Coll 30/9(2) 'Admin. Reports of the Persian Gulf - 1945 -' [‎555r] (1109/1148)

17
The sugar factory An East India Company trading post. at Merv Dasht was expended to cope with a production
of 100,000 tons and the usual party of Czech technicians arrived for the sugar-
boiling season with only a slight delay.
The machinery for the grain silos at Isfahan and Shiraz which was to be
supplied from the IT. S. S. R. did not arrive although the silo building at Isfahan
was finished by Kampsax in 1938 and the one in Shiraz is nearing completion.
The Khollar wine factory An East India Company trading post. produced some 250,000 litres of wine from the
1938 crop and succeeded in maintaining the good quality of its products.
Military A ffairs and Public Security .—The strength of the Shiraz garrison
was brought up to about 8,000 men. Mechanization made no progress. Of the
three anti-aircraft guns reported to have arrived in the spring one was seen at
the time but none were heard of since. Considerably more attention was given
to musketry and the three rifle ranges w T ere in constant use. Rumours of
movements of troops to the coast after the outbreak of war were not sub
stantiated.
The road guards (Amnieh) were incorporated in the army in March but no
outward change was apparent in their functions or efficiency. Nevertheless,
except for a few hold-ups and robberies in isolated parts, public security was
remarkably good.
Public Opinion and the War .—The sentiments of informed Persians were
overwhelmingly favourable to the Allies. This no doubt is largely due to the
fact that if a Persian speaks a foreign language at all it is usually either French
or English and only very rarely German. Commercial circles in Shiraz and
industrial circles in Isfahan which have come under strong German influence in
the last few years, regarded the war as an unmitigated nuisance which was
likely to lose them much money. They also considered that after the defeat of
Poland it was being needlessly prolonged. Only amongst army officers was
their any definite body of pro-German feeling.
The Persian broadcasts from Angora, to which, every Iranian wireless
owner listens, helped enormously to consolidate public opinion in favour of the
Allies, but reception towards the end of the year became very disturbed.
Control of Foreigners and Foreign Interests .—The strict control of all
foreigners which was expected to follow the outbreak of w r ar did not take place.
On the other hand special instructions were received by the Governor General
to keep a watch on German activities and at the beginning of November the
head of the German community in Shiraz, and the only potential emulator of
"Wassmuss, was arrested for espionage and was still in custody, without trial,
at the end of the year.
Tribal settlement areas continued to be strictly guarded against the in
quisitive eyes of strangers.
Indian army language students were given little trouble by the local
authorities but appear to have aroused considerable suspicion in Tehran.
Towards the end of the year the employees of Kampsax began to encounter
difficulty in obtaining permits to travel from the north to the south of Iran unless
specially guaranteed to the authorities by the company.
In August the C. M. S. schools in Isfahan and Shiraz were ordered to be
handed over to the Iranian authorities at a week’s notice but were later given a
year’s respite when the difficulty of running them without their English staffs
became apparent.
The archfeological expedition of the University of Chicago closed its work
at Persepolis in November and the Iranian Department of Antiquities took over
charge of the excavations.
Weather Report .—The maximum temperature was 98°F on July 31st and
August 23rd.
The minimum temperature was 27°F on February 28th. Total rainfall for
the season 1938-39 was 14-50 inches in Shiraz as compared with 16-18 inches in
1937-38 and 10-27 inches in 1936-37.
Normal weather conditions prevailed throughout the year.
A. H. KING,
H. Mbs Consul.
LC81EAD