Why I hope the enterprising Lebanese will be able to rebuild Beirut soon - Yorkshire Post Letters

I was saddened to see the war damage in Lebanon and particularly Beirut. Sixty years ago, aged 31, I was working as a field representative for Land Rover in the Middle East.

My work was to visit our major customers, distributors, armies, oil companies, to support Land Rover sales.

The Middle East was, and probably still is, a major market, we sold thousands of vehicles there due in part to our extensive use of aluminium panels which could withstand the harsh desert conditions.

Beirut was my city base to travel to Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and North Africa. I found the Lebanese very able, kindly, generous and good to deal with. Beirut itself was a bustling enterprising city with good hotels. Situated on the Mediterranean coast it was a favourite holiday resort for the wealthy from oil producing countries, it was their Monte Carlo.

Sixty years ago on the back of their vast oil wealth the Middle East countries were fast rebuilding after World War II. New airlines were emerging, often piloted at that time by retired ex RAF bomber pilots.

From Beirut I worked in Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Libya.

The armies I visited had a very English feel to them, many of their officers had been trained and graduated at Sandhurst.

Beirut was at the forefront of development in the Middle East, thriving and prosperous. By comparison an extract from a letter I sent home from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1962 reads: “Ryadh is primitive and in the middle of the desert. Our hotel is falling to pieces, everything is broken and you walk down a street past mud built houses”.

Fast forward to the present day and Ryadh is now the largest city in Saudi Arabia with a population of seven million and attracts around five million tourists each year.

I have no doubt that when the war is over the enterprising Lebanese will rebuild and prosper. My hope is that this will be soon.