Description Naval General Service Medal, EIIR, bar Near East, Sd Mahomed Sd Rajab, likely a Muslim Seaman aka Seedie in the Merchant Navy during the 1956 Suez Crisis. Officially impressed: “SD MAHOMED SD RAJAB” Naval General Service Medals issued to Merchant Seaman contain only the name of the seaman on the rim without any further details. The abbreviation SD typically is short form for the Muslim honorific of “Syed” aka Sayyid, Said or Sa’id, making his actual name likely to have been: “Syed Mahomed Syed Rajab” which in English terms would mean “Syed Mahomed son of Syed Rajab”. During the lifetime of the Merchant Navy they have commonly hired local crews referred to as “Seedies” from India or “Kroomen” from around Africa, although their work was typically not glamorous, many of them being hired for the arduous tasks of being a Firemen or Coal Trimmers in the Boiler Rooms of the ships. Judging from the recipients Muslim name and formatting he is most likely to be a Yemeni Sailor whose names commonly use these Honorific style of names, the title of Syed being passed down the generations as a mark of being a descendent of the Prophet, during this period many Sailors were recruited at Aden, and used on routes around the Middle East, being likely part of his ship being requisitioned for the campaign in Egypt. Since the 1860s or so Yemeni Sailors have come to England living in the various port towns, particularly in the North such as South Shields, Manchester, Liverpool, and many in Wales such as Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, the British ran “Operation Musketeer”, during which point many Merchant Navy vessels were requisitioned for service in order to unblock the Suez Canal.
