Abstract: The file comprises copies of correspondence relating to a financial gift made to the British Government by the Ruler of Bahrain, and a fund set up for the purchase of fighter plans for the Persian Gulf:correspondence relating to the receipt and cashing of a gift of £30,000 made by the Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, to the British Government towards the costs of the war. In a letter to the Secretary of State for India, dated 23 February 1941 (f 10) the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior) notes that the Italian radio station at Bari has announced that the Shaikh would ‘receive another visit from Italian bombers in return for his gift’;correspondence from the Political Resident to the India Office, dated 18 February 1941 (f 8), remitting a sum of £10,000 from the Persian Gulf Fighter Fund towards the purchase of two fighters, which the Resident requests be named
Bahrainand
Kuwaitrespectively. The Resident writes that the presentation of the first of the fighters is to be broadcast from Bahrain in Arabic on 20 February 1941, and requests a suitable mention on the BBC’s Arabic broadcast. The Resident also states that though British subjects on the Persian side of the Gulf have contributed ‘considerable sums’, he has not publicised this fact, and suggests that mention only be made of contributions from ‘Arab population British subjects and other communities 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 12; 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 between ff 2-10; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
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.
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.
Abstract: The file comprises telegrams, letters and other papers responding to the military operations carried out by British forces against Iraqi forces in Iraq between 2 and 31 May 1941, as part of the campaign widely referred to as the Anglo-Iraqi War, and the political aftermath of the War, concluding with Iraq’s declaration of war against Germany and the other Axis powers. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior), and the Political Agent at Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield).The file includes:telegraphic updates sent by the Political Resident and Political Agent on developments in Iraq (f 7, f 13, f 28);correspondence concerning changing spheres of British military command (land and air) during the conflict (f 3, f 6);correspondence concerning the reception of propaganda at Bahrain from Baghdad and Berlin; BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) broadcasts as a source of information on developments in Iraq; British counter-propaganda; anti-British sentiment in Bahrain (f 4, f 10, f 12, f 21, f 27);correspondence relating to concerns over Iraqis at Bahrain, including those employed as NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers) for the Bahrain Defence Force, and Iraqi Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) employees (f 8, ff 14-16);a translated copy of a statement addressed to ‘His Royal Highness The Regent Prince Abdul Ilah Amman [‘Abd al-llah]’ by the ‘Iraqi Community of Bahrain’, dated 20 May 1941 (f 26);a telegraphic message of support for ‘His Royal Highness Abdulilah’ from ‘Hamad AlKhalifah’ [Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah], undated (ff 35-36);correspondence dated 1943, referring to the state of war existing between Iraq and Germany, Italy and Japan as of 17 January 1943 (ff 39-43);a copy of a booklet entitled
Documents relating to the adherence of Iraq to the Declaration of the United Nations, signed at Washington on 2nd January 1942, printed by the Government Press at Baghdad, 1943 (ff 45-55).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 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 present in parallel between ff 2-44; 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 relating to reports about and enquiries made into individuals at Bahrain, or travelling to Bahrain, and allegations of their anti-British activities. The principal correspondents in the file are the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban), and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave).1941 correspondence includes: enquires made by the Political Agent to the Adviser, requesting information or action against individuals alleged to have expressed anti-British views, or listened to Berlin or Bari radio broadcasts (ff 5-8); information from the Middle East Intelligence Centre concerning an individual travelling to Bahrain, who has spent a year in the United States and who is said to have expressed pro-Palestine/Iraq and anti-British sympathies (f 17); the Adviser’s responses to each of these cases (ff 10-12, f 21), providing background information on the named individuals, and advising caution in taking action against any of them without substantive evidence; correspondence from the External Affairs Department at Simla to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior), dated 14 May 1941, enclosing an extract from Intelligence No. 7 of 1941 for the period 1 to 15 April 1941 (ff 24-25), requesting information on what action has been taken with regard to those points concerning Bahrain, and the Political Agent’s response to these points (ff 28-29).The last item in the file is a letter from the Political Agent (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield) to Major S Hills, DCRE [Deputy Commander of the Royal Engineers] Bahrain, dated 22 June 1942, informing him that three Iraqi masons currently working on the oil refinery protection plan are said to have expressed anti-British sentiments, and would rather destroy than assist in the protection of the refinery oil tanks (f 35).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 36; 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.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence and other papers related to anti-British and pro-German propaganda being disseminated at Sharjah, and specifically that being allegedly spread by the Ruler of Sharjah’s Secretary, Abdullah bin Faris. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman; Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban) and the Residency Agent at Sharjah (Khan Sahib Saiyid ‘Abd al-Razzaq).The file includes:the Residency Agent’s reports on propaganda activities at Sharjah, dated July 1940, including anti-British statements made by the Ruler of Sharjah’s secretary, Abdullah bin Faris, and one report enclosing a number of poems (in Arabic original and English translation), two of which are pro-British in tone (ff 10-11, ff 13-14), and another, apparently written by the Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī, which is pro-German in tone (f 12, f 15);a petition, signed by forty-eight inhabitants of Sharjah who are of Arabic, Iranian and Indian origin (Arabic original f 40, English translation ff 23-24) affirming that the Abdullah bin Faris is ‘the greatest supporter’ of the British Government;further correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain, the Residency Agent at Sharjah, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior), concerning reports that the signatures on the petition supporting Abdullah bin Faris were obtained by misrepresentation, and a circular, sent to those British (Indian) subjects at Sharjah who signed the petition, dated 16 October 1940, ensuring that they were fully aware of what they had signed (ff 38-39);letters sent by the Political Agent at Bahrain to the Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī, warning him against the spread of anti-British propaganda in Sharjah, with replies from Shaikh Sultan (ff 21-24, ff 44-45).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 50; 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 3-48; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This item comprises a despatch (undated but probably 16 January 1857) containing three copies of the
Bombay Government Gazette, Extraordinary Issue, published 15 January 1857, announcing the ‘unresisted’ occupation of Karrack [Kharg Island, also known as Khark] on 4 December and the surrender of Bushire [Bushehr] on 10 December ‘after an ineffectual opposition’, and praising the conduct of the military and naval forces and their commanders.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 22 dated 2 February 1857. The enclosures are dated 12-29 January 1857.The papers comprise:A letter from the Adjutant-General of the Army, to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, regarding the capitulation of Bushire [Bushehr], and conveying approbation for: the conduct of the campaign and particular senior officers; the co-operation between the military and naval forces; and the gallantry and endurance of officers and soldiers, including the ‘Hindoo’ [Hindu] soldiersThe Second Supplement to the
Bombay Government Gazette, published 29 January 1857, adding the names of officers which were omitted from the first list of commendations for distinguished serviceTwo Resolutions of the Board: commending Major-General Foster Stalker, Commanding the Persian Expeditionary Force, in operations leading to the surrender of Bushire, and all the officers and men serving in the Persian Field force; and regarding the issue of instructions to Richard Ethersey, Commander of the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf, for the protection of Bassadore [Basaidu, Qeshm Island] as both a coaling and communications stationTwo letters from the Secretary to the Government of India to the Secretary to Government, Bombay, regarding: the disposal of guns captured from the Persians [Iranians]; the importance of protecting Bassadore; and the appointment of Commander James Felix Jones, Political Agent with the Forces, as Civil Commissioner in the town of Bushire.Physical description: 1 item (11 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises one enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 15 dated 27 January 1857. The enclosure is dated 27 January 1857.The enclosure comprises despatches, dated 9-23 December 1856, of Charles A Murray, HM Envoy in Persia [Iran] (located in Baghdad at this time), for the attention of the Earl of Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. A number of Murray’s despatches enclose translated extracts of the
Tehran Gazette, 6 and 27 November, which Murray summarizes and provides his opinion on in his covering letters to Clarendon.The papers notably cover the following matters:The capture and occupation of Herat by Persian forces, including the Persian Government’s claims to have been preventing Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzay] from taking the city in collusion with Colonel Esau Khan [Colonel ‘Īsá Khān, an Alakuzā'ī chief of Herat and nephew of Dost Mahomed], and proposing to give up Herat on condition that the three principalities – Candahar [Kandahar], Afghanistan and Herat - remain independent of each other and subservient to PersiaThe extensive power and ‘nepotism’ of the Persian Sedr Azim [Mīrzā Āqā Khān Nūrī, Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam, Eʿtemād al-Dawlah], including the appointment of his ‘21 or 22 years of age’ son as Persian Minister at War (ff 245-246)The lavish welcome receptions granted to the French minister Prosper Bourée at Tabreez [Tabriz], and to Count Arthur de Gobineau, French Chargé d’Affaires at TehranThe withdrawal from Persia of the British Consul in Tehran, Richard White Stevens, and Persian allegations of Stevens’s ‘duplicitous’ departure and the debts owed to Persian citizens by his brotherIntelligence forwarded by Murray from reports of unverified conversations of the Persian Consul in Baghdad, including claims that the Persian Government is sending large reinforcements to Mohamrah [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah] and to Herat (to facilitate a march on Candahar), and claims that an agent of Russia is being sent to HeratA pro-Persian story published in a Belgian newspaper alleging that the Persian Government desires friendship with the British Government, and blaming the deterioration of relations between the two governments on the actions of British representatives in the region.Physical description: 1 item (26 folios)
Abstract: Correspondence and other papers relating to the presence of Axis-country nationals in Persia [Iran] and Iraq at the beginning of the Second World War. Subjects covered include: German activities in Iraq, reported by the British Ambassador at Baghdad, Basil Cochrane Newton; Germans in Persia, including the German ‘colony’ in Tehran; reports of the movements of suspected German agents from India to Persia and Afghanistan; the Persian Government’s declaration of neutrality in 1939; the internment of German nationals in Iraq; the arrest of a Persian journalist named Saif Azad [Abdulrahman Saif] suspected of pro-Nazi sympathies; German propaganda in the Middle East; a summary of a memorandum written by Dr Herbert Melzig of the University of Angora [Ankara] on the activities of the German Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda in the Near East (ff 123-125); the translation of a second memorandum written by Melzig entitled
The Swastika in the East(ff 126-134); reports of German and Italian vessels and crews in the Gulf, circulated by the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Squadron and the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf; the defence of oil refinery facilities at Abadan; increasing tensions in Iraq and Iran in early 1941, in response to German military successes in Europe and North Africa. The file’s principal correspondents are: HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran, Horace James Seymour succeeded by Reader William Bullard; and the Foreign 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 (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 232; 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.
Abstract: The file contains papers, mostly correspondence, relating to the use of illustrations for propaganda purposes during the Second World War.It includes correspondence regarding a request from the Ministry of Information for photographs for the Middle East edition of a proposed fortnightly
War Pictorialpublication, and for the Arabic
Listener(which they hoped would soon be produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)).The file also includes correspondence in connection with another letter from the Ministry of Information to the India Office, seeking the latter’s advice as to whether enclosed coloured portraits of Emir Abdullah of Transjordan [IOR/L/PS/12/3942, f 21], the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [IOR/L/PS/12/3942, f 22], and the Shaikh of Bahrein [Bahrain] [IOR/L/PS/12/3942, f 23] should be used for distribution on a large scale in the Middle East, especially in the Hadhramaut and the Persian Gulf.In addition, the file includes a black and white photograph of Khan Sahib Said Abdul Razzak al Razzuki, Residency Agent, Sharjah, whom the text typed on the back of the photograph states was a native of Kowait [Kuwait] [IOR/L/PS/12/3942, f 31]. The main correspondents are the India Office, the Ministry of Information, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior).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 (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 32, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence and other papers relating to the famine that affected Persia [Iran] during the First World War (specifically the years 1917 and 1918) and attempts made by British officials in Persia to alleviate the effects of famine. The file includes: reports from British officials of famine conditions in Shiraz (from early 1917), Meshed [Mashhad] (January 1918) and Tehran (February 1918); speculation concerning the impact of British and Indian troops in Persia on food shortages; arrangements for the import of 1,000 tonnes of flour to Shiraz from India; the subsidy of bakers in Shiraz; discussion of how the costs of the relief effort should be split between the British and Indian Governments; food relief at Hamadan, including for Russian soldiers; relief at Ispahan [Isfahan] for Armenian refugees. Much of the correspondence makes clear the ‘valuable political effect that would result from extended relief work carried out under British auspices’ (f 82), that the British Government hoped could be obtained by it being seen to be helping a Persian population affected by famine. The file’s principal correspondents include: HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Tehran, Charles Murray Marling; the Foreign Office; HM Treasury.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (f 4).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 163; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.