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'Summary of correspondence relative to the administration of the Port of Basrah and measures for the control of the shipping traffic in Mesopotamia.' [‎60v] (120/134)

The record is made up of 1 volume (66 folios). It was created in 16 Sep 1916. 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. .

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114
progress and well-being of affairs, or to take his orders in difficulties
and matters which he cifhld not himself control. The Committee
consider it a difficulty in the existing organisation that this general
grouping did not already exist, though they recognise that since a
Deputy Principal Marine Transport Officer and an Assistant
Principal Marine Transport Officer has been added to the Principal
Marine Transport Officer's staff some partial devolution of authority
has been organised with the result of an acceleration of business
and the relief of the Principal Marine Transport Officer from the
burden of a mass of detail.
2. It seems to the Committee that the following points call for careful con
sideration ;—
(i) To what extent Principal Marine Transport Officer, as now consti
tuted, could or could not control under one authority the whole
of the enlarged service, including eventually one of the largest
river fleets known in the world, and a very considerable dockyard.
(fi) The best way of arranging the various big branches under the
Principal Marine Transport Officer, in which it is proposed the
military parallel of Directorates shall be followed, a principle
already recognised by the existence of Directors of Land and
Sea Transport.
{Hi) The question of the Principal Marine Transport Officer's actual
Headquarters Staff must be considered, and the present Deputy
and Assistant being more suitably employed as actual Directors,
rather than as Principal Staff Officers, the difference being clearly
recognised between a Director of a responsible head of a branch,
with definite duties as distinct from a Staff Officer, who is merely
the mouthpiece for uttering the orders of a higher authority.
(iv) The necessity of providing each Director with sufficient Assistant
Directors to allow him to divide his department into sub-depart
ments under his control, and especially in this connection to see
that the Director of River Transport should have enough assistants
to enable him to manage the increasing fleet.
{v) The adequate provision and control of personnel, which includes :—
(a) Timely provision for pcrsorn^l to provide for the needs of the
incrcasig fleet, and also the replacements of casualties.
{h) Proper arrangements for record of all individuals on the rolls, their
appointment, clothing and rationing.
(c) The control of shore camps or barracks of establishment waiting to
join the ships.
The Committee were of opinion that the whole of these latter services should
be controlled by a Director of Personal Services, shown in the diagrams, whose
duties and subordinate departments are also explained hereafter.
{vi) The Committee recognise that at present all these cited services
have been more or less adequately provided for so far as the
existing fleet in concerned and circumstances have permitted.
Recommendations of the Committee.
1. Before outlining their definite recommendations the Committee place no
record that they have carefully considered the question of the control of the Dock-
vard. In view of the fact that the Royal Indian Marine is one of the existing
services of the Government, with its own disciplinary act and its own esprit de corps,
and the fact that the officers of the Dockyard, both executive and engineer, must
chief!v be drawn from the Royal Indian Marine, and that probably any additions
of the officer grade, either permanently or temporarily commissioned officers,
will be from that body, they recommend that the Dockyard shall be under the
Principal Marine Transport Officer as the final authority, subject to the General

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Content

This secret summary was compiled by the Army Department, War Section Case and printed in Simla in September 1919. It contains letters and telegrams sent from 11 December 1915 to 14 August 1916 between the officers of the Government of India and the Director-General of Port Administration and River Conservancy on the administration of the Port of Basrah [Basra].

The summary also contains 'Report of Major-General G F MacMunn's Committee on the Organization of the River Service in Mesopotamia' (folios 58-66), with recommendations for the Royal India Marine Services, on the method of employing existing and forthcoming vessels, and measures for the control of the shipping traffic on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Extent and format
1 volume (66 folios)
Physical characteristics

The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; 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. The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

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English in Latin script
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'Summary of correspondence relative to the administration of the Port of Basrah and measures for the control of the shipping traffic in Mesopotamia.' [‎60v] (120/134), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/131, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023544987.0x000079> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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