'File 21/7 Arms and Ammunition for the Shaikh of Qatar: Machine Guns for Shaikh of Qatar' [‎11r] (21/320)

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■ CONFIDENTIAL
D.O. No.426-S
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 , /q
the 17th February 1948
*
Please refer to your memorandum No.C/189 dated the
11th February 1948 on the subject of the supply of arms and
ammunition to the Shaikh of Qatar. *, , < , /,
2. Under Article III of the Treaty of 1916 we are bound
to accede to his request for 600 rifles and a reasonable amount of
ammunition. Does he require and do you recommend .303 rifles and
ammunition ? If se I think we had better arrange for their supply
on payment through His Majesty's^ Government. ^ / ? <} . ^
3. with regard to the"quL's\i®rh ©f mach&ne-gdfi's 6tc. , the
6 machine-guns which at present you have in a store room in the
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. were obtained by me in 1942 as in the Qatar defence scheme
which was drawn up in 1939 it was recommended that the Shaikh should
be encouraged t© buy 6 Bren guns and mount them on light trucks.
There is much correspondence about these machine-guns .some of it
rather amusing*and you should have a copy ©f this 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. telegram
N©.T/802 of th4 22nd December 1942 which shows that Prior's idea
was to distribute the guns between Qatar, Dubai and Sharjah.
Eventually apparently it was decided not to give them to anybody.
/ i , > / (/I V* I/+ fij
4 . t ' The machine-guns in question are 8 m.m. Bredas and
there should be 60 magazines and 30,000 rounds of 8 m.m. ammunition
with them. I imagine that the guns are now well corroded and that
we have nobody who could repair them or give instructions in their
use. If this is the case probably the best thing is to dump all
the guns and ammunition in the sea unless the latter can be used for
8.m.m. sporting rifles.
5 . I am not in favour of supplying the Shaikh of Qatar
with anything in the nature of tanks or armoured cars but I should
see no objection to letting him have some trucks with tommy-guns or
light machine-guns if these would be genuinely useful for police
purposes and he has men who coUld be trained in the use of the guns.
I should be grateful for further information on this point.
6. With the expansion of the Oil Company's activities in
Qatar it is most important that the Shaikh should maintain an
adequate and reasonably well armed police force. What does he
possess in this way at present and is he able to take any effective
action to protect the Oil Company's personnel and property ?
I think Lermitte told me that thefts from the camp at Dukhan are
very frequent.
C.J. Pelly, Esquire, O.B.E.,
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. ,
BAHRAIN