Australian Harry Henson is working as safety manager on an oil project on the banks of the Tigris River just outside of Saddam Hussein’s home town of Tikrit. When briefly back for leave, his last stop when departing for the airport was to duck into a store and pick up a new pair of work boots.
“I rushed into a store and selected the first pair I saw which happened to be Oliver,” he said.
He said after wearing work boots for almost forty years, he told the Oliver company the style he bought (30 732) “are by a country mile more comfortable than any I have previously worn.”
Henson is helping restore a war-damaged pipeline which crosses the Tigris near Tikrit. The security of workers on the project is aided by armed local Iraqi security guards, while the need for combat helmets and flak jackets is evidence of the tough environment of the project site.
