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'British Policy in the Yemen' [‎96v] (2/8)

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The record is made up of 1 file (4 folios). It was created in 09 Sep 1915. 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. .

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Enclosure Xo. 1.
Memorandum on the employment by Italians at Mogadiscio of
Askaris from Arabia.
1 had an interview on 4th September 1915 with Colonel Bodrero of the
Italian Benadir Colonial Service. He lias been training the Arab levies we
allowed him to enlist from this country. He gets them from our own pro
tectorate and also from the Turkish side. This recruiting is of long
standing, though suspended, during the iurco-Italian war. 1 hough
originally enlisted for the Benadir only, the men have been sent from time
to Time to Tripoli, where they have been most successful lighters against the
Turks and the Senussi. Colonel Bodrero tells me the men are splendid
under fire, and in his opinion superior to the Abissinians, aniiIi whom he
worked for several years at Asmara. The Italians have taken some 6,000
Askaris from this source. Colonel Bodrero was surprised to hear we did
not recruit local battalions in Aden.
Their pay in Mogadiscio at the coast is lis. 12 only, from this sum
they provide" their own clothes. They get no rations unless they go up
country to clear the jungles preparatory to motor traffic, by which the
countrv in hinterland is gradually being opened up. After two y ear^
service the men are permitted to return home, but those who elect to stay
behind, and are of good character, are encouraged to engage m petty trade-,
and are liable to be called up as a reserve, drawing in that event Rs. 3 per
mensem. a . . . . ..
The men take women from Somali tribes, f heir wives are necessarily
left in Arabia. Colonel Bodrero takes personal mteiest m his nu n, and
mixes freely with them. He tells me that nothing is of avail with Arabs
save the personal factor, and if any of Ins officers aie high-handed, he dis
misses them summarily without further inquiry, as otherwise his system of
paternal rule would be wrecked. .
I gathered from him that the discipline exacted is not yen ngid. he
lash is forbidden. 41 W e do not use it, said Colonel Bodreio, as you do
(sic) I have questioned many of these returning Askaris, and they are
pleased with Italian methods. The Italian officer is more in touch with his
men than we are, and 1 have seen an officer in Abyssinia exchange his helmet
for a Galla soldier’s “ sombrero,” which he thought insufficient for the other
under a strong sun. _ . -
As an instance of Colonel Bodrero s popularity, prayers v\eie oueied foi
him in the local mosque when he left the other day to take up his appointment
as Officer Commanding 12th Bersaglieri now fighting against Austria in
the Alps. . , . , ,
Colonel Bodrero said he knew no Arabic, and though he admired the
linguistic attainment of British officers, he found that it yvas bettei to induce
men to understand Italian, as that increased Italian prestige. Xo time 'was
wasted in ceremonial parades. Musketry yvas carefully attended to, but the
Colonel had no mind for such things as kit inspection, which he thought a
waste of time and purely spectacular ! I gathered that uniform yvas not
44 de rigueur. ” I he men are armed with magazine i dles.
I asked him what arrangements were being made to convert the Benadir
roadsteads into harbours. He said nothing yvas attempted, and then saicas-
tically added “ if the place was considered really productive, Government
would certainly abandon her colonial enterprise there! ”
I o-ive these feyv extracts from our conversation to show yvhat has often
been before reported of the way Italy is imparting, in subtle foim, her
influence in Arabia, i.e., the gradual “Italisation” of many Arabs both sides
of the line whom we are virtually neglecting. We remember-her attempts a
feyv years back to deal directly with the Sultan ol She hr and Mo Kalla and
get installed a Marconi system at the latter place ; and there is, again, the
assertion bv one of her Prize Court Judges, during her wai with I ui -wcv,
that a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. carrying the Arab flag was to all intents and purposes a 1 urkish
dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. since no recognised Arab hegemony existed ! Her Consuls here for
some time past coquetted yvith the Imam of Sanaa and lor many yeais an

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The file contains an introduction by Major-General Sir George John Younghusband, 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. , Aden, introducing two memoranda written by Lieutenant Harold Fenton Jacob, First Assistant Resident, Aden. They are addressed to the Secretary to the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. , Political Department, it concerns Italian influence in the Red Sea, and how it is affecting Arabia after the Second World War.

Enclosure No. 1 'Memorandum on the employment by Italians at Mogadiscio of Askaris from Arabia', dated 8 September 1915, Aden. It concerns an interview held with Colonel Bodrero of the Italian Benadir Colonial Service on the training of Arabs, and their fighting value.

Enclosure No. 2 'Memorandum on the Political Policy of our Hinterland', dated 9 September 1915, Aden. It outlines what will happen politically if Turkey was to retire from Yemen, these being: the Imam of Sanaa [Ṣanʻā'] shifting his headquarters southwards, and taking hold of relinquished areas; conflicting interests of Imam and Idrisi Saiyid of Sabia; and amendments to British policy on expansion and previous agreements with Idrisi and Ibn Nasir Mukbil. Jacob also puts forward his own opinions of the rulers and the Arabs; and suggests future actions such as a strategic railway, raising levies, educating the sons of chieftains, and introducing medical missions.

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1 file (4 folios)
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Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 96, and terminates at f 99, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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 present in parallel between ff 96-99; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

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'British Policy in the Yemen' [‎96v] (2/8), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B216, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029521368.0x000003> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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