‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [243r] (485/900)
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.
Minutes n f the .
» on Friday, ki^nd Jw
i\2iti-Locust Measures
.. . at G.H.'l., P.A.I.C.
, 1943, at 10.00 hours re
be taken in South "ersia.
Present:-
Brig. Elrington, B.G.S. - Chairman.
Brig. Beddington, D.Q.M.G.
Col. Thurburn, Col. Q.
Lt .—Col. Cup page, A.Q.N. .G.( .1.)
Major Gator, G.H.Ci. (Liaison Officer)
Capt. Little,
Gnoup-Capt. Pyne, K.A.F.
F/Lt. de la Hoyde, H.A.F.
M.O.B. Lean, Locust Officer, Persia.
Major Hodder, M.E.S.C.
Following upon informal talks held with the C.-in-C. and the A.O.C.,
w ere it was agreed that both the Army and Air Force would lend willing
oL 7 port, within the limits of equipment available, to the Anti-Locust Campaign
to be conducted in Khuzistan and Fan* this spring, this Meeting was called to
discuss tlje details of the assistance to be offered in this campaign.
TIIE CHAI-KMAN opened the proceedings by stating that the C.-in-C. had
agreed to send the C.X.H., supplemented by sane Pioneer labour, together with
the necessary transport, to operate against locusts in the Khuzistan area with
a base at Ahwaz.
Discussion then arose as to the assistance to be offered by the R.^.F.
and Gp.-Capt. PYHE stated that two or three aircraft could be made available.
In the first place they could be used for reconnaissance purposes and later be
adapted for the distribution of poison in the more inaccessible areas; also for
spraying flying swarms with new insecticides if these could be made available.
The area to be reconnoitred stretches from Dizful to Bandar Abbas, and Gp.-Capt.
PYNL considers Ahwaz to be a suitable base.
It was then agreed that the entire operation should be commanded by
the U.C., C.I.H., with Mr. Lean as technical advisor.
Mr. LEAN considered that Behbehan might prove a better base H.Q., being
more central, but Brig. BEDDIHGTON and Gp.-Capt. PYNE favoured Ahwaz in view of
better road communication and a better air base, and this was then agreed upon.
Mr. LEAN then asked whether sandbags could be made available for
transporting the bait and suggested that a quantity in the neighbourhood of 4,000
would be sufficient. Brig. BLDDIMGTON replied that these should be made avail
able immedietely ©t Ahwaz, likewise shovels, etc.
Brig. KLRI !GTON then said that an officer emd a small detachment from
the C.I.H. would be sent to Bushire to liaise with the Persian anti-locust unit
operating in Fare. They should be in wireless communication-with their H.q« at
Ahwaz and keep them informed of progress of the operations conducted by the
Persians. Instructions would be given forthwith for the C.I.H. to prepare to
move. Gp.-Capt. PYNE said the aircraft would first have to be fitted with
dust-hoppers, and Major HQDDLR; agreed to contact Air-Commodore Betts Immediately
upon his arrival in Cairo, requesting him to despatch by air to Shaiba the two
Russian dust-hoppers now in his possession, together with the blue prints of the
Amerixan hoppers.
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’ [243r] (485/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x000056> [accessed 16 July 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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