Hugh Boustead

Who was Hugh Boustead?

Colonel Sir John Edmond Hugh Boustead, KBE, CMG, DSO, MC & Bar, was a British military officer, modern pentathlete, and diplomat who served in numerous posts across several Middle Eastern countries, including ambassador to Abu Dhabi from 1961 to 1965. The son of a tea planter from Sri Lanka, Boustead began his career with the Royal Navy, but soon joined the British Army to fight in the trenches during World War I, where he earned his first of two Military Crosses. Following an appearance at the 1920 Summer Olympics, Boustead spent several years as a mountaineer and explorer prior to being appointed commander of the Sudan Camel Corps, with whom he served through World War II. He then embarked on a diplomatic career until his 1965 retirement and published an autobiography, The Wind of Morning, in 1971, nine years prior to his death in Dubai.