IOR/L/PS/12/2006

The file contains correspondence and notes regarding the employment of British nationals by the Government of Afghanistan. It predominantly documents the employment of civil aviation instructors from Hawker Aircraft Limited and Rolls Royce Limited to provide training to the Afghan Air Force. This includes the process of recruiting the instructors, negotiating their terms and conditions, drafting their contracts, renewing their contracts, replacement of staff, and issues arising during the course of their employment. A number of draft contracts can be found within – in some cases both English and Persian language versions of the contract are included.

The instructors are employed in connection with the purchase of eight Hawker Hind aircraft in 1937, and correspondence relating to this purchase can also be found within the file. There is also some discussion surrounding the question of policy regarding the employment of British nationals in Afghanistan.

The majority of the correspondence is between officials of the Foreign Office (Laurence Collier), the India Office (predominantly Horace Algernon Fraser Rumbold and George Edmond Crombie), HM Minister at Kabul (William Kerr Fraser-Tytler), and the British companies concerned. However, contributions from officials of the Air Ministry, the Afghan Legation in London, and officials of the Government of India have also been filed within.

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.