Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎377r] (754/802)

Mr. Lowe must be an essential condition of assistance. When the Hejazis were
making their temporary arrangements described in the preceding paragraph, they
renewed more insistently their request for assistance, but would not believe that
men could not be obtained at lower rates. After full consideration they were
informed on the 6th June that His Majesty’s Government could only help them,
if assured (a) that the new personnel would receive satisfactory treatment as
regards pay, &c., and (b) that a complete break would be made with the past. His
^.ajesty s Government reaffirmed their previous view as regards the necessity lor
salaries at least as high as those previously paid. They did not insist on the
immediate removal of Mr. Lowe, but asked for an undertaking that his connexion
with the force would be severed before the new personnel reached the Hejaz. On
the 17th June the Hejazi Government intimated acquiescence in the two
conditions, but propounded a new scheme. They said that they proposed to
recruit only four men, viz., an aviator instructor specially qualified for training,
a pilot with special knowledge of aeronautical engineering and two mechanics.
They proposed, at the same time, to send a mission abroad to be trained in
aviation, and asked whether His Majesty’s Government would give facilities for
such a mission to be trained in the United Kingdom. These proposals were
referred to His Majesty’s Government, who had not replied up to the end of June.
57. Meanwhile, Messrs. Morris and North remained in Jedda awaiting a
settlement of accounts. This was held up by a demand of the Hejazi Government
that Mr. Morris should account in detail for all the material originally delivered
at Darin Island. In the absence of the original specifications and of any regular
storekeeping arrangements this demand could not be complied with. Sir A. Ryan,
who had been asked by Fuad Bey to advise, intervened unofficially to remove this
difficultv and was, at the end of June, hopeful of adjusting it. He had, in the
meantime, however, obtained instructions authorising him to intervene officially
on behalf of the two ex-pilots, if efforts at mediation should fail.
Air Force Material.
58. On the 18th May the Legation at last communicated to the Hejazi
Government the reply of His Majesty’s Government to their request for assistance
in procuring instructional aeroplanes, &c. (March-April report, paragraph 50).
The Minister for Foreign Affairs replied on the 17th June that, owing to lack of
technical experts, they preferred to postpone consideration of the matter.
59. Early in June the Hejazi Government requested facilities for shipment
to Jedda via Bahrein and India of 500 bombs, being half the stock which had been
originally supplied for the Air Force, but had been left behind at Darin Island.
It was agreed that the shipment might be made subject to compliance with Board
of Trade regulations and to the detonators being removed from the bombs and
stored in a separate magazine at the opposite end of the ship.
Arabian Air Route.
60. The detente in the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan frontier negotiations enabled the
Legation to reopen this question (March-April report, paragraph 51). On the
28th May Sir A. Ryan handed to Fuad Bey Hamza a memorandum for the King s
consideration, referring to the discussions last summer and developing the
present desiderata of His Majesty’s Government on the lines laid down in the
instructions summarised in paragraph 45 of the report for January-Iebruary.
The memorandum omitted any reference to a number of landing grounds a.t stated
intervals or to possible consultation with the Air Officer Commanding in Iraq.
Fuad Bey stated that the Hejaz Government were preparing regulations, which,
he continued, would mark a more liberal attitude towards foreign aircraft,
although there would be a highly centralised control. I he Minister delayed
further action on the chance of the regulations being published. Eventually, the
Hejazi Government produced on the 18th June a not very satisfactory official
reply in which they again referred to the proposed regulations, but in language
suggesting that they were much less advanced than Fuad Bey had led Sir A. Ryan
to think. & The Hejazi memorandum ended by saying that pending the completion
of the arrangements for the new regulations they wished “to inquire of the
British Government as to the terms on which a mutual agreement can be come to
on this subject with a view to their studying such terms also.’’ When reporting