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'File 1/50 Office Routine' [‎57r] (113/206)

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The record is made up of 1 file (103 folios). It was created in 31 Jan 1945-27 Nov 1950. 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

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[ Q 114/1G ]
CONFIDENTIAL AND GUARD
CIRCULAR No. 27
F oreign O ffice,
5th April, 1950.
"GUARD " PROCEDURE
Sir,
Foreign Office Circular Telegram No. 2 of 1944, describing
the " Guard" procedure which was in use at that^ lime tor
" Top Secret" cypher telegrams, stated that the _ Gu ^
procedure was to apply not to telegrams in the For eign Office
series but only to messages in other series passing through
Forei'en Office channel, especially on supply and economic matters.
2 in August 1948 the Cypher Security Committee^approved
further instructions on the subject which extended the G ^ r
procedure to all documents (including telegrams) and to a
security classifications. These latter instructions, which are still
in force, were issued to all Government Department^ concerned by
the Inter-Departmental Committee on Security. They contained
a paragraph which reads:
" ' Guard,' applied to official documents, including telegrams
and reports, means that the particular document is NOT to be
shown to the Americans without the prior agreement of the
originator. The fact that a document does not be a r the word
' Guard ' does not necessarily mean that it may be shown to the
Americans. In particular, no Cabinet or horeign Office
document may be shown to the Americans whether marked
k Guard ' or not, without consultation with the Cabinet Office
or the Foreign Office."
3 Since the paragraph quoted above was thought to represent
the general practice already existing in the Foreign Service, no
further Circulars were issued to members of the Foreign Service
explaining the alterations in " Guard " procedure which had been
introduced by the Inter-Departmental Committee on Security.
4 The present practice as regards the use of the code-word
" Guard " is however not uniform, either in the Foreign Office
or in the Foreign Service generally. Certain posts, and some
individuals, make use of the procedure; others do not. Moreover,
■ilthough the Foreign Office does not officially use the Guard
nrocedure other Government Departments do, and this has led
?o the compromise arrangement that documents from non-Foreign
Service sources which pass through Foreign Service posts abroad,
mav Ke marked "Guard," prov.ded that in telegrams the term
appears aTthe beginning of the text and not as a prefix-heading,
and that a one-time cypher is used.
Flis Majesty's Consular Officers
! 6073—2 38495—21

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Content

The file relates to office procedure, and changes to office procedure following transfer of supervisory responsibility to the Foreign Office.

The papers include a set of notes entitled 'Office Routine', compiled by the officiating Head Clerk of the British 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. , Bushire, which give guidance on the treatment of all forms of correspondence, registration, filing, referencing, the administrative structure of the Bushire office, mails and telegrams, records, noting and drafting, typing section, forms of letters and memoranda, duties of the Telegram Clerk, and duties of the Despatch clerk, with covering letter suggesting that the notes should be circulated among staff at the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Bahrain, January 1945.

The file also contains papers relating to specimen forms and letters, April 1948; papers concerning the replacement by the Foreign Office of certain obsolete types of correspondence, September 1948; papers concerning terms to be used in establishing telegraphic priorities, May to June 1949; letter to the Foreign Office concerning the administrative workload of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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. , Bahrain, August 1949; papers concerning Foreign Office instructions on the use of abbreviations in official documents, including telegrams, August 1949; correspondence from the British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Sharjah on how to address certain Foreign Office departments, and the reorganisation of the Sharjah Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. 's filing system, October and November 1949; papers concerning regulations for the sending of telegrams, December 1949 to April 1950; correspondence from Cable and Wireless Limited, giving regulations and rates for telegrams, June to December 1950; correspondence concerning Foreign Office instructions laying down official spellings for Kuwait and Bahrain, and the use by the British 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. , Bahrain of the Hunterian system for the transliteration of Arabic words and names, with the exception of Muscat and Oman, June to August 1950; and correspondence concerning the telegraphic address of the British Agent, Gwadur [Gwadar], November 1950.

Extent and format
1 file (103 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. Circled serial numbers (red for received correspondence; blue/black for issued correspondence) refer to entries in the notes at the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation system in use commences at 1 on the front cover, and continues through to 103 on the back cover. The sequence is written in pencil, enclosed in a circle, and appears in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'File 1/50 Office Routine' [‎57r] (113/206), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1046, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026334948.0x000072> [accessed 20 April 2024]

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