"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎١‎٣‎٨] (٥٦٦/٢٨١)

240
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
Bushire ; Early in April, after the Russian declaration at Tehran had
April-May e f£ ec £ e( j a n improvement in the political situation there, Sir
I9I7 ‘ Charles Marling had ordered Major Trevor at Bushire to pro
ceed with the scheme for assisting Darya Begi to undertake an
expedition against the rebel Khans of Chah Kutah, Tangistan
and Borazjan. At Bushire both Major Trevor and General
Douglas doubted whether it was not now too late, as Darya Begi
had as yet made no preparations and the collection of the
harvest in May might make it difficult to collect the necessary
fighting men. General Douglas, who said that he could lend
three guns and two maxims with ammunition and men to work
them, thought that the expedition would be a mistake unless
there' was a good prospect of success, as failure would have a
very bad effect locally. Two days later, however, Major Trevor,
learning that, owing to a poor harvest, friendly Khans professed
their ability to collect over 1,000 men and seemed confident
that, with the support of our guns, they would meet with
success, considered the chances of this to be reasonable; and
he asked for authority to lend the guns, to advance Darya
Begi money and to let him proceed with his preparations.
The Government of India then referred the matter to H.M.
Government, as they shared General Douglas' misgivings,
especially as success would still leave the worst part of the road
untouched and they saw little reason to suppose that Saulat
would deal with that effectively. At first, Sir Charles Marling
was still inclined to consider that the exploit was justifiable
but, after discussion with Colonel Gough, he finally came to the
conclusion at the beginning of May that the contemplated
action was not worth undertaking. The idea was consequently
abandoned.
It is to be noted that while this project was under discussion
in April news was received at Bushire that three Germans,
disguised as Persians, had arrived early in the month at Ahram,
after having stayed for some time with Saulat. These men
turned out to be Bruggmann, Oertel and Dettmar, who had
been among those who had escaped from Saidabad in August
1916; and it was subsequently confirmed that Saulat s
assistance had enabled them to join Wassmuss.
At the end of May the command known as the “ O.C. Troops,
Gulf of Oman ” was abolished, when the various British detach
ments at Muscat and at the ports and islands in the Persian
Gulf and Gulf of Oman, including the base for the South
Persia Mission escort at Bandar Abbas, came under the orders