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'Railways - Mesopotamia and L of C [Lines of Communication] Policy' [100r] (199/204)
The record is made up of 1 file (100 folios). It was created in 18 May 1917-21 Dec 1917. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
2 .
regards material 544 out of the total 918 river craft in
Mesopotamia came from India and 148 more are under order.
of India’s river transportation machinery, and
that of the best of it, has thus been withdrawn. The
railway resources here have not suffered in like proportion.
As regards personnel river service absorbe alre-iy
97 officers and about 26,000 other ranks, many of whom are
skilled (ana group undecipherable) artisans who can ill be
spared from here.
It is estimated here that total personnel needed
for complete Basrah - Baghdad railway would be but 60
officers and 10,000 other ranks.
Completion of the railway would presumably allow
of return to India of large proportion of above at an
(group apparently omitted) and its personnel and the
diversion elsewhere of the 446 river craft now under order
in England. Therefore it would ease the economic
situation on a critical point - shipping and shipping
personnel - both at home and here, expenditure of fuel, both
coal and oil, is much greater in river transportation than
in railway. Initial cost of completion is estimated
here' at 2-j? million sterling, that of the complete river
craft ordered at 9 million.
The strategical and economic considerations set
forth above .justify a through line to Baghdad.
On link Basrah - Qurnah and Kut-eh-Amarah - Baghdad
work is now proceeding. Remaining link for completion
would be Amarah - Kut-ol-Amarah. The suggested
Uasiriyah - Kut-el-Amarah. line would revert to unoccupied
country and require a separate defence system, and is
therefore at present unsound.
Post
About this item
- Content
The file, marked secret, contains correspondence and notes regarding rail and river transportation for the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War. The papers cover a number of matters, including:
- Strategic considerations of the use of rail and river communications
- Supply of railway materials, rolling stock, and personnel to Mesopotamia [Iraq] from India, other parts of the British Empire, and allied territories
- Problems with unloading and shipping congestion at Basra
- Progress of railway construction, including weekly reports from the General Officer Commanding or Director of Railways to the War Office, starting from August 1917
- Capacity estimates (for troops, food, ammunition, and materials) and efforts to increase it
- Complaints of shortages of railway stock and personnel in India due to the demand in Mesopotamia
- Preparations for a commission, led by Sir Henry Francis Edward Freeland, to be sent to review rail and river transportation in Mesopotamia
- Questions of flooding and damming of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Correspondents include: the Commander-in-Chief, India; the Chief of the Imperial General Staff; the General Officer Commanding, Mesopotamia; the War Office; the Director of Railways, Mesopotamia; the War Section, Army Department, Government of India; and Major General Sir Henry Francis Edward Freeland.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (100 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order, from the rear to the front.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 102; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; these numbers are written in coloured crayon and pencil; where they have been written in pencil and circled, they have been crossed through.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/5/787
- Title
- 'Railways - Mesopotamia and L of C [Lines of Communication] Policy'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:101v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence