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'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports' [24r] (47/432)
The record is made up of 1 file (214 folios). It was created in 20 Jan 1941-31 Dec 1942. 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.
3
99(ix) The sale of tickets for the school play ’'Italian
Atrocities in Libya” in aid of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
Fighter
Fund has called forth the comment ”what about a nlay on
British atrocities in Palestine ?”.
(x) The last mail to India, S.S. ’’Barala”, was full of
Polish and Roumanian refugees.
(xi) It is understood that the Bahrain Petroleum Company
has "laid off” about 40 drivers.
(xii) A story is going round, based on a letter said
to have been received by Yusuf Fakhroo, that a large
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
(nakhuda Abdullah bin Mohammad el Kingi) v/hich recently
cleared from Aden with a cargo of salt, was stopped by
a British warship. The
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
hoisted Iranian colours,
out was fired on and sunk with the loss of all her crew
except five.
(xiii) -It is learned that Ahmad el Jabur, Secretary of
Nadi el Mukhtalat el Riyadh! (i.e. Mixed Sports Club)
sometimes lectures in the said Nadi styling himself as
"Hitler”.
40. Local Opinion
(i) The Balkan situation has caused various comments.
One theory is that Turkey’s attitude is one of bhckma.il
on Britain to get all she can for herself and is compared
with Russia’s attitude to Germany. It has also, rather
surprisingly, been heard stated as an opinion that Turkey
is true to her pledges and when the time comes will be
joined by ’Iraq. Some people have said that Russia is
waiting to help carve up Turkey as she did Poland. As
far as the opinion of "the common plebs" can be gauged,
they welcome the news as bringing nearer the day when, they
hope, Germans will turn out the British from the Middle
Hast. The few maturer minds among them do, however,
read aright the lessons of Poland, Holland, etc 5 and see
the force, to themselves, of Hitler’s racial categorization
of the world. Some comment is now being noticed in local
majliSes as to the fate of * Iraq, Syria and other Muslim
communities.
(ii) An old date merchant, by the name of El’Amiri,
when heard to curse the German radio, was asked the
reason for his preference for the British. His reply was
that he noticed older and God-fearing men who visited the
mosques regularly were in favour of Britain winning the
war. When reminded of Palestine, he said, "Everyone is
forgiven three mistakes; this is only their first".
(iii) Speculation is rife regarding Turkey’s attitude,
the most common theory being that she will betray Britain
in the end. Theposition of Persian! and Iraq under the
Sa’adabad Pact, in the event of Turkey being ""attacked, was
raised at a local majlis. It was thought that their hos
tility to Britain would stop them from helning Turkey.
The ragged and ill-fed condition of the Persian Army was
commented on.
The Soviet radio's recent expressions of disapproval
of Bulgaria’s surrender have been considered by some sec
tions to be a mere grick to allay suspScions of an actual
league with Germany to divide up Turkey like Poland and
Roumania.
(iv) /-
About this item
- Content
The file contains fortnightly intelligence summaries produced by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Bahrain for the years 1941-42. The reports, marked as secret, were sent to the Government of India, the 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. , and numerous diplomatic, political, and military offices in the Middle East. Most of the reports cover a two week period, though due to holidays, tours, and work pressures some cover an entire month.
The reports are divided into short sections that relate to a particular subject, often closely connected to the Second World War. Contained within the file is intelligence on the following:
- international shipping and the activities of the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and commercial transport companies such as Imperial Airways Limited;
- the movements of British and Foreign subjects, and Arab notables;
- local affairs of Bahrain, as well as news from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Persia [Iran], and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ;
- economic matters and food supplies;
- foreign radio broadcasts and press, with a focus on anti-British sentiment;
- the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Fighter Fund;
- defence matters;
- smuggling of gold and arms and the traffic of slaves;
- meteorological data;
- medical matters.
Folios 57-61 are correspondence relating to the alleged sinking of an Iranian dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. by a British man-of-war in March 1941.
Folios 85-88 is a list of prominent individuals in Bahrain, compiled 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. at Bahrain, Reginald Alban, and submitted to the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. at Bushire.
Folio 122 is the statement of thirteen Qatari sailors who were aboard a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. sunk by a Japanese submarine on 12 April 1942.
Folio 176 is a telegram from the Government of India in New Delhi requesting that intelligence summaries differentiate between truly confidential content and that which can be distributed more widely.
Folio 190 is a letter, dated 15 October 1942, from Charles Geoffrey Prior, 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. , to Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, 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, regarding the risk of including information about the revival of the slave trade in the Gulf in his diaries due to their wide readership.
Included in the file is correspondence between 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. and the Naval Officer in Charge at Basrah regarding prominent people of the region and events of the war.
On the inside of the front cover is the distribution list for the summaries.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (214 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged chronologically.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 216; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports' [24r] (47/432), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/314, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025549535.0x000030> [accessed 28 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/314
- Title
- 'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:215v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence