IOR/L/PS/12/3897

The file concerns the appointment of Captain Gerald Simpson Hillairet Rutland Vere de Gaury (formerly, the Political Agent, Kuwait) as Political Officer at Riyadh (1939-40). The appointment of a Political Officer, under the orders of HM Minister, Jedda, was proposed in 1939 as a special measure in the event of war breaking out. De Gaury was suggested for the post because he was thought to be acceptable to Ibn Saud [Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]. The purpose of the role was to monitor political developments in Saudi Arabia, and to keep Ibn Saud favourably disposed towards the British (comment by Reader William Bullard, HM Minister, Jedda, folio 91).

The papers include: correspondence concerning de Gaury's leave, pay and allowances; questions about de Gaury's suitability for the role (e.g. comment by the Government of India External Affairs Department on folio 132); India Office minutes relating to the appointment; report by de Gaury on the state of roads between Riyadh and Dhahran (folio 68); report by de Gaury on a meeting with Ibn Saud (folios 53-56); Ibn Saud's wish not to have a permanent British representative at Riyadh; correspondence concerning a proposed visit (which did not take place) by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to Ibn Saud, May 1941; and correspondence concerning a proposed liaison visit by de Gaury to the Persian Gulf, Riyadh, Jedda, Yemen, and Aden, September-October 1941.

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.