IOR/L/PS/12/4498

The papers relate to the funding, the naming ceremonies and public relations of the aircraft of the Royal Air Force No. 126 (Persian Gulf) Squadron, which came to a total of ten Spitfire aeroplanes. The aircraft were paid for by the Persian Gulf fighter fund (see f 356), a fund set up by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to which the rulers and communities of the Gulf sheikhdoms [shaikhdoms] could contribute.

Correspondence discusses arrangements for a ceremony to commemorate the naming of six Spitfire aeroplanes. The names of the aircraft are given as Al Khalifa, Bahrein II, Wahra Koweit, Kadhemah Koweit, Muscat, and Trucial Coast (f 94). The aircraft had been funded by donations from the rulers and individuals in the Gulf sheikhdoms. The file contains photographs of Lady Honor Cowell Fowle, widow of Sir Trenchard Craven Fowle, inspecting the aircraft of the Persian Gulf Squadron (ff 85-87). Also included is the programme for the naming ceremony, which took place at RAF Bradwell Bay, Essex, on 11 December 1944 (f 98).

The papers also discuss the drafting and despatch of letters from Lady Louisa Belle Cox (widow of Sir Percy Cox), to the Shaikh of Kuwait, the Shaikh of Bahrain (also written here as Bahrein), and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, to thank them for their donations to the cost of the aircraft. Also included are photographs of Lady Cox visiting Eastleigh airport in July 1941, where the aircraft were being assembled and tested (ff 286-287).

The file also contains details of narrative supplied for broadcast on BBC Arabic radio (f 335, f 385, and f 388). These include the amount remitted to HM Government for a fighter aircraft named Oman (five thousand pounds), and two aircraft named Bahrain and Kuwait (ten thousand pounds). In addition, the file notably includes the translation of a letter from Shaikh Shakhbut bin Sultan bin Zaid [Shaikh Shakhbut bin Sultān Āl Nahyān], Ruler of Abu Dhabi, to the Political Agent, Bahrain, in which the Shaikh expresses his support for HM Government in its war with Italy (f 396). The principal correspondents are as follows: the Director of Public Relations, Ministry of Aircraft Production; the Ministry of Supply; the Air Ministry; the External Department, India Office; and the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India.