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‘File 7/27 Closing down of Royal Air Force station, Muharraq in 1947 and arrangements for maintaining and servicing Muharraq aerodrome’ [‎10r] (23/40)

The record is made up of 1 file (17 folios). It was created in 14 Apr 1947-17 Nov 1947. It was written in English. The original is part of the 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. .

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/o
Ministry of Civil Aviation,
Ariel House,
Strand,
Ref :R.43104/47/ji , G2 London, '7.0.2.
6th October, 1947-«
Dear Harrison,
To meet the situation created by the gradual
withdrawal of R.A.^• staff from various aerodromes over
seas this Ministry has been discussing wita the Air
Ministry a plan for joint operation of a number of main
staging posts along the iCmpire Trunk routes. In effect
this has meant that the civil authorities concerned have
undertaken to provide civil control and a#radio staff
to take over from the R.A.the facilities which they
were operating during the war and have continued to oper
ate for R .a. F. and civil purposes up to the present.
Whereas in some colonies the local government
has been able to assume responsibility for the provision
of the civil staff> there are certain stations, including
those in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. area, where M.C.a . has had to
take direct responsibility for the provision of the
necessary civil staff. This has been done, in most
cases, through the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of either B.O. a .G . or Internation
al Aerad io Ltd. (a Company formed by the three British
Airways Corporations to take over, where appropriate, the
operation of civil aviation ground services.) The expend
iture involved will be a direct charge on M.C.a. Votes
and we had therefore to obtain the Treasury^ approval
to our proposals. Whilst they were prepared to agree
that there was no alternative method of providing the
necessary technical staff, they have suggested that in the
case of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Stations, we should discuss
witn you the possibility of recovering some part of the
cost from the local Shaikhs, This suggestion is based
on the assumption, derived from the Chicago Convention,
that each Governroent should provide the ground facilities
required in its territory for international air navigation.
This assumption has been accepted in the case of the
Colonies and we are now discussing with the Colonial
Governments the division of the cost of providing trunk
route facilities in their territories between local and
U.K. funds.
We are not in a position to say how much oenefit
the Shaikhs of Bahrain ana oharjah obtain from the operation
of British trunk route services through their territories
nor how much it would be reasonable to ask them to contri
bute towards the cost. v/e must, therefore, seek your
advice on whether we can expect a^y contribution fro/; them,
before replying to the treasury. <<e do appreciate, how
ever, that as we have to pay for the privilege of operating
aerodromes in these territories our chances of obtaining
any contributions from the Shaikhs must be very small even
if it can be established that they derive considerable
benefit from the operation of the services.
Yours sincerely,
3d. L.S* MILLS*
i? 1 . a .K .Harrison, Jsq.,
Commonwealth Relations Office,
.Vhitehallj S.W.I.
/

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Content

The file’s correspondence and other papers relate to the cessation of Royal Air Force (RAF) activities at Muharraq, as well as at Sharjah. Correspondence takes place between the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. and 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. , and various representatives of the RAF and civil aviation authorities. The correspondence covers issues such as the reduction of an RAF workforce at Muhurraq to fifteen men, the question of who will take on responsibility for the aerodrome at Muharraq (the Arabian American Oil Company, the Bahrain Government, the British Overseas Airways Corporation), and the viability of maintaining a ‘first-class’ airfield at Muharraq.

Extent and format
1 file (17 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest items at the front of the file to the latest at the end. Circled index numbers written using blue/red crayon can be found throughout the file, and refer to the office notes at the end of the file (folios 16-17).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The main foliation sequence begins on the front cover and ends on the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, and can be found 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. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1, 1A, and 1B.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘File 7/27 Closing down of Royal Air Force station, Muharraq in 1947 and arrangements for maintaining and servicing Muharraq aerodrome’ [‎10r] (23/40), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/289, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023233601.0x000018> [accessed 19 March 2024]

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