Page 394 - Bahrain Gov annual reports(V)_Neat

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On December 4th, 1947, at the time of the partition of Palestine there was a demonstration
organised by “the Intclligcnsia” which developed into a vicious attack on the Jews in Manama
who then numbered between two and three hundred persons, some of the families had lived in
the country for several generations. Their houses were scattered in different parts of the town
and they were attacked by gangs of low class bazaar loafers and seamen from the harbour
whose object was to loot the houses. The police came into action and there was some tough
scrapping. A large number of men were arrested but before order was restored much damage
was done to the Jews’ houses and one old woman died as the result of injuries. In many cases
the Arab neighbours of the Jews gave them protection in their houses ; the responsible Arabs
strongly disapproved of the incident.
When conditions returned to normal and smuggling out of Bahrain was no longer profitable,
pilfering from the boats which were used to unload cargoes from ships, developed on a large
scale. A permanent sea patrol was established at Sitra port which had some effect in reducing
thefts from barges, and drug smuggling.
In 1948 the number of persons who were sentenced to imprisonment on criminal charges
was 217. For many years the number of prisoners in any one year was between 200 and 250,
not a large proportion out of a population of 110,000—120,000.
1949. Gradually the cost of the police force crept upwards. The rates of pay and
allowances were frequently raised to compete with the conditions of oil company workers.
In 1949 there were 322 officers, N.C.O’s and men and 223 Naturs. The starting pay and
allowances of a policeman was Rs. 118/- per month and the cost of Public Protection was about
I2£ lakhs. Several of the British Police who were brought to Bahrain had terminated their
service or had been seconded for service elsewhere. Three new men who had been in the
Palestine Police were taken on to fill the places of those who had left.

In June 1950 two terrible flying disasters occurred at Bahrain. On the night of the 13th,
in stormy weather while the “Bara” was blowing from the north west, a passenger aircraft of
Air France crashed in the sea south of Hedd, 46 people lost their lives. Two nights later a
second Air France passenger aircraft crashed in the sea at almost the same time and place,
with a loss of 42 passengers and crew. Officers of the police assisted both times in rescuing
survivors from the sea and later by identifying the bodies. For his work in this affair Super­
intendent Hyde was given a medal by the French Government. The aircraft were on their way
back from Indo China. It was never known how or why the two accidents occurred.
1951. By 1951 three of the four British Police officers had resigned, some of them found
the work too dull after being in the Palestine Police. One of them returned to the United
Kingdom and two took service in Qatar. Recruiting for the police became more difficult and
the type of men who came to enlist was below the average in physique and intelligence.
Cars on the road increased to 2,000 but there were fewer serious accidents, but in 20 per
cent, of the total number of accidents, Europeans were driving, which was a high proportion
if one takes into consideration the number of Arab and European drivers.

In 1951 and for some years before the number of fires, usually in “barastis,” palm branch
huts, was very large. In almost every case they were caused by pressure stoves. A possible
explanation of the increase in fires, in spite of a decrease in barasti dwellings, which in the towns
are rapidly giving place to stone houses, was the habit of workers in the oil field or men on
night shift getting up early, half asleep, and brewing coffee. A barasti fire, when the wind is
strong, spreads rapidly. In 1953 in a fire in the Telegraph Area in Manama, 75 houses were
completely destroyed and 53 houses were burnt down in one fire at the village of Mahoz ; in
other fires ten or twenty houses were burned down. There is usually little loss of life but the
occupants of the barastis lose all that they possess. When fires occur the police co-operate
with the municipal fire services. In 1953 a large supply of new fire fighting equipment which
had been ordered by the Government was lost when the steamer which carried it caught fire in
Sitra harbour.

1954. At the end of 1954 the strength of the police was : 6 officers, 361 N.C.O’s and men
and 269 Naturs. Over 100 recruits were enlisted but most of the men were from outside
Bahrain. Starting rates of pay were Rs. 203 per month, including allowances.