Page 60 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

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111. The Court of the Political Agent Bahrain is better organised and has
■
more work to do than that of the other Political Agents. Early in 1953 the place
of the Pakistani Judicial Assistant, who tried all except the more serious cases,
was taken by a British Registrar. 44 Mixed cases ” are tried by a Joint Court on
which a Judge of the Political Agent’s Court and a Magistrate of a Bahrain
Government Court sit together, and there is a Joint Court of Appeal on which the
Ruler and Political Agent usually sit together. Numerous Regulations, to several
of which reference has already been made, have been issued under the Orders in
Council.
{b) Facilities for the Royal Navy
112. In 1933 it was decided in principle to transfer the Naval base from
Henjam to Bahrain and a site was selected for it at Jufair on the main island. Early
in 1934 negotiations for its purchase and also for the purchase of land required
for the Royal Air Force (paragraph 115 below) were initiated with the Bahrain
Government without its being disclosed to the Ruler or the public that the land
at Jufair was required for the Royal Navy. The purchase was completed in April
1934 and title deeds for all the property acquired were received from the Ruler
with a letter in which he conferred on His Majesty’s Government the use of the
foreshore adjacent to the lands and the right to construct a pier and other works(”4)
(Appendix H (i)). The Political Agent in his report noted that it would be
necessary to preserve a path to a small mosque on the Jufair site as a kind of right
of way and to pay compensation in the event of fish-traps being spoiled. A
number of fish-traps were subsequently purchased by the Royal Navy.
113. The Ruler was not notified of the proposal to transfer the Naval base
to Bahrain until April 1935. He then replied to a letter written to him by the
Political Agent on the subject that he welcomed the transfer with great pleasure
(Appendix H (ii) and (iii)). The buildings and works required at Jufair were
constructed by the Bahrain Government without any demand for the remuneration
of their staff or for overhead charges.^”) The Ruler at the request of the Political
Agent granted Customs and other facilities to the Royal Navy (Appendix H (iv)
and (v)), and His Majesty’s thanks for these facilities and for the assistance
afforded in the construction of the buildings were formally conveyed to him and
suitably acknowledged.
114. The Persian Gulf Division of the Royal Navy anchored off Jufair on
April 13, 1935 and the White Ensign was ceremonially hoisted there.(“‘) Since then
Jufair has been the headquarters of the Royal Navy in the Persian Gulf. In 1946
some of the naval buildings there were made available for the Residency when it
was transferred from Bushire and subsequently a portion of the site was allotted
to the Residency for the construction of new buildings. In 1953 the Bahrain
Government gave full consideration to the Royal Navy’s requirements when
preparing their project for a deep-water jetty at Jufair.

(c) Facilities for the Royal Air Force
115. The Royal Air Force appear to have made use of Bahrain probably
from before the period under review without any formal understanding with the
Ruler but no doubt with his concurrence. In 1929 they laid moorings at Khor
Lupin for their flying-boats and purchased the old quarantine station as a rest
camp. This land has since been sold back to the Ruler. In 1930 they
rented land for an aerodrome between Manamah and Jufair. This has also
?,nce been returned to the Ruler. In 1931 they transferred their moorings
to Khor Qalaiyah. In 1934 they purchased land at Muharraq additional to that
rented for the civil aerodrome, which they were now using, as their own aerodrome
on the main island had proved unsuitable,(”T) and also a site at Qadhabiyah
where they later built a residence. In the same year when the Civil Air Agreement
was
” signed (paragraph 119 below) the Ruler agreed in an exchange of letters that
the Royal Air Force should enjoy priority in the use of any aerodromes
maintained for civil aircraft without specific permission and that the use of such
^romes should be accorded free of charge (Appendix I (i) and (ii)). In 1935
he Political .Resident agreed that the seaplane unit of the Royal Air Force at
I
J O toF.a P.Z. 2741/34 of April 27. 1934 (E 2680/231/91 of 1934).
5*2-to£2* FZ. 2694/35 of April 24. 1935 (E 2618/134/91 of 1935).
J x 10 £2* P Z. 5304/35 of August 8. 1935 (E 4817/134/91 of 1935).
t ) I.O. to F.O. P.Z.2741/34of April 27. 1934 (E 2680/231/91 of 1934).
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