'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.' [‎69r] (137/248)

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General G..F. Gorringe. Major-General K. S. Davison
was replaced in command of the 12th Infantry Brigade
by Brigadier-General K. E. Lean, and was appointed
Inspector-General of Communications. A Commandant
was also appointed for the Base at Basra, where work
had considerably increased owing to the arrival of
additional troops. Responsibility for the medical arrange
ments of the force, which had hitherto been vested in
Colonel P. Hehir, I.M.S., Assistant Director of Medical
Services, 6th Division, devolved on Surgeon-General
H. G. Hathaway, Deputy-Director of Medical Services
of the Army Corps, who, as in the case of other Heads
of Administrative Services, was placed in the organization
orders of the force, under Headquarters, Line of Commu
nications.
10. Battle of Shaiba or Barjasiyah.—It was known some
time before this that the main force of the enemy was
concentrating at Nasariyeh on the Euphrates, with a
view to an advance on Basra. A cavalry skirmish took
place on March 16th, and on April 12th the Turks under
Sulaiman Askari Bey attacked our position near Shaiba
and were repulsed. The British force consisted of the
6th Cavalry Brigade and the 16th and 17th Infantry
Brigades with the divisional troops of the 6th Division,
the whole under the command of Major-General Fry.
On the following day the headquarters and one battalion
of the 30th Infantry Brigade arrived at Shaiba under
Major-General C. J. Melliss, and the latter as senior
officer took over command. The enemy renewed his
attacks, but was repulsed by a successful counterstroke.
On April 14th our troops assumed the offensive, and after
much hard lighting drove the Turks out of their position
near Barjasiyah with a loss estimated at 6,000. Our
cavalry followed up their retreat as far as Nakhailah,
and the enemy fled to Khamisiyah, nearly 90 miles away,
harassed in their flight by the Arabs, their former allies.
Our losses in these brilliant and decisive operations
amounted to 194 killed and 1,132 wounded.
PHASE II.
11. The security of the base at Basra having been
assured by our victory at Barjasiyah, it was decided to
despatch the 6th Cavalry Brigade and the 12th Division
under Major-General Gorringe to Ahwaz, which was
blockaded by eight battalions of Turks with eight guns,
supported by 10,000 hostile Arabs, under the command
of Mahomed Daghestani Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . The latter’s object was
to get between Basra and the mouth of the Shatt-el-
Arab while threatening our communications with Ahwaz
via the Karun River.
12. Operations in Arabistan. —Major-General Gorringe
arrived at Ahwaz with the leading troops of his force on
April 24th, and the Turks at once retreated to the Kharkeh
River. General Gorringe followed in pursuit and crossed
the Kharkeh River on May 7 th, whereupon the Turks
retreated towards Amara. He then turned his attention
to the Bani Taruf, a recalcitrant and warlike Arab tribe
which had identified itself strongly ;with the Turkish
cause. Their stronghold at Khafajiyah was destroyed
and the tribesmen defeated and dispersed. The operations
of General Gorringe’s force terminated with a series of
demonstrations made with a portion of his troops from
Bisaitin against the Turkish force which lay between
him and Amara. They had the desired effect, which
was to prevent reinforcements from joining the Turkish
forces on the Tigris in time to oppose General Town-
shend’s division, then about to advance from Kurna on
Amara. By June 30th the task allotted to General
Gorringe had been successfully completed. The opera
tions covered a period of seven weeks, and were carried
out in very hot weather under difficulties entailing severe
exertions on the part of the troops. Casualties in action
only amounted to 43, but there was much sickness,
sunstroke and dysentery being the prevailing com
plaints.
13. While General Gorringe was clearing the Turks
and their Arab auxiliaries out of Arabistan, Major-General
Townshend and the 6th Division were preparing to move
up the Tigris to Amara. No advance could be made
until the end of May as all available river craft were
employed on the Karun. Owing to the flooded state
of the country no movements of troops were possible
(C 48—176)
except afloat. This entailed the provision of heliums*
for the infantry and the preparation of specially con
structed rafts for guns and ambulances.
14. Action near Kurna and occupation of Amara. —On
May 31st Major-General Townshend attacked the enemy’s
positions, which consisted of two fortified localities,
standing like islands on the face of the waters, from two
to five miles north of Kurna. Supported by the fire of
a naval flotilla and of guns mounted on barges, the
operations were highly successful. The enemy’s positions
were captured with only 25 casualties, and the Turks
retreated up the Tigris in steamers and mahailas,f pursued
by our naval flotilla. General Townshend and the leading
troops of the 6th Division reached Amara on June 3rd
and occupied the town without opposition. The captures
resulting from these operations included 17 guns, 1,773
prisoners, 4 river steamers, exclusive of 2 sunk, besides
a mfhiber of lighters. The weather throughout these
operations was intensely hot and caused considerable
sickness.
15. As soon as the Karun operations were completed
and Amara captured, instructions were issued for an
advance up the Euphrates. The objective of the force,
which consisted of the 12th Division under Major-General
Gorringe, was Nasariyeh, some 85 miles from Kurna.
The actions round Shaiba in April had shown that the
possession of Nasariyeh by the Turks constituted a
permanent menace to Basra.f Apart from this, Nasariyeh
was the centre from which political influence could best
be exercised over the powerful Arab tribes of the Euphrates
plain. Moreover, it was a place of considerable strategic
importance, as it commanded the southern exit of the
Shatt-el-Hai, one of the few existing lines of communica
tion between the Tigris and Euphrates.
16. The approach to Nasariyeh from Kurna is via
the old course of the Euphrates and the Hammar Lake
to Hakika, where a channel known as the Gurmah Safha
gives access to the main stream of the Euphrates, some
25 miles below Nasariyeh. At the time of General
Gorringe’s advance the Hammar Lake could be navigated
by steamers drawing 5 feet as far as Hakika. By the
end of July the depth of water in the lake had fallen
to 3 feet and only small stern-wheelers could be used.
After July all steamer navigation stopped, and troops
and stores had to be poled across the lake in heliums,
which in places had to be dragged through the mud. It
will be understood from this how great were the difficulties
which General Gorringe had to overcome, especially in
regard to the evacuation of the sick and wounded during
the low-water season.
17. Action at Gurmah Safha. —By July 4th the vessels
of the naval flotilla and the troops had been passed over
an obstruction made by the Turks near Hakika, and
collected at a point about miles below the junction
of the Gurmah Safha with the Euphrates. On July 5th
an attack was made on the enemy’s advanced position,
which was on both banks of the Euphrates, commanding
the Gurmah Safha channel. The position was carried
by the 30th Infantry Brigade under Major-General
Melliss soon after mid-day. Our captures included
4 guns and 132 prisoners at a cost to us of 26 killed and
85 wounded.
18. Battle of Nasariyeh. —The Turks were now found to
have taken up a series of positions astride the Euphrates
about 5 miles below Nasariyeh, with both flanks resting
on marshes. General Gorringe accordingly moved up to
Asani, some two miles below the enemy’s advanced
defences and occupied entrenchments on both banks.
An unsuccessful attack on the Turkish position was made
on the night of July 13th. The next 10 days were spent
by General Gorringe in perfecting arrangements for a
decisive assault. This was delivered at 5 a.m. on
July 24th, the 12th Infantry Brigade being on the left
bank and the 30th Infantry Brigade on the right. By
noon the enemy’s main position was captured, some
* The term helium is used to describe the small rowing
boats used on the Shatt-el-Arab. On the Euphrates the
term includes sailing boats carrying an average load
of 20 tons.
f The term mahaila is used to describe the big sailing
boats used on the Tigris, carrying an average load of
30 tons.