Printed papers on the political situation and military policy in Egypt [‎24r] (47/176)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
Printed for the Committee of Imperial Defence. September 1923.
TO BE RETURNED TO THE SECRETARY
OF THE COTOTTEE OF IMPERIAL OEFEIICE
2, WHITEHALL GARDENS, S.W. 1, AFTER
MEETING AT WHICH CONSIDERED.
EE OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE.
fcA
SECRET.
454-B.
COMMITTEE
MILITARY POLICY IN EGYPT AND DEFENCE OF SUEZ CANAL.
{Previous C.I.D. Papers Nos. 438-R, 439-R, 446-P, 448-R, 450-R and 453-ZL)
Report Prepared by the Chiefs of Staff Sub-Committee.
THE following report has been prepared as the result of a Meeting of the
Chiefs of Staff Sub-Committee held on the 28th September, 1923. in order to
consider the naval, military and air aspects of the question of our military policy in
Ee'vnt and the defence of the Suez Canal. The meeting was attended by General
Sir W. Congreve, lately the General Officer Commanding the Forces in Egypt. This
report is agreed to by the Committee of the Chiefs of Staff.
2. The most important consideration in regard to our military policy in Egypt
from the point of view of Imperial Defence is to ensure the safety of the Suez Canal.
The Naval Staff are of opinion that the security of the Canal, which, as shown in
their Memorandum No. 438—B. is in any event a matter of difficulty, cannot possibly
be secured without the actual presence of British forces in Egypt.
3. The General Staff are of opinion that in order to ensure the safety of the
Canal it is essential to maintain a military hold on Cairo, as well as to control the
railways and the fresh-water canal. In order to have control of the fresh-water
canal, on which the water sunplv of the Canal zone depends, the military occupation
of Abbassia, close to Cairo, is essential.
4. As regards the maintenance of internal order, the General Staff are of opinion
that Cairo, and, to a less desree, Alexandria, as the main centres of population,
commerce and political activity, are the places where any serious internal disorders
would originate, and where the lives and property of Europeans, for which we are
responsible, would be in danger. It is therefore essential to maintain sufficient troops
in the immediate vicinity of these cities in order that we may be in a position to
control them. In the case of Cairo, internal order can be secured by an adequate
force at Abbassia. Both from the point of view of the strategical requirements for H
the defence of the Canal and from that of the maintenance of order, the retention
of Abbassia is of importance. Should we, bv the withdrawal of our troops from
these areas, relinquish our control and diminish the protection which has been given
in the oast to the rights and property of the European residents, it appears not
improbable that other nations may seek to establish a system of Legation Guards in
order to safeguard the interests of their own nationals.
5. In this connection it is necessary to bear in mind that the Egyptian Army
should it prove disloyal, though not trained as a fighting force, would nevertheless
be very formidable in street fighting and once thev had broken out of barracks and
become dispersed amongst the native population would greatly increase the difficulties
of restoring order.
6. In considering the actual location of the various units it must be remembered
that at present the Royal Air Force maintain large establishments at Aboukir which
are of importance not only for the Air Force stationed in Egypt, but also for the
whole of the Middle East. These establishments rely for their protection on the ,
troops at present stationed at Alexandria, and the withdrawal of the battalions from
there might result in the necessity of moving the Royal Air Force establishments, on
which up to the present the expenditure has been in the neighbourhood of £500,000, \
to some other site nearer to the new stations selected for the troops.
Negotiations are at present proceeding with regard to the hire of the existing
site at Aboukir for a period of twenty-five years.
2, Whitehall Gardens, &.JF.1,
September 29, 1923.
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