'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎3r] (5/248)

PART L—PREFACE.
5
A. Procedure.
1 . We, the Commissioners appointed by your Majesty under an Act of Parliament
n August, 1916, have the honour to submit to your Majesty the following report:—
2 . The Statute, from which we derive our authority, constituted us Commissioners
for the purpose of enquiring into the origin, inception, and conduct of operations of the
war in Mesopotamia, including the supply of drafts, reinforcements, ammunition, and
equipment to the troops and fleet, the provision for the sick and wounded, and the responsi
bility of those departments of Government whose duty it has been to minister to the wants
of the Forces employed in that theatre of war. We were further invested with certain
powers, rights and privileges of the High Court of Justice, and we have exercised those
powers to the best of our ability in obtaining evidence upon oath and in enforcing the
attendance of all witnesses and the production of all documents which in any way seemed
to us relevant to the subject-matter of our enquiry. The Public Departments concerned
showed the utmost readiness to assist us in our enquiry and furnished us so far as we are
aware with copies of all material records and documents at their disposal.
3 . In the course of our enquiry we ascertained that the chief persons connected with
the campaign were either in England, or could be brought home without serious detriment
to public interests. There were also at home a great number of wounded and sick officers
of all ranks, returned from Mesopotamia, and we have had the advantage of seeing the
voluminous evidence collected in Mesopotamia and India by the Vincent-Bingley Commission.
We thus found that there was a large mass of evidence at our disposal in England, and
we did not feel justified in incurring the great delay and expense, which must have resulted
from proceeding to India and to Mesopotamia. But in addition to the evidence available
in England, we summoned home, and there appeared before us, all witnesses whose evidence
was in our judgment necessary for the elucidation of our task. In one case, however, in
which urgent war duties prevented an officer from vacating his post, we accepted written
evidence only, without causing him to appear in person before us.
4 . Early in our proceedings, allegations against an officer of subordinate rank were
made, which in our judgment required investigation. We felt that our primary duty was
to adjudicate upon the conduct of the higher authorities responsible for the campaign.
We were most desirous to prevent our energy and attention from being diverted from this
task by enquiries into a number of minor complaints against subordinate officers, and we felt
that we were neither intended nor well-fitted to undertake the functions of a number of
Courts-Martial or Military Courts of Enquiry. We therefore decided that in such cases
we would forward the evidence tendered to us to the Military Authorities with a request
that they would themselves take such action in the matter as in their judgment seemed
necessary. We adopted a similar procedure also in the few instances where the tactical
manoeuvring and dispositions of generals under the rank of divisional commanders were,
seriously called in question.
o. In the Act of Parliament constituting the Commission a proviso was inserted
directing us to proceed with all possible expedition to enquire with regard to the provision
for the sick and wounded, and to report the result of our enquiries on this matter as soon as
they were completed.
We considered this direction, but found that the medical aspects of the Mesopotamian
Campaign were so inextricably involved with the other branches of our enquiry, that it
would be impossible to anticipate our general Report by an interim Report on medical
matters.
To have attempted to separate the conduct of our Enquiry into two distinct parts,
would have led to delay, confusion, and possibly contradictory conclusions. We therefore
concentrated our attention upon the whole subject referred to us, being satisfied that by
this procedure we could most effectively expedite and complete our enquiry into the pro
vision made for the sick and wounded.
It will be seen however, that we have devoted a separate section* entirely to medical
arrangements and that this section is practically a complete Report in itself, dealing with
the provision for the sick and wounded.
* See Part X.