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Papers of the Mesopotamian Administration (later Middle East) Committee [38r] (77/80)
The record is made up of 1 file (39 folios). It was created in 19 Mar 1917-12 Jan 1918. 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
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3 p
3
In regard to the Hejaz he suggested that General Clayton
should be made Chief Civil Commissioner under Sir Reginald
Wingate who would continue to perform the purely Military-
functions of the General Officer Commanding in the Hejaz«
Sir Reginald Wingate was well lenown in the East and while
the political functions which he carried out in regard to
the Hejaz should be transferred to General Clayton he
thought it desirable to retain Sir Reginald Wingate as
General Officer Commanding in that area. It was
essential from every point of view that there should be co
operation and co-ordination between the political and mili
tary forces in Palestine and in the Hejaz and he recognised
that in Egypt there existed a sentiment hostile to the Arabs.
GB2J3RAL MACDOROGH agreed that from a Military poVit of
view co-ordination was most important; it would, howo/er,
be impossible for General Allenby to give instructions to
Colonel Wilson at Jeddah and it was necessary to improve
the system of liaison between the General Officer Commanding-
in-Chief in Palestine and the General Officer Commanding in
Hejaz. He thought that for this purpose Colonel A.
Dawnay who was on the staff of Sir Reginald Wingate for Arab
Operations should be attached to General Allenby’s Headquarters
to efasure fuller oo-ordination,
LORD ISLINGTON stated that re understood the proposal
was that General Clayton should be placed in both Palestine
and the Hejaz in precisely the same position as that occu
pied by Sir Peroy Cox in Mesopotamia.
SIR MARK SYKES pointed out that General Clayton 1 s only
staff was the Arab Bureau which was at present situated in
Cairo, and was a Foreign Office body under Sir Reginald
Wingate. He thought that the Arab Bureau should bo moved
from Cairo to some place in Palestine, whence it would be
possible for General Clayton to carry out his proposed
duties, both in regard to Palestine and the Hejaz.
LORD HARDIN3E agreed that the movement of the Arab
Bureau would follow, as a matter of course, from the re-
dofinltiOA of functions to be entrusted to General Clayton.
In reply to Lord Islington he added that it would be dif
ficult to carry out the analogy between the position of
General Clayton and that of Sir Peroy Cox completely. The
Hejaz was an Independent Sovereign State and therefore
General Clayton’s relations with King Hussein would be
largely those of & diplomat. t
LORD ISLINGTON pointed out that if General Clayton
was to act as both political Officer in Palestine and in
the Hejaz it would be necessary for him to delegate hie
authority to some other person in the Hejaz; he presumed
this would be Colonel Wilson at Jeddah who in future in
regard to all political matters would take his instructions
from General Clayton.
LORD ROBERT CECIL explained that the* channel of com
munication between His Majesty's Government and General
Clayton would in each case be through the General
Officer Commanding in Palestine and the Hejaz. General
Clayton should of course be allowed the utmost freedom
in regard to his communications with the Committee.
About this item
- Content
This file mostly consists of minutes of meetings of the War Cabinet's Mesopotamian Administration Committee (later renamed the Middle East Committee), chaired by George Curzon.
The papers are chiefly concerned with current and future British policy in Mesopotamia, which during the period covered was under British military occupation. However, the minutes also discuss matters relating to the wider Middle Eastern region, as reflected in the change of name to Middle East Committee in August 1917.
In addition to minutes, the file includes the following: a draft report by the committee, dated March 1917, containing recommendations regarding future British policy in Mesopotamia and the wider region (ff 1-2); a letter to George Curzon from Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Sykes, dated 2 July 1917, recommending that the committee be renamed, in order to define its scope and work (ff 24-25).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (39 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 39; 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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Papers of the Mesopotamian Administration (later Middle East) Committee [38r] (77/80), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/272, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070535784.0x00004e> [accessed 21 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/272
- Title
- Papers of the Mesopotamian Administration (later Middle East) Committee
- Pages
- 1r:22v, 23ar:23av, 23r:39v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence