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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [‎218r] (435/900)

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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

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/
/. ^ 4'3
£• a- V 3
Mr. E. B. Wakefield *
His Britannic Majesty^ 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.
Manama, Bahrein
Dear Sir:
A note from R. Maxwell Darling, Esq., Chief
Locust Officer, M.E. Antilocust Unit, asked us to pass
reports through your office.
our Mr. R. A. Bramkamp after a recent trip to the north
of Abu Hadriya.
Date - January 29, 1943, on the Abu Hadriya-Bejsa
roads. Distances are in kilometers northward from
Abu Hadriya:
32.0 to 41.9 km . A large group of hoppers continu
ous for this distance. South side of flock mainly
brown hopper flying S. 50° W. which gradually changes
to north to mainly yellow hopper on ground with only
a few flying. Density particularly high near north
edge. These were not paired and apparently not
breeding at time observed. All individuals apparently
adult.
49.2 to 55.0 km . Very numerous yellow hoppers, mainly
resting on ground, apparently all adult, not paired
and apparently not breeding at time observed. Density
greatest in southern part of flock.
67.2 km . Many dead hoppers in road.
73.7 to BO.2 km . A light density flock of hoppers
mainly flying about due south, apparently all brown
to brownish yellow adults.
Date - January 31, 1943 on the same road (return
Journey). Distance in kilometers northward from
Abu Hadriya:
UP km . (approx). A single one-half kilometer stretch
of obviously breeding paired yellow adult hoppers on
ground (density high). To north of this for about
20 km. locally flying hoppers were fairly numerous
but no well defined flocks as two days earlier. This
was on a day with a rather strong, dusty north wind.
The following observations were reported by
Yours very truly,
CALIFORNIA ARABIAN STANDARD OIL COMPANY
By C

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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
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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [‎218r] (435/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x000024> [accessed 26 June 2026]

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