IOR/R/15/2/660

The file comprises copies of correspondence and notes containing guidance, issued in response to reports from the War Office, of German plans to sabotage oil fields and refineries and blow up shipping.

The file includes: a copy of a telegram from MICE (Middle East Intelligence Centre) in Cairo, dated 3 December 1939, reporting that Germany ‘may have started a campaign to damage oil wells, refineries, etc.’ (f 3); a letter from the Political Agent in Bahrain to John S Black, Chief Local Representative for the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), dated 6 December 1939, forwarding information of the reports regarding German sabotage of oil installations, and advising vigilance (f 5); a copy of a letter from Alexander Cadogan of the Foreign Office, dated 10 September 1940, enclosing two sets of precautions, entitled ‘Anti-sabotage precautions’ (f 11) and ‘Additional Precautions’ (f 12). The first set of precautions relates to the planting of explosives with delayed-action fuses in ship’s cargoes, with a list of the types of objects and containers in which explosives might be hidden, and what such explosive devices might look like. The second set of precautions describes measures taken to ensure security in relation to ship’s passengers, pilots, ship's stores, ventilators and portholes, loading/unloading at night.