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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.' [‎75v] (150/248)

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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148
the flooded state of the country which delayed their
movement by road. Indeed, it has for these reasons
on many occasions not been possible to get the ambulance
wagons and motor ambulances available in Basra moved
to the front.
91. Hospital buildings. —Another point of importance
is the unsuitable nature of the accommodation provided
in many of the hospitals in Mesopotamia. Buildings in
which a certain number of patients can be accommodated
with comfort, have been taken over for the use of hos
pitals, but in many cases the accommodation thus pro
vided is insufficient for all the patients under treatment,
and it has not been supplemented by a sufficient number
of suitable temporary buildings. At Basra a large
number of sick and wounded at the General Hospitals
are accommodated in temporary sheds made of matting.
These buildings are not weatherproof, and we think
that better accommodation might by this time have
been provided. At Amara, where a large number of
sick and wounded are detained in hospital, the accommo
dation is in some respects worse. Many hospitals are
established in suitable buildings, but this is not always
the case. In April, 1916, we found that all the patients
of a large Indian general hospital were located in tents,
pitched on low and marshy ground. The difficulty of
securing a site on a high level at Amarah is insuperable,
but there is. in our opinion, no sufficient reason, save
the lack of river transport, why temporary sheds on
raised plinths should not have been erected there for
the accommodation of the sick. We were informed that
60 sheds of an approved pattern were being erected,
but 16 months after the commencement of the war
and nine months after the occupation • of Amara, two
of these only were approaching completion. These sheds
appeared to be suitable for the purpose for which they
were to be used, but up to the date on which we left
Mesopotamia we were unable to obtain any definite
information as to when the rest of these buildings would
be completed. In the meantime the patients of this
and some of the other hospitals have to remain in tents.
With the climatic conditions that prevail in Mesopotamia
during the hot weather this is likely to have a prejudicial
effect on their health.
92. Electric fans and supply of ice. —Closely connected
with the question of hospital accommodation, is the
provision of electric fans and ice in hospitals. In cases
of fever and heat stroke and for the-comfort of many
other natients, electric fans and ice are indispensable
in a damp hot climate, and the lack of these
essentials during the operations in 1915 was a serious
drawback. A certain number of fans were put up in the
General Hospitals at Basra last year, but these were not
sufficient for all the wards, and none of the new hospitals
there had, up to the time of our leaving Basra, been
fitted with these fans. Up to the middle of May, 1916,
there were no electric fans in any of the hospitals at
Amara, although the number of patients accommodated
there is several thousands. The same is true of Nasariyeh
and Sheikh Saad. We are informed that the necessary
plant for the hospitals at Basra and Amara was only
indented for by the authorities in Mesopotamia on
December 31st, 1915 (the letter being received on January
18th), and on February 21st, 1916. In our opinion, the
demand for these installations might have been foreseen
earlier. We think, at any rate so far as Basra is concerned,
where no question of river transport arises, that every
4 hospital should by this time have been supplied with
electric lights and fans. As to ice, we are informed that
ice was available for all the hospitals in Basra during the
hot weather of 1915, but it certainly was not regularly
available in hospitals at Ahwaz, Nasariyeh or Amara,
and up to the time of our departure, so far as we are
aware, Government had not supplied ice-manufacturing
plant to any station in Mesopotamia outside Basra.
At Nasariyeh, an old Turkish ice manufacturing plant
has been taken out of the river and, through the energy
of General Brooking, has been put into working order.
It is now run by mechanics taken from a territorial regi
ment. At Ahwaz, we understand that the Anglo-Persian
Oil Company has a machine which at times works satis
factorily. In Amara, the authorities have taken possession
of an old ice-making machine, and some attempts to meet
the hospital requirements have thus been made, though
the machine is old, and last year, according to the evidence
before us, it broke down for a long period. On inquiry
as to the reason for this state of affairs, we find that on
March 6th, 1915, Sir Arthur Barrett was asked if he
required ice machines and replied that he did not need any.
On June 14th, however, a request was received from
Sir John Nixon for four ice machines capable of producing
one ton of ice each a day. On July 26th one machine
producing two tons of ice, one producing 26 cwts., and
one small machine, were despatched to Basra with 2
engineers and 5 mechanics. The delay in despatching
these machines to Basra was, we think, unavoidable.
In the circumstances, we consider that the authorities in
Mesopotamia were responsible for the delay in providing
ice machines in 1915.
93. In November, 1915, the authorities in India again
addressed the General Officer Commanding Force, “ D,’
as to the number of ice machines he required for 1916.
On December 11th a reply was received that five machines,
each capable of producing two tons of ice daily, were
wanted. On December 22nd these demands were revised
and seven machines, capable of producing one ton of
ice each day, were asked for. On January 6th a telegram
was despatched to the Director-General of Stores, India
Office, asking him to supply these machines. On January
19th, the Director-General of Stores telegraphed that four
ice machines would be delivered in February and three
at the end of March. On February 14th, the military
authorities in Mesopotamia indented for three additional
machines, each producing one ton of ice daily, and this
indent was also forwarded to the Director-General of Stores.
On April 1st, the Director-General cabled that the ice
machines ordered were promised for shipment at the rate
of one a week, commencing from the first week of May,
1916, and that they would be sent to Basra direct. In
consequence of this information, steps were at once taken
to procure ice machines in India,and in May, four machines,
producing about five tons of ice, were despatched to
Basra. On May 27th, the Director-General of Stores
reported that four machines had been shipped on April
15th and May 11th respectively, and also stated that three
would be shipped in June. On June 1st, 1916, another
machine capable of producing 1£ tons was shipped by
Indian authorities from Bombay to Basra. In addition
to this, the Joint Committee of the British Red Cross
Society and Order of St. John have ordered a number of
ice machines which, however, up to the time of our
leaving Mesopotamia, had not arrived there.
94. The result of all this is that the arrangements for
the supply of ice, outside Basra, are at present very
inadequate. This is a somewhat serious matter, as ice is
not a luxury but, having regard to climatic conditions,
an absolute necessity for the treatment of the sick. In
our opinion this condition of affairs is in great measure
due to the dilatoriness of the authorities in Mesopotamia
and of the Director-General of Stores. It appears that
no one in Mesopotamia moved in the matter until
December, 1915, when the authorities in India asked what
the requirements were. The General Officer Commanding,
Force “ D,” then made demands, which he subsequently
revised and supplemented. The Director - General of
Stores, on the other hand, failed to supply the machines
on the dates specified, possibly owing to difficulties in
delivery.
95. Medical stores and equipment. —The arrangements
for the supply of surgical and medical stores and appliances
to meet the requirements of the various units in Mesopo
tamia were, up to March, 1916, unsatisfactory. In the
first place the system of supply, laid down in the Medical
Manual (War), India, was ill-adapted to meet the demands
of a large force operating 1,600 miles from India overseas.
In the second place, owing to the lack of river transport,
there was such delay and uncertainty in the delivery of
these supplies that medical officers have frequently been
hampered in their work.
96. The system prescribed in the regulations for the
supply of medical stores is that all general, stationary,
and clearing hospitals and advanced medical store depots
indent on the nearest medical store depot in India for their
requirements, and, in their turn, the advanced medical
store depots attached to each division issue supplies to
regimental and field medical units only. In case of need,
the advanced medical store depots are authorised to draw
on general hospitals to meet urgent demands. The
inconvenience of such a system, for an expedition
operating overseas, is obvious and for such a large force

About this item

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.' [‎75v] (150/248), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/257, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036338403.0x000097> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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