddan was the local name of the large native desert goats, otherwise known as Barbary Sheep which have been hunted, almost to the point of extinction in North Africa.
This was the top section of another luxury hotel, the Albergo Del Mehari. It stood atop the promenade but, as seen in the next photograph, the lower floors opened up onto the harbour frontage. The cars are almost a history lesson of the models available during the mid to late fifties.
In stark contrast to the luxury of the harbour front hotels, this is our second Tripoli home, a WD Hiring. Our flat was in the bottom right hand quarter of the block, No.1 Old Miaet Block, Sciara Zavia. The exterior hid a quite luxurious interior with marble floors and wall tiles throughout. We also had a tiled courtyard with a large fountain in the middle. Opposite, behind the high wall, was a girl’s school. They turned up in their all-enveloping robes and disappeared inside unseen. From our roof top we looked into the grounds where we saw them in ordinary western style dress. On one occasion there was a city riot to protest against the French using the Sahara as a rocket test range. Over in the girl’s school, all the top storey windows were open and the girls were throwing out everything they could move, which included all the chairs and desks from the classrooms. The police turned up but were hamstrung, they couldn’t enter the school grounds as it was females only. So once again we had police on our roof, observing but doing nothing. At the end of the day the girls exited quietly, covered once again from head to toe. One strange thing about the various riots was, that no matter what or who the riot was about, it was always the Stars and Stripes flag that got burnt. N.B. I received an e-mail from Alan Ward of Sydney, Australia, regarding the information above. He attached some later photos of Old Miaet Block and the riots at the girls’ school which brought back a few memories. Alan’s contribution is contained in a supplementary page which can be accessed from HERE.
The railway didn’t quite run through the middle of the house, but it got very close. To reach our own residence we had to cross the tracks which crossed the Sciara Zavia, but at least we had plenty of time to see this one coming. The railway network actually covered quite a large area, even running up into the highlands. I don’t think they had a turntable as the driver is up the front in this photo.
Tripoli Station with a Fiat express train
There are several pages of colour slides of Tripoli which are now available for viewing from HERE.
Published: 1st February 2008. Latest Update: 15th April 2018. _____________________________________________________________________________________
Libyan Scenes Continued