‘File 28/1 K III Defence of oil field & refinery’ [‎154r] (307/422)

9.
By »l<Wuly # » rsally good ^how bolng mo '^e*
Comj^any had borrowod oortaim Plant 4 oomproooors, trucks etc. ) from
Ok*QQ; and wore also moving tho stairs on each tank outwards, so that
the sheath wall could continue unbroken* They had also oolleoted
upwards of 1000 man, who by this time had laamt tha Job and knew
what was expected* stores from he Iran ware coming in well - possibly
as a result of countless letters and signals from Hills to his H* .•
Host important of all, the Company and Military Personnel by now, not
only knew each other, but respected and liked each other, and there
was not the suspicion of any disharmony*
All credit must be given to the Company’s man who co-operated
so well on the works* Mr* ward Anderson was always kindness itself
to Hills and hii men, and very long-sighted about the works* fhe
Pefinery Manager, Mr* Barkhurst, wa w always oo-oparative, though the
t*A*l>* activities moat have merlon ly upset his routine* ^he
llngineerlng Department, Messrs* Fifer, Pauachert, Hildebrand and
Cornell (carreyearl, heart and « <m1 in t5*e «arh# r^sr* lee wood.
Labour, had succeeded in producing nearly 1000 men at very short
no tics* Hr* MU ummerville. Transportation, we doing a grand
Job* Last, but not least, ftr* Huddell was proving all that could
be desired*
The position of the Military ^tachment had radically
altered* Owing to the war situation, various defence schemes were
in progress, and troops and guns began to arrive* Much of Lieut*
Young’s time was taken up on these developments, and "gt* teel - left
behind sick in Basra and who had Joined the hetaohmf'nt early in June -
was full time on them* n«A* F* Works also Increased, and about this
time It was found neee wary to take one H/tgt* out of the Lefinery to
deal with thes * *>/Hgt* Hunter, however, remained on .F*A*D* v«orks
and proved invaluable*
In the third week in July, the Director of Works,
Brigadier Minnis, visited the Island* He expressed satisfaction with
the progress, but produced a bombshell in announcing that bricks would
shortly not be available* Oement could be sent in large ouentities,
and much consideration was given to the manufacture and use of
eoneret* blocks* It was finally decided that this would be done, if
local resources could provide no alternative* The Company’s nginaera
had an Idea that *ooral tone 1 * obtained from the sea might be suitable,
and it was aereed to investigate this possibility he fere deciding on
concrete blocks* During the visit, w^rk to tha first tank was
finished* Brigadier Minnis* visit pat the final touches on the
harmony bwtweea the Company and the Military* He showed he wag a
practical man, she readily understood the Company’s point of view,
and he proved a grand mixer (he played golf and cricket while on the
Island)* After the visit, everything went as smoothly as could
be expected* He also sent a car to Bahrain for the use of Bills*
^ork was continued in brickwork while the ooral situation
was being explored* A bed was found off the Hast of the Island,
which could provide far more tone than was needed} good stone, too,
with a fair face, and the opposite face not too Irregular* Owing to
the bad quality of the bricks being used, and their small siae t it
did not appear that much more, if any, mortar would be required for
working in coral* The only drawback lay in the distance from the
works at which the coral oould be brought ashore. ^owever, the prlee
of coral was so cheap - ap roximetely three shillings per ton - th t
there would be a big saving in total ooet, despite the extra wear and
tear of transport* It was decided to build a pier at Bellaq, on the
West of the Island, the oost to be borne between the Company and tha
p*A*D* torfcs, end this was completed in the third week of eptember
1942* *y the ero^f September, all KA*D* Work was beln^ carried
in coral In lieu of bricks* The coral was brought to the (s
"Jaiboats*, upwards of 30 being employed, each bringing aboo-r iso cueic
feet per load* At fMU time, often the daily total oj
reached 4900 cubic feet* 7