United Arab Emirates (UAE) advisory mission

This file is part B of a three-part series concerning the Defence Advisory Mission to the Union of Arab Emirates. It relates to the meetings of the Union Defence Committee (UDC) discussing the Willoughby Report and contains memoranda and correspondence concerning:

• Report’s proposals for the formation of a Union defence force
• Willoughby’s meetings in the Gulf to discuss the report, including details of his travel and appointments with the Rulers
• Meeting of the Sub Committee on Defence, concerning the question of Bahraini amendments to the Willoughby Report; and the resulting offence caused by Bahrain to representatives from Sharjah and Dubai
• Copy of the outcome of the meeting of the UDC in Arabic
• Joint communiqué from the meeting
• Desire of the Rulers for the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force to be British
• Threat of internal subversion
• Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s concerns regarding the report
• Transcripts of broadcasts from the Damascus Domestic Service and Radio Moscow relating to the report
• Article from The Times concerning disagreement regarding the formation of the Union
• Interest of Qatar in implementing the Report
• Political Agent in Dubai J L Bullard’s doubts about the implementation of the Willoughby Report
• The Rulers' confirmation of the recommendations of the report in principle

The file also contains correspondence relating to:

• Question of purchasing anti-aircraft defence systems for the Union Defence Force
• Construction of an airfield in Doha
• Pay and expenses of the Advisory Mission to be paid by the Rulers; the question of Group Captain A F Peers’s pay; wrangling with the Rulers over the settling of accounts; and amendments to the expenses formula
• Meeting of the Deputy Ruler of Qatar Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al Thani with a representative from Hawker Aircraft Limited
• Question of briefing the Kuwaiti Chief of Staff General Mubarak Al Abdulla Al Jabir Al Sabah on Union defence matters