‘File 28/46-I Miscellaneous war requirements’

Content

The file comprises correspondence associated with a miscellaneous assortment of matters arising in wartime Bahrain:

• an enquiry from the Government of India in November 1942, for 2,600 mother of pearl shells, which are required by the Superintendent at the Mathematical Instrument Office in Calcutta [Kolkata], including: enquiries into the availability of the shells at Bahrain and on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ; the nature of the ‘Sadaify’ shells required; Indian demand for mother of pearl (ff 2-11, f 29);
• proposals to bring criminal charges against a Bahrain trader, accused of undersupplying coral towards the construction of a jetty for the Royal Navy at Jeddah [Jiddah] Island, including statements made by the trader, and the dropping of claims after the trader withdrew his financial claims (ff 12-18, f 23, ff 30-32);
• correspondence dated from March 1943 relating to arrangements for Major S Hills of the Royal Engineers, to rent a house owned by Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad [‘Abdullāh bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah] (ff 19-22, ff 24-28);
• correspondence dated September 1944 relating to delays in the despatch of a Government telegram, a result of human error at the Cable and Wireless office in Bahrain (ff 41-47);
• correspondence dated September 1944 relating to: an aeroplane accident at Muharraq, arrangements for Major Dalton of the United States Air Training Corps to meet the Ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah, flying of the United States flag at Muharraq (ff 51-57);
• correspondence and witness statements relating to a drunken brawl in November 1944, involving an oil worker (ff 59-68);

The file also includes: sale of Naafi (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) cigarettes to civilians (f 33); alcohol imports at the Bahrain Petroleum Company (ff 34-36); PAIFORCE (Persia and Iraq Force) telegrams concerning anti-locust operations (ff 38-39); a photograph of Shaikh Muḥammad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah in the Egyptian newspaper Bourse Egyptienne (ff 49-50); a request for mineral analysis of a rock collected at Jabal Akjdar, Oman (ff 69-70).

The title on the file cover originally read ’Miscellaneous war requirements’. However, the word ‘requirements’ was struck through in blue pencil, possibly while the file was open.

Extent and format

1 file (75 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 73-76) 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 77; 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 2-72; 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 73-75; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in

English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic 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/15/2/741

Former external reference(s)

Confidential Files: 28/46 I

History of this record

Date(s)

26 Nov 1942-27 Nov 1944 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Mother-of-pearlRented accommodationSecond World War (1939-1945)Coral

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‘File 28/46-I Miscellaneous war requirements’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/741, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000241.0x000089> [accessed 23 April 2024]

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