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‘File 28/7 II War: Propaganda – Local Opinion’ [183r] (365/686)
The record is made up of 1 file (341 folios). It was created in 12 Mar 1942-12 Aug 1944. 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.
r
Public Relations Office
in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
,
Bahrain.
Dated the 5th June, 194-3.
/ i
I
ASPECTS OF GLOBAL STR ATEGY
Casablanca ! s apparently categorical "Hitler First" strategy
has been modified at Washington in this sense, that the United Nations
are to conduct their operations to the fullest possible extent concurr
ently in both hemispheres, in fact, of course, there was never any
question of abandoning any front in favour of another. Equally there
will remain until the final victory complicated questions of priority
in various supplies. But I4r.Churchill*s statements to the American
Press, while leaving Hitler guessing as to when and where the next blow
will fall, have reiterated the first principle of aid and relief to
Russia and have served to reassure China, India and Australia that they
will not be left in jeopardy. None of the three aggressor nations can
any longer hope to evade retribution at the expense of their partners.
European Outlo ok:
(a) German Defence System;
It is worth recording that the Germans have devised two systems
of defence - an outer and an inner. The outer system corresponds to the
ancient Germanic system of "marks", or defended buffer states, which take
the shock of external attacks. Nazi Germany is ensconced within a ring
of such territories each with coastal defences - Norway, Denmark, the
Low Countries, France, Italy and the Balkans. It had been intended to
extend that ring by conquering the Caucasus, Egypt and the Middle East.
The defences of the inner fortress are along the Rhine, the Black Forest,
the Alps and Dinaric Alps, the Balkans, the Carpathians and a series of
fortified positions in depth behind the Russian front.
No doubt plans for invading Europe were concerted far ahead at
the Casablanca conference, but great changes have taken place since then.
Demoralisation in Italy, growing resistence in the occupied and satellite
countries, and increasing pressure on Germany herself as. regards manpower
and weakening of her war production by the tremendous Anglo-American
air offensive which is still far from its peak, might cause Allied
leaders to decide to strike with all their power at the inner fortress.
In that case the shortest approaches to the inner fortress are through
Holland and some part of the Balkans.
(b) Holland. P ros a nd Consf
Holland offers the most direct access to German soil. Other
advantages would be the short sea route from Britain to the Allied
base in Europe and a population which is seething with anger against the
Germans and is ripe for action as the result of recent attempts to
reintern all members of the Dutch armed forces and to deport Dutch
students to Germany en masse. Drawbacks are that the Germans have built
exceptionally strong coastal defences here and have demolished houses
and evacuated residents along the coastline to strengthen the defence.
A landing here would be extremely costly, but success would open the
way to the Ruhr, the heart of industrial Germany, which has already
been devastated by fire and flood.
(c) Greece and t he Balkans:
If, on the other hand, the Balkans are selected as the point
of entry, Greece would offer many advantages. Despite appalling
privations, morale is high and resistance to the enemy is practically
universal while pro-British feeling is ardent. The country is divided
into three areas of occupation, German, Italian and Bulgarian. The
• • •
Italians
About this item
- Content
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 The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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 The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Bertram Sidney Thomas); 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 (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham); and 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior).
The file includes:
- weekly reports, prepared by Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. staff, summarising local opinion in Bahrain towards news of events in the war. These reports were sent by 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 digested form and on a weekly basis to 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. ;
- 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 The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (341 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 315-342) 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 343; 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 2-314; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/688
- Title
- ‘File 28/7 II War: Propaganda – Local Opinion’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:4v, 7r:21v, 23r:342v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence