Abstract: The file comprises copies of correspondence and notes containing guidance, issued in response to reports from the War Office, of German plans to sabotage oil fields and refineries and blow up shipping.The file includes: a copy of a telegram from MICE (Middle East Intelligence Centre) in Cairo, dated 3 December 1939, reporting that Germany ‘may have started a campaign to damage oil wells, refineries, etc.’ (f 3); a letter from the Political Agent in Bahrain to John S Black, Chief Local Representative for the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), dated 6 December 1939, forwarding information of the reports regarding German sabotage of oil installations, and advising vigilance (f 5); a copy of a letter from Alexander Cadogan of the Foreign Office, dated 10 September 1940, enclosing two sets of precautions, entitled ‘Anti-sabotage precautions’ (f 11) and ‘Additional Precautions’ (f 12). The first set of precautions relates to the planting of explosives with delayed-action fuses in ship’s cargoes, with a list of the types of objects and containers in which explosives might be hidden, and what such explosive devices might look like. The second set of precautions describes measures taken to ensure security in relation to ship’s passengers, pilots, ship's stores, ventilators and portholes, loading/unloading at night.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 13; 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 2-12; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises copies of correspondence, memoranda and reports relating to the military defence of Bahrain’s oil refineries and oil fields during the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent in Bahrain (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban); the Chief Local Representative of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) (John S Black; Roger Anthony Kennedy; Milton H Lipp; Ward P Anderson).The file includes:a copy of ‘General Instructions for the Defence Organisation of the Bahrain Petroleum Company’, dated December 1939 (ff 9-52), with sections focusing on: 1) the internal and external areas of the refinery; 2) the personnel camps at Awali and Zellaq; 3) fields and wells; information on inventories of equipment, and specific instructions for patrols and guards;correspondence from BAPCO representatives to the Political Agent relating to: the perceived threat to Bahrain and to Company property, and defensive measures to be taken; assessments of the threat of internal sabotage, local uprisings, bombardment from sea or air (ff 68-71); questions of responsibility for and efficacy of defensive measures being taken in Bahrain; questions of the legal aspects (liability, compensation, War Risk Insurance) of damage to Company property from enemy attack, and volunteers who become casualties while defending Company property, including printed copies of the Gazetteer of India
War Injuries Ordinance, No. VII of 1941 (ff 235-237) and the
War Injuries (Amendment) Ordinance, No. I of 1942 (ff 238-249);correspondence exchanged, and the notes and minutes of meetings held between senior Government officials (including the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf, Air Vice Marshal at Air Headquarters in Iraq) on the provision of resources for the defence of Bahrain, including discussion of the availability and use of manpower supplied by BAPCO;a number of monthly progress reports in 1941 on the Bahrain defence scheme, prepared by the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf (ff 143-144, ff 146-147, ff 162-164, ff 177-179), referring to: defence force recruitment; the volunteer defence force; general morale and attitude of recruits; equipment supplies; anti-aircraft defence measures;in 1941, plans for the control of telephone exchanges and lines during emergencies, with lists of telephone links to be maintained during an emergency (ff 182-183);plans and proposals for the protection of BAPCO property in the event of enemy action, including: in 1942, BAPCO proposals for the protection of the oil field in case it falls into enemy hands, by the sealing of wells with concrete (ff 270-294); a military report on Passive Air Defence (PAD) at the BAPCO refinery, dated 28 April 1942, focussing chiefly on plans to construct protective sheathing around the refinery tanks (ff 304-323).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 342; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 3-341; these numbers are also written in pencil, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence, memoranda and other papers, many marked ‘Most Secret’, relating to plans for the defence and emergency demolition (‘oil denial’) of oil fields and refineries operated by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) in Bahrain, and the subsequent abandonment of these defence and emergency demolition plans as events in the Second World War reduced the threat of attacks by Axis powers on oil installations in the Persian Gulf. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent in Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Chief Local Representative for BAPCO (Ward P Anderson); members of the Corps of Royal Engineers and the British Tenth Army. The file is a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/1 K II Defence of oil field and refinery’ (IOR/R/15/2/662).The file includes:correspondence relating to proposals for an oil denial scheme at the oil refineries owned by the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC) in Saudi Arabia (ff 2-4);correspondence related to the ongoing construction of Passive Air Defences (PAD) at the BAPCO refinery in Bahrain, chiefly in the form of protective brick sheathing for oil tanks, and blast- and firewalls (f 37, f 87), and the costs of the programme (ff 21-22, ff 52-53, ff 62-64, ff 112-113); a ‘Report on PAD works at Bahrain Island, 1942-1943’, written by Major S Hills, Royal Engineers (ff 149-157);correspondence relating to the progress of the oil denial scheme in Bahrain, including: revisions to the scheme (ff 5-6); updates on the status of secured wells (f 9); enrolment and training into the British military of BAPCO personnel (ff 17-18) and liability in the event of injury/death, including a copy of extracts from the ‘Royal Warrant for the Retired Pay and Pensions, etc., of members of the Military Forces disabled’ (ff 40-44); extension of the denial scheme to Sitrah and Zellaq (f 34);correspondence in early 1943 relating to the decision to ‘round off’ PAD work in Bahrain, and to stand down the oil denial demolition scheme, as a result of the perceived reduction of the threat to Allied oil installations in the Persian Gulf (f 85, f 115, f 117);correspondence in July 1943 relating to the risks posed to oil facilities by an attack from an enemy submarine, after an ‘incident’ off the Oman coast (f 127);correspondence in 1943 relating to camouflage measures at the oil refinery, and the ‘oiling’ of roofs and certain landscape features to prevent aerial recognition (ff 137-140);in the latter half of 1943, correspondence relating to requests from BAPCO to rehabilitate those oil wells that were temporarily decommissioned (or ‘plugged’) as part of the oil denial scheme (ff 158-171).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 211; 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 2-186; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises copies of correspondence, memoranda and copies of agreements, relating to the recruitment of a defence force in Bahrain, charged with the security and defence of the Bahrain Petroleum Company’s (BAPCO) refinery and oil fields. The principal correspondents in the file are the Bahrain Political Agent (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald Evelin William Alban), the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf (Major A C Byard; Major H T Hewitt), and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, Charles Dalrymple Belgrave.Subjects covered in the file include:1939 correspondence between BAPCO officials and British Government officials (the Bahrain Political Agent, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Air Ministry officials) concerning the need for a defence force comprised of up to twelve ‘British European ex-servicemen’ to assist in the defence and security of the BAPCO oil refinery and fields (f 5), paid for by the oil company and enlisted and maintained by the Government (ff 5-25);the recruitment in late 1939 and early 1940 of ex-servicemen, and the conferral of special police officer powers upon them by the Government of Bahrain (ff 33, 37-47);the announcement in October 1940 of the failure of the scheme to recruit ex-servicemen as special police officers in Bahrain, chiefly a result of a lack of discipline amongst the recruits, a result of the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf having no legal authority over the men (ff 49-51);a draft of a document, drawn up by BAPCO, entitled ‘Staff Foreign Service Agreement, Long Term’ (ff 56-60);Correspondence in late 1940 relating to the proposed recruitment from India of serving police inspectors and sergeants for the Bahrain defence force (ff 61-66);correspondence throughout 1941 relating to the recruitment of men from the Calcutta, Bengal and Madras police forces, including: requirements for new recruits, including a preference for unmarried men because no accommodation for married couples is available; multiple copies of employment agreements between the Government of Bahrain and the recruited officers (ff 146-157, ff 167-172, ff 201-206); arrangements for the passage of recruits from India to Bahrain; travel and uniform allowances; salaries and adjustments to salaries for relocation, separation allowance for spouses, etc.; provision of accommodation;correspondence relating to complaints made by several recruits over contracts and pay (ff 140-141), accommodation (ff 133-134), and the resignation of a number of recruits, chiefly owing to their dissatisfaction with conditions in Bahrain, in particular those relating to accommodation for married couples not being available, and the payment of separation allowance (f 181, f 190, f 219);concern from the Bahrain Government (Belgrave), in March 1942, over the cost of recruitment of the British defence officers, with a request that BAPCO reimburse the Government on expenses incurred for the maintenance of the force (ff 272-275);subsequent correspondence relating to the difficulties in recruiting more sergeants from India (ff 221-222), particularly from early 1942 onwards, with war ‘now at the door of India’ (f 276) meaning that no European police sergeants are available to be sent to Bahrain (f 277).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 297; 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 5-278; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and statistical tables relating to the production of oil and other petroleum products by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) during and immediately after the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Chief Local Representative for BAPCO (usually Ward P Anderson); the Political Agent in Bahrain (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham).The file includes:correspondence relating to the British Government’s legal powers to assume control of BAPCO production, as outlined in the Political Agreement between the Government and BAPCO, and the extent to which the British Government could exercise control over production or order the destruction of oil company property (ff 4-17);requests made by the Political Agent to BAPCO and to the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC) for oil production figures for the refineries at Bahrain and Dhahran in Saudi Arabia (f 24, ff 28-29, ff 31-33);monthly oil production reports (from f 43), submitted by BAPCO to the Political Agency between January 1943 and February 1946, containing monthly output volumes (in barrels and tons) for: crude oil, motor spirits, kerosene, power kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oil and aviation spirits (between July 1945 and January 1946);statistics, submitted monthly by BAPCO to the Political Agent from January 1943 (from f 54), on the volumes and value of TEL (tetraethyl lead) shipped to and from and stored at Bahrain. These details were submitted to the Agency, which forwarded them on via cypher telegram to the British Government’s Petroleum Department officials in London and Baghdad, and the BAPCO offices in New York;correspondence about an enquiry regarding the ullage of the partially discharged tanker
South America(ff 89-96).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 266; 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 2-13 and ff 205-253; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. Pagination: the file notes (ff 254-265) have been paginated in pencil; these numbers have not been circled.
Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and statistical tables relating to the production of oil and associated petroleum products by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) after the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are the Chief Local Representative for BAPCO (R M Brown, replacing Ward P Anderson) and the Political Agent in Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Galloway; Cornelius Pelly). The file is a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/1 N I Bahrain oil’ (IOR/R/15/2/666).The file includes:monthly oil production reports, submitted by BAPCO to the Political Agency between March 1946 and June 1946, containing monthly output volumes (in barrels and tons) for: crude oil throughput, and output of motor spirits, kerosene, power kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oil and aviation spirits (ff 2-11);correspondence from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel William Rupert Hay), to Pelly, in May 1947, concerning a request from the Petroleum Representative of the Ministry of Fuel and Power, Middle East Office, for statistical data on BAPCO’s crude oil throughput and oil refinery output, for the period July 1946 onwards (f 14);compiled statistical data for the period July 1946 to April 1947, for production and output at the Bahrain refinery, including motor spirit, kerosene (burning oil), kerosene (vaporising), gas oil, diesel oil, fuel oil and aviation spirit, and refinery input figures for both Bahrain and Arabian crude, given in ‘tons of 2,240 lbs’ (ff 16-25).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 30; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file notes (ff 28-29) have been paginated in pencil; these numbers are not circled.
Abstract: The file comprises papers relating to oil exports made by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), and to a lesser extent the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC), and the need for regulation of oil exports during wartime. The principal correspondents in the file are the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman) and the Chief Local Representative of BAPCO (Dr Roger Anthony Kennedy).Following the implementation of an oil export licensing system for Bahrain oil exports, covered by Regulation No. 1 of 1940 of the Persian Gulf States (Emergency) Order in Council 1939 (ff 46-51, f 63, ff 68-69, f 75, f 254), BAPCO were required to seek approval for all shipments of oil exported out of Bahrain from the Political Agent, who in turn telegraphed the India Office in London for approval. For approved shipments, the Political Agent issued BAPCO with an export licence. The majority of the file is comprised of papers governed by this process: 1) BAPCO export licence applications, signed by Kennedy; 2) telegrams from the Political Agent to the India Office, requesting approval to grant the licence; 3) approval from the India Office; 4) copies of the export licence granted by the Political Agent; 5) copies of the shipment notice, issued by BAPCO.Also included in the file: an undated memorandum outlining the specific details of oil shipments from Bahrain that should be sent to the Secretary of State for India, Government of India and Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, including: name of ship, date of sailing, tonnage of oil product; destination; and name of consignee (f 5); a Government circular from the Ministry of Economic Warfare, dated 3 October 1939, concerning the rationing of neutral countries, with particular reference to the Scandinavian countries (f 18); correspondence between the Political Agent and CASOC, relating to the issue of Bills of Lading for oil shipments from Saudi Arabia (ff 18-32); a circular from the British Legation in Tehran, May 1940, relating to the supply of instructions for the
Navicertsystem (the certification used by British consular officials in exempting non-contraband consignments from seizure or search by British blockade patrols, ff 42-45).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 318; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file notes at the back of the volume (ff 298-314) have been paginated using pencil.
Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and papers relating to the issue of licences (also referred to as permits) for petroleum exports from Bahrain during the Second World War, and to questions over the continuation of the issue of the same licences in the immediate post-war period. Correspondents in the file include: the Political Agent at Bahrain; Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; various representatives of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO); the Secretary of State for India; India Office officials.Subjects include:changes to the procedure by which licences were obtained, initially through requests made by BAPCO officials to the Political Agent at Bahrain, and passed onwards to India Office officials in London for authorisation: in January 1941, permission to grant export licences to Egypt and Sudan without reference to the India Office (f 8); in July 1943, referral of applications to the India Office no longer required (f 29); in February 1944, reports to the India Office of the issue of export licences at Bahrain no longer required (ff 30-32);correspondence relating to the continuance of the issue of petroleum export licences after the end of the Second World War: initially, a continuation of licences at Bahrain, and plans for the implementation of licences at Kuwait, in order to ensure no shortage of oil supplies in the event of ‘labour troubles in the Persian Gulf’ (ff 41-42); continued use of export licences in 1946 in the wake of uncertainties over oil supply and the status of the ‘Sterling Oil Pool’ (ff 44-45); questions over the legal cover of the export licence procedure, originally implemented under wartime emergency powers (ff 46-48); the decision from the Secretary of State for India, in March 1947, for the discontinuation of the issue of export licences at Bahrain, and abandonment of similar arrangements for Kuwait (f 52);correspondence related to a number of individual oil export licences, or instances of oil export, including: the refusal in 1940 of a licence for the
Eiyo Maru, a Japanese-registered vessel sailing to Dairen [Dalian] (ff 2-10); an enquiry into whether the export of gasoline from the Manana Service Station to Saudi Arabia required a licence (f 11); diesel oil exports by Hussain Yateem (ff 23-24); the sailing of vessels under sealed orders, including the United States naval tanker
Trinity(ff 17-20).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 58; 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 2-53; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.Pagination: the file notes (ff 54-57) have been paginated using uncircled pencil numbers.
Abstract: The file comprises papers relating to requests made by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) for licences to export petroleum products from Bahrain during the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield) and the Chief (or Acting) Chief Local Representative for BAPCO (Milton H Lipp; B Crow; Ward P Anderson). The file is a direct continuation of IOR/R/15/2/679.The file includes:export licence requests from BAPCO representatives to the Political Agent, detailing: the assignee of the export; the name of the vessel and its place of registration; the date for loading at Bahrain; the quantity and type of petroleum products to be loaded; the destination of the export; the consignee; tonnage of diesel fuel in the ship’s bunkers. Some licence requests bear additional handwritten notes by Agency staff, which relate to the specifics of the request;copies of granted export licences, issued by the Political Agent at Bahrain;some correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain and the India Office in London, relating to specific export licence requests.Cancelled requests are either crossed out and marked in handwriting as ‘cancelled’, or marked with blue rubber stamp as ‘cancelled’.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 511; 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 present in parallel between ff 2-495; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises requests made by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) for licences to export petroleum products from Bahrain, sent by the Chief Local Representative for Bahrain (J O Fifer during 1945; R M Brown during 1946) to the Political Agency.Each of the export licence requests, which are numbered, detail: the assignee of the export; the name of the vessel and its place of registration; the date for loading at Bahrain; the quantity and type of petroleum products to be loaded; the destination of the export; the consignee (a significant proportion of which is marked as ‘US Navy’; the tonnage of diesel fuel in the ship’s bunkers. On some requests the destination and consignee is not specified, and is marked instead as ‘sailing under sealed orders’. Included amongst the licence requests are some export licences which were cancelled and sent back to the Political Agency. These licences typically have the word ‘cancelled’ written across them in blue or red pen, or bear a stamp marking them as cancelled. The file also contains some letters from representatives of Gray, Mackenzie and Company, relating to requests made for licences by BAPCO.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-75; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file contains post-war correspondence related to the export of petroleum coke (also referred to as ‘Bahrain smalls’) produced by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) from Bahrain. A telegram from the Washington Coal Committee to the London Coal Committee, dated 5 March 1946, states that the 200,000 tons of petroleum coke at Bahrain have been purchased by the Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, and that the Corporation wishes to move ‘all of the coke in a westward direction’.The file notes at the end of the file (ff 5-6) record a discussion held between the Political Agent (Cornelius James Pelly) and the Assistant Political Agent at Bahrain in October 1945, in which the Political Agent asks his Assistant how many bags of coke does he think he would need for a fire during the winter. The Assistant Political Agent suggests forty bags, which the Political Agent requests be sent to him with a separate bill.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 7; 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 present in parallel between ff 2-4 and between ff 5-6; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and other papers related to questions concerning: a) the liability of oil companies (specifically the Bahrain Petroleum Company, or BAPCO) to pay compensation to employees injured by enemy action or while undertaking war service, and b) the risks to oil company property at Bahrain from enemy action. Correspondents in the file include: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Chief Local Representative of BAPCO (Ward P Anderson); the BAPCO representative in London (Hamilton R Ballantyne); and the India Office, London (Roland Tennyson Peel).The file includes:discussion throughout 1942 and 1943, between BAPCO and India Office officials, regarding liability for injuries and death caused by enemy action, including compensation and war risk insurance, and the applicability of the India Workmen’s Compensation Act for Injury in Bahrain. The discussion chiefly centres on the status of British Indian subjects employed by BAPCO, and the provision by the Government of India of a war injuries scheme. Included in the discussion is a representation made by an Indian BAPCO employee, dated 16 July 1942 (f 39) which concerns the status of British Indians employed at BAPCO during time of war, and where liability lies for war injuries sustained by British Indians while employed at BAPCO;a copy of a Foreign Service Agreement, used for the employment of emigrants (chiefly from India) at BAPCO (ff 42-44);a copy of booklet, published by the Government of India Press, containing
The War Injuries Ordinance, 1941,
The War Injuries Scheme, 1942, and
The War Injuries Regulations, 1942(ff 71-92).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 101; 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 2-3, ff 54-63, and ff 93-96; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file notes at the back (ff 97-100) have been paginated using pencil.