Gilbert Sedbon

I got to know Gilbert when as Diplomatic Correspondent I would be sent, usually assisted by Mohsin [Ali], to cover international meetings in Paris. He would be one of our reporting team: so full of energy, enthusiasm and charm, he contributed more than his share to the success of our coverage. Then, when the day's (and night's) work was done, we would all relax in a restaurant and joke about what had been going on. Gilbert was one of the old school, in the best sense of the phrase. You would never think that he and Yolande had suffered the shock of being expelled like other foreigners at short notice from their home in Egypt. It's my regret that we never met again in recent years. ■