'A Grandfather's Tale: Memoirs being mainly concerned with service in the Indian Army and the Indian Political Service in India and the Persian Gulf from 1932-1947' [‎48v] (96/118)

marmite, and these I quite liked.
Up in Shiraz Jane was getting some tennis and bridge. Besides some
very pleasant educated Persians there was an odd collection of Europeans there,
not many British, including some French, White Russians and a Hungarian. Playing
Bridge could present quite a language problem and one never knew whether a bid
of "se cluf" meant six or three clubs, particularly when a White Russian lady
was trying to speak Persian and then absent-mindedly slipped into French. The
young Hungarian was employed in the local Brewery, and his English was very
fractured. Once when speaking of a beautiful and talented young Persian girl
he said "She wants to marry with foryner (foreigner) but where is foryner will
marry with she?" A sad story but in those days only too true.
At that time, as often before and since, the political situation in
Persia was tricky and although the local population, both educated and otherwise,
was very friendly, the Tehran Government broadcast an order on the 6 th August 19^6
forbidding any furthur social intercourse with foreigners. So, once more, we
were back at the same stupid position as in 1939 , involving general non-co-
operation and obstruction on the part of the Persian Government and appeasement
on the part of our own. One would have thought that after Munich we would have
learnt our lesson that weakness and inertia do not pay, either in Europe or the
East, but politicians have short memories. However, what with their trouble
with the Russians over Azerbaijan and their dispute with the British concerning
the future of Abadan and the South Persian Oilfields, the Persians themselves
had their hands full and it was at this point that the South Persian tribes,
notably the Qashgai, began to show signs of unrest against the Central Government
in Tehran.
I had hoped to get across to Shiraz myself for some weeks but on the
21st August the Resident had a telegram from Colonel Galloway requesting an
extension of his leave until the 23rd September, as he was getting married! As
he had appeared to be a confirmed bachelor of 45 when he went on leave, the news
was somewhat startling. However, we were all very pleased except that as far
as I was concerned it meant that my own chances of a decent spell of leave in
Persia were spoilt. In the end I got away for about ten days early in September.
It was lovely to be with the family again and to have some relief from the heat
and stickiness of Bahrain. I had thought of bringing them all back with me, but
in the end decided that it was better that they should stay in a decent climate
for another month. As I had to leave Shiraz on the 18th September we antedated
Christopher's 6 th Birthday from the 19th to the 17th and had a very good party,
including some films shewn by the Local British Council Representative.
On my way down from Shiraz to Bushire the Bushire Consulate station
wagon broke down and I had to complete the 180 mile journey by lorry. However,
I arrived in time to catch the Down Mail Steamer to Bahrain the next morning.
Two days after my return to the Island news came that the Southern Persian
Tribes, headed by the Qashgai, had risen against the Central Government and
were besieging Shiraz, and that all communications were cut, both from Bushire
on the coast and to the North. This was to say the least, alarming, and I
bitterly regretted not having brought the family back with me despite the hot
weather. The revolt was against the Russian influenced Government in Tehran