IOR/L/PS/12/2030

The file contains correspondence related to the security of the Arab Coast Air Route, used by both Imperial Airways and the Royal Air Force (RAF). The majority of the file is devoted to proposals made by Sir Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, in his letter dated 28 June 1939: see folios 44-50. His proposals can be summarised as follows:

• Alternative landing facilities should be established for use in the event of civil disturbances at Sharjah and Dibai [Dubai].
• The Political Resident should be given the discretion – in the event he is unable to consult the home government – to use force against ‘troublesome Shaikhs’ that threaten the continued operation of the Air Route.

There is also a small amount of discussion in the file around the possibility of negotiating a fresh agreement with the Shaikh of Ra's al-Khaymah for the provision of air facilities.

The main correspondents in the file are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Charles Geoffrey Prior), officials of the Air Ministry, officials of the Foreign Office, and officials of the India Office (J P Gibson and Roland Tennyson Peel). The Admiralty is also consulted over the Resident's proposals.

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.