'Summary of correspondence relative to surveying operations and river conservancy in Mesopotamia' [‎23v] (46/96)

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Serial No. 50. Dated Simla, tlie ITth April 1916 (Confidential).
From— Colonel Sir George Buchanan, Kt ., C .LE., M .I.C .E., Director General oi
Port Administration and Kiver Conservancy, I. E. F. " D, " Mesopotamia,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Marine Department, Simla.
I have the honour to invite a reference to letter No. 1142-12-Q., dated 3rd
April 1916, from the General Officer Comnwiding, Indian Expeditionary Force
<£ D," to the Chief of the General Staff, Army Headquarters, .Simla, forwarding
notes and a letter from myself with enclosures on the subject of delays to River
Conservancy work.
2. It will be observed from a perusal of the papers th?> + some of my complaints
imply a lack of method in Port Administration ; and I desire to explain that the
delimitation of my d.uties by General Sir John Nixon was such that I have only
held the office of Director General of Port Administration and River Conservancy
in name.
3. I enclose a memorandum I have drawn up on the subject, with enclosures,
and I respectfully request that the same be laid before the Government of India
for orders.
In this connection I desire to emphasize the fact that I have not written the
memorandum from a personal point of view but solely in the interest of military
operations, because if the administration of the port and river is efficient for
military purposes my position is not of the smallest importance.
4. I have, however, in the course of my three months' experience in Mesopo
tamia formed the opinion that without better organization in the near future,
military operations may be seriously hampered and I feel that I should be failing
in my duty did I not lay my views before you along with my reasons for same.
Memorandum on three months' work in Mesopotamia? with some observations and
suggestions by Colonel Sir George Buchanan, C.I.E., Director General of Port
Administration and River Conservancy.
On the 17th December 1915 I was instructed by the Government of India
to proceed to Basra at the earliest opportunity in order that .1 might be in a
position to give immediate assistance to General Sir John Nixon in all matters
connected with the Port of Basra, its administration, engineering works, and
river conservancy.
The instructions of the Government of India were that my duties were to-
be defined in consultation with myself and by holding the interview and proceed
ing to define my duties before I had been given an oppoitunity of seeing the work
before me, and, further in the presence of and in consultation with the P. M. T. 0.,
I was placed at a disadvantage. The interview was brief. General Nixon had
beside him a paper on which was drawn out a list of various things I should not
do and he remarked, that he did not understand the title of my appointment as
there was no port to Pjdminister. The wharves and jetties were purely
temporary for military purposes and all he required me to do was to see if
improvements could be effected on the Tigirs and Euphrates to assist military
operations. Sir John said he did not understand with what the Admiralty were
frightened at as he had no intention of dredging the outer bar. 1 explained
shoitly my interpretation of the orders of the Government of India and why
I had been sent up in such haste, but Sir John Nixon dissented and repeated that
all he wanted me for was the improvement of the River Tigris and the Hammar
Lake on tje River Euphrates, but that it would be advisable for myself and staff
to collect data for future civil works in case Basra was added to the British
Empire. I replied, that under these circumstances, as I had no launch to take
me on a preliminary inspection of the rivers, and was informed I could not get
one, I might as well return to Bombay and thence to Burma as originally proposed,
but General Cowper intervened and said he would try and borrow Sir Percy Cox's
launch for my use. j.he interview then terminated. In due course I received