Abu Dhabi Defence Force

This file concerns the Abu Dhabi Defence Force (ADDF). It contains correspondence and memoranda concerning:

• Proposals for the construction of a military airfield complex in Abu Dhabi
• The political embargo placed upon Major E R L Jones’ secondment to the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF)
• The termination of the contract held by Airwork Services Limited for the servicing of aircraft in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, and the replacement of Airwork by the Pakistan Air Force; and the question of Airwork contractors remaining as employees of the Pakistanis
• The request by the ADDF for the secondment of a British workshops officer for the new Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
• The ADDF’s policy towards employing British personnel
• The question of jurisdiction over British officers seconded to the UAE; their role in the event of an attack on the UAE, and possible consequences to UK-UAE relations
• The promotion of Colonel R Pope to Brigadier and his appointment as Commander of the Abu Dhabi Land Force (ADLF); Pope’s unwillingness to extend his secondment, and the need to find a replacement
• The payment to the Ministry of Defence for the sums paid to Colonel Pope by the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies in Lebanon
• Issues of procurement and payment within the ADDF
• The secondment of the ADDF's Desert Intelligence Officer Captain G P Gowlett, and other officers to the SAF; consideration of the implications of such secondments
• The suspicions of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan that ex-ADDF intelligence officer Major Brown is now working with the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG) in Dhofar
• The prospect of Lieutenant-Colonel Stevenson handing over the command of his regiment to an Abu Dhabian officer
• Briefing notes concerning the position of seconded officers in the ADDF and the Union Defence Force (UDF)
• The question of finding a replacement for Major M Cottrill of the ADLF, and the subsequent question of the continued provision of British officers for the ADLF
• The promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel Barclay and Major Temple, seconded to the UDF, and the need to replace Barclay
• The meeting between Pope and HM Ambassador to the UAE D J McCarthy concerning the role of the ADDF and McCarthy’s view of the ADDF serving to intimidate the other Rulers of the UAE