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Coll 30/52 (2) 'Persian Gulf, Diaries: Bahrain News and Intelligence Reports' [‎36r] (71/951)

The record is made up of 1 file (473 folios). It was created in 25 Apr 1941-9 Feb 1946. 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. .

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- 2 -
-yp vr rp
XJi 1
the object of carrying out this
best route for a railway to run
crossing the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. .*
137. LABOUR TROUBLES - 6APC0.
survey
from
n
is to Mis^covfer
Mecca to ?Tuscat
l 1945
the
/
Some 30 South African employees of the Bahrain
Petroleum Company submitted a demand in mid-August for
increases in pay and a.general rise in the rates payable
to South Africans to bring them into line with those of
Canadian and - eventually - American employees of the
Company. Attempts to negotiate with the employees indi
vidually were met with a refusal to discuss terms except
through representatives of the strikers.
*>
Eventually, some 20 South Africans, nearly all
of whom were operators in the refinery, stayed away from
work and on the 25th August the Company discharged them
for cause.
The employees refused to accept transportation
and a large deputation waited on the Assistant Political
Agent that day to air their grievances. After discussions
lasting several hours with three representative spokesmen
and also with Mr. Tr rard Anderson, the Chief Local Represent
ative, the strikers decided to accept transportation back
to South Africa where they apparently intend taking legal
advice to remedy their contention that discharge for cause
was not warranted.
So ended the first organised attempt in Bapco of
non-American employees to obtain for themselves the same
rates of pay as for American personnel. The problem is not
new and the same difficulties have arisen from this question
in other oil companies.
The strike and dismissal of so many operators
resulted in the shutting down of two crude stills and one
reformer in the Refinery.
138. LABOUR TROUBLES - DHAHRAN.
The strike of Italian workers in Aramco was no
sooner settled than a general strike of Arab employees
was declared.
The American Vice-Consul in Dhahran, Mr. Birge,
informed the Assistant 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. that the strikers
were ordered by His Majesty the King to return to work and
delegates from the Oil Company, the strikers, and Saudi
officials met to discuss their grievances. Mr. Birge
anticipates the Company having to make some concessions in
increases of rates of pay to their employees but the result
of meetings of representatives is not known as yet.
139. PERILS OF THE DEEP.
On the 30th August, a local fisherman was brought
ashore near the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for burial. He had been killed by a
small sword-fish that leapt over the net with which he and
fifty others were dragging the deep and impaled him in the
stomach.
140. METEOROLOGICAL.
Maximum temperature
Minimum temperature
Maximum humidity
Minimum humidity
104°F. on 17.8.1945.
81°F. on 23.8.1945*
99$ on 26.8.1945.
49$ on 17.8.1945,
Sd./- R.E.R. BIRD,
NS.
for 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

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Content

The file contains fortnightly intelligence summaries produced by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Bahrain for the years 1941-45. The reports, marked as secret, were sent to the Government of India, 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 numerous British diplomatic, political, and military offices in the Middle East.

The reports are divided into short sections that relate to a particular subject. Contained within the file is intelligence on the following topics:

  • Shipping
  • The movements of British and Foreign subjects, and Arab notables
  • Local affairs of Bahrain, as well as regional news from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , and the wider Middle East
  • Economic matters and food supplies
  • Bahrain Petroleum Company and other matters related to the oil industry
  • Transport accidents
  • The Bahrain ruling family
  • The pearl trade
  • Workers' strikes in Bahrain
  • Local crime
  • The slave trade
  • Regional boundary disputes
  • The impact of the Second World War in Bahrain and local reaction to events in the war
  • Weather and meteorological data.

There are occasional hand-written comments in the margins of the reports.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (473 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 (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 475; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 30/52 (2) 'Persian Gulf, Diaries: Bahrain News and Intelligence Reports' [‎36r] (71/951), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3768, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100060865182.0x00004a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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