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Bertram Thomas

 

 
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Bertram Thomas
 
 
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Bertram Thomas (June 13, 1892 – December 27, 1950) was an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 civil servant who is the first documented Westerner to cross the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter). He was also a scientist who practiced craniofacial anthropometry
Craniofacial Anthropometry

Craniofacial anthropometry is a technique used in physical anthropology comprising precise and systematic measurement of the bones of the skull ....
,

He was born in Pill
Pill

Pill or the pill may refer to:* A ball, or anything small and round, the origin of the now-obselete term pill , referring to a specific dose of medicine....
 near Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
 and educated at Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is one of the 31 Colleges of the University of Cambridge of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or University of Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduate students, and over 160 Fellows; however, counting only the student body it has somewhat fewer than Homert...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
. After working for the Civil Service
Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis of merit which is proven by the use of competitive examinations....
, he served in Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 before being posted to the Somerset Light Infantry in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
 (now Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
) between 1916 and 1918.






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Bertram Thomas (June 13, 1892 – December 27, 1950) was an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 civil servant who is the first documented Westerner to cross the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter). He was also a scientist who practiced craniofacial anthropometry
Craniofacial Anthropometry

Craniofacial anthropometry is a technique used in physical anthropology comprising precise and systematic measurement of the bones of the skull ....
,

He was born in Pill
Pill

Pill or the pill may refer to:* A ball, or anything small and round, the origin of the now-obselete term pill , referring to a specific dose of medicine....
 near Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
 and educated at Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is one of the 31 Colleges of the University of Cambridge of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or University of Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduate students, and over 160 Fellows; however, counting only the student body it has somewhat fewer than Homert...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
. After working for the Civil Service
Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis of merit which is proven by the use of competitive examinations....
, he served in Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 before being posted to the Somerset Light Infantry in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
 (now Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
) between 1916 and 1918. He worked as an Assistant Political Officer in this country from 1918 to 1922, and Assistant British Representative in Transjordan
Transjordan

The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman Empire territory incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine in 1921 as an autonomous political division under Abdullah I of Jordan....
 (now Jordan
Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba....
), from 1922 to 1924. He was appointed as Finance Minister and Wazir
Wazir

Wazir may refer to:* Wazir a royal family of Jammu & Kashmir, [India.]* Wazir , a Pashtun tribe in Waziristan* Haji Wazir , a prisoner at Guant?namo Bay, Cuba...
 to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman
Muscat and Oman

Muscat and Oman was a country that encompassed the present day Sultanate of Oman and parts of the United Arab Emirates . It existed from about 1856 until about 1970....
 (now Oman
Oman

Oman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....
), a post he held from 1925 to 1932. In this capacity, he undertook a number of expeditions into the desert, and became the first Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an to cross the Rub' Al Khali from 1930 and 1931, a journey he described in Arabia Felix (1932), in which he described this desert’s animals, inhabitants, and culture.

He was awarded the OBE in 1920 and CMG
CMG

CMG can mean:* Capitol Music Group* Case mix group, used in patient classification system to group together patients with similar characteristics...
 in 1949.

A recent film called 'Crossing the Empty Quarter' was created by the Anglo-Oman Society's Chairman, Richard Muir - the ex-Ambassador to Oman - from footage taken by Thomas on his journey, and photographs from the Library of the Oriental Institute in Cambridge.

He returned to England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 and died in the house in which he was born, in 1950.