IOR/R/15/2/674

The file comprises correspondence related to the recruitment of NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers) from Iraq, to serve in the Bahrain Special Police Force. The principal correspondents in the file are the Political Agent at Bahrain, Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban and the Air Officer Commanding at Habbaniyah in Iraq.

The file includes:

• correspondence between India Office, Air Ministry and Government of India officials, covering the period December 1939 to March 1940, on the recommended rates of pay and terms for Majors in the Indian Army, and for NCOs serving in India, in order to establish the appropriate rates of pay for their employment in Bahrain (ff 9-21);
• a recommendation from the British Embassy at Baghdad for the provision of an officer from the Iraq Levies for the Special Police Force in Bahrain (ff 27-32);
• correspondence relating to the appointment of Major A C Byard as Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf, including a letter from Air Headquarters, dated 8 June 1940, outlining the Defence Officer’s duties and responsibilities (ff 42-44);
• the Political Agent’s visit to Air Headquarters in Iraq in June 1940, to assist in the process of recruitment for the Bahrain defence force. A report of his visit, sent to the Political Resident is included in the file (ff 37-38, ff 45-47);
• recommendations for the appointment of an Alwan officer from Iraq, and their eventual despatch to Bahrain, after difficulties in obtaining a passport;
• in May 1940, Major Byard’s, and other British officials’ concerns over the attitude of the Iraqi NCOs in Bahrain, in light of hostilities in Iraq, and Government decision to return the Iraqi NCOs to Iraq (ff 74-85).