Amara bin Thuqub lived much of his young life in the marshes of Southern Iraq. Amara was befriended by Wilfred Thesiger who subsequently introduced him to Gavin Young; both relied upon Amara to navigate the marshes. Amara’s friendship with Theisger and Young is described in Thesiger’s The Marsh Arabs and Young’s Return to the Marshes. Amara spent his later life living in Baghdad. In 2022 the explorer and writer Leon McCarron located Amara and was welcomed into his house to interview him. Alongside his son, Amara discussed what life in the marshes was like when he was young and his memories of Thesiger. Amara discusses how crops were taxed by sheikhs, how feuds were settled, how marriages were arranged, and how employment in the marshes differed from his subsequent life in the city. The footage from this interview, graciously provided by Leon McCarron, is a valuable historical account of life in the marshes, and is the sole known footage from one of Thesiger’s travel companions. McCarron’s interview was the basis for an article written with Mohammed Al Sarai featuring photographs by Emily Garthwaite published in the AramcoWorld Magazine that can be accessed here.