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‘File 28/7 II War: Propaganda – Local Opinion’ [113r] (225/686)
The record is made up of 1 file (341 folios). It was created in 12 Mar 1942-12 Aug 1944. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
whereby the strategic ring was held. And in this connection
it is interesting to note that curing the whole three years
of the war in the l editerranean the British Navy has not
lost a single ship by enemy surface action.
First action: Calabria, Cth July, 1940. The
Italians tried to draw the British Mediterranean Fleet
close to the Italian coasts m order to destroy it by sea
and air power. F.h.S. "Warspite” damaged the Italian flag
ship at twenty-six thousand yards and chased the Italian
fleet to within sight of the Calabrian coast. Heavy bor ting
attacks were made on the British fleet by the greater part
of the Italian Metropolitan air forces but were completely
unsuccessful although the "barspite” alone had five hundred
bombs dropped around her. We had no fighters at sea to
Intercept these attacks. For months after this, the Italian
fleet avoided cruising into the open Mediterranean.
The next great action was Taranto - since the
Italians wouldn’t come out, Britain went in. At Taranto
on the night of 11/12 November, 1940, three Italian battle
ships were heavily damaged, two actually partly submerged
after an attack by our Fleet air arm. Two cruisers and
two Fleet auxiliaries were also badly damaged. Italy’s
effective battleship strength was thus halved at least for
many months. Y/hat is worth stressing is the great courage
and audacity of the utterly outnumbered British naval
forces which brought attacking aircraft to within one hundred
and fifty miles of the enemy’s main naval base. But between
the battles of Calabria and Taranto, memorable Fleet actions
occurred. In the first place again and again convoys were
passed during this period right through the entire length
of the Mediterranean including the Narrows in spite of
enormous Axis air superiority of land-based aircraft along
the whole length of the Narrov/s. Also on the 19th July,
1940, the cruiser "Sydney” engaged two Italian cruisers
each more powerful and faster than herself, and yet sank
"Bartholomeo Colleoni” and put the other to flight. Also
our cruiser "Ajax” on the 2nd October, 1942, in a single-
handed action against an Italian heavy cruiser and seven
destroyers, sank three destroyers and put the cruiser to
flight. After Taranto the Italian fleet was reduced
almost to impotence arid the locking of the British strstegic
ring via the Mediterranean became an accomplished fact.
Now comes phase 2. Germans saw in the spring of
1941 that Italy was nearly out of the war. So they ran
reinforcements to fill the gap. Here then we get a great
diversion of German air forces and later a considerable
diversion of German land forces in an attempt to break the
British strategic ring in the Mediterranean. Over four
hundred German firstline craft, long-range divebombers,
fighters and reconnaissance machines were based on Sicily
in the spring of 1941. In spite of this, large British
convoys continued to pas ., right through the Mediterranean
including British convoys going to Greece with whole
divisions of men; added to this the British offensive in
Libya was supported from the sea. But heavy losses were
sustained. The first attack on the "illustrious” was made
on the 10th January, 1941. In all ten attacks within
twenty-four hours were made on this aircraft-carrier at sea
and in Malta. In a second attack forty German divebornbers
were concentrated on the "Illustrious” alone. Several
heavy bombs hit her and fires broke out fore and aft -
the ship steering out of action with a heavy list. Yet
the "Illustrious” steered by engines continued to beat off
all subsequent attacks with her ack ack guns and was saved.
Next, on the 27th March, 1941, emboldened by the German
air forces the Mediterranean Italian fleet again put to
sea with the purpose of cutting British convoy routes to
About this item
- Content
The file, a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 28/7 I War: Propaganda: local opinion’ (IOR/R/15/2/687), comprises reports and correspondence concerning: the dissemination of pro-British and Allied propaganda in Bahrain and the wider Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region, as prepared and coordinated by the Publicity Office in Bahrain; the reception and impact of propaganda (Allied and Axis) on local public opinion in Bahrain. The propaganda covers events from Germany’s advances in Russia and Japan’s advances in the Indian Ocean in early 1942, to the Allied Landings in Normandy in June 1944. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Public Relations Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Bertram Sidney Thomas); the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham); and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior).
The file includes:
- weekly reports, prepared by Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. staff, summarising local opinion in Bahrain towards news of events in the war. These reports were sent by the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in digested form and on a weekly basis to the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. ;
- throughout the file, minutes of the approximately monthly meetings held by the Bahrain Radio Listeners Committee between July 1942 and August 1943. The minutes chiefly comprise comments on the content, quality of reception, quality of delivery, and timing, of BBC Arabic radio broadcasts, and to a lesser extent that of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. radio station;
- throughout the file, summaries of ‘talking points’ for dissemination as propaganda, focusing on topics including: Russia’s military strength against Germany (ff 42-43); facts and figures of the air war in the Mediterranean (ff 135-136); facts and figures on the Allied bombing campaign over Germany, with a focus on damage in Berlin and Essen (f 173);
- a report by Thomas of his tour of Middle East publicity centres (in Cairo, Jerusalem, Baghdad), dated 28 February 1943, commenting on: printing resources at Cairo; mechanical monitoring of radio broadcasts in Baghdad; use of cinema vans in remote districts of Iraq; Thomas’s own recommendations for publicity in the Gulf, including use of additional film projectors, hospitality sessions; majlis sessions (ff 11-16);
- a copy of an undated letter from L H Hurst of the Ministry of Information in London, to Thomas, requesting advice on ‘the best ways of capitalising the sympathies of pro-British Arabs.’ Thomas’s lengthy reply is appended to the letter (ff 47-51, with an additional copy at ff 59-64);
- correspondence relating to Thomas’s planned trip across the Arabian Peninsula, in March 1943 (ff 141-156);
- correspondence relating to Thomas’s departure to take up a role as head of an Arab Centre for training new officers (f 227);
- arrangements to send coloured film and records for broadcast in Sharjah (f 202);
- Government of Bahrain public notices: a prohibition on listening to German and Italian radio broadcasts, dated 16 June 1940 (f 5); a prohibition on listening to Japanese radio broadcasts, dated 8 December 1941 (f 6); dimming of car headlamps and other air raid precautions, dated 16 April 1942 (f 22).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (341 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 315-342) mirror the chronological arrangement.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 343; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-314; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 315-342.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/688
- Title
- ‘File 28/7 II War: Propaganda – Local Opinion’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:4v, 7r:21v, 23r:342v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence