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'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.' [‎48v] (96/248)

The record is made up of 1 volume (122 folios). It was created in 1906-1918. 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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94
PART X.—MEDICAL BREAKDOWN,
G. Medical Findings and Recommendations.
upon the task before him. He accepted obviously insufficient medical provision without
protest and without any adequate effort to improve it. He cannot therefore be held
blameless.
125. Surgeon-General MacNeece did not give evidence before the Yincent-Bingley
Commission, but he appeared before us. He was, in our opinion, an officer thoroughly
desirous of fulfilling the duties assigned to him ; but he was a man of advancing years
and diminishing strength, unequal to the position he was called upon to fill, and his adminis
tration appears to us to show no signs of tbe vigour and efficiency that were required.
126. We find that:—
(a) The Home Government agreed with tbe Indian Government in limiting their
general military preparations of India before the war in the interests of retrenchment,
and provision was accordingly not made for such an Expedition as that to Mesopo
tamia. The limitation of medical preparation and the low standard of medical
treatment in the Indian Army at the outbreak of war were the natural outcome of
this policy, which was pursued for many years, and was* in force right up to the date
of the war.
(b) The private letters of the Secretary of State to the Viceroy showed an
earnest and continuous anxiety as to the condition of the wounded, and the only com
ment that can be made upon the Secretary of State’s procedure is that he did not
fully utilise the official powers at his disposal for the purpose of forcing at an earlier
period an investigation into the treatment of the wounded in Mesopotamia.
(c) To Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, as Viceroy, belongs the general responsi
bility attaching to his position as the head of the Indian Government, to which
had been entrusted the management of the Expedition, including the provision of
medical services. In regard to the actual medical administration he appears to us
to have shown throughout the utmost good will, but considering the paramount
authority of his office, his action was not sufficiently strenuous and peremptory.
(d) A more severe censure must be passed upon the Commander-in-Chief, for
not only did he, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India, fail closely to superin
tend the adequacy of medical provision in Mesopotamia, but he declined for a
considerable time, until ultimately forced by the superior authority of the Viceroy,
to give credence to rumours which proved to be true, and failed to take the measures
which a subsequent experience shows would have saved the wounded from avoidable
suffering.
127. There has been misuse of official reticence as to medical defects and the
sufferings of the sick and wounded.
128. While the protective and sanitary work of the Medical Administration
has in certain directions and at some periods (notably under Colonel Hehir) been com
mendable, yet there has not been generally sufficient promptitude in taking the precautions
dictated by modern science for the protection of the troops against disease.
129. Throughout the campaign (with insignificant exceptions) the executive and
regimental medical officers and personnel have devoted themselves with unremitting
kindness, zeal and industry to the care of the sick and wounded with such means as were
at their disposal.
Recommendations.
• 130. The evidence put before us indicates the necessity for certain immediate changes
in the existing system of medical organisation in India, which we propose to enumerate.
We are of the opinion that:—
(a) The Director of Medical Services in India, in war-time especially, should have
far greater powers, than he at present possesses to authorise expenditure and make
purchases, and to delegate such power to his subordinates. The present elaborate
system of financial check and counter-check, and correspondence with other military
departments, before what is wanted can be obtained has proved from its dilatoriness
a real danger in war-time.
(b) Whenever an expedition is sent over-seas from India, responsible officers
should at once be located at the Port of Embarkation, with wide power to act.
We have referred elsewhere to the fact that the Commander-in-Chief never visited
Bombay during the crisis of the campaign. Some of his staff did do so, but their visits

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Content

A signed proof, folios 1-100, plus additional material, folios 101-124. The cover bears the signature of Sir Arthur Hirtzel, Assistant Under-Secretary of State. The report has been annotated in blue pencil at various points.

Contents:

  • 'Part I. Preface.
  • 'Part II. Origin of Mesopotamia [Iraq] Expedition.'
  • 'Part III. Advance from Basra to Kurna.'
  • 'Part IV. The Advance to Amara [Al-'Amārah] and Kut [Al-Kūt].'
  • 'Part V. Correspondence and Telegrams as to Advance on Baghdad.'
  • 'Part VI. The Advance from Kut to Ctesiphon.'
  • 'Part VII. Operations for Relief of Kut.'
  • 'Part VIII. Armament, Equipment, Reinforcements, &c.'
  • 'Part IX. Transport.'
  • 'Part X. Medical Breakdown.'
  • 'Part XI. Causes Contributing to the Errors of Judgement and Shortcomings of Responsible Authorities.'
  • 'Part XII. Findings and Conclusions. Recommendations.'
  • 'Separate Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP.'
  • 'Appendix I. Vincent-Bingley Report.'
  • 'Appendix II. Memorandum by Sir Beauchamp Duff.'
  • 'Appendix III. Colonel Hehir's Account of the Siege of Kut-el-Amara.'

Additional material:

  • Folio 101. Manuscript note [by Arthur Hirtzel] on net military expenditure.
  • Folios 102-109. Copy of the East India (Army Administration), Further Papers regarding the Administration of the Army in India , 1906.
  • Folios 110-115. Manuscript notes, titled 'Suggested redraft & amplification of second half of parag 1' [unknown hand].
  • Folio 116. A clipping from the Daily Telegraph , Wednesday 4 July 1917, featuring an article titled 'Mesopotamia. Ex-Viceroy's Statement. The Medical Breakdown.'
  • Folios 117-124. An expanded typescript version of Hirtzel's manuscript notes (folio 101).
Extent and format
1 volume (122 folios)
Arrangement

A table of contents can be found at folio 4v.

An index can be found at folios 93-97.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 124; 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 between ff 110-115; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence. The volume comprises a stitched pamphlet, and other stitched and loose-leaf material.

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English in Latin script
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'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.' [‎48v] (96/248), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/257, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036338403.0x000061> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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