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Chapter Five

The Nationalists’ cry ‘Arms for Egypt’

July to December 1955

In Shuckburgh’s view the summer of 1955 exhibited a gloomy scene, as

events throughout the Middle East, including ‘strikes in Bahrain’ as he noted in his

diary, were all a testimony to a state of anarchy infecting the region. Meanwhile,

Plan Alpha seemed to him ‘like a beautiful dream’. 347 On the international level the

second-half of the year saw Nasser’s stock rise once more within the Arab World as

he concluded Egypt’s arms deal with the Soviets. The Baghdad Pact took a step

forward with the adherence of two new states: Pakistan and Iran, but suffered a

major setback when Jordan refused to join because of domestic opposition. The

price of failure in Jordan would later cast its shadow on Bahrain’s own internal

affairs. In Bahrain conditions did not improve in the second-half of the year as

objection to the Penal Code developed and for the first time, were specifically anti-

British. Conflict between the Administration and the HEC resurfaced as negotiations

between the two sides got underway. A call to help fund Egyptian arms purchases

was made and a visit to Bahrain by Anwar Al-Sadat, then a Minister of State in Egypt,

will all be highlighted in this Chapter.

The second-half of the year saw a summit held in Geneva and attended by

heads of state from the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union (the ‘Big Four’).

The four discussed various matters of interest that included, inter alia, the

347 Descent to Suez, 30 August 1955, 275.

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