IOR/L/PS/12/1956

The file contains correspondence, memoranda, and reports relating to two topics. The first topic is an attempt by the British Government to obtain permission for an emergency landing ground in Qatar during 1932. The second topic relates to the air facilities needed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Qatar, if an offer of British protection is to be made to the Shaikh of Qatar in return for an oil concession for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). In respect of this second topic, the file also contains material regarding a reconnaissance undertaken by the Royal Air Force over Qatar on the 9 May 1934 to identify suitable sites for such facilities. It includes a copy of a report on the reconnaissance – submitted by Bomber Squadron No 84, Shaibah, Iraq – on folios 27-32, along with a tracing of Qatar (folio 7) and a number of aerial photographs (folios 8-22) referenced in the report.

A draft copy of the Qatar Oil Concession can be found on folios 93-101, and notes of amendments proposed by the British Government can be found on folios 80-89. In addition, a number of India Office memoranda have also been included towards the back of the file: El Qatar, 1908-16 (folio 167), The Trucial Coast Chiefs, 1908-28 (folios 168-71), and a Précis of the Treaties and Engagements between the British Government and the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast of the Persian Gulf (folios 164-67).

The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle), the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, officials of the Air Ministry, and officials of the India Office.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.