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61. ‘File 28/5 (a) II War. Proped Extention [sic] of Export Licences System. (Monthly Statements of Imports & Exports on main Commodity into & from Bahrain & the Trucial Coast)’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises copies of statistical reports on the imports and exports of important commodities into and out of Bahrain and Sharjah and Dubai on the Trucial Coast, as part of the wider export licence controls and Navicertsystem of trade and contraband control during the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham); the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Khan Sahib Saiyid ‘Abd al-Razzaq until February 1945; Jasim ibn Muhammad Kadmari thereafter); the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast (Captain Maurice O’Connor Tandy until April 1944; Reginald Michael Hadow until October 1944; Captain Richard Ernest Bird thereafter); and the Director of Customs at Bahrain (G W R Smith). The file is a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/5 (a) I War. Proposed extension of export licensing system’ (IOR/R/15/2/684). The mispelt title of the file refers to the proposed extension of the license export system.The file contains:monthly submissions from the Customs Director at Bahrain of imports and exports of commodities at Bahrain, running from January 1943 through to March 1945;monthly submissions from the Residency Agent at Sharjah, or the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast, for imports and exports of commodities at Sharjah and Dubai, running from March 1943 through to March 1945;statistics for the import and export of commodities at Bahrain, Sharjah and Dubai, collated by the Political Agent from the reports received by the Customs Director at Bahrain, the Residency Agent at Sharjah, and the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast, and forwarded to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India at the India Office, the Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. The imports tables include columns for: commodity; source; quantity (measured in long tons for commodities into Bahrain; measured in hundredweights, bales, cases, tins, etc. for commodities into Sharjah/Dubai). The exports tables include columns for: commodity; destination; and quantity.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 257; 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 2-224; 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 at the back (ff 251-256) have been paginated using pencil.
62. ‘File 28/7 I War: Propaganda: local opinion’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises reports and correspondence concerning: the dissemination of pro-British and Allied propaganda in Bahrain and the wider Persian Gulf region, as prepared and coordinated by the Publicity Office in Bahrain; the reception of anti-British propaganda in Bahrain, chiefly via radio broadcasts; the impact of both on local public opinion in Bahrain. The propaganda covers events in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Far East, from the Norwegian campaign (April 1940) to the Japanese capture of the Dutch East Indies (March 1942). The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Publicity Officer in the Persian Gulf (Roy Douglas Metcalfe; John Baron Howes; Bertram Thomas); the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior).The volume includes:weekly letters of ‘talking points’ (the strategy for their use as a propaganda tool being explained in a letter from the Publicity Office, f 10), received from the Ministry of Information, distributed by the Publicity Officer and comprised of pro-British and anti-Axis propaganda, commenting chiefly on progress in European War and later on, the war in North Africa and the Middle East; the question of the United States’ involvement in the war; the relative economic and military strengths of the conflict’s key protagonists;weekly reports, prepared by Political Agency staff, summarising local opinion in Bahrain towards the war in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and sent in digested form to the Political Resident;radio broadcasts in Bahrain and the wider Persian Gulf region, including: the opening of and content for the Persian Gulf radio station; minutes of meetings held by the Bahrain Radio Committee; the public preference in Bahrain for Berlin Arabic radio over the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Arabic service, and proposals to jam Berlin Arabic by broadcasting naval Morse code messages at its frequency; anti-British propaganda radio broadcasts from Italy, Germany, and from broadcasters campaigning against British imperialism in the Middle East and India; Government of India proposals for an Arabic broadcast service transmitting from Delhi;the appointment of Bertram Thomas as Publicity Officer in late 1941, as relief for Metcalfe;reports of local opinion in response to specific events affecting the Persian Gulf region: the Italian bombing of Bahrain in October 1940 (ff 89-94); Rashid Ali’s coup d’étatin Iraq in April 1941 (ff 217-218);schedules for the portable cinema in Bahrain, indicating date and venue (f 268, f 287).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 330; 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 5-312; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.Pagination: the file notes at the back (ff 313-326) have been paginated using pencil.Binding: The pages of a single letter were separated during the volume’s binding. The first page of this letter is at f 181, the remaining pages at ff 209-211.
63. ‘File 28/7 II War: Propaganda – Local Opinion’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file, a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/7 I War: Propaganda: local opinion’ (IOR/R/15/2/687), comprises reports and correspondence concerning: the dissemination of pro-British and Allied propaganda in Bahrain and the wider Persian Gulf region, as prepared and coordinated by the Publicity Office in Bahrain; the reception and impact of propaganda (Allied and Axis) on local public opinion in Bahrain. The propaganda covers events from Germany’s advances in Russia and Japan’s advances in the Indian Ocean in early 1942, to the Allied Landings in Normandy in June 1944. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Public Relations Officer in the Persian Gulf (Bertram Sidney Thomas); the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham); and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior).The file includes:weekly reports, prepared by Political Agency staff, summarising local opinion in Bahrain towards news of events in the war. These reports were sent by the Political Agent in digested form and on a weekly basis to the Political Resident;throughout the file, minutes of the approximately monthly meetings held by the Bahrain Radio Listeners Committee between July 1942 and August 1943. The minutes chiefly comprise comments on the content, quality of reception, quality of delivery, and timing, of BBC Arabic radio broadcasts, and to a lesser extent that of the Persian Gulf radio station;throughout the file, summaries of ‘talking points’ for dissemination as propaganda, focusing on topics including: Russia’s military strength against Germany (ff 42-43); facts and figures of the air war in the Mediterranean (ff 135-136); facts and figures on the Allied bombing campaign over Germany, with a focus on damage in Berlin and Essen (f 173);a report by Thomas of his tour of Middle East publicity centres (in Cairo, Jerusalem, Baghdad), dated 28 February 1943, commenting on: printing resources at Cairo; mechanical monitoring of radio broadcasts in Baghdad; use of cinema vans in remote districts of Iraq; Thomas’s own recommendations for publicity in the Gulf, including use of additional film projectors, hospitality sessions; majlis sessions (ff 11-16);a copy of an undated letter from L H Hurst of the Ministry of Information in London, to Thomas, requesting advice on ‘the best ways of capitalising the sympathies of pro-British Arabs.’ Thomas’s lengthy reply is appended to the letter (ff 47-51, with an additional copy at ff 59-64);correspondence relating to Thomas’s planned trip across the Arabian Peninsula, in March 1943 (ff 141-156);correspondence relating to Thomas’s departure to take up a role as head of an Arab Centre for training new officers (f 227);arrangements to send coloured film and records for broadcast in Sharjah (f 202);Government of Bahrain public notices: a prohibition on listening to German and Italian radio broadcasts, dated 16 June 1940 (f 5); a prohibition on listening to Japanese radio broadcasts, dated 8 December 1941 (f 6); dimming of car headlamps and other air raid precautions, dated 16 April 1942 (f 22).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 343; 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 2-314; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 315-342.
64. ‘File 28/7 III Public opinion and general publicity’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file, a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/7 II War: Propaganda – Local Opinion’ (IOR/R/15/2/688), comprises weekly reports describing local public opinion in Bahrain, in relation to events and the general course of the war, both in Europe and the Far East, covering the period from the Allied victory in Normandy (August 1944), to Victory in Europe (VE) Day (May 1945), and including comments on events in the Middle East, Egypt and Saudi Arabia’s declaration of war against the Axis powers, Russia’s progress into Germany, and the ongoing war against Japan. The principal correspondent in the file is the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham). The file comprises copies of the weekly reports, prepared by Political Agency staff, which were sent onwards in digested form by the Political Agent to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 77; 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 2-58; 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 at the back (ff 72-76) have been paginated using pencil.
65. ‘File 28/8 War. Evacuation of Bushire’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises correspondence relating to British officials’ fears of the possibility of a German coup in Iran, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf’s (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior) proposals for the evacuation of Bushire, should circumstance necessitate it. The file contains a letter from Prior to the Secretary to the Government of India, Olaf Kirkpatrick Kruuse Caroe, dated 31 May 1940, outlining his proposal to station a company of Indian Infantry at Bahrain, which can be moved to Bushire by Imperial Airways seaplane or by sloop at short notice (ff 4-6). The file also contains: a circular from the British Minister at Tehran, Reader William Bullard, to all British Consuls in Iran, dated 21 May 1940, informing them of the risk of German activity in Iran, and recommending the burning of ‘unostentatiously secret papers’ and the preparation of plans to burn cyphers and current confidential papers (f 7); Prior’s reply to Bullard’s circular, dated 23 May 1940, noting that there is only one German in Bushire town, that British position there is secure, and that he can send cars to Shiraz to assist in any evacuation there if required (f 9).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 3-11; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
66. ‘File 28/10 (a) War. Foreigners, Anti-British Activities, etc. Father Irzio Luigi Magliacani (Roman Catholic Priest in Bahrain)’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises correspondence relating to the presence in Bahrain during the War of an Italian Roman Catholic priest, Irzio Luigi Magliacani. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior; Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Crawshaw Galloway); and the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Major Tom Hickinbotham; Cornelius James Pelly).The file includes:correspondence dated 1940, including: the Political Agent in Bahrain’s assent, in June 1940, to Magliacani remaining in Bahrain (f 3); arrangements to deport Magliacani during October and November 1940, in response to the Italian bombing raid on Bahrain on 19 October 1940. The deportation order (f 11, f 14) was made because the Political Agent in Bahrain could not guarantee Magliacani’s personal safety, rather than Magliacani himself representing a threat to Bahrain (ff 3-23);correspondence dated 1944, relating to an application from the Archbishop of Agra, India, for Magliacani to return to Bahrain, in the wake of Italy’s surrender, and Magliacani having been released from the Central Internment Camp in India (f 24). This portion of the file includes copies of correspondence in Italian (ff 35-40, with English translations at ff 43-48), dated between 11 May 1931 and 22 April 1939, addressed to Magliacani, from various correspondents, including Camillo Guiriati, Italian Consular General in Calcutta [Kolkata], Leo Pollini, Director of the Istituto Fascista di Cultura in Milan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome. The correspondence was, according to a note in the file (f 34) found in Magliacani’s boxes during a search conducted on 25 July [1944]. Letters from the Security Office at Bahrain and the Bahrain Government state they have no objection to Magliacani’s return (f 29, f 31). A letter from the Political Resident to the Political Agent at Bahrain, dated 27 July 1944, states that it is too early for Axis subjects to return to the Arab sheikhdoms, and that permission for Magliacani’s return must be refused (f 41);correspondence from 1947 and 1948 relating to a further application for Magliacani’s return to Bahrain, with no objections offered by the Bahrain Government (ff 49-60).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 66; 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 3-57; 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 at the back (ff 61-65) have been paginated using pencil.
67. ‘File 28/10-(d) Tirath Das (Agent of Messrs. Dhamanmal Issardas in Dubai)’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and memoranda relating to allegations of anti-British sentiments expressed by Tiradas Dhamanmal, manager of Indian trading agents Dhamanmal Isardas of Dubai, and the Political Agent at Bahrain’s orders to have Dhamanmal expelled from the Trucial Coast and sent back to India. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman) and the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Khan Sahib Saiyid ‘Abd Al Razzaq).The file includes: extracts of memoranda between the Political Agent and Residency Agent, reporting allegations of the anti-British sentiments expressed by Dhamanmal, and the decision to send Dhamanmal back to India (ff 2-5); letters from Tiradas Dhamanmal and representatives of Dhamanmal Isardas, denying the claims and asking that the Political Agent reconsider his ruling (ff 6-7); the Political Agent’s rejection of Tiradas Dhamanmal’s plea, and the Residency Agent’s report that Dhamanmal has left for India (ff 8-11).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 2-11; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
68. ‘File 28/12 Establishment of Contraband Control Centre’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and other papers relating to the transport and trade in contraband goods through the Gulf during the Second World War, with particular reference to the trade in goods of enemy origin or destination. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior); the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham) and the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (including Commodore Cosmo Moray Graham).The file includes:correspondence dated late 1939, relating to a request from the Government of India for information on the trade in wool in the Persian Gulf, the reply from the Residency Agent at Sharjah being that there is no export trade, only a small import trade of goat hair from Persia (ff 3-7);correspondence dated 1940, relating to a proposal from the Admiralty for the institution of a Contraband Intelligence Centre in the Gulf, based at Bahrain, and intended to monitor trade outside the Shatt-al-Arab. The proposal is made in response to the completion of the railway line from Istanbul to Basra, and fears that goods could be shipped from the Far East, through the Persian Gulf, and onwards overland into Europe (ff 14-30);correspondence relating to a number of separate intelligence reports suggesting that various goods, including German dyestuffs and parachute silk, were being traded through the Persian Gulf for enemy purposes (ff 27-33);detention and release in January 1941 of the vessel Puerto Ricanat Bahrain (ff 42-49);in 1941, correspondence relating to the use of Gulf ports, including Kuwait and Dubai, to re-forward goods to Iraq, Syria and Beirut (ff 51-55);in 1942, correspondence marked most secret relating to intercepted messages instructing an increase in rug exports from Dubai, and British suspicions that rugs, not actually exported from Dubai, may be a code for tea, sugar or textiles (ff 57-60);correspondence (ff 62-90) relating to intelligence reports that German agents are shipping drugs and other contraband on dhows travelling from Goa to Basra, including reports of specific vessels to be stopped and searched. A copy of a report from the Collector of Salt Revenue at Bombay, dated 5 February 1943 (ff 89-90) provides details of the nature and methods allegedly being used to smuggle contraband through the Persian Gulf;in 1945, correspondence relating to instructions from the Naval Officer-in-Charge at Karachi to stop and search vessels at Gwadar (ff 92-105).The file notes (ff 116-127) reference correspondence, some of which relates to the import of tea, which is no longer included in the file, having been moved to other files (File 29 War: Food Supplies, IOR/R/15/2/766-794).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 128; 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 incomplete foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-111 and a mixed foliation/pagination sequence is present in the file notes at the back (ff 116-127); these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
69. ‘File 28/13 Black out and A.R.P. [Air Raid Precaution] measures in Bahrain’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence, copies of official notices and regulations, and other papers, relating to air raid precautions and passive air defence measures taken in Bahrain throughout the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent in Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave); the Port Director at Bahrain (Claud Cranbrook Lewis DeGrenier, who also occasionally writes in the capacity of Acting Adviser to the Government of Bahrain); the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (SNOPG); the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf (Major H T Hewitt); various representatives of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO).The file includes:discussion between officials in May 1940 of arrangements for the dowsing of BAPCO flares, and the assessment that the risk of an air raid in Bahrain is sufficiently low to not require extensive blackout plans (ff 2-12);correspondence issued in the immediate wake of an Italian bombing raid at Bahrain and Dhahran on 19 October 1940, relating to the enforcement of blackout procedures at the BAPCO refinery, in Manama and Muharraq and at the Bahrain port. Papers include: official notices (issued by the Political Agency, Government of Bahrain, BAPCO) of blackout procedure (including dimming of car headlamps; extinguishing of port navigation lights; operation of refinery without gas flares); reports by the Assistant Political Agent, assessing the effectiveness of the blackout from the air; formulation of an emergency medical aid scheme for Bahrain (ff 13-79);correspondence, dated May 1941, concerning night-time flying boat services at Bahrain, and restrictions on lighting for these services (ff 106-111);correspondence dated between July and October 1941, concerning the relaxing of the existing blackout regulations, in light of the diminished threat to Bahrain from enemy air raids. Papers include: official notices of the relaxation of measures, issued by the Political Agency and Government of Bahrain (ff 117-139);correspondence, between March and November 1942, relating to the renewed threat of air raids at Bahrain, including: correspondence relating to instructions in dealing with incendiary bombs; extracts from newspapers ( The Statesman, the Bahrain Newspaper) and a journal ( Indian Information) relating to air raid risks and precautions at Bahrain, including lessons learnt in the wake of Japanese air raids on Rangoon [Yangon]; minutes of the meetings of the Bahrain ARP committee; air raid warning procedure; telephone and radio communications in the event of air raid warnings received at Bahrain; ARP practice; the visit to Bahrain of Home Office ARP expert Lucas Webster (ff 145-257);announcement in December 1942 of a relaxation of blackout restrictions at Bahrain (ff 259-265);correspondence in early 1943, relating to the lifting of regulations on the dimming of car headlamps in Bahrain (ff 276-277);official announcement in June 1943 of the lifting of all blackout regulations in Bahrain (ff 287-293).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 316; 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 2-296; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file notes at the back (ff 297-315) have been paginated using pencil.
70. ‘File 28/14-Annexe. Ship warrants (routine file).’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence and other papers relating to the issue of ship’s warrants and other shipping regulations applicable to oil tankers passing through Bahrain during wartime. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Chief Local Representative of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) (Milton H Lipp; Roger Anthony Kennedy; Ward P Anderson) and the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban).The file includes:two signed statements by the Chief Local Representative (Lipp) relating to restrictions on BAPCO tankers calling at certain ports unless provided with a Navicert by the appropriate British authority (ff 2-4, ff 5-7);throughout the file, copies of temporary ship warrants issued at Bahrain, and returned to the Political Agent by the Chief Local Representative of BAPCO. Each warrant indicates the name of the vessel, the flag under which it flies, its gross registered tonnage, and its owners or charter, and is signed and dated by the Political Agent;copies of temporary warrants and documentation issued by other authorities: the Commissioner of Customs for Kenya and Uganda (f 17); and His Majesty’s Consul at Port Said (f 31);other correspondence relating to ship’s warrants, including requests for the renewal of warrants, and ships without warrants requiring facilities at Bahrain;a note from the Political Agent at Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Crawshaw Galloway) to the Chief Local Representative of BAPCO, dated 24 March 1946, stating that all ship warrants which have been extended for the duration of the war will remain valid until such time as the ship warrant scheme is discontinued (f 75).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 81; 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 2-73 and ff 2-19 respectively; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
71. ‘File 28/14 War. Ship warrant scheme’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and other papers relating to the implementation of a Ship’s Warrant Scheme by the Government of India, intended to restrict access to British port facilities during wartime to vessels that are either British, or belong to the British Commonwealth, the United States, or Britain’s allies. Vessels without a warrant would be subject to delays and inconveniences in relation to the provision of pilots and berths at British ports.The file includes:copies of telegrams and extracts of letters, issued by the Government of India’s Commerce Department, relating to the implementation and rules of the Ship’s Warrant Scheme, including: detail of what countries were included/excluded from the scheme (ff 7-9); copies of the warrant, with its wording (ff 20-21); the sale of Admiralty charts under the warrant scheme (f 16); treatment of vessels without warrants (ff 24-25); changes to status of Greek, Japanese and Russian vessels in relation to the scheme and progress of the War; expiration and renewal of warrants (f 52); enforcement of the warrant scheme at Bahrain by the Bahrain port authorities and Political Agent (f 54), including an official note announcing that provision of commercial shipping facilities at Bahrain cannot be given without prior reference to the Political Agent (f 57); reports suggesting that enemy exports are being transported to Japan on board the Japanese naval vessel Asaka Maru, which should not enter a British port unless it submits to examination for enemy exports (f 60);correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban), the Chief Local Representative of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Roger Anthony Kennedy), and tanker owners (including the Balboa Tanker Corporation and the Foreign Tankship Corporation), concerning the issue of warrants for oil tankers at Bahrain.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 81; 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 incomplete foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-74; 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 at the back (ff 75-80) have been paginated using pencil.
72. ‘File 28/15 Submarine Menace’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file comprises correspondence and other papers relating to enemy submarine activity in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman throughout the War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham); the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast (POTC: Captain Roy Douglas Metcalfe; Captain Maurice O’Connor Tandy); and the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (SNOPG: Commodore Cosmo Moray Graham; Commodore Charles Ford Hammill).The file includes:various reports of sightings of enemy submarines (f 4, f 14, ff 48-52);the ramming and sinking of the Italian submarine Galvaniby HMS Falmouth, off the Oman coast in June 1940 (f 2);correspondence and memoranda relating to the import from India into Bahrain and the Trucial Coast of distilled water, which might indicate the possible presence in the area of an enemy submarine (distilled water being required for repairs to submarine batteries) (ff 5-10). Government of India correspondence raises concerns over distilled water imports into Bahrain by Khalil bin Ebrahim Kanoo [Khalīl Ibrāhīm Kānū], though the Political Agent writes that Kanoo imports his water for car servicing and is above suspicion (ff 16-17). Further imports of distilled water into Bahrain and the Trucial Coast are closely monitored (ff 19-24, f 30);reports of a heavy explosion off the coast of Kalba in January 1941, with fresh oil seen on the sea shortly thereafter (ff 25-26);a note on enemy submarine activity off the Mekran [Makran] coast, prepared by H K Dawson Shepherd of the Combined Intelligence Centre Iraq (CICI), dated 14 February 1943, with details on: German and Japanese interests in Persia; German agents in Persia; reports of a German submarine landing arms at Jask; the possibility of U-Boats making contact with the Persian coast (ff 33-34);investigation into the background of a resident of Khor Fakkan [Khawr Fakkān] in November 1943, believed to have pro-Axis sympathies, and whose presence at Khor Fakkan is considered suspicious in light of the sinking of a submarine off the coast of Khor Fakkan (f 37). A report by the POTC reveals that no pro-Axis connections or suspicious activities have been discovered (ff 35-36, f 43);a request by the SNOPG, 17 November 1943, to investigate the Danish employees of a fish canning factory at Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], some of whom may hold pro-German sympathies (f 39).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. Paginated: the file notes at the back (ff 54-57) have been paginated using pencil.