Page 121 - PERSIAN 9 1941_1947_Neat

CHAPTER III.
SULIMARY OP EVENTS AND CONDITIONS IN
THE SHIRAZ CONSULAR DISTRICT DURING
i ___________1 9 4 2.

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fOFULATION,
Though no actual census of the urban population of Shiraz
been taken during the year various estimates have been made by
^ho Municipal authorities in connexion with food rationing and it is
generally admitted that the figure of the town population rose to
licut 150,000.
' 8 MAJESTY* 3 CONSULATE, SHIRAZ.
Mr. T. V. Brenan of His Majesty's Consular Service, continued
, charge of the post during the year. Squadron Leader R. J. D.
Mlgrave, R.A.F. assumed his duties as vice Consul and Area Liaison
Officer, Pars, in February 1942 and so continued until the end of the
jpir. Lieutenant Colonel V.G.Robert of the Burma Frontier Service
Acted from 22nd August to October 16th as Consular Liaison Officer in
fiiiraz between His Majesty's Legation and the local Persian authorities \
jror grain questions. Colonel Robert subseouently took up the 6&me
titles in Isfahan.
PERSIAN ADMINISTRATION.
re: Agha Assadullah Shams-i-Mulk Ara K.C.V.O. lclinguished his
fatie8 as Ustandar (Governor-General) of the 7th Ustan (Pars) and left
for Tehran on March 3Cth. Shortly afterwards Sartlp Siahpu6h, Genera].
Jfflcer Commanding 6th(Southern) Division was also recalled to Tehran
pd Sartip Muhammad Hussein Mirza Plrouz, son of the late Pannan Parma,
jrrived in Shiraz on April 1st and took up his appointment of Governor
fcneral (Ustandar) of the 7th Ustan, and General Officer Commanding
jth(Southern) uivision. Some ten days previously Sartip Kazem Khan
F bani Officer Commanding.Amnieh', Pars, was recalled to Tehran.
Various changes took place in the course of the year in the
jjnior personnel of Persian Government departments. The only ones
pilch need mention in this record were the transference in July of
l£n Seif pur Fatemi from the post of Shahrdar (Mayor) to that of
Plmandar (Governor) of the Shiraz district. This official has the
julities of initiative and drive much needed in the Municipality and
Im change in this instance was not to the general advantage. Sarhang
hhammad All Salar Khosrowdad arrived from Tehran in October and took
irer command of the Gendarmerie of Pars. Pa6yar II (Police rank of
lieutenant Colonel) Ismail ^awami (Pourough-ul-Mulk) arrived from
fihran in May as Chief of Police,
flBLO-PERSIAN RELATIONS.
1 Relations between this Consulate and the Governor-General and
Ither local authorities were maintained on a reasonably friendly basis
(bough the somewhat anti-British bias of Prince Firouz, which i6 of
Iom years standing,militated against really easy and frequent contacts
(Lth officials. Early in June it transpired that secret instructions
tad been circularised by the then Prime Minister to heads of Government
bpartments not to visit foreign Consulates except in response to
^▼itations on each occasion. The result was that the element of
(pontaneity which, had previously characterised the social visits of
[irsiaiB to the Consulate again vanished and 6uch visits tiresomely
name a matter of invitation. Senior regimental officers serving
dth the Division completely eschewed any contacts with the Consulate
Sough on the occasion of a Consulate At-Home in celebration of the
ilgnature of the Anglo-Iranian treaty ten officers of field rank
teeepted invitations, and attended.
IRS I AN PUBLIC OPINION.
Public opinion in Shiraz during the early part of the year
ij be said to have been inspired by the belief (in some cases by the
'ear and in others by the hope) that the Germans were certain to defeat
be/bogey in the Caucasus and bring some strangely imagined peace and
ienty to the country. The serious British set-back in Egypt in the
imer curiously enough produced a certain anxiety that in truth there
in a serious risk of Persia becoming a battle ground. During all
Sue months however it cannot be said that public opinion in general
u manifestly and aggressively anti-British or pro-German; it remained
(pathetic and tinged with anxiety as to the future. The
hi Germans to take Stalingrad, and the turn of the tide in the Caucasus ^
*4 in Libya very soon produced a change of atmosphere. Anxiety,
jiwrtainty and pro-Axis sympathy manifestly gave way to a readiness
to

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