IOR/R/15/2/745

The file comprises copies of letters and Government of India circulars relating to the arrangement of celebrations to commemorate the defeat of Germany and the end of hostilities in Europe, and subsequent letters of congratulation, received by British officials in the Persian Gulf from some of the Gulf’s rulers. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior; Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Crawshaw Galloway); the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham; Cornelius James Pelly); the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave).

The file includes:

• correspondence dated October and November 1944 concerning arrangements for the celebration of victory in Europe, including plans for and minutes of a meeting held by the Political Agent at Bahrain on 15 November 1944, and Government of India circulars dated 27 and 28 September 1944 providing details of: the tone to be set at celebrations; the nature of celebrations; how victory and the cessation of hostilities will be formally announced; involvement of Government publicity organisations (e.g. radio, press, film) in celebrations (ff 2-9, f, 13, f 15);
• detail, in a Government of India letter to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated 27 March 1945, of the budgets set aside for victory celebrations in Bushire, Muscat, Bahrain and Kuwait (500 Indian rupees each, f 12);
• correspondence dated early May 1945, of final arrangements for the announcement of the cessation of hostilities in Europe, and celebrations in Bahrain, including a telegram forwarded from the Government of India, dated 8 May 1945, making the formal announcement of VE Day being set as 8 May 1945 (ff 16-28);
• Letters of congratulation received from the Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī, and the Ruler of Dubai, Shaikh Sa‘id bin Maktum Āl Maktum, as well as Haji Salih Sulaiman al Mana [Ṣāliḥ Āl Māni‘] of Qatar, in Arabic with English translations. Enclosed with one letter from the Ruler of Qatar are congratulatory telegrams to be forwarded to King George VI and Prime Minister Winston Churchill (ff 30-42).