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'File 8/15 Arab Series - 1933-1939' [203v] (406/434)
The record is made up of 1 file (214 folios). It was created in 31 Aug 1933-20 Mar 1939. It was written in English and French. 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.
on the ground that his forces were equipped with Mausers, and that to in
troduce some weapons of a new type would complicate the rearmament ques
tion. The Italians then said that they would get him any kind of rifles he
liked, e.q., Mausers from Austria or Germany. The King then pleaded
poverty, but the Italians said that that need not worry him, they would
arrange easy terms. Keeping to his delaying tactics, the King said that if
they would provide samples he would study the matter; and there the matter
rested for the moment. Had he done right? What would His Majesty’s
Government say? I repeated more or less what Sheikh Hafiz Wahba had
already heard at the Foreign Office. His Majesty’s Government had pro
vided all the arms which their own urgent needs enabled them to spare.
If it had been within their power they would gladly have supplied more,
but it was not. Ibn Baud was the sole judge of his own requirements in
the matter of arms. It would evidently be better if he could have recourse
to neutral supplies rather than to a Government like the Italian, which
presumably, as His Majesty had himself said, was not offering cheap arms
out of pure love for Saudi Arabia, but if in the end he could not escape the
Italian offer, he would at least be acting with his eyes open. Ibn Saud said
that he would continue to delay as far as he could, but there usually came a
time in such cases where a decision could no longer be postponed. However,
he would see what he could do.
5. I mention here that, according to a statement which Fuad Hamza
had made to me the day before, the Italians wanted to sell Italian guns and
anti-aircraft guns, in fact, any war material Ibn Saud might want as well
as Mauser rifles.
6. Passing then to aviation, Ibn Saud said that he much wanted to get
rid of the Italians. He realised that to replace them by British or French
might create an awkward situation, but replacement by Moslems would not
be open to the same objection. Could His Majesty’s Government suggest
some suitable man from Egypt or Iraq for this purpose? I asked whether
what His Majesty wanted was a trained air-force man to take charge of
Saudi aviation, and after some talk His Majesty explained that he would
like a sort of chief of staff to advise on all arms, and that, failing that, he
would be glad to have an expert to take charge of aviation. I promised to
report this desire to His Majesty’s Government at once, and I have done
so in my telegram No. 99, dated the 16th December. From the tenor of the
conversation, I assume that Ibn Saud would apply to the Government con
cerned for the loan of a suitable expert if he could first have tha nrhruiu uf II ir
Majesty’s Government as to the character and capacity of some possible
candidates. I could see objections to the proposal, and felt sceptical as to
the advantage, other than the elimination of the Italians, which Ibn Saud
might expect to obtain if it were carried out; but we have had to blow cold
upon so many Saudi aviation schemes that I did not want to be discouraging
about this one at the outset, the more so as there is nothing to prevent the
King’s applying to Egypt or Iraq without consulting us, in which case some
quite unsuitable person might be sent here.
7. No reference was made by Ibn Saud to the alleged offer of a Soviet
air mission (your despatch No. 413, dated the 1st November). This did not
surprise me, for when I had mentioned the subject to Sheikh Yusuf Yasin
the day before, he had expressed ignorance and surprise, and after making
enquiry had told me that no such offer had been made and that Sheikh Hafiz
must have misunderstood something much vaguer as to which he would get
the papers from Mecca. I have no more information on this point at pre
sent, but it seems clear that there is no question of the acceptance of a Soviet
air mission by Ibn Saud.
8. The King then talked at length about Palestine. The views he
expressed were summarised in my telegram No. 98, dated the 16th Decem
ber. He was not violent, or even reproachful, but very anxious about his
own position as being dependent on that of His Majesty’s Government. He
said more than once, as he has said before, that while he objected to the
About this item
- Content
The file contains the Foreign Office confidential prints of the Arabia Series for the years 1933 to 1938. It includes correspondence, memoranda, and extracts from newspapers. The correspondence is principally between the British Legation in Jedda and the Foreign Office. Other correspondents include British diplomatic, political, and military offices, foreign diplomats, heads of state, tribal leaders, corporations, and individuals in the Middle East region.
Each annual series is composed of several numbered serials that are often connected to a particular subject. The file covers many subjects related to the affairs of Saudi Arabia.
Included in the file are the following:
- a memorandum on Arab Unity produced by the Foreign Office dated 12 June 1933 (author unknown), folios 11-13;
- a memorandum on petroleum in Arabia produced by the Petroleum Department dated 5 August 1933 (author unknown), folios 23-26;
- a record of interviews with Ibn Sa‘ūd, King of Saudi Arabia, conducted by Reader Bullard and George William Rendel between 20 and 22 March 1937;
- a memorandum on Yemen by Captain B W Seager, the Frontier Officer, dated 20 July 1937;
- several records of proceedings of ships on patrol in the Red Sea, including that of HMS Penzance , Hastings , Colombo , Bideford , and Londonderry .
Folios 213-15 are internal office notes.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (214 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged chronologically.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 217; 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 also present in parallel between ff 2-215; 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 and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'File 8/15 Arab Series - 1933-1939' [203v] (406/434), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/310, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025548488.0x000007> [accessed 16 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/310
- Title
- 'File 8/15 Arab Series - 1933-1939'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:6v, 7v:9r, 10r:13r, 14v:18r, 19r, 20r:22r, 23r:46r, 47r:57v, 58v, 59v:61v, 63r, 64v:66v, 68r:76r, 77r:86r, 87r:88v, 89v:103v, 105r:111v, 112v:120v, 121v:122r, 123r:127r, 128v:131v, 133r:137v, 138v:143r, 144v:154r, 155r:175r, 176r:181v, 182v, 184v:196v, 198r:198v, 201r:204v, 206r:207r, 208r:212r, 213r:216v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence