"ملف 8/15 سلسلة الجزيرة العربية - ١٩٣٣-١٩٣٩" [ظ‎‎٢‎١‎١] (٤٣٤/٤٢٢)

30
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Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter, dated 13th July 1938.
Copy.
(E.-4061/1267/25.)
Demi-official letter from Sir R. W. Bullard, H. M.’s Minister, Jedda,.
to C. W. Baxter, Esq., M.C., Foreign Office, London, No. 1286/
300 /23, dated the 14th June 1938. |
The arrival of the guns which the Italians sold or gave to the Saudi
Government was reported in Jedda telegram No. 63 [S. No. (21)], dated
March 11th. Fuad Hamza seemed to take particular care not to say how many
there were, and I have never heard an exact figure from any other source,
though “eight to twelve” has been mentioned. There is an Italian here who
arrived with the guns and is possibly an artillery instructor. Fuad said,
it will be remembered (Jedda telegram No. 54 of March 5th), that the con
signment would be accompanied by Italians to expalin the use of the arms.
This Italian is said to be very assiduous in his attentions to the Command
ant, and he does not appear in the European community, though Trott met
him once at the Iraqi Legation.
Confidential.
No. 415-S.
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The Hon’ble the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf presents his
compliments to—<
Sir Aubrey Metcalfe, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., M.V.O., Secretary to the
Government of India in the External Affairs Department,
Simla.
and has the honour to transmit to him a copy of the undermentioned docu
ments.
British Consulate-General, Bushire, dated 20th July 1938.
Reference to 'previous correspondence.
Residency Printed Letter No. 289-S. [S. No. (26)], of 25th May 1938.
Jedda letter No. 1297/287/23 undated.
Effect of Ibn Saud’s death on events in Saudi Arabia.
Demi-official letter from Sir R. W. Bullard, H. M.’s Minister, Jedda,
to T. C. Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, No 1297/
287/23,
Many thanks for your confidential D. O. No. 288-S. [enclosure to S.
No. (26)], dated May 25th which has led me to look up your “Future of
Arabia” of September 18th, 1931. It has always been supposed, I think,
that the Saudi regime was very much a one-man show and that anything
might happen if Ibn Saud died, so that when I wrote my despatch No. 78 of
April 25th I felt that I was expounding the obvious. But the despatch
arose out of the complaints of the Hejazi I quoted, and moreover I had been
thinking about the possible effect on Saudi Arabia of a steady revenue from