'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports' [‎135r] (269/432)

98.
Royal Visit
At 5.0 p.m. on June 6th H„R.Ho the Duke of Glouces
ter arrived at Muharraq aerodrome having flown from Lydda.
He was met 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. who presented to him H.H. the
Shaikh of Bahrain and his two uncles. Shaikh Said bin Maktura,
Ruler of Dubai, Mr. Belgrave, and the senior officers of the
three Services present in Bahrain. After inspecting a Guard
of Honour of the State Police His Royal Highness drove to the
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. with H.E, the Shaikh and 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. . Later
in the evening His Royal Highness, who was wearing the uniform
of a Major General, visited H.Ho the Shaikh of Bahrain at his
Manama Palace. During the visit, which lasted for some twenty
minutes, the Duke of Gloucester informed His Highness that he
would shortly receive a present from the British Government of
two captured 105 millimetz-e Italian guns. Shaikh Salman, who
was genuinely delighted at this announcement, presented His
Royal Highness with some pearls and with a sword, encased in a
gold scabbard, which had been in the possession of the Al^Khali
fah for many generations. His Royal Highness spent the nighty
at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and left for Karachi the following morning. H.H.
Shaikh Salman and his uncles went to the aerodrome to see him
off.
His Royal Highness ? visit was, in prospect, a source
of pride to H.H. Shaikh Salrnan. In retrospect it has been to
him a spring of unbounded exaltation and delight. The warmth
of friendship with which Shaikh Salman welcomed his Royal
guest was matched only by the graciousness of its response^
and the ties which bind the Ruling Family of Bahrain to the
British Crov/n have been sensibly strengthened by the contact
now made.
99. Other visitor s.
(i) Mr. Twitchell and two other members of the United
States Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia arrived in Bahrain
on June 6th for a short visit.
(ii) Mr.H.S. Bowiby, the Petroleum Department’s represent
ative at Baghdad, arrived on June 8'ch. He left on June 12th
having visited in the meantime the California Arabian Standard
Oil Company camp on the mainland.
(iii) Sir Archibald Carter passed through Bahrain on June
6th on the Westbound Flying-beat.
(iv) On June 15th Sir Edward Villiers passed through
Bahrain on the Eastbound Flying-boat. Sir Reginald Dorman
Smith and Air Chief Marshall Sir Ludlow Hewitt passed through
on the Westbound Flying-boat.
100. Royal Air Fo rce.
Reference para 83 of Intelligence Summary No.10 of
1942 in which it was" reported that the new emergency landing
grounds on the coast of Saudi Arabia between Dhahran and Kuwait
were likely to be ready for use within a week.
The California Arabian Standard Oil Company intimated
on June 3rd that the marking of the landing grounds had been
completed and that they were ready for inspection. On June^
12th the Air Liaison Officer Bahrain carried out an inspection
and, after landing on each of the four aerodromes, was able to
report that they were fit for use.
101. Missing Ai rc raft ,
Reference para 85 of Bahrain Intelligence Summary
No.10 of 1342 in which It was reported that a Boston aircraft
bound for Shaibah had 3 ast been heard of 50 miles North of
Bahrain on the morning of May 3let and that no further trace
of it had been discovered, , n