Description

This is a very important collection because it consists of internal political telegrams which were never intended for international, or even external, examination. These telegrams provide a rare glimpse into the system of administration and the style of leadership of Sultan (King) Abdul Aziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Saud, ruler of Nejd-Hedjaz/Saudi Arabia from 1925-1953, and founder of the State of Saudi Arabia. The documents selected for this set are unusual in that they all originate from a single record class, HW12. The documents in HW12 are derived from wireless messages intercepted by British intelligence operatives at the Government Code and Cypher School, a department that was an intelligence-gathering unit formed in 1919. The level of secrecy attached to them meant they were not circulated within Whitehall and they were only released in 1997, this therefore, is their first large-scale public exhibition.