Page 463 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

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FOR THE YEAR 1910 39
On sovcral occasions warnings have been received from His Majesty s
Consul-General, Meshed, and His
Gorman Agent*. Majesty’s Consul, Sistan/of enemy agents
ho might bo expected to enter Kerman territory from the north or cast. All
"osidblo^measures have been taken to sccuro the arrest of any such agents who
jjjjght make their appearance, but without any tangible result.
Tbeso two Indians, who had remained in Kerman during the German
The wot of Fa Oh Muhammad and Fahir occupation, were arrested by General
jiohammnd. Sykes. Tho former, who bad been for
ci"ht years clerk in His Majesty’s Consulate before ho was dismissed for incom-
nidcnco and untrustworthiucss by tho present Consul, in 1914, was accused of
having communicated information to the Germans and of having subsequently
entered their service. The latter, in happier days, servant of General Sykes,
was believed to have joined the Germans in the capacity of cook. Both were
with the Austrian Bia^h in Bam, but claimed that they had been taken there
virtually as prisoners under force majeure. His Majesty’s Consul received
instructions, and was given poweis, to try these men on his arrival, but he fell
ill before ho was able to take the matter up and it was not till the beginning of
October that investigation was begun. It was then found that the local
evidence was insufficient. The question of how to deal with tho prisoners was
under reference to higher authority—until the end of the year, and in January
1917 it was finally decided that Fateh Muhammad should be sent to India
under the provisions of the “Ingress Ordinance,” and that .Fakir Muhammad,
against whom there was no suspicion of any very serious offence apart from
that of having accepted the pay of the enemy for menial services, should be
released.
His Majesty’s Consul has no official information regarding the origin or
objects of this force. It came to birth at
Souih Porbia Riflos.
Bandar Abbas in April with the style and
title of South Persia Military Police. In August, it became known as the
Soutli Persian Army and, in September, it was officially christened the South
Persia Rifles, to which name it has since remained faithful. It Is a pity that
it was net possible to find a suitable title which would have lent itself to repro­
duction in Persian mouths, as “ Geudarrnerie ” and “ Gendarme ” did, terms
still applied by the common people to the South Persia Rifles. The enlightened
call tho force the* Qushiun-i-Jn.nub, cacophonous perhaps hut pronounceable,
but the South Persia Rifleman remains nameless and unnamablo.
A beginning was at once made with enlistment in Bandar Abbas and the
history of the force there will doubtless he written by the local officials.
Major Farran, Captain Fowl©, and Captain Merrill, also Captain Husband,
I.M.S., accompanied General Sykes to Kerman and, on arrival there, be^an
organising the new force. They had a small staff of Indian Instructors, but
they did not start wnth a trained Persian nucleus and a supply of Persian
officers as the Swedish Gendarmerie officers did Only a small party of ex-
Gendarmes and one officer were secured and engaged. Of necessity, too, there
was a dearth of ho ires, saddlery and other material, and it is very creditable to
the three officers that, by the end of the year, they should have been able to
carry the organisation so far as to have 50 Artillery, 398 Cavalry and 429
Infanty under training, whilo maintaining the forces of looal levies at Saida*
had and Baft which have been referred to above.
The strength in British officers was increased by the arrival of Captain
V aSst&ff and Lieutenant Oarr, but they were detained in Sirjan by the condi*
tion of affairs there until nearly the end of the year.
e ii Early *n 1917 it is hoped that the British staff will stand somewhat as
follows
Military OfFccr* ...... 10
Medical Officer* , f . . . . . ft
Warrant Officers and Non-Commissioned Officer*. 10
i ^ave ma(*° ^eir first steps in the knowledge of the people
nu the language the disproportion hot ween the work to be done and tho men