11 September 1925 Extract from Bushire Residency Diary No.16 of 1925: “184. Aerial. Five aeroplanes from Shaibah arrived at Bushire on the morning of the 11th September bringing Air Vice Marshall Sir W. Sefton Brancker, K.C.B., Director of Civil Aviation, Colonel P. R. Burchall and LieutenantColonel F. F. Minchin, representing Imperial Airways, Ltd., and some officers and mechanics of the Royal Air Force, Iraq. Two of the machines, including Sir Sefton Brancker’s, left on the return flight to Shaibah on the morning of the 12th. The one carrying Sir Sefton arrived at Shaibah shortly after midday, the second made a forced landing in swampy ground 30 miles south of Fallahiyeh. The crew of the machine were rescued after four days, the machine being left for salvage later. The remaining three machines left Bushire for Bandar Abbas on the morning of the 13th, carrying Colonels Burchall and Minchin, who were to transfer at Bandar Abbas into machines from India, three of which arrived at Bandar Abbas on the 13th. On the flight from Bushire to Bandar Abbas one machine made a forced landing on the island of Kishm near Basidu. The two remaining machines reached Bandar Abbas early on the morning of the 14th. Colonels Burchall and Minchin left for India in the Indian machines on the 15th and the two machines from Iraq left for Basidu to effect the repair of the machine there. They returned the same afternoon and left again for Guran, where the third machine had been again forced to land. The machines were still in Bandar Abbas at the end of the month.” File 1749/1921 ‘Persian Gulf:- Residency news summaries 1921-25’ [12v] (35/494) | Qatar Digital Library (qdl.qa) (Photo of FF Minchin.) 11 - 22 September 1925 As part of a fact finding mission relating to the proposed Egypt-India route, Brancker flew from Shaibar via Ahwaz to Bushire on 11 September, where he inspected the aerodrome. His return to Shaibar via Mohammera on 12 September was delayed by a forced landing and dust. On 15 September Brancker flew from Baghdad via Kazvin to Teheran, where he met the British Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The next six days were spent in negotiations with the Persian government. On 22 September he flew back to Baghdad via Kazvin. Brancker's report on the Persian aspects of his mission:
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