‘File 28/28-(i) Military requirements (purchases etc. for the army)’

Content

The file contains copies of correspondence and other papers relating to the acquisition of oil industry equipment and supplies from the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC) and the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), for use by British military headquarters at Basra, Iraq (later referred to as PAIFORCE: Persia and Iraq Force), the Defence Department of the Government of India, or by other oil interests, including the Office of the Petroleum Division at the British Embassy in Baghdad (represented by H S Bowlby), and the Assam Oil Company in India. Principal correspondents in the file include: the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); representatives of CASOC (chiefly Floyd William Ohliger and Charles E Davis); the Chief Local Representative of BAPCO (chiefly Milton H Lipp and Ward P Anderson).

The file includes:

• correspondence dated May 1942 relating to the arrival in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia of Major W H C Travers of the Royal Engineers, who is charged with inspecting, and has the authorisation to purchase, any oil industry equipment required for military operations at Basra (ff 2-7);
• subsequent correspondence relating to requests for specific equipment, such as motor vehicles, tractors, cranes, wagons, motor spares, piping, welding machines, etc.;
• correspondence relating to the purchase or rent of such equipment, including: copies of statements of order; purchase orders; invoices from either CASOC and BAPCO; requests for money transfer, requisition; conditions of sale;
• correspondence relating to the movement of purchased or hired equipment, including: arrangements for collection, including correspondence relating to the permission required from the Saudi Arabian Government to export equipment belonging to CASOC, in use in Saudi Arabia; arrangements for shipping; confirmation of receipt;
• correspondence dated January 1942 relating to an enquiry made by Major S Hill of the Royal Engineers, of the practicalities of constructing fifty pontoons at the BAPCO facilities in Bahrain (ff 72-74);
• an assessment, written by Major S Hills, dated June 1942, of the practicalities of extracting 10,000 tonnes of coral at Bahrain for export to Basra (f 81-83).

Extent and format

1 file (305 folios)

Arrangement

The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 289-306) mirror the chronological arrangement.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 307; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-306; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/R/15/2/718

Former external reference(s)

Confidential Files: 28/28 I

History of this record

Date(s)

18 May 1941-29 Jan 1943 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Petroleum industrySecond World War (1939-1945)ExportsEquipmentMilitary equipment

Places

Dhahran

People & organisations

Arabian American Oil CompanyBahrain Petroleum Company, Chief Local RepresentativePetroleum DivisionRoyal Engineers

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Cite this record in your research

‘File 28/28-(i) Military requirements (purchases etc. for the army)’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/718, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000241.0x00006f> [accessed 19 April 2024]

Link to this record

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