Arab Bureau

"[2] Bruce Westrate wrote in his 1992 history of the Arab Bureau that "the agency has subsequently borne much of the blame for Britain's terrible mishandling of Middle Eastern policy during and shortly after World War I.

Sykes was concerned because British command posts in the Middle East were generally uncooperative and thus far unable to produce effective counterpropaganda.

Sykes proposed the creation of a London office under his auspices to gather, filter, and distribute intelligence on the German and Turkish Middle East policy and "co-ordinate propaganda in favour of the United Kingdom among non-Indian Moslems.

But the director of Naval Intelligence in Britain, Captain Reginald 'Blinker' Hall, supported Clayton's concept and urged government approval.

David Hogarth, a naval intelligence officer, was acting director of the Arab Bureau and Kinahan Cornwallis his deputy.

Arab Bureau terms of reference at the Interdepartmental meeting for establishment of the Bureau, 7 January 1916
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) (1888 - 1935, left); David George Hogarth (1862 - 1927) and Lieutenant-Colonel Dawnay (1878-1952), at the Arab Bureau of Britain's Foreign Office, Cairo, May 1918.