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Coll 5/5 ‘Arabia: Hejaz Air Force; Recruitment of personnel by HMG; Instruction of Hejazi pilots’ [‎23v] (48/703)

The record is made up of 1 file (350 folios). It was created in 9 Mar 1931-14 Apr 1939. 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. .

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2
Kaeh of the two foreign instructors has thus six machines in his charge, and the
balance in favour of Major Ciccii, all of whose machines are in working order, is
redressed to some extent by the fact that he refuses to fly the new Caudron-
Renault, which he professes to regard as difficult and even dangerous, and that
M. Naidyonoff has been using it to train some of the Saudi pilots.
6 . It is said that Major Ciccu has recently made an attempt to teach^
navigation to a class of Saudi pilots that began with five, but fell almost
immediately to two. The task of imparting any theoretical training to these
pilots is made almost impossible by their lack of mathematical and other education
and of the practice of mental concentration, but the fact that some of them
attend a class conducted by Major Ciccu shows that the boycott of the Italian
mission has ceased.
7. The change in the attitude of the Saudi authorities towards the Italian
mission affords an interesting subject of speculation. I think there is no doubt
that until recently Ibn Saud regarded the Italians with suspicion and wished to
prevent their getting a hold of any kind in his country. It may be that the Anglo-
Italian Agreement, by removing Ibn Sand’s fear of Italy, has tempted him to
put some of his eggs into Mussolini’s basket—a policy which may have been
encouraged by the recent course of events in Europe. And perhaps he has begun
at last to despair of inducing His Majesty’s Government to modify their Palestine
policy.
8 . The press state that the flight to Yanbu is only the prelude to a series
of flights to other coast towns, for the purpose of training Saudi pilots for flights
“ in the heart of the kingdom and its parts.” There has been greater activity
in the air during the last few weeks than at any time since the Italian air mission
arrived, but it is the beginning of the financial year, and it is unlikely that petrol
will be provided later in the year with the relative liberality with which it is
supplied now. Whether the Italian Government can properly continue to provide
an air mission at their expense if the Anglo-Italian Agreement comes into force
is a matter of interpretation. To provide an officer and about eight mechanics,
all drawing overseas allowances, and to change the mechanics every six months
•or so, must cost the Italian Government a considerable sum, and, as I have
suggested before, it is for consideration whether the effect of this arrangement is
not the acquisition of a privileged position of a political character. On the other
hand, what of the rights which the Iraqi Government wish to be free to exercise
under the Treaty of Arab Brotherhood and Alliance, not to mention a suggestion
that, has recently been made, that the activities of the British Council should
be extended to Saudi Arabia ?
9. I am sending copies of this despatch to His Majesty’s Ambassadors at
Cairo and Bagdad, and to his Excellency the High Commissioner for Palestine
at Jerusalem.
I have, &c.
R. BULLARD.

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Content

The file covers the subject of the development of aviation in Hejaz (Saudi Arabia from 1932), and requests made to the British Government for assistance in the development of an air force.

The earliest papers (1931) deal with a crisis in the Hejaz Air Force, in which the Hejaz Government desired to replace three British subjects — Mr North, Mr Morris, and Mr Lowe — with new British recruits under amended terms and conditions. The file covers some of the consequences resulting from the failure to reach an agreement on this issue.

Much of the rest of the file focuses on various proposals for providing assistance to the Hejaz (later Saudi) Government such as: the provision of a British Air Mission, the appointment of a Muslim Air Adviser (from either Egypt, Iraq, or India), the supply of aircraft and equipment, and various suggestions for training pilots and mechanics at Royal Air Force institutions. These proposals are discussed in terms of their practicality, and their financial and political feasibility.

The file also contains some discussion related to the following: a proposal from Misr Airwork for a demonstration of the Avro 626 to the Hejaz Government; a Turkish military mission in Saudi Arabia; an Italian Air Mission to Saudi Arabia; and a proposal to supply arms and ammunition to Saudi Arabia. It also has extracts from The Times newspaper dated 27 April 1933 (folio 143) and 12 February 1937 (folio 124); The Evening Standard dated 25 November 1931 (folio 207); and an extract from the Umm-al-Qura dated 16 September 1932 (folio 151).

The main correspondents are as follows: HM Minister at Jeddah (Andrew Ryan and Reader William Bullard), HM Chargé d’Affaires at Jeddah (Cecil Gervase Hope-Gill), officials at the Air Ministry, and officials at the Foreign Office. Much of the file consists of correspondence forwarded from the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India, in order to inform 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. officials of developments in Arabia.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (350 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 350; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The file contains the following foliation anomalies: f 1, and f 1A.

An additional foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 5/5 ‘Arabia: Hejaz Air Force; Recruitment of personnel by HMG; Instruction of Hejazi pilots’ [‎23v] (48/703), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/1950, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035424170.0x000033> [accessed 30 October 2024]

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