Janus: The Papers of Julian Amery

Churchill/AMEJ 1 contains:
1	Spain, the Balkans and the Second World War
2	General political
3	United Europe
4	War Office
5	Colonial Office
6	Air Ministry and Ministry of Aviation
7	General political
8	Department of the Environment
9	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
10	General political

More information

Please feel free to contact the repository.

The Papers of Julian Amery

Title	War Office
Reference	AMEJ 1/4
Covering Dates	1957–1958
Extent and Medium	7.5 archive boxes

Content and context

Papers and correspondence from JA's work as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Financial Secretary at the War Office, particularly on his official visit to Muscat [Masqat] and Oman and JA's negotiations with the Sultan of Muscat on various civil and military reforms, securing long-term facilities for the RAF, settling disputes and improving relations with Saudi Arabia. Also includes general War Office papers and papers on an earlier visit to the Near East and Middle East.

Access and Use

The majority of files are closed for Cabinet Office review.

Index Terms

Defence

Oman

War Office

Churchill/AMEJ 1/4 contains:

Personal thoughts and papers on military matters. Notes, minutes and correspondence on subjects including: record of work done by JA while at the War Office; the Army League's latest study group on the role of the British Army; JA's visit to the Far East, particularly Malaya [later Malaysia]; the practicalities of taking action in Kuwait; an incident at Geunyeli [Cyprus]; the Soviet position in the Middle East; the policy of Charles de Gaulle [President of France]; officers selected for the Muscat [Musqat] armed forces; supply of arms to the Sudan; the employment of colonial forces; nuclear weapons; the 1957 White Paper on defence, and reorganisation of the Army; basic defence requirements; plans for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), following JA's visit, May 1958; the tridominium plan for Cyprus [with joint government by Britain, Greece and Turkey]; the Aden [Adan]-Yemen border; Army detention centres at Shepton Mallet [Somerset] and Colchester [Essex]; facililities at Famagusta [Cyprus]; removal of troops from Libya; compensation payments to established industrial employees sacked in defence cuts; JA's visit to forces in Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, the Persian Gulf, Aden, British Somaliland [later Somalia] and Kenya, 1957; the Army Cadet Force; Gurkha recruitment; the role of the Territorial Army; numbers of War Office industrial employees; the role of the SAS [Special Air Service]. . Also includes: text of a lecture by Field Marshal 1st Lord Montgomery on relations with the Soviet Union; rough speech notes; memorandum by Colonel John Frost on an organisation for battle; report on a visit to operations in Algeria, Jul 1958; correspondence with Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Savory; note of points for discussion with the British Defence Co-ordination Committee on command organisation and alternative methods on dealing with the rebels in Muscat and Aden.
2 files.

Feb 1957-Dec 1958

Visit to Near East, Middle East and East Africa. Programme and papers for the visit by JA and the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East Land Forces to forces in Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, the Persian Gulf, Aden [Adan], British Somaliland [later Somalia] and Kenya, Sept-Oct 1957, including: rough notes on Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, the Trucial States [later the United Arab Emirates] and Cyprus; notes on East African forces (the King's African Rifles). Also includes papers on arrangements for the Forecast Conference held by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, Aug 1957.
1 file.

Jul 1957-Oct 1957

Muscat and Oman: telegrams. Telegrams from JA, the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence, with correspondents including: John Selwyn-Lloyd, Foreign Secretary (2); [Arnold] Robert Walmsley, Foreign Office (3); Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (5); [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat] (2); [George] Peter Thorneycroft, Chancellor of the Exchequer; William Gorell Barnes [Assistant Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office]; Sir Hugh Foot, Governor of Cyprus [later Lord Caradon]; John Profumo [Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies]; Major-General Geoffrey Thompson, Director of Staff Duties, War Office; [Robert] Anthony Eden, Prime Minister [later 1st Lord Avon]. Also includes a report by JA summarising his mission.
1 file.

Dec 1957-Feb 1958

Muscat and Oman: personal file. Includes: diary notes; letter from 2nd Lord Mancroft, asking JA to pass on a message to a family friend; telegram from John Hare, Secretary of State for War [later 1st Lord Blakenham], to JA.
1 file.

Dec 1957-Jan 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Papers and telegrams on JA's visit, including: telegrams from Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat] (4); list of social engagements; note on action to be taken to establish the Sultan's rule over the Jebel Akhkar; briefing for discussions with the Sultan on short term measures to be taken over the Jebel Akhkar.
1 file.

Dec 1957

Muscat and Oman: memoranda and telegrams. Minutes, memoranda and telegrams including: note on the establishment of a separate command in the Arabian Peninsula; note on British officers seconded to the Muscat Armed Forces; negotiations with the Sultan on military and civil development, with records of individual meetings and telegrams from JA to the Foreign Office, and from Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (7) and John Selwyn-Lloyd, Foreign Secretary; figures on the cost of reorganising the Muscat armed forces; general memoranda on the future of British relations with Muscat and the immediate problem; minutes of the British Defence Co-ordination Committee, Middle East; extract from minutes of a Chiefs of Staff meeting on the importance of Buraimi; directives on future policy; report by the Director of Infantry on his tour of the Persian Gulf, Aden [Adan] and Cyprus, Sept-Oct 1957.
1 file.

Dec 1957-Jan 1958

Papers on loan of British officers to Muscat Armed Forces. Minutes and telegrams, mainly on the cost of seconding officers to the Muscat Armed Forces.
1 file.

Dec 1957-Jan 1958

Muscat and Oman: general papers connected with negotiations. Minutes, memoranda and telegrams including: correspondence between [Charles] Evelyn Shuckburgh [Assistant Under-Secretary, Foreign Office] and William Gorell Barnes [Assistant Under-Secretary, Colonial Office] on policy over border disputes between Muscat and Oman and Saudi Arabia; points for discussion on the reorganisation of Middle East Land Forces and on ways of dealing with rebels in the Jebel Akhkar; paper from Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, on the civil administration and development of Muscat; copies of letters from [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat] on the situation in Muscat; telegrams between Burrows and the Foreign Office on the negotiations.
1 file.

Jun 1955-Dec 1957

Muscat and Oman: operational telegrams, minutes etc. Includes: telegrams between JA, the Foreign Office, Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat], on the negotiations, including ceding the port of Gwadur [Gwadar], to Pakistan; report by Chauncy on his visit to Nizwa [Nazwa], to see what the Sultan was doing to gain control of the Jebal Akhdar area; Chiefs of Staff Committee papers and minutes of meetings on the background to operations in Oman, and lessons to be learnt.
1 file.

Nov 1957-Jan 1958

Muscat and Oman: Buraimi and Saudi-Muscat relations. Includes: telegrams between JA, the Foreign Office, John Selwyn-Lloyd, Foreign Secretary and Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf], on the negotiations, particularly relating to Saudi Arabia; paper by Sir Pierson Dixon [Permanent British Representative to the United Nations] on Anglo-Saudi relations, following a meeting with Abdurrahman Azzam Pasha.
1 file.

Dec 1957-Jan 1958

Muscat and Oman: Saudi Arabia and Gwadur. Includes: telegrams between JA, the Foreign Office, John Selwyn-Lloyd, Foreign Secretary, Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf] and [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat], on the negotiations; memorandum by Selwyn-Lloyd on the dispute between Britain and Saudi Arabia over Buraimi; Foreign Office briefing and telegrams on relations with Saudi Arabia; record of a meeting between Selwyn-Lloyd and Malik Firoz Khan Noon, Pakistan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, on ceding the port of Gwadur [Gwadar] to Pakistan; note of a meeting between JA and Sir [John] Gilbert Laithwaite [Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations] on Gwadur.
1 file.

Oct 1955-Jan 1958

Muscat and Oman: general papers. Includes: directives and reports on future policy towards Muscat and Oman; report from [? (Archibald) David Stirling] on the situation in the Jebel Akhkar; briefing for discussions with the Sultan on short term measures to be taken over the Jebel Akhkar; records of individual meetings with the Sultan (including some rough notes as well as the later version); summary report by JA of his mission; telegrams between JA, the Foreign Office, John Selwyn-Lloyd, Foreign Secretary and Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf], on the negotiations; copy of a despatch from the Consul-General at Muscat [(Frederick) Leslie Chauncy] giving the background to the negotiations and an account of the first round of talks; draft minute on Muscat for JA, written by [Arnold] Robert Walmsley, Foreign Office, on military projects for strengthening the Sultan.
2 files.

Jan 1958-Sep 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Telegrams, minutes and correspondence between the Foreign Office, Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat] and Edward Given, Bahrain, on the negotiations, including: terms and conditions of service for British officers seconded to the Muscat Armed Forces; lists of agreed and proposed actions, from the Chiefs of Staff Committee; character sketch and record of service for Lieutenant-Colonel David Smiley, proposed Chief of Staff of the Muscat Armed Forces; report on operations against the rebels in the Jebel Akhkar; note on a dispute between the Sultan and the Iraq Petroleum Company over oil concessions.
1 file.

Feb 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Telegrams, minutes and correspondence between JA, the Foreign Office, Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat] and Edward Given, Bahrain, on the negotiations, including: operations against the rebels in the Jebel Akhkar; staff appointments, including Lieutenant-Colonel David Smiley as Commander of the Muscat Armed Forces; oil concessions; terms of service for officers seconded to the Muscat Armed Forces.
1 file.

Mar 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Telegrams, minutes and correspondence between the Foreign Office, JA and Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, on the negotiations, including: the Sultan's visit to London; the Muscat subsidy; relations between Kuwait and Iraq; the long-term lease of Masirah airfield to the RAF; operations against the rebels in the Jebel Akhkar.
1 file.

Apr 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Telegrams, minutes and correspondence between the Foreign Office, War Office, Treasury, [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat] and Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, on the negotiations, including: action taken to support operations of the Muscat Armed Forces; the Muscat subsidy; facilities for the RAF and the long-term lease of Masirah airfield; the Muscat Civil Air Agreement; the Sultan's visit to London; the Muscat Air Force; control of the Buraimi area.
1 file.

May 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Telegrams, minutes, briefings and correspondence between the Foreign Office, War Office, Sir Bernard Burrows, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and [Frederick] Leslie Chauncy [Consul-General at Muscat], on the negotiations, including: the long-term lease of Masirah airfield and the Muscat Civil Air Agreement; military reorganisation; terms and conditions of service for officers seconded to the Muscat Armed Forces; the Sultan's visit to London; proposals for immediate action and civil development; the Muscat subsidy; plans for further military operations.
1 file.

Jun 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Telegrams, minutes, briefings and correspondence between the Foreign Office and War Office, on the negotiations, including: papers on the long-term lease of Masirah airfield; draft exchange of letters between the Sultan and the Foreign Secretary [John Selwyn-Lloyd]; letters from [Charles] Evelyn Shuckburgh, Foreign Office, to JA on subjects including the Masirah lease (2); copy of the Civil Air Agreement with Muscat and Oman; record of a conversation between JA and the Sultan on Masirah; report from [? (Archibald) David Stirling] on the situation in the Jebel Akhkar; calculations on the Muscat subsidy; directive to the Commander, British Forces, Arabian Peninsula, on his responsibilities towards the Muscat Armed Forces.
1 file.

Jul 1958-Aug 1958

Muscat and Oman: minutes and telegrams. Telegrams, minutes, briefings and correspondence between the Foreign Office and War Office, on the negotiations, including: draft letter to the Sultan and correspondence between JA and [Charles] Evelyn Shuckburgh, Foreign Office, on jurisdictional arrangements for Muscat.
1 file.

Jul 1958-Nov 1958

Muscat and Oman: negotiations in London. Includes: Foreign Office briefings on the Sultan's visit to London, May-Jul 1958, and records of meetings between the Foreign Secretary [John Selwyn-Lloyd], JA and others with the Sultan; minutes from Lord Home, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations [earlier Alexander Douglas-Home], on ceding the port of Gwadur [Gwadar] to Pakistan; draft papers from [Charles] Evelyn Shuckburgh on the subsidy granted for the Sultan's armed forces and civil development programme; copies of correspondence between the Sultan, Selwyn-Lloyd, and JA; copy of the final agreement with the Sultan.
1 file.

May 1958-Aug 1958

Personal correspondence.
4 files.

Jan 1957-Oct 1957

Personal correspondence.
4 files.

Apr 1957-Mar 1958

Personal correspondence.
6 files.

Mar 1958-Nov 1958