WesWorld

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October 1
Today in Karachi diplomats from Great Britain, India and Persia today signed the Karachi Agreement partitioning the Pakistani State between India and Persia. The Viceroy, Viscount Halifax, after the signing gave a press conference where he said, "This agreement will enable peace to be preserved in the region and proves the existence of SEAR actually works forcing all nations together at the conference table. It proves peaceful discussion can achieve much more than the gun and enables the Indian government to achieve a long-standing aim. The oil agreements with Persia will keep the supply of oil flowing to the British Empire and the independence of Iraq has been promised and we shall not shrink from the task of protecting the latter nation and the other Sultanates in the Middle Eastern region."

October 2
Letter to the Editor of the Times 2/10/1935
"Dear Sir,
I was appalled to read the headlines yesterday that the government is willing to sell the Empire to any foreign leader who is willing to make a loud noise. After the strength of the Security Agreement of Eastern Regions signed only a month ago it seemed as though the government had finally decided to stand up to the noisy rabble in Delhi and Tehran and yet Sir Hoare only a month later sells out our brave soldiers and business men in Pakistan trying to bring a degree of modernisation and decency to this untamed part of the world. We have lost face as a nation and lost a vital part of the Empire for no discernable gain. I think Sir Hoare should be asked to resign and the Prime Minister should also leave. Never have I felt so ashamed to be an Englishman.
R. Woodehouse, Leamington Spa"

After dinner speech at the Karachi Tennis Club by Sir Horace Melville, Assistant Director of Communications and Information to the Viceroy
"Well this has been another enjoyable evening, but as we have read in the papers this will one of the last such gatherings we shall have here. As you all know this social event has been held since 1879 and the club traces its roots back to 1845. This history will soon end and many of you here tonight have been asking why the government has sold Pakistan to the Indians and the Persians. It is a fair question and can be answered here in basic terms. The Indian Government has wanted to extend its influence here based on long-standing territorial claims stretching back centuries, long before the British ever came here. The tribes in the north have never been tamed under our control and we only control the main coastal cities. Once the new Persian leaders decided to sabre-rattle the spectre of a joint Indo-Persian invasion began to circulate in Whitehall. As we all know it would take reinforcements a long time to get here from England and few troops could be spared from elsewhere in the Middle East. Life under such an occupation would be harsh. In the government's eyes Pakistan holds little of strategic value and they feel it is much better to make a stand against Satsuma elsewhere in the Middle East. The British forces here will move to Iraq and Oman and we will all be repatriated to other jobs in the Empire. We may not be able to meet here next year but the Empire shall carry on. This is not the start of decolonisation, such a thing is impossible to imagine, but rather the start of a new chapter of colonial rule in the Far East."

Labour MP for Manchester in House of Commons heckling Secretary for War Leslie Hore-Belisha
"When the honourable gentleman says Iraq must be defended against Persian threats what he really means is that the British Army is too weak to defend the Empire, so weak large chunks of it have to be handed over to veiled threats in order to protect the few remnants that are left."

Letter from an RA Officer stationed in Pakistan to wife
"Dearest Dolly,
Thanks for the parcel you sent me for my birthday. I hope you and the children are well and fine. How is George doing at school? I hope you are not worrying too much about the news. I'm sure it must have caused a stir at home, just as much as it did here. The locals got up and began cheering and shouting a parading in the streets. Things got ugly in some towns and we have been on duty all night. This morning the CO called all the native officers and men to parade and told them the officers and NCOs could apply to join the proper British Army and be sent overseas when we leave. Most of them are good chaps and most of them signed up; they probably feel the Indian army might shoot them or something. Already rumours are circulating in the mess as where we will move to, some feel it will be Malaya and others say it may be Oman. With my promotion coming up soon we may get enough to settle down in quarters somewhere. I've heard the Arab postings are pretty splendid, except for Palestine, but a transfer to Hong Kong or Singapore would be grand.
Give my love to the children, please write soon.
Your dearest Martin."

October 10
Great Britain has won two Nobel Prizes this year;
The Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to James Chadwick for the discovery of the neutron.

The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded to Henry Dale and Otto Loewi jointly for work on chemical transmission of nerve impulses.

This is the BBC Home Service...

November 18
First flight of the Rolls-Royce Merlin powered Hawker Hurricane. The flight went smoothly and no problems were encountered with the new engine. It is hoped the first service machines will enter frontline service by mid 1936.

November 20
The Admiralty has announced the winner of the recent Motor Torpedo Boat Trials. The two competing MTB designs were the;

British Power Boats BPB-60-1: 22 tons, 60.25x13.4x2.83 ft (18.36x4.1x0.86m), three 600hp Rolls Royce Kestrel VIIN petrol engines, 33kts, 485 miles at 33kts, two 18in torpedoes and four twin .303in Vickers 'K' MGs, 9 crew.

Vosper Thornycroft MTB-01: 45 tons, 72.5x19.5x5.5ft (22.1x5.94x1.68m), three 1,150hp Isotta-Fraschini petrol engines, 44kts, 280 miles at 40kts, two 21in torpedoes and two twin 0.661in HMGs, 12 crew.

After performance and tactical trials both in daylight and nocturnal conditions it was decided to equip the RN MTB Flotillas with the BPB-60-1 design. The Vosper Thornycroft design was discounted because it was more expensive, used imported engines thus increasing costs and logistical problems, lack of cruising engine which meant the noisy Isotta-Fraschini engines could be easily heard at night alerting the potential target and a lower range. However Vosper Thornycroft have been instructed to keep up developments in a new design for the Far Eastern Fleet since British Power Boats lacks enough dockyard space to build the required numbers of craft. British Power Boats has been asked to look at improved BPB-60-1 variants with the 0.661in Vickers HMG and 21in torpedoes, while several engine manufacturers have been approached to develop better engines of much higher power ratings to compare with the Italian designs.

November 23
First flight of the Bristol Type 150 Beaufort torpedo-bomber to Spec M15/35 has taken place today at Bristol's Filton works.

Hmm missed the post on the 23rd, twas a good one.
However

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
decolonisation, such a thing is impossible to imagine

If it's impossible to imagine, why does he have a word for it?

This is the BBC Home Service...

December 1
It has been agreed with Persian and Indian authorities that the takeover of currently state-owned enterprises in Pakistan will be completed within the currently agreed timescales. All harbour facilities will be handed over on 1st April 1936. Currently state-owned waterworks and power stations will be handed over during the April-October period as the Persians and Indians are ready to take them over and have enough trained personnel. For non-state-owned infrastructure such as the railways the current White administrators have been offered a chance to stay and continue working. Persia has agreed funds to begin a training programme to cover the likely shortfall in personnel and since November this scheme has trained 300 Pakistani drivers, 450 train guards and ticket inspectors and around 150 engineers. Handover of all rolling stock and railway facilities will be on 1st September 1936 to allow for full training to be completed. All BBC radio transmitting equipment will be removed for instillation elsewhere in the Empire.

December 12
The Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare seems to have weathered the hostile calls for him to resign and the government today narrowly avoided a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons. An impassioned speech by Stanley Baldwin seemed to have swayed some Labour MPs but the Liberal party firmly stuck to its vote against the PM.
Even so its seems to most political obsevers that Stanley Baldwin may resign after the Christmas recess and unless Sir Hoare can find some new successful policy then his future too is in doubt.

December 19
Today at Fairey's Hayes factory the prototype Fairey Balmoral light bomber designed by Marcel Lobelle has had its first flight. Designed to Spec B.8/35 around 400 have been ordered off the drawing board to be built at Fairey's new Heaton Chapel, Stockport factory.

Hmmmm. Political instability in the UK, that has ...... potential for future issues in Europe, certainly.

December 20

Today the 1st Battle Squadron has reformed at Scapa flow with new battleships HMS Saint Vincent, Trafalgar, Agincourt and Nile.

The new 3rd Battle Squadron has been formed at Portsmouth with the HMS Revenge, Royal Oak and Royal Sovereign. While its place at Singapore has been taken by the Far Eastern Battle Squadron with HMS Ramilles and Resolution.

Marlborough and Benbow are now placed in reserve for decommissioning on Janurary 1st 1936.