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Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government' [160r] (319/1201)
The record is made up of 1 file (598 folios). It was created in 13 Jul 1935-28 Mar 1941. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
6474b Wt 22530/P 114 10,000 9.37 10P
2
/
P. Z. 2668/38.
Minute Paper.
Department.
/a
Question of 25,000 rifles supplied by the
War Office to the Afghan Government.
We have now received the War Office official
letter foreshadowed in Mr. Hore Belisha’s letter of the
12th April to the Secretary of State, though
unfortunately it did not arrive until the Easter
holidays had started. Though some parts of the War
Office letter do go some way towards meeting our point
of view, at any rate in principle, I do not think that
we can accept it as satisfactory. In effect it seems
that the War Office will be quite prepared ultimatel y
to meet reasonable Afghan claims, but they are unwilling
that the Afghan Government should be immediately informed
in this sense, because they are afraid that it will lead
to an increase in the Afghan claims (not yet received)
in respect of the later consignments of 16,000 rifles.
This attitude would be entirely reasonable were it not
for the omission of the firing test, and the long delay
in informing the Afghan Government of this omission.
In our view (and the Foreign Office entirely agree) our
position will be so difficult vis-a-vis the Afghan
Government when the latter are informed of the facts in
-I
regard to firing test that it will be too dangerous
vh. A. O-**. ^
politically to attempt to haggle over its--intrioata
financial details. In face of what the Minister at
Kabul says in his demi-official letter of the 22nd March
to Mr. Walton (flagged) I think we can no longer
contemplate informing the Afghans about the firing teat,
as provisionally suggested at P.Z.686/38, without at the
same time making an immediate offer to meet their
reasonable claims for damages and deficiencies. The
War Office still fail to appreciate that this is much
About this item
- Content
This file is a continuation of Collection 7/36, reference IOR/L/PS/12/2203.It contains correspondence between the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State for India, HM Minister at Kabul, the War Office, the Government of India Foreign and Political (later External Affairs) Department, and the 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. Political Department.
Much of the early correspondence duplicates that found in IOR/L/PS/12/2203, and concerns the Afghan Government's request for an additional 25,000 rifles plus ammunition, debates over the division of liability between British and Indian revenues, and discussion of possible payment options.
The rest of the correspondence concerns arrangements for shipping the arms and ammunition, and is accompanied by delivery invoices and reports on the quality inspections conducted prior to shipping. Details of the procedures, including examples of examiners' marks, and a sketch of the packing crates used, can be found at folios 262, and 234-238.
Prior to sale, the War Office had undertaken to perform firing tests on all the rifles for an additional charge. These tests were not conducted, and the file contains correspondence between the 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. and the War Office, discussing the best options for presenting this fact to the Afghan Government, options for conducting the tests or reducing the price of the order, and the potential damage that would be caused to Britain's reputation, and Anglo-Afghan relations.
The correspondence also concerns complaints by the Afghan Government that a number of rifles were damaged in transit or badly corroded. It documents the disagreement between the War Office, 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. and the Government of India over the provision of replacement rifles and parts, and contains details of the eventual arrangements and final agreement with the Afghan Government (found at folios 117-122).
The file includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are found at the end of the correspondence (folios 2-3).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (598 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 599; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government' [160r] (319/1201), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2204, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036310618.0x000078> [accessed 13 May 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2204
- Title
- Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:121v, 123r:244r, 246r:367v, 370r:490v, 491ar, 491r:491v, 492ar, 492r:599v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence