Benedict Glaister

Benedict Glaister (9 December 1905, Dundee, Scotland - 7 June 1944) was a mercenary, mountaineer, adventurer, amateur sportsman and poet. A troubled man, he rejected fame, much of his life remains a mystery as most of his exploits remain unknown or unpublished.

Early life
Born to Captain Percy 'Trimmer' Glaister, a solider in the British Army. His father would influence the young Glaister throughout his life. Benedict had two sisters and one brother; Randulphus Glaister who died in tragic circumstances aged only nineteen. This loss was the first of many to deeply affect Benedict. Not much is known of his brother, but Benedict briefly describes him in 'Twice the Adventure' by Robert Shelly:

'…my brother was older than me, I looked up to him, he was fearless & found adventure from nothing. He made me want to see the world. He also taught to me to read and write after i had had much difficulty...how do you repay the man that teaches you to write your name…'

Randulphus was a major inspiration for Benedict. Benedict's Old friend Harvey Eaton claimed that Benedict wanted to see everything twice 'Once for him and once for his brother'

London & Marriage
It is not clear when Glaister left Dundee, but he was in London in 1925 aged twenty. It is known he attended the Lord Mayor's Show on 9th November 1925 at The Mansion House, where he met Helen De Arqeutte a society beauty, notably looking at her twice, before proposing to her. They were married 3 weeks later.

While in London, Glaister met Harvey Eaton a Lieutenant in The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) and Francais Hughes a Corporal in The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). The three of them, along with Peter Newling a renowned pig farmer and amateur adventurer, who Glaister met while travelling from Dundee to London, decided to form a league for adventurers. The club was highly secretive and very little is known of it to this day.

Not much more is known of how Glaister spent his short time in London after his marriage and leaving for Morocco. There is a rumour that he, Eaton and Hughes spent a few days "At Her Majesty's Pleasure."

The Rif War of 1920 (Second Moroccan War)
As a boy, while travelling with his father and brother in Spain, Glaister met Abd el-Krim (Arabic: Ù…ØÙ…Ø¯ Ø¨Ù† Ø¹Ø¨Ø¯ Ø§Ù„ÙƒØ±ÙŠÙ… Ø§Ù„Ø®Ø·Ø§Ø¨ÙŠ), at the time chief qadi for Melilla. Benedict claims that Abd and his father became close friends, both men being opposed to Spanish domination and to it expanding beyond its current dominions, for which Abd was imprisoned by the Spanish.

Glaister would not hear of Abd el-Krim again until 1925 when, to his shock, he found Abd had become leader of the Rif tribes who had been fighting the Spanish and French in the Rif War for five years. Glaister saw the chance of adventure and possibly wealth by offering his services to Abd el-Krim.

After an arduous journey to Morocco, Glaister was disgusted to learn the Spanish had just used chemical weapons against the Riffians, following a momentous defeat at the Battle of Annual and a five-year stalemate.
Glaister remarkably managed to find Abd el-Krim and offered him his services, Abd el-Krim remembered Glaister's father and took him under his wing.
Shortly after Glaister's arrival, a shocking blow came to the Riffians, when the French joined the Spanish side. Abd el-Krim being a master of guerrilla tactics, repelled the French and Spanish forces for a year, before he finally surrendered to French authorities in 1926. Glaister claims he learnt guerrilla warfare and how to 'really fight' from Abd el-Krim during the year before surrender.
Glaister also claims Abd el-Krim helped him to escape to Spain before he surrendered and gave him a priceless gem to thank him for his services and so that he might return to his wife. This gem would actually be worth enough for Glaister to live off for two years.

Loss & Depression
Glaister had no contact with his wife, or anyone, for the year and a half he had been away. On returning to London, Glaister was dealt the tragic blow that his wife had become ill and died in his absence. He was devastated by this news, as a close friend of his, Jamal Ali comments on in 'The story of Benedict Glaister' by James Dunn:

'…Benedict was always known for a certain spark he had, a charm, a glint in the eye, this left him when his wife did. What i believe effected Glaister most, was that there was no one to blame for her death, he liked to face his enemy...'

For a year Glaister did nothing but mourn and drink with Jamal Ali, a comrade who had travelled to England with him from Morocco and who had also served with Abd el-Krim.
The two whiled away nights with London’s high society, frequently causing trouble with their obscene behaviour. Glaister thought he was a 'done man' and sunk into a state of deep depression, when he received a letter from old friend Harvey Eaton, telling Glaister that for the last three months he had been commanding troops in Palestine. Eaton had secretly grown to despise the occupation and the treatment of Arabs by British forces. Knowing Glaister vehemently opposed the presence of British troops in Palestine, Eaton told Glaister in the letter about not being entirely willing to fulfil his duties to the army which he had always loved.

Ali, a Muslim, was intrigued by what Glaister had told him of Eaton’s Letters and tried to persuade Glaister to go with him to Palestine to assist the Arabs and get Glaister to overcome his depression. Glaister was reluctant to go, especially because there was the chance of fighting against his own country but in March 1929 he finally succumbed.

1929 Palestine riots
Glaister and Ali arrived in Jerusalem on the 13 March 1929. Two days later on 15 August, during the Jewish fast of Tisha B'Av, several hundred members of Joseph Klausner' Committee for the Western Wall, assembled at the Wall shouting "the Wall is ours". They raised the Jewish national flag and sang the Hatikvah, the Zionist anthem. The authorities had been notified of the march in advance and provided a heavy police escort in a bid to prevent any incidents, (Eaton coincidentally was part of the escort). Rumours spread that the youths had attacked local residents and had cursed the name of Muhammad. On Friday, August 16, after an inflammatory sermon, a demonstration organised by the Supreme Muslim Council marched to the Wall and proceeded to beat Jewish worshippers and burn Torah scrolls and prayer books. Glaister and Ali marched with the Arabs to the wall but Ali has always claimed that he and Glaister did not take part in the beating of the Jewish worshippers there. Glaister would later tell a friend that neither he or Ali had ever fought a man who was not ready and willing.

The next day Glaister and Ali met with recently promoted Captain Harvey Eaton in Jerusalem. He and Eaton had much to talk about; Eaton being the reason Glaister had originally come to Palestine. However this was the first time Eaton And Ali were to meet. Rumour has it that they despised each other, even though having much in common and later became close friends. The rumour goes that it got so heated on there first meeting, that the two came to blows in an epic test of strength and stamina. Eaton, being an amateur boxer at university and twice the size of the small stature of Ali, probably assumed an easy fight, this was not the case, a forty five minute bare knuckle boxing match would ensue. Glaister who casually watched the fight, some say even refereed, later told old friend Hughes that '…It was the most brutal fight I have had the pleasure of watching and easily the hardest to call…'

Footnotes

^ a b Great Britain, 1930 : Report of the Commission on the disturbances of August 1929, Command paper 3530 (Shaw Commission report).

Bibliography
*Adventure Bible for Young Readers, NIrV, The by Mr. Lawrence O. Richards (Paperback - Sep 1, 2000)
*Dundee: A Short History by Norman Watson (Paperback - Mar 30, 2007)
*Young Glac; mercenary ,adventurer, poet. The story of Benedict Glaister by James Dunn (Paperback - June 9, 2006)
*Rebels in the Rif: Abd El Krim and the Rif Rebellion by David S. Woolman (Hardcover - Jun 1, 1968)
*Twice the adventure by Robert Shelly (Paperback - March 21, 1955)
*The spirit of adventure;: The challenge and the fascination of the strange, the impossible, and the dangerous, as told by 38 famous writer-adventurers by Whit Burnett (Unknown Binding - 1956)
*Mandated Landscape: British Imperial Rule in Palestine 1929-1948 by Roza El-Eini (Hardcover - Dec 20, 2005)

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