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1. Coll 5/18 ‘Air Route to India (Arab Coast): Use of landing grounds by foreign aircraft’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence, and related India Office notes, regarding the Arabian Coast air route linking Europe and Asia. In particular, it is concerned with Britain's policy over restricting access to this route to non-British aircraft. It contains applications from the Governments of France, Italy, and the Netherlands for permission for their companies to access this route. These companies being: Air France, Ala Littoria, and Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KLM) respectively. The focus of these applications is on obtaining access to landing grounds at Gwadur, Kuwait, Bahrain (Muharraq), Sharjah, and Yas Island. The file contains a record of the British response to these applications, which is largely correspondence between officials over the extent that they can legitimately exclude these companies from the region; there is particular concern over keeping Sharjah aerodrome an exclusively British preserve.As a result of a policy decision made by the British Government to allow Air France and KLM access to Muharraq and Gwadur (for refuelling and in cases of emergency), the file includes periodic applications from these companies to the Shaikh of Bahrain and the Sultan of Muscat for authorisation to use these aerodromes.The correspondence dating from the Second World War (1939-1945) largely relates to a reversal of British policy – due to wartime difficulties – which allowed KLM to run regular air services via Bahrain and Sharjah for the duration of the war. It also contains discussion related to an attempt to secure a wartime agreement to facilitate the utilisation of KLM aircraft for war purposes by the British.The correspondence with the Government of France and with Air France is in French, as is a small proportion of the correspondence with the Government of the Netherlands. Overall, the French language content forms only a small proportion of the material within the file.The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agent at Bahrain, and the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat. There is also correspondence with officials of the following British Government departments: the Air Ministry, the Foreign Office, the India Office, and the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India (External Affairs Department from 1937). Correspondence is frequently forwarded to the Under-Secretary of State for India by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 545; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 2-544 is also circled, but has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
2. Coll 5/30 ‘Air Route to India (Arab Coast): Procedure in connection with provision of civil aerodromes etc; Agreements between H.M.G. and local rulers along the Arabian Coast; Special authorisations’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence and related notes on the drafting of general procedures for the provision of air facilities along the Arabian Coast Air Route, which would form the civil air agreements for Bahrain, Kuwait (also spelt Koweit), and Muscat. Numerous copies of the proposed draft agreement can be found through out the file, while printed copies of the final agreements can be found on folios 112-174 (Kuwait) and 175-177 (Bahrain); no copies of the agreement concluded with the Sultan of Muscat can be found within the file. The file also contains copies of special authorisations issued by the authorities at Bahrain, Kuwait, and Muscat, permitting access to their respective territories and airspace to aircraft of Imperial Airways, Indian Trans-Continental Airways, and Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (QANTAS).The authorisations issued by the authorities at Kuwait include both Arabic and English translation.The main correspondents are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle; Percy Gordon Loch, acting; and Hugh Weightman, acting), the Political Agent at Bahrain, the Political Agent at Kuwait, the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat, officials of the Air Ministry, officials of the Foreign Office, and officials of the India Office.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 394; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
3. Coll 5/33 ‘Air-route to India: Landing ground at Gwadur; Muscat Civil Air Agreement’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains notes and correspondence related to the use of the Gwadur Aerodrome by Imperial Airways and the Royal Air Force. It also therefore covers the negotiations surrounding the Muscat Civil Air Agreement (1934), and subsequent amendments to modify the level of rent paid to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. Draft copies of the Muscat Agreement can be found on folios 266-273 and 307-318, while the final print edition copies can be found on folios 189-192 and 221-222. A copy of the Kuwait Air Navigation Regulations can be found on folios 366-367, and a copy of the Kuwait Air Agreement can be found on folios 329-331.The file contains further correspondence regarding trouble experienced by Imperial Airways in claiming its rebate on aviation fuel, and efforts made by British authorities to obtain further duty exemptions for the airline. It also covers special authorisations issued under the agreement to permit aircraft to fly over and land in Oman.The abandonment of Gwadur in 1938 – as a result of its unsuitability for seaplanes – and the transfer of Imperial Airways services to Jiwani (also spelt Jiunri in the file) is documented by the correspondence.The main correspondents are as follows: the Persian Gulf Political Resident; the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat (Claude Edward Urquhart Bremner and Ralph Ponsonby Watts); the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India (the Department of External Affairs from 1937); and the Agent to the Governor General, Resident and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan. The file also contains correspondence with officials of the following departments of the British Government: the Air Ministry, the Foreign Office, and the India Office.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.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 362; 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 foliation sequence (present between ff 2-360), which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
4. Coll 5/33(2) ‘AIR ROUTE TO INDIA: MUSCAT CIVIL AIR AGREEMENT (NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW AGREEMENT)’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence and notes related to negotiations between the British Government and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd, for a new Civil Air Agreement; Britain's aviation rights in Oman during the Second World War (1939-1945) had depended on a War Subsidy agreement with the Sultan, which expired at the end of 1946. It therefore contains supplementary correspondence determining British civil and military aviation requirements in Oman; the focus of discussion being the airfields at Gwadur [Gwadar], Masirah, Riyan, and Salalah. In the process the file documents a decision to use the Civil Air Agreement as cover for Royal Air Force (RAF) requirements, British civil requirements being minimal. Draft copies of the Muscat Civil Air Agreement can be found on folios 196-212 and 344-362, while the text of the final agreement – signed in 1947 – can be found on folios 158-176.Two copies of the International Civil Aviation Conference: Final Actwith appendices have been included in the file as a result of discussion over the extent that the Muscat Civil Air Agreement should be along the lines of the Chicago Air Convention.Two additional topics are covered as a result of commitments made to the Sultan of Muscat as part of negotiations for the Civil Air Agreement: the supply of weapons and ammunition to the Sultan by the British Government, and the procurement of motor vehicles (lorries and tractors) of British manufacture for purchase by the Sultan. The latter commitment was in lieu of supplying the Sultan with US dollars for purchasing vehicles directly from the United States. Some correspondence with the Ford Motor Company Limited at Dagenham, Essex, has been included in relation to the purchase of tractors. Details of vehicle specifications can be found amongst the correspondence.The file also includes communications between Air Headquarters (Iraq), Air Headquarters (Aden), and the Air Ministry, in December 1946 discussing the feasibility of measures suggested by the latter to reduce the maintenance costs of local airfields: Masirah, Riyan, and Salalah.The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Charles Geoffry Prior, William Rupert Hay, and Arnold Crawshaw Galloway), the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat (Andrew Charles Stewart), officials of the Air Ministry, officials of the India Office (the Commonwealth Relations Office from August 1947), officials of the Ministry for Civil Aviation (M W Low), officials of the Ministry of Supply, officials of the War Office, and officials of the External Affairs Department for the Government of India.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 544; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.