"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [و‎‎١‎٠‎٨] (٥٦٦/٢٢٠)

SYKES REACHES KERMAN
181
'esti:
beats
fot» ;
'for Hi
; set|
eyslt
thels
tie Is
aiiJi
'ceois
Atoll
edtoi!
oitlist
atajf
neoti
in pt
onai
to, it
-li
idoi
at ail
'parts
he!)
osii:
tWI
■eaii
tislft
it¥
ithei:
jjpait
Bet
was#
At the beginning of June, the situation at Shiraz seemed to Shiraz^ ^
Mr. Marling to be still unsatisfactory. Saulat, who was j une I9I ^
jealous of Qawam, annoyed at Farman Farma's appointment
and disappointed at not being subsidised by us, was causing
trouble. Some eight hundred gendarmerie remaining at
Shiraz were said to be loyal and Mr. Marling suggested that
British officers should be sent there, via Ahwaz and Isfahan,
to take over control of these men. The Foreign Office in
London supported the proposal, and the despatch of five or
six British officers by this route was arranged for by the Govern
ment of India. But they considered that, to avoid multiplying
risks by further embarrassments, it would be best if these
officers arrived at Shiraz simultaneously with Sir P. Sykes,
who was almost due at Kerman and who, India suggested,
should march from there to Shiraz at an early date, moving
via Yezd. _ u c .
Sir Percy Sykes reached Kerman on the 11th June, receiving The^Sykes
a warm welcome from the Governor and leading notables, to j£ erm3Ln •
many of whom he was well known personally from his previous June 1916.
residence there. On the 15th the Government of India asked
him for a broad outline of his scheme of organisation for the
South Persia Rifles* to enable them to restore order in South
Persia generally and especially on the main trade routes. A
strength of 10,000 men might, he was told, be regarded as the
limit of the ultimate size of the force. On the 18th he replied
that his policy would aim at reducing the tribes to submission
rather than to stringing men along the roads. For the Bandar
Abbas—Kerman road he considered the provision of a telegraph
and telephone line, as well as its improvement to take wheeled
traffic, to be essential; while for that area he estimated the
strength of the police force required at 14 British officers, about
2,700 men, 6 guns and 8 machine guns. For the Bushire-
Shiraz road and area the strength required would probably be
a little greater, but he was not yet in a position to make an
accurate estimate. He proposed to start the formation at
Kerman of a cavalry regiment at once and of an infantry
battalion as early as possible ; and he asked for the services of
more British officers and Indian instructors,f also of an Engineer
officer for road making and the construction of posts. He also
asked that two motor cars might be sent to him via Seistan, as
they were urgently required.
* This title, it may be noted, was only settled later.
f Shortly after this he asked that he should be sent British instead of Indian
instructors for the South Persia Rifles.