119 The three Americans headed for Sharjah town and walked through the palm-frond huts where the locals were sound asleep. Being drunk, they trampled over some people, treaded over their bellies and faces. As a result, there was loud shouting with women screaming and children crying, etc. The local men managed to catch the Americans, tied them up and gave them good beating. Afterwards, they were taken to the Sharjah Fort. Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr who had returned from India a few days before recognized them. They were wearing over-knee shorts and trembling in fear while shouting ‘Americans, Americans.” Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr sent his car to the house of the Political Agent in Sharjah, Jasim bin Muhammad al-Kazmawi, who was of Kuwaiti origin, and brought him to take custody of the three Americans. Al-Kazmawi came and was warned by Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr that the Americans were not to come down to Sharjah town without permits from the American camp commander in Sharjah. Unfounded rumours began to spread that the Americans had kidnapped a woman in order to rape her, and her screams alerted the men who came to her rescue. The Sharjah Political Agent sent a telegram to the Political Agent, Bahrain, to inform him of the incident. He came to Sharjah and met Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr and managed to appease his fury. He said that only the good relations between the English on one hand and the Sheikh and the locals on the other prevented the situation from escalating into something terribly bad.21 In his message of 22 August 1944 to HQMiddle East, the Political Agent in the Gulf wrote: “ it is essential that U.S. Military personnel should be controlled by their own provost personnel and that U.S. Unit Commander at Shargah has stated he will make proposals for obtaining them. It is essential that Arab Shaikhs, whose territory we are making use of for our war time needs, should be protected in everyway possible against recurrence of incidents of this nature. Request you emphasise to appropriate. U.S. military authorities on the spot the necessity 21 Ibid., L.P.&S/12/2044, EXT.3647/1944, L.P.&S/12/3626,EXT.2239/1947. AMERICANS IN SHARJAH
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