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'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports' [136r] (271/432)
The record is made up of 1 file (214 folios). It was created in 20 Jan 1941-31 Dec 1942. 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.
On June 7th the California Arabian Standard Oil
Company reported that a fisherman, who was believed to be
reliable, had stated that shortly before noon on May 31st he
had seen a large aeroplane disappear into the sea. In the
absence of any other information there seemed no reason to deny
credit to this story, and the worst fears were entertained for
the safety of the crew.
However, on the evening of June 10th a telegram was
received from 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.
at Bushire intimating
that a message had arrived from the crew of the missing machine
to say that they were all safe though their machine was wrecked,
that they were stranded at Tahiri, a place on the Persian coast
135 miles South-East of Bushire, and that they would like trans
port arranged for them. This dramatic message, written on June
1st, had been taken overland to Bushire by runner.
At 4.0 aom. cn dime 11th, under orders received from
the Senior Naval Officer,
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, a naval vessel left for
Tahiri; and later the same morning an aircraft (a Blenheim)
set off with medical stores, food, clothing, cigarettes and a
bundle of Persian currency notes to the value of 5000 riyals.
The aircraft duly sighted the missing men and dropped the
stores and money to them - dropped also a message that help was
on the way and that a ship would arrive next morning to take
them off.
The account of their adventures given to the Political
Agent by the rescued crew of the aircraft contained many fea
tures of interest. They landed on a stretch of sand uncovered
by the tide (which was fortunately low at the time) some four
miles South-East of Barak. Having established their location
on a map, they set off in the evening to walk to Kangan. At
Barak they were met by the local Shaikh, Canaan Nasouri, who
gave them food, bedding and shelter. They stayed the night at
Barak, hoping to get donkeys to take them on their way the
following morning. The next day, June 1st, having returned to
the aircraft, which had been partly submerged by the sea, and
having salvaged certain equipment from it, they made their way
to Tahiri whose Customs Officer, Sadrnddin Suddedor, had sent
donkeys to bring them there. At Tahiri they were told that
it would take them a fortnight to make their way to Bushire
overland (a strong North wind made travelling by sea impossible)
while a messenger could complete the journey within a week.
Accordingly they decided to send a messenger to Bushire while
they themselves remained at Tahiri as guests of the Customs
Officer, who was of a most friendly disposition and seemed
genuinely anxious to extend his hospitality to them.
During their enforced stay at Tahiri they were most
hospitably treated. Food in the village was by no means plenti
ful, but the airmen were given as much as they wanted - eggs
and bread for breakfast, rice and side dishes of meat, soup,
dates etc. in the middle of the day and in the evening. The
Customs officer who provided this fare could not do enough for
his guests, I was told. He had been educated at the American
Mission School at Kirmanshah, and asserted that he was only
too glad to repay to English speaking people something of the
kindness he had received from them as a boy. To the very end
he refused to accept any payment for himself; eventually,
after the rescue party had arrived, the interpreter on the
naval vessel persuaded him to accept 1500 Riyals (he would not
take more) for distribution among the poor of his village.
The friendliness with which the airmen were treated by every
one was most marked.
During the period of their stay the Shaikh of Barak
and his followers were prosecuting a feud with their neigh
bours to the South. Raiding parties went out almost daily,
and in the course of the operations three of the Shaikh* s men
were killed. The airmen examined many of the rifles used.
/ They
About this item
- Content
The file contains fortnightly intelligence summaries produced by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Bahrain for the years 1941-42. The reports, marked as secret, were sent to the Government of India, 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 numerous diplomatic, political, and military offices in the Middle East. Most of the reports cover a two week period, though due to holidays, tours, and work pressures some cover an entire month.
The reports are divided into short sections that relate to a particular subject, often closely connected to the Second World War. Contained within the file is intelligence on the following:
- international shipping and the activities of the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and commercial transport companies such as Imperial Airways Limited;
- the movements of British and Foreign subjects, and Arab notables;
- local affairs of Bahrain, as well as news from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Persia [Iran], and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ;
- economic matters and food supplies;
- foreign radio broadcasts and press, with a focus on anti-British sentiment;
- the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Fighter Fund;
- defence matters;
- smuggling of gold and arms and the traffic of slaves;
- meteorological data;
- medical matters.
Folios 57-61 are correspondence relating to the alleged sinking of an Iranian dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. by a British man-of-war in March 1941.
Folios 85-88 is a list of prominent individuals in Bahrain, compiled 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. at Bahrain, Reginald Alban, and submitted 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. at Bushire.
Folio 122 is the statement of thirteen Qatari sailors who were aboard a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. sunk by a Japanese submarine on 12 April 1942.
Folio 176 is a telegram from the Government of India in New Delhi requesting that intelligence summaries differentiate between truly confidential content and that which can be distributed more widely.
Folio 190 is a letter, dated 15 October 1942, from Charles Geoffrey Prior, 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. , to Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, 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, regarding the risk of including information about the revival of the slave trade in the Gulf in his diaries due to their wide readership.
Included in the file is correspondence between 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. and the Naval Officer in Charge at Basrah regarding prominent people of the region and events of the war.
On the inside of the front cover is the distribution list for the summaries.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (214 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged chronologically.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 216; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports' [136r] (271/432), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/314, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025549536.0x000048> [accessed 13 May 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/314
- Title
- 'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:215v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence