Since 1963: British expat witnessed formation and growth of the UAE

Since 1963: British expat witnessed formation and growth of the UAE

ABU DHABI: When David Heard landed in Abu Dhabi in the former Trucial States in 1963, he never imagined that he would be witnessing the formation of a new country and staying here almost 58 years thereafter to celebrate its 50th anniversary. "I came to Abu Dhabi really quite by chance, leaving behind England's green and quiet fields for the red sands and glaring white tracks in the desert," Heard, 82, tells Emirates News Agency (WAM) in an interview at his home in Abu Dhabi. Although his "introduction to Abu Dhabi" was a series of scary incidents, that did not deter the British petroleum engineer on the first onshore oil fields in the emirate from continuing the life here and involving in finding some of the largest oil fields in the Middle East while working until June 2004 with his first and same employer over 40 years, Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company (ADPC). After retirement, he became an authentic chronicler of oil in the region with his well-researched books. Heard still remembers a small Dakota aircraft with four passengers, including him, making an emergency landing at an airstrip somewhere in the desert in Jebel Dhanna in Al Dhafra (western region of