The Gulf Daily News continues its series of Bygone Bahrain articles, which will showcase Bapco Energies’ golden history through personal stories brought alive by individuals who have been a part of the enterprise that first discovered oil in the Gulf region. Bapco Stories, recorded by Melissa Nazareth, will feature the memories of some of the pioneers, their partners and the children who grew up in Awali, as well as national and expatriate employees now carrying on the legacy of energy entrepreneurialism. The series carries on with English national Frederick Sidney Burton, who turns 93 this month. He arrived in Bahrain purely by chance. Even though his life in the kingdom was short lived – about 11 years – due to unforeseen circumstances, he cherishes the golden memories, describing them as ‘magical’. This is his story.

I am from Beetley in the County of Norfolk, close to East Dereham. Back then, I was 21 and my friend and I had decided to immigrate to Canada. It was easy in those days – you paid a small amount of money, they put you on a ship, you went there, worked for two years and became a Canadian citizen.

Before leaving, I had to have my tonsils removed, because they said, ‘Oh, in Canada it costs a lot of money’. So I went to the hospital. While I was there, I read in the newspaper about a job opening in Bahrain. I wrote to them and when I got home, my mother said, ‘There’s a man who has been ringing you from London’. I wrote back, and he asked me if I could meet him. The interview lasted five minutes and a week later, I was on a flight to Bahrain – ‘You’re just the man we need’, I was told.

It took three flights to get there – first from Beetley to Rome, then on to Kuwait, and finally to Bahrain. I arrived on February 4, 1954.

Coming from a tiny village where most people are manual workers, stepping into Bahrain felt like magic.

I was engaged as what they call a refinery operator. It was a technical job and I knew nothing about it. I had to learn from scratch.

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