Welcome to the Baghdad and Babylon Hash Chapters both consisting of finely tuned athletes i.e. lunatics, who ran around the streets of Baghdad on a Saturday and Monday night to work up a thirst.
This site was established for all the expatriate Baghdad and Babylon Hashers who were present in Iraq for the Hash heyday, between the start in 1981 and finish in1990 when the `guests' of Saddam Hussein finally left the country. See the ABOUT tab for more history.
It will hopefully be a point of contact for all these ex Hashers, a place for news and anything of interest. A hard-core are still "running" - see REUNION tab for details of the next reunion and the GALLERY REUNIONS tab for photos of lunatics present. See also the GALLERY PAST for the "finely tuned athletes" past.
The history of the Hash House Harriers (HHH)
To begin at the beginning, as they say in all the best yarns, one should go back to 1938 in Kuala Lumpur in what is now Malaysia when a group of expatriates associated with the rubber plantations started a modified paper chase in order to work up a decent thirst before retiring to the Selangor Club. There the restaurant was known locally as the "Hash House" so naturally the name was adopted by the harriers and in contrast to other groups undertaking similar activities the name stuck. The particular genius of the founding father, A.S.Gispert, nicknamed "G", was to make the traditional hare & hounds running more fun by making it non-competitive.
During the Malayan Emergency when British and Australian troops joined in the fun and when posted elsewhere began new chapters and the Hash House Harriers spread throughout the world. Yateley 2023:-
Date | Event | |
---|---|---|
1938 | Kuala Lumpur H3 (Mother Hash) founded | |
1947 | Royal Bordighera H3 founded - first known offshoot, ceased early 1960s | |
1962 | Singapore H3 founded | |
1962 | Brunei H3 founded | |
1967 | Dhekelia H3 - second hash in Europe, after RBH3 above. | |
1967 | Sydney H3 - first Hash in Australia | |
1971 | Fort Eustis H3 - first Hash in the North America | |
1969 | Longmoor HHH founded - the first Hash in UK (Hampshire area) | |
1971 | Commando Forces H3 founded - previously thought to be the first Hash in UK | |
1971 | Westcombe Park H3 founded - oldest monthly running Hash in UK | |
1973 | KL H3 1500th run - 35 other Hashes "known" to exist | |
1974 | Bicester H3 founded - oldest weekly running Hash in UK | |
1975 | Surrey H3 founded | |
1976 | London H3 founded | |
1977 | 90 Hashes known in 35 countries | |
1984 | Harrier International founded | |
1986 | 555 Hashes known in 85 countries | |
1988 | 700 Hashes known in 125 countries | |
2000 | 1570 Active Hashes known in 184 countries with 200,000 hashers |
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Contact Us Today For More Info -
exbaghdadhhh@gmail.com