File 5257/1919 'Persia: the Military Commission' [‎60r] (124/534)

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British Officers.
14. The Commission consider that the success of the organisation depends on
the British officers employed to carry it through, and that therefore these officers
must be very carefully selected. They will have a very difficult task to perform,
requiring tact, judgment and administrative ability. They will be surrounded by
intrigue and involved in continual difficulties with the civil authorities. They will
||ie handicapped by association with inefficient and frequently corrupt Persian
officers, they must be continually on their guard against being used as an instrument
of oppression and a tool in some political game, and they will frequently find their
best intentions most evilly interpreted. It is necessary that their position should
be very clearly defined in agreement with the Persian Government, and that they
should be secured from anxiety about their pay, however unstable or unfavourable
the political or financial situation may be.
15. Although in the end the influence of the British officers will depend on their
personal qualities, it is recommended that, in order to give them an initial status,
their British rank should be in accordance and responsibilities in the Persian army.
Suggestions as to the British rank that should be held by officers nominated for
various appointments in the Persian army have already been submitted. In cases
where the permanent rank of an officer is junior to that recommended for the
appointment to which he is posted, it is recommended that he should be given local
or temporary rank. British officers will also hold Persian ranks, but these at present
carry no prestige.
Medical.
16. The Commission desire again to emphasise the almost complete absence of
properly qualified and capable Persian medical officers and the general lack of
medical and sanitary arrangements throughout the Persian Empire. The medical
member of the Commission has worked for some weeks in what is admittedly the
best hospital in Tehran, the “ Mariz-khaneh-i-dauleti.” He has also worked in the
Imperial Sanitary Council and the Imperial Vaccination Department. His con
sidered opinion is*that while there are a number of Persian medical men who know a
fair amount about internal medicine and the administration of drugs, there are
not more than one or two wffio can be considered surgeons, while bacteriologists,
sanitarians, radiologists and other specialists are conspicuous by their absence.
17. Another point on which it is desired to lay stress is that the Persian
Government and Persian people generally are far less jealous and suspicious of the
advent of British medical officers than of British combatant officers. Every British
medical officer employed by^the Persian Government is, merely by the efficient per
formance of his duty, a centre of British influence. It is therefore urged that a
special effort be made by the British Government to select really capable British
medical officers for service in Persia.
Extract from Report of the Anglo-Persian Military Commission,
Chapter VI.
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RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION REGARDING PERSIA’S
NEEDS IN ARMED FORCES.
General.
96. The Commission has endeavoured to frame a complete army scheme for
Persia suited to her existing military needs as defined in Chapter I. It is recognise
that portions of this scheme may not be capable of immediate execution u i was
considered preferable to frame a scheme as complete as possible m a 1 ® P 3 ! 1 ! s
serving as the goal to be aimed at, and indicating in a subsequen c ap er e
immediate action to be taken towards that goal, rather than preparing a scheme of
immediate application only. For the same reason and in view o e ac a
country’s permanent advancement can be effected only by the e or s o i s
citizens, this scheme does not contemplate the permanent inclusion o 0 ^ 1 S n 0
in the army organisation. The numbers and functions of such Britis o ceis as a
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