'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.' [‎32r] (63/248)

PART IX.—TRANSPORT.
61
Conclusions as to Transport.
( 6 ) A deficiency of river transport existed from the time the army left tidal water and
advanced up river from Kurna. This deficiency became very serious as the lines of
communication lengthened and the numbers of the force increased.
(c) Up to the end of 1915 the efforts made to rectify the deficiency of river
transport were wholly inadequate.
(d) For want of comprehensive grasp of the transport situation, and insufficiency of
river steamers, we find the Military Authorities in India are responsible. The responsi
bility is a grave one.
(e) River hospital steamers were an urgent requirement for the proper equipment of
the Expedition, and were not ordered until much too late.
( /) With General Sir John Nixon rests the responsibility for recommending the advances
in 1915 with insufficient transport and equipment. The evidence did not disclose an
imperative need to advance without due preparation. For what ensued from shortage of
steamers, General Sir John Nixon must, in such circumstances, be held to blame. The
extent of his responsibility in relation to the sufferings of the wounded is considered in
Part X. of our Report and in Part XII., paragraph 17.
(g) During the first four months of 1916, the shortage of transport was fatal to the
operations undertaken for the relief of Kut. Large reinforcements could not be moved
to the front in time to take part in critical battles. Based upon information received
from General Townshend, as to the urgent necessity for his immediate relief, operations
were undertaken, notwithstanding the extreme transport difficulty, but in all the circum
stances we do not attach blame for this to the Generals in Mesopotamia directing the
operations.
{Ji) Facilities for the discharge and handling of cargo at Basra, also provision of works
for the erection and repair of river craft were hopelessly inadequate.
(j) Proceedings in connection with the filling of orders for river craft by the Director
of the Royal Indian Marine in India, and the 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. in London, were far from
satisfactory.
(k) Looking at the facts, which from the first must have been apparent to any adminis
trator, military or civilian, who gave a few minutes consideration to the map, and to th
conditions in Mesopotamia, the want of foresight and provision for the most fundamental
needs of the Expedition reflects discredit upon the organising aptitude of all the authorities
concerned. General Sir William Robertson, Chief of the General Staff, Whitehall, in a
document to which we have already referred, states: “In general, the operations
were allowed in 1915 to develop without proper regard to the vital questions of supply
and maintenance,’* in which opinion our investigations lead us unreservedly to concur.
C. Royal Indian Marine.
63. It is not easy to describe with anything like precision the status and functions
of the Royal Indian Marine Department. It is enough here to say that its position is not
considered satisfactory by its present Director, nor by the late Secretary of State for India,.
Lord Crewe. The latter indeed informed us that he had been so impressed by the unsatis
factory An East India Company trading post. position of the Marine Department that he had in contemplation changes in it
when the War broke out.
64. The external communications of India have always been and still are sea-
communications. No reinforcement from outside and no replenishing of military stores
not produced in the country can reach India except by sea. It is evident that what may
be called the maritime or marine side of the Indian Government should be strong, whereas
it is admitted to be, and undeniably is, weak. This it will continue to be until a change
is made in the status of the Marine Department.
65. In earlier days there was a regular Indian Navy, the officers and seamen of which
were Europeans, the Marines'—who were carried in the larger ships—being native Sepoys Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. .
This force was under the Bombay Government, and was called the Bombay Marine The navy of the East India Company. until
the reign of William IV., who ordered it to be re-named the Indian Navy. Its reputation
in both war and peace was high. Its headquarters were at Bombay. It remained in
existence for some few years after the assumption of the Government of India by the Crown,
and was then abolished.