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1. ‘File 28/35 Defence of Qatar’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file, while entitled ‘Defence of Qatar’, chiefly concerns the issue of six rifles and 1,200 rounds of small arms ammunition (SAA) to British personnel employed by Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL) in Qatar during the war. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban) and the Manager of PCL at Bahrain (Ernest Vincent Packer).The file includes:correspondence relating to a report, entitled an ‘Appreciation of the Defence of Qatar against tribal attack and sabotage’ prepared by staff at Air HQ in Iraq, and sent to the Political Resident on 6 February 1939 (f 2). A copy of the report is not included in the file, however, the Political Agent at Bahrain’s comments on the report are (ff 3-5);a copy of a report prepared by the Air Liaison Officer at Bahrain (R Coates) in July 1939, being a reconnaissance of possible landing grounds and flying boat mooring areas at Dohat-es-Zekrit [Zikrīt] (ff 11-12);correspondence dated September 1939, relating to protection for British personnel working on the Qatar oil field, and a request by the Political Agent at Bahrain to the Air Officer Commanding at Bahrain, for six rifles and SAA to be loaned to PCL’s British employees in Qatar (ff 13-19). Later correspondence, dated June and July 1941, details the eventual receipt of the rifles and ammunition by PCL (f 21, f 26), a rifle register (f 28), and a note written by the PCL Manager, describing the poor condition of the rifles (f 32);correspondence dated July 1939, relating to PCL’s plans to close down their operations in Qatar and the Trucial Coast, including: copies of letters from the Political Agent in Bahrain to the Rulers of Qatar and the Trucial Coast, informing them of PCL’s closure of operations (ff 47-54); the return of the six rifles and ammunition to the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf (Major H T Hewitt), the latter’s complaint at the poor condition of the rifles, and the PCL Manager’s response that the rifles had been received in poor condition (ff 57-59).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 75; 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 is also present in parallel between ff 1-74; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
2. 'File 1/A/5 II Administration: Qatar affairs'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence concerning Qatar affairs, particularly the supply of arms and ammunition to Shaikh Abdullah bin Qasim al Thani, the Ruler of Qatar [‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī].The principal correspondents are the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Shaikh Abdullah; HM Minister of State, Cairo; Ernest Vincent Packer, Manager, Petroleum Concessions Limited, and Petroleum Concessions (Qatar) Limited; other British officials in the region; and representatives of the Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited (BAPCO), the Eastern Bank Limited, and the Government of Bahrain.The papers cover: the granting of permission to Shaikh Abdullah to import 450 rifles, .303 bore, with 225,000 rounds of ammunition, and fifty Mauser rifles, 7.9 mm bore, with 25,000 rounds of ammunition, December 1937 - March 1939 (folios 6-104); a request by Shaikh Abdullah for the supply of armoured cars fitted with machine guns, July 1938 - July 1939 (folios 81-109); reports on Qatar affairs from Ernest Vincent Packer, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Bahrain, and by the Political Agent, Bahrain (including relations between Qatar and Bahrain, and correspondence concerning the appointment by Shaikh Abdullah of an Iraqi adviser on oil affairs), December 1939 - November 1941 (folios 115-157); and a further request by Shaikh Abdullah for machine guns and ammunition, the resulting dispatch to the Gulf of six captured Breda machine guns and ammunition, and the Political Resident's decision that the machine guns should be distributed equally between the Shaikhs of Qatar, Dubai, and Sharjah, 'the importance of Qatar's defence having diminished owing to the closure of oil operations, while others now have important R.A.F. installations in their Shaikhdoms' (folio 199), July 1942 - October 1943 (folios 159-212).The Arabic language content of the file consists of approximately thirty folios of correspondence (with translations into English) between the Political Agent, Bahrain, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and the Ruler of Qatar.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 241; 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 is also present in parallel between ff 4-240; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in same position as the main sequence.