‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [195r] (389/900)
The record is made up of 1 file (448 folios). It was created in 31 Aug 1942-18 May 1943. It was written in English and Arabic. 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.
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&
- 3 -
The division r f lab ur between bhe rena.ining members
r f the gang depends to a large extent on whether the
hopper bands are within easy walking distance of the head
quarters r f the gang, cr are scattered over some miles of
cruntryo In the one case all the bait may be prepared at
the gang headquarters and carried tin by tin to the swarms.
In thqother case pairs of men, mounted on camels and carry
ing bait, water tins, etc., will cover the ground in.open
order, dealing with the swarms as they find them.
The equipment required for one suchdestruction gang is
approximately as follows:- /
Poison bait 20 sacks
Birsh (Palm leaf) mats or ground sheets
sufficient to cover the 20 sacks.
Girbas ('/ater skins) of 5-6 gallons capacity 0 c 6
Fantasses (10 gallon water tanks) 4
Rope nets for carrying girbas 6
Empty petrol tins with handles 10
Bottles f r r sim-sim oil 5
Soap for hand washing
In^countries where there is no proper locust organisation
or trained personnel the initial campaigns at least must
depend on the centralised ’flying squad 1 method. That is to
say personnel, equipment and bait must be established at a
base in readiness to proceed at short notice to ary place
where hoppers are reported. In order to carry buo this
system motor transport is essential. As soon as hoppers are
reported the bait and personnel must be transported to the
infested locality and operations commenced. Circumstances
may permit a temporary base being established from which the
usual gangs, as described above, may operate. The lorries
can then be used to keep this temporary base supplied with
poison from the main base. If the transport lorries are
required by the operators in the field other lorries will be
necessary to maintain the supply of bait.
Every opportunity should be taken during the campaign
both to train personnel and to locate centres from which
future campaigns can operate so that the cheaper
decentralised method, noted above, can be put into
operation in future seasons.
^: *(5)* j _
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About this item
- Content
Correspondence, reports and other papers relating to efforts, undertaken by representatives of the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit (MEALU), to control desert locusts (first reported in western India in August 1942 (f 3)) along the Arab coast between Bahrain and Oman. The principal correspondents include: 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 (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Chief Locust Officer (Reginald Charles Maxwell-Darling) and Locust Officer (Leslie Desmond Edward Foster Vesey-Fitzgerald) of MEALU, who arrived in Bahrain to carry out their work in October 1942; the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel H T Hewitt); representatives of the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC); and representatives of the Bahrain shipping agent Gray, Mackenzie & Company.
The file includes:
- reports from Maxwell-Darling and Vesey-Fitzgerald, as well as from numerous other British officials from across the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region, including the British Minister at Tehran, Sir Reader William Bullard, on locust observations. The observations include estimations of the size of swarms, movement and direction of insects, age and colour of animals;
- correspondence relating to arrangements for the shipment of locust poison bait from the Sudan Government in Khartoum, to Bahrain;
- correspondence relating to the arrangements of facilities for the MEALU team on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , chiefly arrangements for suitable vehicles (arranged with the assistance of CASOC and the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ), experienced drivers and motor mechanics, finances, and rations;
- papers issued by MEALU, including instructions on reporting locust swarms (ff 136-137), and notes on locust campaigns in sparsely inhabited countries (ff 194-195, ff 385-386);
- a copy of a booklet entitled Methods of Locust Control , produced by the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research and published by the Government of India Press, Calcutta [Kolkota], 1941 (ff 226-236);
- a reprint of an academic journal article entitled Some results of studies of the Desert Locust (Schistocerca Gregaria, Forsk.) in India , by Rao Bahadur Y Ramchandra Rao (ff 266-278). The article is a reprint from the Bulletin of Entomological Research , volume 33, part 3, published December 1942;
- some papers relating to anti-locust activities in southern Iran.
The file contains a single letter in Arabic, a letter to 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. from the Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī (f 334).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (448 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 424-449) mirror the chronological arrangement.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 450; 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 also present in parallel between ff 2-423; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [195r] (389/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852386.0x0000be> [accessed 9 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/1544
- Title
- ‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:5v, 7r:8v, 10r:12v, 16r:16v, 18r:20v, 22r:33v, 35r:36v, 38r:46v, 48r:60v, 63r:81v, 83r:88v, 91r:103v, 106r:118v, 120r:124v, 127r:131v, 134r:134v, 137r:147v, 149r:151v, 153r:156v, 158r:159v, 161r:167v, 169r:174v, 177r:177v, 184r:185v, 187r:187v, 189r:189v, 191r:193v, 195r:197v, 200r:201v, 203r:208v, 210r:211v, 213r:215v, 220r:225v, 238r:241v, 243r:246v, 255r:263v, 279r:280v, 286r:288v, 291r:291v, 293r:298v, 303r:303v, 308r:312v, 316r:318v, 320r:323v, 325r:332v, 336r:336v, 338r:339v, 342r:343v, 347r:349v, 351r:351v, 358r:359v, 363r:363v, 365r:369v, 372r:372v, 376r:384v, 388r:388v, 390r:392v, 397r:397v, 399r:402v, 405r:405v, 409r:412v, 415r:415v, 418r:449v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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