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Resident seemed to be having second thoughts about his decision to arrest the

Party’s leading members. 889

Belgrave left Bahrain with his wife at 6.00 am on 18 April stopping at Kuwait,

Baghdad, Istanbul, and Rome until they finally reached London. 890 His medical

condition prevented the Adviser from an immediate return to Bahrain and he would

only come again in 1965 as a visitor. 891

Smith was appointed Secretary to the Government upon his return from a

three-month leave in June 1956 did not have much of a role until Belgrave’s

departure. Following the Adviser’s sudden return to Britain, Smith worked as

Acting Adviser. He finally gained official recognition by the Ruler for the first time

on 1 June when a letter was forwarded to him by Sheikh Salman that addressed him

with the title of Secretary to the Government of Bahrain. Based later on Smith’s

recommendation, the Adviserate was converted into the Secretariat. 892

In a discussion between Gault and Ahmed Fakhroo on affairs in Bahrain after

Belgrave’s departure and Smith’s takeover, A Fakhroo described the Administration

as disorganised. The Political Agent further declared regarding A Fakhroo’s opinion,

‘He now regretted Sir Charles Belgrave’s departure’. During Belgrave’s tenure it was

the Adviser who held heads of departments reliable for their department’s work and

held those who mismanaged accountable, a trait that was not seen in Smith. 893 On

this issue Mapp noted in his memoir quoting a Bahraini taxi driver, ‘The people got

889 TNA, FO 1016/552, Burrows to FO, 17 April 1957.
890 Sir Charles Dalrymple Belgrave’s Personal Diaries, 18 April 1957.
891 Al-Khalifa (ed.), Charles Belgrave Al-Sira wa Al-Muthakarat 1926-1957 [Charles Belgrave
Biography and Memoirs 1926-1957], 428-29.
892 TNA, FO 371/126897, Gault to FO, 5 June 1957.
893 TNA, FO 1016/551, Minutes between Charles Gault and Ahmed Fakhroo, 23 December 1957.

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