'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.' [‎88v] (176/248)

170
the defence works threw a large amount of physical
labour on the troops who were already in a somewhat
worn-out condition.
General Health of the Garrison.
18. After arriving in Kut, the general health of the
garrison up to the middle of January improved, especially
that of British troops. It then remained fair up to
the end of February, after which it gradually declined
to the end of March, particularly in Indians. I'p to this
time the men were moderately cheerful and in fair spirits.
One saw, however, how deeply they were disappointed
each time the relief failed. From this time onwards
there was a rapid lowering of stamina, vitality, physical
condition and health generally to the end of the siege.
When Kut capitulated the whole garrison was in an
exceedingly low state of health.
19. During the last month of the siege, men at fatigues,
such as trench-digging, after ten minutes work had to
rest a while, and go at it again; men on sentry-go would
drop down, those carrying loads would rest every few
hundred yards ; men availed themselves of every oppor
tunity of lolling about or lying down. There were in
stances of Indians returning from trench duty in the
evening seemingly with nothing the matter, who laid
down and were found dead in the morning—death due
to starvation asthenia. Men in such a low state of vitality
can stand little in the shape of illness—an attack of
diarrhoea that they would have got rid of in a day or so
at the beginning of the siege, often ended fatally—all
recuperative power had gone. At the end of the siege
I doubt whether there was a single person equal to a five-
mile march carrying his equipment. Personally up to
the middle of March 1 could make a complete inspection
of the front line trenches and Fort (about 5 miles) in the
morning ; I had then to halve it, and at the end of April
while doing even half, I had to rest on the way. Practi
cally all officers were in the same condition of physical
incapacity
I make the following extracts from my diary
20. “30.12.15. Had a long conversation with the
G.O.C. Division, regarding the present fighting capacity
of the Force now at Kut. I strongly represented what
the Force went through anterior to the battle of Ctesiphon
and what they have endured since the siege began. I
put the sick and wounded that will require evacuation
down river at 2,000, and that at least 20 per cent, of the
remainder will not be fit for. active military operations
for some time to come.”
21. “ 20.1.16. The general health of the British troops
has greatly improved ; the men are looking well and many
are putting on weight. There have been no fresh cases
of beriberi for over a fortnight. The Indian troops are
in better health then when they arrived here, but are
fining down and not regaining stamina in the same way
British are ; this is due to : (1) absence of meat rations ; (2)
absence of potatoes and other vegetables ; and (3) short
allowance of atta ” ; further, they were less capable of
standing the severe climatic conditions than the British,
and as they were getting no meat or vegetable ration,
they never recovered stamina.
22. On January 28th. 1 recommended to the G.O.C.
Division that the reliefs in the trenches should not be pro
longed beyond a week, because in the Kut bivouacs ;
“(l) men can get clean, and to a limited extent wash
clothes ; (2) they get their meals hot end have greater
opportunities for supplementing rations by local pur
chase ; (3) they get more rest and less exposure in covered
bivouacs.”
23. There were at first difficulties connected with feed
ing the troops in the trenches, especially in serving their
meals hot, but every effort was made to overcome these.
During the latter half of the siege practically all the
troops in the firing line had their kitchens in the immediate
vicinity of the trenches.
24. “ On January 18th. 19th, and 20th, the 2/7 Gurkhas
experienced overwhelming hardship. They were up to
their waists in water in the trenches and when they came
into their dug-outs in Kut on the 22nd they were absolutely
done. A large number had swollen hands and feet due
to blood stasis, and three men appeared to have collapsed
and died from tie ‘ effects of cold.’ ” When I inspected
the battalion on January 26th they were better, but
“looked very tucked up.”
25. ‘-April 5th, 1916. I have during the last week
specially noted the rapid way in which all the young
soldiers and recruits are fining down on the present very
scanty rations.”
26. On April 8th I entered in my diary: “ I was
markedly struck this evening with the change that has
taken place in the 7th Rajputs, 76th Punjabis and 24th
Punjabis ; the men have lost flesh considerably during
the last week; they are debilitated and somewhat apathetic,
and whenever opportunity arises lie down ; they look
half starved. Sickness occurring in men in this state,
if at all serious, is fatal, or at least dangerous to life.
This prediction was unfortunately only too fully borne
out during the remainder of the siege and even more
emphasized after the fall.
27. On April 18th I noted : “ There is a vast amount of
suffering from hunger amongst the troops which is being
borne with admirable patience and fortitude, and arouses
enthusiastic praise at the pluck and grit displayed by
both our British and Indian soldiers. As one is amongst
the men daily one speaks with intimate knowledge of the
conditions; the behaviour of the men in meeting these
unfortunate conditions is heroic.”
28. Between April 11th and 18th, 1916, I carried out
a series of observations as to the effects of the semi-starva
tion on our British and Indian troops ; these are dealt
with in a special memorandum which 1 submitted under
the title State of Nutrition of the Kut Garrison between the
Uth and ISth April, 1916, to the Chief of the General Staff
India, and it was sent home as a special despatch. lhe>
paper is a scientific one dealing with the intimate physio
logical processes in the human economy during starvation ;
and it gives details regarding the low state of health of
the Kut garrison at the time.
29. The British soldiers lost on an average, one stone
in weight; Indians, about 20 lbs. In all the temperature
was on an average 1.8° Fahr. below normal; in Indians
it was frequently found to be between 95 and 96 3 Fahr.
30. At the beginning of April the duties of all brigades
were made as light as possible, and sentry-go was reduced
to one hour at a time.
31. In my inspections of the front line trenches during
March and April, life was much healthier in the trenches
than in the town and I was most favourably impressed
with the excellent weather the troops enjoyed in them,
the purity of the air, and the absence of smells and flies,
to say nothing of the peaceful calm and freedom from the
enemy’s attentions.
32. The behaviour of the troops throughout the siege
was splendid. The defaulter’s sheets of the British soldier
was a carte blanche, and there was no grumbling; there
was almost a complete absence of suicide and insanity.
Disease and Wounds.
33. There were in Kut anterior to our arrival, 2,201
sick and wounded :—
British Officers 21
„ ranks ... ... ... 411
Indian Officers ... ... 29
„ ranks ... ... ... 1,665
Followers ... ... ... 40
Turkish wounded 35
Of these 709 were despatched down river on December
4th, 1915, leaving 1,492.
34. The total number of patients treated in the hospitals
during the siege (excluding Arabs) was 7,423, including
2,446 wounded, and 4,977 sick.
35. The wounded were distributed as follows:—
British Officers 54
„ rank and file 456
Indian Officers ... ... ... 28
„ rank and file ... ... 1,531
Followers ... ... ... 377
The admissions for disease were:—
British Officers 118
,, rank and file ... ... 1,090
Indian Officers ... ... ... 49
,, rank and file ... ... 3,054
Followers ... ... ... 666
The dailv average number treated in the hospitals was
1,351.
36. There were in addition about 4,100 Arabs (663
wounded, 3,437 sick, men, women and children) treated
by our medical units ; 247 Arabs (102 men, 54 women,
and 91 children) were killed or died of wounds inflicted
by the enemy.