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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [127r] (254/680)
The record is made up of 1 file (338 folios). It was created in 24 Oct 1939-1 Jan 1945. 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.
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DEP/JlTtvlMTAL NO.
FROM JEDDA TO FOREIGN OFFICE, ^
Mr. Stonehawor Bird. D. 1.40 p.m. 11th February, 1942.
No.67. R. 6.20 p.m. 11th February, 1942.
llth February, 1942.
Repeated to Minister of State Cairo No.14.
Government of India No.50 .
IMMEDIATE. coco
Your telegram No.44 o f February 5th.
I informed the Minister of Finance accordingly. Whilst
expressing deep gratitude for His Maiesty s Government s
help he wished'to insist on two points:
(a) If he could be given no idea of the total help to
be afforded during the year he could not plan ahead. I
admitted this but pointed out that the figures he had given
me, and in which I had based my appeal to you, represented,
according to his own statement, the irreducible minimum
expenditure. The best he could do was to carry on on that
basis. He agreed but feared that charges for assistance of
the unemployed might be higher. I said that this would to
a great extent be offset by enforced economy in the purchase
of supplies of imported motorcars, which were not available.
(b) Even if His Majesty's Government doubled the
amount of sterling advance in March it would notsplve the
immediate problem which, as I knew, was the prpvision of
riyals. Ine Saudi Arabian Government had no riyals and
no sovereigns with v/hich to buy them and could consequently
not pay salaries. To meet their needs they must have
200,000 sovereigns within the next two weeks. I said
r , a 1 I had laid the whole situation as clearly as I could before
you (my telegram No.49 of Febr uary 1st, ord paragraph)
'u&b and His Majesty's Government were doubtless studying the
^ ^ problem. In view of the urgency I would enquire urgently
whether a proportion of sovereigns required could be shipped
or flown from India to avoid a crisis and was asking the
Minister of State if he could spare a financial expert to
visit Jedda and make recoveries.
2. I am satisfied after a long talk with the manager
of the Netherlands Trading Society and pther non-Saudis
involved in the question that the position is critical and
that the only immediate cure lies in the supply of at least
100,000 sovereigns at once*
i r scd. pol. r r ;p T .
i ^ i h jij
I 11 ^’CE
About this item
- Content
This file concerns British policy towards Saudi Arabia during the Second World War (the abbreviation 'Qn' in the title stands for 'Question'). The correspondence discusses the question of providing financial or material assistance to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], as well as the United States' growing economic and strategic interests in Saudi Arabia.
The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Reader Bullard, Hugh Stonehewer Bird, and Stanley R Jordan successively); the Secretary of State for India (Leo Amery); the Viceroy of India (Archibald Percival Wavell); the Chancellor of the Exchequer (John Anderson); officials of the Foreign Office, 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. , the Treasury, the Government of India's Finance and External Affairs Departments, and the United States Embassy in London.
Related matters of discussion include the following:
- The idea (initially discussed in correspondence dating from 1939) of an alliance or a bloc of Arab states (chiefly comprised of Saudi Arabia and the Yemen), which would support the Allied cause.
- The Italo-German reaction to Ibn Saud's refusal to receive German diplomat Dr Fritz Konrad Ferdinand Grobba, a decision that was applauded by the British.
- Italian influence in the Middle East.
- Anglo-French co-operation in the Middle East.
- Details of the Saudi Government's finances (i.e. expenditure and revenue) during the early war years.
- Arrangements for loans and payments from the British to the Saudi Government, as well as details of royalties and loans paid to the Saudi Government by the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc).
- Proposals for an irrigation and agricultural mission to Saudi Arabia, headed by a United States agricultural expert.
- Conversations between Ibn Saud and United States General Patrick Hurley during the latter's visit to Riyadh in May 1943.
- The Government of India's decision in 1942 not to allow pilgrim ships to sail from India to Saudi Arabia, because of a risk of the ships being attacked.
- Ibn Saud's requests in 1944 for the British Government to send to Saudi Arabia financial and military advisers, preferably Sunni Moslems [Muslims].
- The proposed appointment of Ibn Saud's requested financial adviser, which is delayed and eventually abandoned, following the United States' suggestion that the position be given to a United States adviser, because of the United States' 'preponderant interest' in the Saudi economy.
The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (338 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 339; 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 262-286; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.' [127r] (254/680), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2163, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100046518047.0x000039> [accessed 5 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2163
- Title
- Coll 6/91 'Saudi Arabia. Policy of H.M.G. Qn. of credits and guarantee of assistance to Ibn Saud.'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:36v, 39r:57v, 59r:110v, 113r:182v, 184r:189v, 191r:310r, 311v:339v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence