IOR/R/15/1/598

The volume contains correspondence relating to the institution and maintenance of a Hejaz Air Force by British Government officials based in the Gulf region and in London. In late 1929 the British Government authorised the sale of four Wapati planes, 1000 twenty-pound bombs and other equipment to Ibn Saud's Hejaz Government, who required them for the purposes of establishing an airbase at Darin, near Al-Qaṭīf on the Gulf coast.

Correspondence in the first part of the volume is concerned with the logistics of transporting planes, equipment, armaments, fuel and British staff (pilots and ground crew) to Darin, much of which was carried out in secret. The second part of the volume relates to the problems encountered in the day-to-day running of the airbase. These include problems of insubordination and drunkenness amongst the British staff, malaria, lack of adequate drinking water, and an insufficient understanding on the part of British staff of local Arab customs. Within six months of its operations, Ibn Sa‘ūd decreed that the Hejaz Air Force's base should be moved to Jeddah.

Items in the volume include:

• A printed copy of correspondence from Mr Bond, His Majesty's Agent and Consul at Jeddah, to the Acting Hejaz Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated 25 August 1929 (folio 55). The letter gives details of the sale and cost of aeroplanes and related equipment to Ibn Saud's government;
• Official (folios 82-83) and demi-official (folios 84-86) reports from the Bahrain Political Agent (Captain Charles Geoffrey Prior) to the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Biscoe), dated 25 November 1929, describing his visit to inspect the new airbase;
• Prior's letter to Biscoe (folios 130-32), dating 29 March 1930, describing the problems emerging amongst the British staff at the airbase;
• A copy of an employment contract for the chief mechanic of the Hejaz Air Force, dated 25 October 1929 (folios 151-54);
• A copy of a telegraph sent by the Foreign Office, dated 31 May 1930, which describes the strategic importance of Britain establishing an Arabian air route (folios 209-11)