Page 822 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

Sunday 8th October

I find it impossible to get any ordinary work done while the Navy are here. Went to the Shoreman in the
morning with M & a few others for church parade & stayed on until nearly lunch time. A lot of the officers
from the destroyers came on board for the service & for drinks afterwards. Met the captain of one of them,
Langley, a very nice fellow, brother of the two Langley girls who lived with their mother in Villa Dubochet,
great friends of Aunt Flo's. Welby-Everard came back with us & we went up to the Fort and arranged about
the parade & marked out the ground. I have had no time to arrange about it so shall have a busy time
between now & tomorrow afternoon. Mrs Russell came in for tea & we went & looked at football & I spent
some time arranging about the seating & decorations etc for the Review. In the evening the Shaikh gave a
very big dinner party to 50 officers and all the European community, about seventy people. It was the best
dinner I have seen him give. It was a beautiful evening & not too hot. All wore white, uniforms &
decorations & women wore evening dress and coatees, to avoid bare arms & backs which are not smiled on
by the Arabs. We sat on the veranda before dinner and car after car full of people arrived. There was a long
queue of officers reaching to the foot of the stairs and one by one they came up to the Shaikh & were
presented & shook hands. The Shaikh got quite tired of shaking hands! He looked very fine dressed in white
with a gold head band and a gold dagger. All the time, as well as yesterday, I had to do all the interpreting
which I found most exhausting specially when three or four people all had to talk to him at once. Dinner was
at a long table, at least many tables set end to end, in the Shaikh's big Meglis which is 60 feet long and the
table reached from end to end. The meal was in Arab style, except that we sat at table on chairs. There were
about 20 sheep cooked whole, the meat was delicious, far better than one meets in joints, and hundreds &
hundreds of other little dishes, all very good. The Navy behaved very well & it was a great success.
Afterwards we had coffee outside on the veranda & then we all left & went to the Agency. All the cars &
taxis in the place seemed to be there. The palace was brilliantly light from top to bottom, we had put in
some extra lights for the occasion. At the Agency we discussed again the arrangements for the review & also
had a talk in the office about the "Naval secret" which is supposed to be very very secret though lots of
people know of it.

Monday 9th September [October]

Early to the fort before breakfast but there was a thick damp fog so we couldn't work for some time as it was
impossible to see, when it lifted we had a rehearsal of the review, it went off quite well. Came back to
breakfast and then went with Gastrell, Tottenham the SNO & another man to Jafair, the RAF rest house & the
landing ground then back to my office where they looked at plans etc. Then I went up to the Fort & spent
most of the morning arranging seating etc etc. Finally it looked very nice, we had poles with flags on them all
round the maidan and 500 chairs in 2 lines along one side & the saluting base in centre, two tall white flag
staffs, Union Jack & Bahrain standard, carpets, a dais with about a dozen chairs and in front a platform
covered with carpets for the Shaikh to stand on when taking the salute. It looked very fine & most
impressive. Everyone had worked very hard to get it done. Tottenham came to lunch. I have known him a
long time & always liked him. He is on special duty during this naval visit, sort of additional secretary to the
S.N.O. After lunch I went up to the Fort. The Police, a hundred of them, with the band, marched down to the
pier to meet the sailors, who have no band. There was a huge crowd there & though we kept the doors of
the pier closed people waded into the sea & got on the pier. I heard all this later. Then they all marched up
to the Fort through the middle of the bazaar. I in the meantime met the Shaikh & his retinue on the veranda
of the Fort bungalow & waited till the Agency party and the naval officers, the SNO & his staff & the captain
arrived, then we all processed across to the parade ground & took our seats on & around the dais. There was
a huge audience, many thousands of people were there, the four sides of the maidan was one mass of
onlookers and all the seats were filled. The navy & police arrived, with our band, & first they all marched