'File 17/1-II Posts and Telegraphs. Radio Station Bahrain.'

Title:

'File 17/1-II Posts and Telegraphs. Radio Station Bahrain.'

Date:

1938/1944

Description:

Abstract: The volume comprises correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman, Reginald George Alban, Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, Tom Hickinbotham), Political Resident in Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Charles Geoffrey Prior), Officer-in-Charge of the Bahrain Branch of Cable & Wireless (Norman Luke Penfold, George William Watson, Cecil Edward Gahan, John William Millest), other Cable & Wireless representatives (Sir Edward Wilshaw, Fred W Humphrey, Harold Aubrey Merchant), HM Minister Tehran (Sir Reader Bullard), and the India Office (Roland Tennyson Peel, John Percival Gibson) regarding provision of telegram services to and from Bahrain and the wider region.The main subject of the correspondence is the work of Cable and Wireless in Bahrain, including work to replace the aerial lines that connected Bahrain’s wireless service to the submarine cables; notifications from the Bahrain telegraph station regarding interruptions to cable services in the Persian Gulf; the Company’s desire to obtain formal concessions for telegraph services both in Bahrain and Kuwait which had to be postponed for the duration of the Second World War; and discussions around the potential implementation of a dislocation scheme issued by the Army to prevent enemy forces taking control of wireless services in any territory they were successful in capturing.Also included in the volume are discussions regarding a Parliamentary white paper titled the ‘Empire Scheme’ which was a proposal to introduce a flat rate of charges for telegrams between any two points in the Empire. The discussion relates to the question raised by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf of whether Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat could be included in such a proposed scheme and the response from Cable and Wireless Limited that it would result in considerable loss to them given the cost of maintaining and operating the strategic cables located in the Persian Gulf.Correspondence also relates to the presence of the Army and Royal Navy in Bahrain and their need for wireless services. Included are the decision by naval authorities to establish a wireless station at the Jufair [Al Jufayr] Naval base and the Royal Air Force (RAF) to establish a wireless station on Muharraq Island. Subsequent correspondence related to the unsuitability of the Royal Navy’s wireless service at Jufair and the need for a new plot of land to establish a better service. The correspondence includes negotiations relating to the potential purchase of land at Ummul Hassan and the Shaikh of Bahrain (Salmān bin Ḥamad)’s decision to offer the land for free in exchange for part of a plot of land at Qozaibia owned by the RAF.The final matter discussed in the volume is the decision taken by the Iranian Government in 1938 to cease transmitting telegrams from Iran to Bahrain and subsequent discussions and negotiations with the Iranian Government from 1941 onwards to resume the service, including the need to settle the rate charged for telegrams so that they could be shared equally by Cable and Wireless and the Iranian Government.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 300-325.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 332; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 5-298 and between ff 300-329; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Language:

English

Type:

Archival file

Type (Narrower):

Other Texts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Second World War (1939-1945)
King of Bahrain

Geographic region:

Persian Gulf

Rights:

غير معروف

Identifier:

81055/vdc_100000000241.0x00039d_ar
81055/vdc_100000000241.0x00039d_en
IOR/R/15/2/558
IOR/R/15/2/558

Feedback