Page 167 - PERSIAN 9 1941_1947

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polish Belief Fund in Tehran and a sum of Rs. 32,478/15 was subs­

cribed to the Persian Gulf Fighter Fund while innumerable woollen
garments have been knitted and sent to Army and Air Force units
and Prisoners of War Camps,
XI. ROYAL NAVY. ;
The following ships of the Boyal flavy visited Kuwait during
.the year:

H.M.S. Milford Countess 23rd April.
H.?*.S. Capetown 19th September.
XII. ROYAL A IB FORCE.
Numerous visits, not always voluntary, were paid to Kuwait

territory by planes of the Boyal Air Force and hundreds flew over
head on their lawful occasions.
XIII. THE KUWAIT OIL COMPANY.
The Kuwait Oil Company continued an abridged drilling
programme until August when instructions were received from His

Majesty's Government for them to cease operations until the end
of the war. The drilling programme was suspended and the business
of transferring men and material required elsewhere for essential

war work was commenced forthwith. By the end of the year the
Company's plant was on a care and maintenance basis and the
European staff had been reduced to an acting General Superintenden
who was Lieut-Colonel H.R.P. Dickson, U.I.E • > and a President
Engineer. The Company's only activity at the present time is the

mining of bitumen at Burgan, where there are considerable deposits
of this substance, for conveyance to Shaibah where it is used for
the surfacing of roads.

XIV. THE IMPERIAL BANK OF THAN.
The Kuwait branch of the Imperial Bank of Iran was opened
on the 28th of February very quietly and the Manager Mr. B.S.
Ma the son began his formidable task of teaching Kuwait to use and
trust a bank. The beginning was slow as Is always so when intro­

ducing Arabia to something new but once cheques began to circulate!
and the town grew accustomed to . the idea business improved and by 1

the end of the year the Imperial Bank oould congratulate themsel- j