Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎192v] (385/540)

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“ Table II .—A ir Force.
Number of aeroplanes ... ... ... ... 9
Total horse-power ... ... ... ... 3,780 ”
137. 1 he reserve with which these figures were given and should be receiv^^^
is all the more justified, as a further table showed the annual expenditure at^*^
total of £930,151 gold, a figure exceeding the total of the Hejazi budget described
earlier. It is true that that budget was for the Hejaz only, but the relevant items
in it, reckoned at the highest, amount to a total just under £390,000 gold, and it
is inconceivable that Nejd and its Dependencies could provide the balance of about
£540,000 gold. The statement is interesting as an attempt at classification of
the more regular forces, as opposed to Ikhwan and other levies called out on
occasion, but it is not merely captious to regard the figures as illusory. The air
force is shown as comprising nine aeroplanes, eleven officers and 150 men, and
as entailing an expenditure of £12,000 gold per annum. The count of machines
can be justified by including the completely worthless aeroplanes left by King
Hussein, but when the memorandum was drawn up there was otherwise no air
force at all in any true sense of the term.
138. The word “ naval ” is included in the heading because the Saudi
Government bought in the spring in Bahrein a sizable dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. , which came to Jedda
under its own power and which was, in some sense, armed. It operated on the
northern Red Sea coast during the Ibn Rifada affair; ran aground on its outward
voyage, but was refloated successfully; and had the capture of one dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. to its
credit. There is no other effective navy.
VI.— Aviation and Connected Matters.
Saudi A rob A ir Force.
139 The derelict state of this force at the end of 1931 was described in
the last lepoit. After the failure of the negotiations in that year regarding new
British personnel, Ibn Saud turned his eyes elsewhere. A report that he was
trymg to recruit airmen in Poland was unconfirmed, but on the 28th January the
Turkish Ambassador in London informed the Foreign Office that the Saudi
Government had asked the Turkish Government to lend them pilots and machines.
ivs stated in paragraph S3, the Ambassador was informed in February that His
Majesty s Government in the United Kingdom saw no reason why the request
should not be complied with. No arrangement seems to have been come to
however, between the Turkish and Saudi Governments. The only project known
to have been m being at the end of the year was that of sending students to
Turkey tor instruction m aerial, as well as military, matters.
140. In May Fuad Bey Hamza broached in London a personal suggestion
that His Majesty s Government should reconsider the possibility of sending a
Royal Air Force Mission to Saudi Arabia to train native pilots and mechanics.
He discussed this informally with Mr. Rendel and Group-Captain Peirse of the
Air Ministry, and m due course the suggestion was sympathetically considered
r urther examination revealed many difficulties. On the 11th August HG
Majesty’s Minister in Jedda communicated to Fuad Bev an unofficial
memorandum explaining them and drawing attention to certain points on which
the Air Ministry would require further information before the matter could
usefully be pursued. Fuad Bey expressed gratitude, but did not revert to the
subject during the remaider of the year.
141. The Geiman, Krakowski, who had played a role in connexion with the
an foi ce in 1931, got into serious trouble with the Saudi Government in 1932.
Indiscretions of his at and near the aerodrome led to his being set upon by soldiers
on the 30th April and severely beaten. The German consul was able to give him
limited assistance, and he left the country on the 20th M!ay. ML Lowe the last
survivor of the original air force, had left in 1931, but came to the notice of the
Wion m 1932 owing to the persistent failure of the Saudi authorities to pay
his bill for travelling expenses to England.