Collection LEES - LEES, Lt Aubrey Trevor Oswald (1899-1969)

Papers, 1880-1947, of Lt Aubrey Trevor Oswald Lees and his family, covering the whole span of Lees' career in the army and Colonial Service and touching on British administration in Iraq, Zanzibar and Palestine between the two World Wars. Papers, 1880-1932, of Lees' parents, Oswald and Ethel, include personal correspondence and an account by Ethel Lees of their journey to Palestine, 1921. Lees' correspondence with his parents and aunts, 1905-1941, includes commentary on problems facing the British in the government of their colonies and dependencies. Papers, 1917-1921, relating to Lees' early career include letters of congratulation on gaining a place at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, 1917, and correspondence with batmen and servants, 1920-1921. Papers, 1922-1926 and undated, relating to service in Iraq include a programme and script of a play performed on SS MASSILLIA sailing from Liverpool to Bombay, 1922; transcript of proceedings of the trial of Lees for assaulting and insulting a police officer of the Iraq railways at Khanniquin, 1923; account of Lees' journey through the Shamiyah country of Iraq and his encounters with Bedouin tribes, 1924; correspondence relating to Lees' dismissal as a Special Service Officer (Intelligence) with the RAF in Iraq, and appointment to the Colonial Service in Zanzibar, 1925-1926; undated transcript of the preface to Richard Burton's translation of the 'Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night', criticizing ignorance of the Arabic language and of Moslem customs by the British Colonial service; undated notes on the Nuharram (10 days penance observed by Shia Moslems). Papers, 1927-1929 and undated, on service in Zanzibar and the Colonial Office, London, include letters from Lees describing his journey home, apparently from Zanzibar, by dhow via Aden and Mokalla, 1928; undated notes on the establishment of a British Protectorate over Zanzibar; and correspondence relating to Lees' transfer to the post of Administrative Officer, Palestine, 1928-1929. Papers, 1929-1943, on Lees' service in Palestine and retirement from the Colonial Service include papers relating to land settlement, 1934-1935, to Lees' actions as Assistant District Commissioner, Southern District, Gaza, during Arab-Jewish disturbances, 1936, and to Lees' suspension from duties in Palestine for criticizing the Palestinian Government's attitude towards alleged Jewish atrocities and his enforced retirement from the Colonial Service, 1938-1940; and letters to Lees, 1939, informing him of events in Palestine. Other papers, 1921-1947 and undated, include personal correspondence. Photographs relate to his service in Iraq, 1922-1925, in Zanzibar, 1926-1928, and in Palestine, 1929-1938.