Skip to item: of 834
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎40r] (88/834)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 volume (411 folios). It was created in 1917-1920. 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.

Apply page layout

- 471 —
THE ARAB LEGION.
ntl,„, The i fir f t dra u’ c 1 om ,P r T isin g twenty-eight officers and 357
othei ranks from the Arab Legion, trained at Ismailia, has been
sent to Akaba for service with Sherif Feisal’s forces. The hones
with which this Legion was planned some months ago were set
out ,n our No. 53 (p. 263). They have been so imperfectly
realised m practice, and appear so little capable of realization
wi i the material at the Allies’ disposal, under existing
political conditions, that the original plan and organization of
the Legion must come up for drastic reconsideration. The
matenal has consisted in the main of volunteers from amonp'
prisoners of war, sent in the greater part from India. Certain
omcers and men, mostly Syrians, had been selected in Eoypt
previous to the arrival of the Indian contingent; but it was not
till the latter disembarked about two months ago that definite
incorporation could begin.
It had been hoped that the Legion might be used in the
Palestine campaign, but it was soon manifest that this
destination would arouse such various and dissonant political
passions among its heterogeneous elements (including some
sixty-five Christians and thirty-five Jews), that there was
nothing for it but to put beiore the men in training the
simple purpose of joining the forces of the King of Hejaz
and fighting for Arab Unity under his banner. This course was
the more inevitable since the contingent from India had had that
destination and that alone put before it when invited to volunteer,
and had already shown an uproarious disinclination to be delayed
or diverted from it; and it was very soon clear that, if the Legion
was to be officered only by men of the same races as its rank and
file, its use in conjunction with European troops was wholly
impracticable. The task of training a unit which had none but
such officers, and these in many instances inefficient or
contumacious, put as severe a strain as could be conceived on the
Europeans in charge of the Ismailia base, who were in the
unsatisfactory position of having responsibility without direct
authority. It is to their great credit that they imposed in so
short a time a veneer of discipline and some military cohesion,
which enabled the draft to go off at the last, making a fair
appearance and likely to come up to the not very high standard
of Hejaz “ regulars.” But whether it is at all worth while to
train a second draft for Hejaz, after the experiences we have had,
is more than doubtful.
There are left now at the Ismailia base only half-a-dozen
undesirables out of the first material (who will probably be
re-interned), and some 226 recently arrived recruits from Yemen.
About the latter there is little question but that they must have
British officers; nor is there any question either that they
must not follow the first draft to the Hejaz. They have no
touch with King Husein whatever, and it is perfectly futile to talk

About this item

Content

The volume consists of individual copies of the Arab Bulletin produced by the Arab Bureau at the Savoy Hotel, Cairo numbers 66-114. These publications contain wartime, and post-war intelligence obtained by British sources. They deal with economic, military, and political matters in Turkey, the Middle East, Arabia, and elsewhere, which – in the opinion of British officials – affect the ‘Arab movement’; the bulletins cover a wide range of topics and key personalities.

The volume contains the following maps:

  • A map of Central Arabia showing St John Philby's route from Uqair to Jidda 17 November to 31 December 1917: folio 103.
  • Sketch map prepared from RNAS photographs and reconnaissance by HMS City of Oxford of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Mur February to March 1918 : folio 170.
  • Sketch map of Hejaz (1919): folio 317.
  • Tribal sketch map of the Hadhramaut ‘showing only tribes of fighting value’: folios 333v.

Towards the back of the volume is a small amount of correspondence respecting the distribution of Notes on the Middle East ; the Arab Bulletin was superseded by this publication. Copies of numbers 3-4 of this publication can also be found at the back of the volume.

Tables of content can be found at the front of each issue. A small amount of content is in French.

Extent and format
1 volume (411 folios)
Arrangement

The Arab Bulletins are arranged in numerical order from the front to the back of the file. The Notes on the Middle East follow on from the bulletins at the back of the file in reverse numerical order.

The subject 759 (Arab Bulletins) consists of two volumes. IOR/L/PS/10/657-658.

Physical characteristics

Condition: the edges of some of the folios towards the back of the volume have suffered damage to their edges due to general wear and tear. The affected folios are 389-390, 407-409, and 412.

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 413; 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. The front cover and the leading flyleaf have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 357-363 and ff 374-412 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎40r] (88/834), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/658, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048056854.0x000059> [accessed 19 April 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048056854.0x000059">File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [&lrm;40r] (88/834)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048056854.0x000059">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x000229/IOR_L_PS_10_658_0088.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x000229/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image