Page 179 - Begrave Thesis_Neat

Lloyd. 499 Although Heikal’s claim should not be ruled out, it is hard to believe that it

took Nasser approximately twenty-four hours to discover the news of Glubb’s

dismissal. Trevelyan maintained in his memoir that Lloyd ‘was convinced that

Nasser had known of General Glubb’s dismissal’ beforehand and there was a

possibility that he intended it to coincide with his meeting with the Egyptians. 500

The developments surrounding Glubb’s dismissal would also be felt by Lloyd during

his subsequent stop to Bahrain.

News of Glubb’s sacking spread throughout Bahrain and, according to

Belgrave, it ‘was widely discussed in the bazaars’. 501 In Wight-Boycott’s account,

with Lloyd due to arrive in Bahrain, all British military services that included the

Royal Navy, Army, and RAF were notified that a possible demonstration might take

place during his visit. However public security was left in the hands of Bahrain’s

Police Force. Lloyd arrived on schedule at Bahrain’s Muharraq airport at 7.00 pm

and was personally met by the Ruler, the Resident, the Political Agent, senior British

officials, and the Residency and Agency’s staff. The Minister’s accompanying

delegation included twenty-eight members of which thirteen were women

employed as personal assistants and secretaries. A convoy of cars taking the

Minister and his delegation proceeded from the airport to the Residency’s

headquarters in Juffair. Ladies among the delegation followed the procession in

taxis accompanied by female employees from the Residency. When the Resident’s

car that contained the Foreign Secretary advanced to the causeway linking

499 Heikal, Cutting the Lion’s Tail, 83.
500 Trevelyan, The Middle East in Revolution, 63-66.
501 Belgrave, Personal Column, 218.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 158