IOR/L/PS/12/1979

The file contains correspondence and notes regarding the reservation of land in Kuwait (also frequently spelt Koweit) for the potential future use of the Royal Air Force (RAF); the correspondence is prompted by fears that the Kuwait Oil Company may develop sites in connection with its oil concession, and thus prevent them from being utilised by the British Government. This includes the selection of suitable sites for an additional aerodrome, should the British Government decide it is required, and the erection of moorings for flying boats. Most of the papers are concerned with Bandar Shuwaikh [Bandar ash Shuwaykh], also referred to as ‘area A' or the ‘quarantine area’. The papers cover the process of enquiring as to what terms the Shaikh of Kuwait will consent to sell or rent the area to the British Government, and subsequent discussion as to whether the Air Ministry is willing to rent the area in question. The later correspondence covers proposed developments by the Kuwait Oil Company in 1939.

Some correspondence is also included in relation to the Kuwait Civil Air Agreement (1934): a copy of this agreement can be found on folios 73-86, including a letter from Shaikh Sir Ahmad al Jabir as-Sabah [Shaikh, Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ] granting the RAF priority use of facilities.

The main correspondence are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle and Percy Gordon Loch, acting), the Political Agent at Kuwait (Harold Richard Dickson, Gerald Simpson de Gaury, and Arnold Crawshaw Galloway), officials of the India Office (John Gilbert Laithwaite and Miles John Clauson), and the Air Ministry (Wilfred Ashton McClaughry). There is no correspondence in the file for 1935 and 1938.

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.