Coll 28/107 ‘Persia (Iran) Movements of the ex-Shah.’ [‎46r] (91/361)

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I arrive in Bomoay on theinoming of lst> ottooerc>iA>i
once I got* in contact .vith the Deputy Sea. Transport r O?ncer
and the Commodore. with regard to the arrangements
for the arrival of the 2x-Shah on 5.3. Bandra the following
morning, it was decided that a pilot accompanied by an
officer of the Sea & Transport Service and myself should
meet the ship at the entrance of the harbour"aid have her
moored at a point eight miles south of Bombay Docks, it
was also arraided that a patrol boat of the B.I.N. should
cruise in the neighbourhood of the ship and a guard oe
mounted on board the ship throughout her stay at Bombay.
I duly boarded the ship with the pilot and S.T. Officer
at 0915 hairs on 2nd October ami interviewed xithe Captain.
He informed me that all 'was well with the Party and there
had been no trouble since leaving Bandar Abbas, out the/ • . l
were all looking forward to g)ing ashore at Bombay. I #ent
at once to the Ex-Snah, introduced myself and informed him
in Persian of the orders of the Government of India. He
seemed stunned at first, and called his second son Shahpur
Ali Reza and his son-in-law Faridun Jam who questioned
me in French. When they a t last realised yfh&bms to be
their fate and had found Mauritius in their atlas there
was a most unpleasant scene in which the whole family
down to the ten-year ola Hamid Reza took part, abusing
the British in general and me in particular for what
the Shah described as typical English perfidy. He said
that he had been clearly informed by the British Legation
at Teheran th&t he would be pemitted to proceed to South
America with his family. He would never have agreed to
leave the country if he had known that he was to oe made
a prisoner of war, surrounded by armed guards, and shipped
off to an isalnd of which he had never heard, etc. etc.
I did what I could to soothe and reassure the Sx-Snah
and the less incoherent members of his family, and finally
after about three hours of this I left them, promising to"
do all I could to help them with their wardrobe and
pther purchases for Mauritius. I was unable tog 3 t proper
information as to the identities of the various members
of the party and servants this first visit as there was
such confusion; thinking that the ExvQueen was on board
I mistook one of the ladies for her. line. Esmat Fehlavi
(No. 2 on the attached list) and only found out after-wards
that she was merely a junior wife of the Ex-Bhah ana that
none of the young people on board were her children.
2. The same afternoon I interviewed Mr. William-son,
Manager of the Army a Navy Stores, and arranged with
him for the supply of suitable quantities of the articles
mentioned in Governor of Mauritius*s telegrams to
P.B.Y. dated 26th September 1941. I had already decided
that it would be neither safe nor of much use to take any
of the Jfersians on shore with me and that it would be better,
provided I could find completely trustworthy persons, to
take on board with me the next day:
(a) a European tailor to take the measurements and
orders of the men; am
(b) a lady to deal with the Ex-princess and other
female members cf the party.
I was very fortunate in findingjthe same evening highly
suitable candidates for both duties. The manager oi the
Army and Navy Stores brougjat me his English tailor, Mr. Golby,
whom I saw at once I could trust, and I discovered through
a friend a young lady of Mauritian extraction called Mrs.
Jenkins, who is married to a port Trust official here.,
This laay proved a great success with the Ex-princess who