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‘File 28/13 Black out and A.R.P. [Air Raid Precaution] measures in Bahrain’ [156r] (311/632)
The record is made up of 1 file (314 folios). It was created in 4 May 1940-22 Nov 1944. It was written in English and Arabic. 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.
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The lest mentioned contained pellets of phosphorous. These pel
lets burn quietly and can easily be put out by throwing a cup of
water over them. But they have the property of relighting if
left to dry and receive the heat of the sun.
When found they should be collected in a receptacle of
water, and then be allowed to burn themselves out somewhere in
the open where they can do no harm.
Some buildings sustained direct hits from high explosive
and incendiary bombs, and, though fires were started and windows
broken, the buildings themselves were not brought down as a whole.
The headmaster of the Gujarati High School, where a
bomb penetrated the building, had an extraordinary escape. He
was standing in the angle of a pillar about 20 feet from the
burst of the bomb but was entirely uninjured. The children were
on holiday, and though the staircase was damaged and some windows
broken, there were no casualties and no fire, and the damage
will be easily repaired.
NEED FOR LEADERSHIP
The raids made clear the need for training, discipline
and, above all, leadershij-) in all A.R.P. services
Paper schemes and training in accordance with them are
beneficial and necessary, but when the test comes it is courage,
initiative and leadership that counts above all else. The raids
also show that we must feed our A.R.P. services while they are
at work; the firemen in Rangoon worked loyally' and continuously
for eighteen hours. Food was provided for them or they could not
possibly have done so much, and an organization to carry food
to all our services in India is nww to be established.
Transport in sufficient quantity, and with stout-hearted
drivers who will not flinch from danger is another necessity
which the Rangoon raids bring out.
In Rangoon there were three large regular hospitals and
four emergency hospitals, with well over a thousand beds available
in all.
The Japanese made no attempt to spare either the civil
population or their hospitals and indeed directed their attack
against both. One hospital was hit by five bombs, but doctors,
Nurses and volunteers continued their work at the n£ight of the
raid.
More lives could have been saved had blood transfusion
been more generally possible. In India there are blood-banks
in Calcutta and Delhi and blood can be taken without any harm
to the giver, preserved, and used to save life if raids on India
should occur.
The homeless in Rangoon have been settled in dispersion
camps outside the city'. All the Provincial Governments in India
have under consideration the construction of such dispersion
and rest camps, and the problem of dispersal of population is
also engaging active attention. In some cases these camps
have already been established.
The Burman authorities, in the first place, decided to
restrict permits for deck space to women and children and those
accompanying them. This injunction was shortly afterwards re
laxed to the extent of reserving 70 per cent of the deck space
for women and children; and as the pressure of these firsu
claimants is dealt with and shipping increases, furtner relaxa
tion will be possible.
/In
About this item
- Content
The file contains correspondence, copies of official notices and regulations, and other papers, relating to air raid precautions and passive air defence measures taken in Bahrain throughout the Second World War. The principal correspondents in the file are: 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 Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave); the Port Director at Bahrain (Claud Cranbrook Lewis DeGrenier, who also occasionally writes in the capacity of Acting Adviser to the Government of Bahrain); the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (SNOPG); the Defence Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Major H T Hewitt); various representatives of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO).
The file includes:
- discussion between officials in May 1940 of arrangements for the dowsing of BAPCO flares, and the assessment that the risk of an air raid in Bahrain is sufficiently low to not require extensive blackout plans (ff 2-12);
- correspondence issued in the immediate wake of an Italian bombing raid at Bahrain and Dhahran on 19 October 1940, relating to the enforcement of blackout procedures at the BAPCO refinery, in Manama and Muharraq and at the Bahrain port. Papers include: official notices (issued by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Government of Bahrain, BAPCO) of blackout procedure (including dimming of car headlamps; extinguishing of port navigation lights; operation of refinery without gas flares); reports by the Assistant 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. , assessing the effectiveness of the blackout from the air; formulation of an emergency medical aid scheme for Bahrain (ff 13-79);
- correspondence, dated May 1941, concerning night-time flying boat services at Bahrain, and restrictions on lighting for these services (ff 106-111);
- correspondence dated between July and October 1941, concerning the relaxing of the existing blackout regulations, in light of the diminished threat to Bahrain from enemy air raids. Papers include: official notices of the relaxation of measures, issued by the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and Government of Bahrain (ff 117-139);
- correspondence, between March and November 1942, relating to the renewed threat of air raids at Bahrain, including: correspondence relating to instructions in dealing with incendiary bombs; extracts from newspapers ( The Statesman , the Bahrain Newspaper ) and a journal ( Indian Information ) relating to air raid risks and precautions at Bahrain, including lessons learnt in the wake of Japanese air raids on Rangoon [Yangon]; minutes of the meetings of the Bahrain ARP committee; air raid warning procedure; telephone and radio communications in the event of air raid warnings received at Bahrain; ARP practice; the visit to Bahrain of Home Office ARP expert Lucas Webster (ff 145-257);
- announcement in December 1942 of a relaxation of blackout restrictions at Bahrain (ff 259-265);
- correspondence in early 1943, relating to the lifting of regulations on the dimming of car headlamps in Bahrain (ff 276-277);
- official announcement in June 1943 of the lifting of all blackout regulations in Bahrain (ff 287-293).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (314 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 299-315) 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 back cover with 316; 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 mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-296; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file notes at the back (ff 297-315) have been paginated using pencil.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 28/13 Black out and A.R.P. [Air Raid Precaution] measures in Bahrain’ [156r] (311/632), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/699, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025686798.0x000070> [accessed 19 February 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/699
- Title
- ‘File 28/13 Black out and A.R.P. [Air Raid Precaution] measures in Bahrain’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:12v, 14r:16v, 18r:18v, 20r:36v, 38r:42v, 44r:51v, 54r:56v, 63r:63v, 65r:73v, 76r:77v, 79r:81v, 83r:84v, 86r:88v, 90r:97v, 100r:105v, 107r:109v, 111r:116v, 118r:132v, 134r:135v, 137r:137v, 140r:140v, 142r:142v, 144r:149v, 151r:152v, 154r:159v, 162r:175v, 177r:180v, 182r:216v, 218r:218v, 220r:226v, 228r:235v, 237r:240v, 242r:251v, 253r:256v, 258r:264v, 267r:292v, 294r:315v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence