IOR/L/PS/12/1969

The file contains correspondence relating to incidents involving British aircraft in, or in the vicinity of, Saudi Arabia – Hejaz and Nejd prior to 1932; the incidents predominantly take the form of forced landings by aircraft of either the Royal Air Force (RAF) or of Imperial Airways. The correspondence generally includes reports on the incident, and covers measures taken to render assistance, the submission of apologies to the Government of Saudi Arabia, and occasionally the issue of rewards for assistance given. It also includes the details of an expenses claim made by the Government of Saudi Arabia in January 1935 for assistance rendered in the search for three lost Indian pilots of the Bombay Flying Club in October 1934: see folios 70-86. It further includes some discussion relating to regulating private flights over Iraq in response to this incident, the results being the issue of new regulations which can be found on folios 47-48.

The main correspondents are as follows: HM Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, later Sir Reader William Bullard), HM Chargé d'Affaires at Jedda, HM Ambassador to Iraq (Sir Francis Humphrys), officials of the Air Ministry, and officials of the Foreign Office. There is also correspondence with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Saudi Arabia. Most of the correspondence in the file does not directly involve the India Office; correspondence in the file has frequently been forwarded to the Under-Secretary of State for India by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

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.