‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [285r] (569/900)
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.
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
Sharjah.
r th # February 1943
The 3 trucks belonging to the Antilocust Unit which
were shipped from Bahrain to T Xibai early this month were unable
to be unloaded owing to the rough sea. The ship proceeded fag
eastwards after waiting one day. I went to Jubai when the ship
arrived to see Messrs Gray MacKenzie's agent and he tought the
ship would probably wait. He said he would arrange tcf'land the
vehicles and inform me when this had been done. The sxm shamal
continued the next two days and a steamer lying off Jubai which
I assumed was the same one was visible from Sharjah. On the third
day the sea had abated somewhat and T again went to Jubai to
enquire about the possibilities of landing the trucks. I was
surprised to learn f/'om the agent that the ship in question had
sailed three days before and he haci never infomued me. It was
particularly exasperating as I had wished to arrange to disembark
the trucks at Iluscat in preference to their going on to India. On
receipt of the news I co;nmunicated with Muscat but am convinced
that T was too late.
about 30th. December and they repled on 39th December saying that
shipping space would be arranged sometime.
Bushire, to * oiltica1 Agent Bahrain indicated that Movement Control
had nominated a vessel. I was unable to understand this signal but
it looks as if Movement Control sent a message jus on 18th.
December which reached Bushire only on January I4th.
Vere the trucks in fact shi ped on this nominated
vessel or on another?
I ask this question because, il suisuetsttsA chartered
ships will not wait to discharge cargo, I think we will be wiser
in future to use the land route for moving vehicle s however long
and difficult it rosy be.
Application for shipping was made to Movement Control
Telegram 1 o.176 of 16th.January from : AMtical Resident
Chief Locust O' ficer
i/.K. Anti locust unit
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’ [285r] (569/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x0000aa> [accessed 19 July 2026]
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- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/1544
- Title
- ‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’
- Pages
- 119r:119v, 132r:133v, 135r:135v, 168r:168v, 202r:202v, 212r:212v, 219r:219v, 252r:254v, 264r:264v, 284r:285v, 304r:304v, 306r:307v, 313r:313v, 315r:315v, 324r:324v, 335r:335v, 340r:340v, 346r:346v, 352r:352v, 360r:360v, 364r:364v, 374r:375v, 387r:387v, 393r:393v, 394r:396v, 404r:404v, 406r:408v, 413r:414v, 416r:416v
- Author
- Darling, Reginald Charles Maxwell- xx Maxwell-Darling, Reginald Charles
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.
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