First edition of the 1951 issue of the R.A.F. Aeronautical map of Bahrain and Qatar. The War office issued the R.A.F. series alongside a separate US Airforce Series: the R.A.F. series only covers Europe, Africa, Arabia, and up to the end of 1951 had only covered Britain, the east coast of Africa, and this sheet of Arabia.

The odd selection of this region aside from east Africa is made clearer by looking at the content of the map. The map does not show the 'delineation of international boundaries' or 'danger zones' but the topography, largely the elevation and depression of the terrain, with indications of marshy areas. The only indicated features, other than towns and roads, are of oil fields and pipelines.

In 1941 Britain had gained control of much of Iraq's oil after the Anglo-Iraqi War, and sought to expand its influence. The allies had seen the strategical benefits of Bahrain and after the discovery of oil in the region in 1932 it became even more pertinent to grow relations, with the entire Middle Eastern command moving from Bushehr in Iran to Bahrain in 1935. But after the war relations had soured, with the 1947 anti-Jewish riots in Manama, Bahrain, largely in reaction to Britain's disastrous orchestration of the Partition of Palestine. At the same time Iran had sought to break free of British control of their oil and in March 1951 voted to nationalise their oil production: in response Britain boycotted Iranian exports. It was in that same month that this map was finalised, and published in July, in the midst of the tense negotiations Iran was conducting with both Britain and the USA. In 1951 Britain was clearly searching for new regions to extract oil from, and this map is captivating evidence of the fractious relationship Britain had fostered with the state of the Arabian Gulf.

First edition, GSGS 4622 Sheet 2547; Coloured printed map of Bahrain and Qatar on single sheet, with extensive legend printed on reverse (size: 62.5 x 77 cm); scale 1:1,000,000, text in English, a little faded along folds, a very good copy.