139 a room in the upper floor, the entrance of which was through the family residence and overlooking the western courtyard in front of the house. It also overlooked the western gate and the majlis area, which was separate from the internal housing area by a another gate. It was noon time when Sheikh Sultan bin Salem was having his lunch. Shortly after, vehicles sirens were heard around the house of Sheikh Muhammad bin Saqr. Sheikh Muhammad bin Saqr looked from the upper room overlooking the front yard and saw British soldiers surrounding the house on its western side. He shouted at his own guards and servants to carry their guns and close the gates. One of the servants responded saying that the British soldiers were surrounding theeasterngateoverlooking the yardof theFort.Theresidence, however, had another gate on the northern side, called the Kitchen Gate that was unknown to many. It opened to a small yard surrounded by the houses of the neighbours: Mariam bin Saadallah, SalemDhraa’ and Rashed al-Ghazal. Between those houses there were narrow passages that allowed only one person to walk through at a time. Thus, Sheikh Muhammad bun Saqr took Sheikh Sultan bin Salem to the Kitchen Gate before the British soldiers could get there. He got him out escorted by Salih Bal Irshad and Rashid bin Mutraq al-Saman. With them was a servant who had the keys to one of the palm-from houses opposite the shop of Muhammad al-Kukhardi, of the Shuwahis area. This house was used by Sheikh Muhammad bin Saqr for the accommodation of his guests as it was close to his own house. As for me, I kept watching the British soldiers in yard before the western gate through the window in the upper floor that overlooked the front court. I saw the soldiers hiding behind their military vehicle. A short while later, the vehicle reversed revealing sand bags built up, one above the other, and on top a line of military helmets could be seen and rifles directed at the western gate of our house. I did not leave the scene until sunset when the military vehicle moved forward and hid the soldiers behind the sand bags. The next time it moved, there were only small piles of sand where the bags had been emptied. The meeting point for Sheikh Sultan bin Salem’s escorts was the shop of THE PUNISHMENT OF THE CITY
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