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'File 61/11 X (D 170) Nejd-Hejaz Miscellaneous' [148r] (308/554)
The record is made up of 1 volume (270 folios). It was created in 20 Jan 1942-26 Jun 1945. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
V
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVER
h
ARABIA. February 24, 1943.
CONFIDENTIAL .
(16333)
[E 1102/1102/25]
Mr. Wikeley to Mr. Eden.—{Received February 24.)
(No. 8.)
Sir, Jedda, January 27, 1943.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith my annual summary of events in
Saudi Arabia during the year 1942.
2. I am sending copies of this despatch to the Minister of State in Cairo and
the Middle East Intelligence Centre.
I have, &c.
T. WIKELEY.
Enclosure.
Annual Summary of Events in Saudi Arabia during 1942.
IBN SAUD'S despotic yet kindly hand has guided his country through yet
another year. Time treats the King gently. His mind remains keen, his states
manship is unimpaired and his warm humanity grows greater with the passing
years. He continues to wield absolute control over his people and country.
2. Throughout 1942 the King continued' his unfaltering support of His
Majesty's Government and the Allied cause. It is true that he refused to declare
war on the Axis when sounded on this point by His Majesty's Minister at Riyadh
in February, but his refusal arose from his conviction that both the interests of
his country and of His Majesty's Government were best served by his remaining
neutral. He argued that his influence in the Arab and Moslem world, and there
fore his utility to His Majesty's Government, could not but be diminished! were
he openly to take sides with us. If he declared war, people would say he had
lost his independence and had become just a puppet in His Majbsty's Govern
ment's hands. He also felt that, as guardian of the holy places of Islam, he
could not expose the Holy Land to the risks and! horrors of war. His Majesty's
Government saw the force of these arguments and did not press the matter
further.
3. Ibn Saud's decision appears, so far, to have been the right one. His
influence in the Arab lands beyond his frontiers is as great as ever (and, indeed,
greater since our victories in North Africa have vindicated his policy), and that
influence has consistently been used on our behalf. He has repeatedly advised
Arab leaders, particularly in Syria, not to embarrass His Majesty's Government
when they have their hands full elsewhere, and he is always telling them that only
by British advice and assistance can the Arabs hope for liberty and a decent life
in future.
4. In many other ways Ibn Saud's loyalty to His Majesty's Government has
been manifest throughout the year. He has frequently communicated to us
information regarding the situation in Europe and elsewhere obtained from his
agents abroad; he has given us two machines of his tiny air force in the hope that
they would be useful for carrying passengers and mails; in the summer when
the position was most critical in Egypt he ungrudgingly allowed the Middle Ea^t
Command to take over without payment seventy-five cars and lorries for which he
had paid and which he required most urgently himself; he has agreed to British
and American aircraft crossing Saudi Arabia from the Middle East to the Persian
Gulf provided they keep clear of the Hejaz and its holy places and of the more
thickly populated parts of Nejd; his sorrow at our defeat in Libya in the summer
was only equalled by his joy at our subsequent victories; and, finally, he has taken
no important move without consulting His Majesty's Government at every point.
Indeed, Britain in all her long history can seldom have had such loyal support
from a foreign Power either in adversity or in success.
[39—16]
About this item
- Content
The volume consists of telegrams, letters, and reports relating to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Most of the correspondence is between the British Legation in Jeddah, the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in Bushire, the Political Agencies in Bahrain and Kuwait, the 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. and the Foreign Office in London, and the Government of India.
Much of the volume covers Saudi-US relations, including:
- US financial assistance to Saudi Arabia;
- the report (ff 146-147) of a medical tour of the country made by the American Mission to Bahrain;
- a trip to Kuwait made by Colonel Hoskins, President Roosevelt's Personal Envoy to Ibn Sa'ud in August 1943;
- the opening of a US Consulate in Dhahran;
- a secret report (ff 223-224) on 'America and Arabia' from the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in Bushire.
Other subjects covered are:
- the report (ff 79-99) of a trip to Riyadh made by Tom Hickinbotham, 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. in Kuwait;
- the wartime supply situation in the region;
- the financial situation in Saudi Arabia;
- Ibn Sa'ud's relationship with Sa'ud bin 'Abdullah bin Jiluwi, the Amir of Hasa;
- telegraphic communications in the country;
- meteorology, including a report (f 181) on the British Meterological Party's tour of Saudi Arabia;
- Ibn Sa'ud's request for British military and financial assistance.
Also notable within the volume are:
- Gerald De Gaury's interview with Ibn Sa'ud (ff 19-22);
- annual summary reports on Saudi Arabia produced by the British Legation in Jeddah for the years 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944;
- a letter (152-154C) from Bertram Thomas to the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in Bushire following his trip across Arabia, detailing anything he thought might be useful for the British Government to know;
- a report (f 175) on the Saudi Arabian royal family by the British Legation in Jeddah.
At the end of the volume (ff 249-264) are internal office notes.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (270 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged chronologically. There is an alphabetical subject index to the contents, at the front of the volume (folio 2).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the sequence starts on the first folio and continues through to the inside back cover. The numbering is written in pencil, circled and 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. There are the following irregularities: 1A, 1B, and 1C; 28A and 28B; 154A, 154B, and 154C; 216A and 216B.
Condition: the broken spine cover is detached from the volume and enclosed in a plastic sleeve numbered folio 265, at the back of the volume. The plastic sleeve may cause some loss of sharpness to the digital image of the spine cover.
There is a second sequence that is inconsistent. It is also written in pencil but is not circled.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'File 61/11 X (D 170) Nejd-Hejaz Miscellaneous' [148r] (308/554), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/573, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023505692.0x00006b> [accessed 30 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/573
- Title
- 'File 61/11 X (D 170) Nejd-Hejaz Miscellaneous'
- Pages
- front, back, spine-a:spine-c, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1ar:1cv, 2r:153v, 154ar:154cv, 155r:185r, 186r:215v, 216ar:216bv, 217r:229v, 231r:232v, 238r:267v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence