File 17 Posts and Telegraphs

The Posts and Telegraphs sub-sub-series discusses matters relating to wireless telegraphy, postal services and other communications matters affecting Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, particularly during the Second World War. Included in the sub-sub-series are discussions around existing wireless stations at Bahrain, Sharjah and the Saudi Arabian Mainland, and a proposed station at Dubai; expansion work to improve telegraph and cable services including the laying of a Bushire-Bahrain submarine cable in 1935; and matters affecting companys and organisations including Cable and Wireless, the British Overseas Airways (BOAC) Corporation, the Royal Navy (RN) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) in their use of wireless services. Other matters discussed in the sub-sub-series include the suspension of telegram and postal services between Iran and Bahrain, 1938-1942, following the Iranian Government's decision to reassert their claim to Bahrain as an Iranian territory; and intercepted wartime wireless messages from Saudi Arabia to Germany and from the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC), later the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) to the United States of America which were of concern to allied wartime security and censorship.

The Posts and Telegraphs files are arranged by file and part number, by which, for example the reference 17/1-I is composed of the subject reference 17 (Posts and Telegraphs), the file number 1 (Bahrain Radio Station) and the part number I. The file number references of the surviving files: 1; 6-9; 14-15; 17-18; 20-22; and 24-25, and the part numbers, show the likely gaps in the series.

Unrestricted