Finding Aid British Intelligence on Yemen, c.1940-1967

• Reports and Handbooks from the Aden Archives

Published by IDC Publishers, 2006

• Descriptive Summary

Creator: India Office Library and Records. Title: British Intelligence on Yemen. Dates (inclusive): c. 1940-1967 Abstract: Collection containing reports and handbooks from the Aden Archives, which provides information on the international involvement and British policies and aspirations in Yemen and on the internal political, social and commercial development of the region. Language(s): Predominantly English, with a few items in other (also local) languages. Extent: 188 microfiches or 19 microfilm reels Order no.: BID-1 - BID-2

• Location of Originals

the Aden Records (R/20) are kept as part of the India Office Records (IOR) which form part of the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections at the British Library.

• History Note

Within the India Office Records the Aden Records (R/20) are the archives of the successive British administrations in Aden between 1839 and 1967. These papers were created, maintained and preserved in Aden and returned to London in the late 1960s after Independence.

Since the unification of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in 1990, the Republic of Yemen has occupied an important position in the geopolitical landscape of the Arabian Peninsula region and in the wider context of Middle Eastern and international relations. Half a century ago, however, in the same region, "Two Yemens" co-existed uneasily side by side, separated by uncertain boundaries and widely different administrations and political aspirations. The British were determined to extend their influence into the outlying areas of the Aden hinterland. British rule was consolidated when Aden became a British Colony in 1937 and it was further extended by the development of a specific Protectorate administration, with its Secretariat in Aden and with British Protectorate officials in local posts in the Western and Eastern Aden Protectorates. Anglo-Yemeni relations had been consolidated in the 1930s, after long and tortuous negotiations, with the conclusion of the Treaty of San"a in 1934. Formal British relations with Yemen were established in 1839 with the construction of a coaling station at Aden, on the route to India. A British Political Residency, under the administration of the British Government in India, was opened at the same time. From the outbreak of the Second World War, however, the British became increasingly concerned by the influence in Yemen of other European powers, notably Italy. In 1963 a High Commission took over the British administrative role in the newly-created South Arabian Federation. On independence in 1967 the British ceded power to the People’s Republic of South Yemen (later the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen).

• Scope and Content

The papers in the Aden Records consist of over 12,000 volumes and files as well as maps and printed material. They are now catalogued in seven groups under the references R/20/A-G. Material in this IDC Publishers' set is drawn from R/20/B (Records of the Secretariat, Government and Colony of Aden, 1937-1962), R/20/C (Files of the Aden Protectorate, 1928-1962), R/20/D (Files of the High Commission for Aden, 1962-1967) and R/20/G (Aden Library, c. 1860-1967). The material complements the files in the companion set of IDC Publishers, "British Intelligence on Yemen, c. 1880-1948", and takes the story up to the end of British colonial rule in Aden in 1967.

The Aden Archives within the India Office Records collections cover a period extending well beyond the end of the British Empire in India. The material is detailed and extensive although much of it is very fragile. Because of this, some files have not survived in their entirety and there are occasional gaps in the sequence of reports.

The archives of the British Administrations in Aden provide information not only on international involvement in the area but also on the internal political, social and commercial development of the entire region. The material in this collection consists of printed and typescript reports and handbooks, maps, memoranda and intelligence reports covering this important period in Yemeni history. Handbooks, reports and intelligence summaries reproduced in this collection were almost all classified as Secret, Top Secret, Confidential, or ‘For Official Use Only’. The reports and handbooks offer a wide-ranging coverage of economic, political and social developments in southern Arabia, from the British attempts to gather information on the political situation in the north Yemen capital, San"a, in the 1940s to the development of the oil industry in the Aden Protectorates in the 1950s and the consequent diplomatic disputes over unresolved boundary issues. Many of the reports include maps and photographs.

Some highlights include:

• A medical survey of the Western Aden Protectorate, 1939-1940 • Impressions of a visit to Yemen: report by W.H.Ingrams, August 1941, Most Secret • Political development in the Hadhramaut: printed paper by Harold Ingrams, April 1945 • Brief Notes on the history of the tribes now residing in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, and their present area and divisions, 1955 • General Handbook of the Aden Colony and Protectorate, Aden: Intelligence Branch, Headquarters, British Forces, January 1959 • Report on the fisheries of the Eastern Aden Protectorate, 1960 • Basic Paper on Boundary Problems in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, compiled by A.F.Watts, Mukalla, May 1962 • An Economic Survey of the South Arabian Federation, 1962

The intelligence summaries are detailed and regular (usually monthly) accounts of activities in Aden and the two Aden Protectorates from the 1940s onwards, as well as Local Intelligence Committee and Aden High Commission reports from the 1960s. Their contents are arranged under sub-headings which include sections on local tribal and state developments (for example, the Qu‘aiti State of Shihr and Mukalla) and sections on frontier areas, security forces and oil negotiations. In a wider political context they record the impact of international events (for example the 1956 Suez crisis) on local politics; and from the late 1950s onwards they examine and report in unique detail on the growing and increasingly radical independence movements, the National Liberation Front (NLF), the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) and on labour relations in Aden and the Aden Trades Union Congress as well as on their relations with, and support from, other states in the region and internationally.

• Organization and Arrangement

For the present publication, the material has been arranged in two groups. The first group (BID-1) comprises printed and typescript reports and handbooks on wide-ranging subjects covering the period 1939-1967. Some of these were preserved for reference in the Aden Library (R/20/G) and some were kept on office files, either in the Aden Secretariat (R/20/B) or in local offices in the Protectorates, such as the Residency office at Mukalla (R/20/C). The second group (BID-2) comprises intelligence summaries collected from the entire region and forwarded to the Colonial Office and Cabinet in London. Copies were also preserved in Aden in several different and sometimes overlapping series.

• BID-1 Reports and Handbooks, 1939-1967 • BID-2 Intelligence Summaries, 1948-1967

• Selected Search Terms

Geographic Areas Great Britain--History. Middle East Saudi Arabia--History. Yemen (Republic) --History. Topics Intelligence service--Great Britain Protectorates

• Anticipated Additions

Researchers should note that an integrated finding aid for the British Intelligence collections is also available:

• British Colonial Policy and Intelligence Files on Asia and the Middle East, c. 1880-1950.

• Container List

• BID-1: Reports and Handbooks, 1939-1967 Microfilm no. / Microfiche no.

Title: Dry farming methods in Aden Protectorate Reel 1 Author: B.J.Hartley, Director of Agriculture, Aden Protectorate Fiche 1 Dates: [undated] Quantity: 8pp Identification: R/20/G/163

Title: A medical survey of the Western Aden Protectorate, 1939-1940 Reel 1 Author: Dr P.W.R.Petrie and Dr K.S.Seal, Colonial Office Fiche 1-3 Dates: December 1943 Quantity: 167pp, typ, sketch maps, diagrams Notes: For the Use of the Colonial Office Identification: R/20/G/166

Title: Report on a mission to the Yemen Reel 1 Author: R.S.Champion Fiche 3-5 Dates: August 1940 Quantity: 60pp, typ Identification: R/20/B/3559

Title: Impressions of a visit to Yemen: report by W.H.Ingrams Reel 1 Dates: 14 August 1941 Fiche 5-6 Quantity: 26pp, typ, sketch map Notes: Most Secret Identification: R/20/B/2091

Title: South-West Arabia (The Yemen and the Aden Protectorate). Reel 1 Transliteration of Names Fiche 6 Quantity: 71pp Notes: Third edition [revised by Lt-Col M.C.Lake], System RGS – II. London: Colonial Office, October 1941 Identification: R/20/G/188

Part I Proper and Tribal Names Part II Place Names

Title: Report of an overland journey from San'a to Aden Reel 1 Author: Dr P.W.R.Petrie Fiche 6-7 Dates: September 1942 Quantity: 8pp, typ, 18 photographs Identification: R/20/B/1636

Title: Political development in the Hadhramaut Reel 1 Author: Harold Ingrams Fiche 7 Quantity: 24pp Notes: Aden: Secretariat, April 1945 Notes: For Official Use Only Identification: R/20/C/1506 Title: Census of Aden, 1946: report and tables Reel 1 Author: John Goepel, District Commissioner, Aden Census Fiche 7-8 Superintendent Quantity: 130pp Identification: R/20/G/178

Title: Report on the fisheries of the Aden Colony and Protectorates Reel 1 Author: C.F.Hickly, Fisheries Adviser Fiche 8-9 Dates: 1947 Quantity: 30pp, typ Identification: R/20/B/3502

Title: Aden Fishery Department Report No.4 on a voyage to the Wahidi, Reel 1 Qu 'aiti and Mahra coasts, and the Kuria Muria Islands, 10 October-4 Fiche 9-10 December 1950 Author: W.A.King-Webster, Fishery Officer Quantity: 27pp, typ, sketch map, 21 photographs Identification: R/20/B/2059

Title: Aden Fishery Department Report No.5 on the Aden Colony Reel 1 Fisheries, April 1951 Fiche 10 Author: W.A.King-Webster, Fishery Officer Quantity: 22pp, typ Identification: R/20/B/2060

Title: Al Hadhramut Reel 2 Quantity: pp.264-305 Fiche 10-11 Identification: R/20/G/189

[Part IV of a typescript handbook, undated]

Title: Brief Notes on the history of the tribes now residing in the Eastern Reel 2 Aden Protectorate, and their present area and divisions, as at October 1st, Fiche 11-12 1952 (corrected to 1st July 1955) Author: Maj I.E.Snell, Political Officer, with two appendices by Cpt J.N.Ellis Quantity: ii, 28pp, typ Identification: R/20/G/190

Appendix A: Notes on Mahra Appendix B: Notes on Manahil

Title: Brief Notes on the way of life and economic conditions of the Reel 2 different tribes of the Eastern Aden Protectorate as at October 1st, 1952 Fiche 12 (corrected to 1st July 1955) Author: Maj I.E.Snell, Political Officer Quantity: ii, 12pp, typ Identification: R/20/G/190

Title: Report on the geological reconnaissance in northern Hadhramaut, Reel 2 1953-1954 season Fiche 12-15 Author: Z.R.Beydoun and E.M.Melville, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geological Department, London Quantity: 129pp, typ, maps, photographs Identification: R/20/B/3566 includes: 97 photographs including Wadi Hadhramaut and Rub' al-Khali region tracks, dunes, rocks and wadis, forts at Manwakh and al-'Abr, Sanau well, Thamud camp, Manahil tribesmen Also includes: Geological & topographical maps of Hadhramaut; sketch map of South Arabia showing tribal and administrative provinces

Title: Geological observations in northern Hadhramaut and Mahra, 1954- Reel 2 1955 season Fiche 15-18 Author: Z.R.Beydoun and E.K.Elliot, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geological Department, London Quantity: 56pp, typ, 6 maps, 54 photographs Notes: [NB 8 maps are listed but maps 3-4 are missing] Identification: R/20/B/3567

Includes: Photographs of Mukalla, Shibam, Habarut including Wadi Hadhramaut and Rub' al-Khali region tracks, dunes, rocks and wadis, forts at Manwakh and al-'Abr, Sanau well, Thamud camp, Manahil tribesmen Also includes: Geological maps of Hadhramaut

Title: Geophysical surveys in Northern Hadhramaut, 1955-1956 season Reel 2 Author: G.C.Colley, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geophysical Fiche 18-19 Department, London Dates: October 1956 Quantity: [15pp], typ, 7 maps Identification: R/20/B/3568

Title: Notes on the geology of southern Hadhramaut (Eastern Aden Reel 3 Protectorate), 1955-1956 season Fiche 19-20 Author: Z.R.Beydoun and E.K.Elliot, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geological Department, London Quantity: viii, 39pp, typ, 1 sectional diagram Notes: [NB two diagrams are listed, one is missing from file] Identification: R/20/B/2595A

Title: Geophysical surveys in Northern Hadhramaut, 1956-1957 season Reel 3 Author: G.C.Colley, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geophysical Fiche 20-21 Department, London Dates: December 1957 Quantity: [15pp], typ, 8 maps Notes: [map no.2 is missing] Identification: R/20/B/3570

Title: Geophysical surveys in Northern Hadhramaut, 1957-1958 season Reel 3 Author: G.C.Colley, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geophysical Fiche 21 Department, London Dates: January 1959 Quantity: [13pp], typ, 6 maps [map no.2 is missing] Identification: R/20/B/3569

Title: Memorandum on administrative and agricultural development in Reel 3 Eastern Aden Protectorate, April 1956-March 1957: Review of Progress, Fiche 21-22 No.8 Author: Col. J.E.H.Boustead, Residency Mukalla Dates: April 1957 Quantity: 42pp, sketch map, typ Notes: Secret Identification: R/20/C/2016

Title: A Review of Progress: memorandum on administrative and Reel 3 agricultural development in Eastern Aden Protectorate, August 1949- Fiche 22-25 September 1958 Author: Col Hugh Boustead, Resident Adviser and British Agent, Mukalla Dates: 1 September 1958 Quantity: viii, 106pp, sketch map, typ, Confidential Identification: R/20/C/2017

Title: Report on the Eastern Aden Protectorate for the years 1958-1962 Reel 3 Author: Residency Mukalla Fiche 25-28 Dates: August 1962 Quantity: vii, 149pp, typ Notes: Secret Identification: R/20/G/10

Title: A Handbook of the Sultanate of Lahej, with notes on the Aqrabi Reel 3 and Alawi Sheikhdoms and the Haushabi Sultanate Fiche 28-30 Dates: January 1955 Quantity: 80pp, sketch maps, typ Identification: R/20/G/191

Includes: sketch maps showing wadi system, tracks and tribes, genealogical chart of 'Abdali sultans of Lahej

Title: Aden Colony. Annual Report of the Department of Labour and Reel 4 Welfare, 1956 and 1957 Fiche 30-31 Author: Aden, Government Printer Dates: 1957 Quantity: viii, 84pp Identification: R/20/G/149

Title: Annual report on the Aden Protectorate Health Service for the year Reel 4 1956 Fiche 31 Author: Aden, Government Printer Dates: 1957 Quantity: ii, 30pp Identification: R/20/G/167

Title: Information transmitted to the Secretary-General of the United Reel 4 Nations by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. In Fiche 31-33 accordance with the provisions of Article 73 (e) of the United Nations Charter, concerning the territory of Aden Colony and Protectorate for the year 1957 Quantity: 93pp, typ Notes: Confidential Identification: R/20/C/2018

Title: General Handbook of the Aden Colony and Protectorate Reel 4 Author: Aden: Intelligence Branch, Headquarters, British Forces Fiche 33-35 Dates: January 1959 Quantity: 87pp Notes: For Official Use Only Identification: R/20/G/193

Title: Report on the development of Aden Protectorate Reel 4 Author: E.J.Petrie Fiche 35-36 Dates: August 1959 Quantity: [9], 63pp Notes: Confidential Identification: R/20/B/3249

Title: Aden Colony Development Plan, 1960-1964 Reel 4 Author: Aden Government Press Fiche 37 Dates: June 1960 Quantity: ii, 25pp Identification: R/20/G/143