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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [36v] (79/660)
The record is made up of 1 volume (323 folios). It was created in 1924. 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. .
Transcription
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50 HISTORY OF THE WAR* MESOPOTAMIA
the shortest route to gain his desired object, viz., to defeat the
bulk of the hostile forces in the field and to occupy Baghdad.
General Townshend further stated that his directing idea was
to get Nur-ud-Din to fight him in the open if possible, “ as a
continuous campaign of attacking entrenchments lessens the
men’s keenness for battle. ,
He would first advance with his force concentrated and
attack the Turkish covering force at Zor. If, as was to be
expected this Turkish detachment fell back on Ctesiphon,
there would then be two courses open to him. He could either
attack up the left bank, or, by throwing his bridge of boats
across the Tigris some five miles west of Zor, he could move
his force up the right bank. This would probably compel
Nur-ud-Din to send the bulk of his force across the Tigris by
the bridge of boats above Ctesiphon to the right bank, where
the Turkish trenches only extended for about a mile in length.
These trenches could be easily turned and in that case the j
greater part of the Turkish force would have to fight in the open.
General Townshend preferred this advance up the right bank
but for the time being, he reserved his final decision.
On the 3rd November, General Nixon asked General
Townshend if he could advance so as to make good Zor and
the Lajj reach and get his bridge thrown across the Tigris by
the 14th at latest, so as to make the attack at Ctesiphon on the
16th. The reason he gave for this was that it would probably
finish the fighting before the 18th, the tenth day of the
Mahomedan festival Muharram, when their religious code
premises special rewards to faithful Moslems who die fighting
the infidel. General Townshend, however, found himseli
unable to agree. Owing to unforeseen delays his concentration
would not be quite complete* and he had not yet decided
whether he would operate up the right bank.
On the 5th, General Kemball again visited Aziziya and
discussed very fully with General Townshend the whole o
the coming operations. General Kemball told the Mesopotamia
Commission that General Townshend appeared to be f o
confidence at his ability to beat the Turks and expressed no
misgivings. In regard to this feeling of confidence the evidence
of General Cowper,f who joined General Nixon s stafl
Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General on the
November (vice General Hamilton appointed to c omman ^
* The Shamal (the seasonal northerly wind) had continued for longer
usual and had much delayed the mahailas in their sail upstream.
t Major-General M. Cowper, C.B., C.I.E.
About this item
- Content
The volume is the second volume of an official government publication compiled at the request of the Government of India, and under the direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General Frederick James Moberly. The volume was printed and published at His Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
The contents provide a narrative of the operations of 1914-1918 in Mesopotamia, based mainly on official documents.
The volume is in one part, entitled, 'Part III. The First Campaign for Baghdad', and consists of the following fourteen chapters:
- The Decision to Advance to Baghdad
- Commencement of the Advance Towards Baghdad
- The Battle of Ctesiphon - the First Day's Operations
- Battle of Ctesiphon (Continued) and the British Retirement to Kut
- The Decision to Hold Kut and British Policy Consequent on the Failure to Reach Baghdad
- The Siege of Kut: First Phase (December 1915)
- Commencement of the Relief Operations
- The Action of Shaikh Saad
- The Action of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. and the First Attack on Hanna
- Operations up to the End of February, 1916
- The Second Attempt to Relieve Kut; the Attack on the Dujaila Redoubt
- The Third Attempt to Relieve Kut; the Successful Advance to and First and Second Attacks on Sannaiyat
- The Last Attempt at Relief; Bait Isa and Sannaiyat
- The Siege of Kut; the Last Stages
The volume also includes nine maps, entitled:
- The Middle East
- Lower Mesopotamia
- Map 8 - The Tigris from Kut al Amara to Baghdad
- Map 9 - The Battle of Ctesiphon
- Map 10 - The affair of Umm at Tubul
- Map 11 - The defence of Kut al Amara
- Map 12 - The fort at Kut; with special reference to the Turkish attack on 24th December 1915
- Map 13 - River Tigris between Ali Gharbi and Shumran
- Map 14 - The action at Shaikh Saad
- Map 15 - The action of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
- Map 16 - The first attack on Hanna; 21st January 1916
- Map 17 - The attack on the Dujaila Redoubt, 8th March 1916
- Map 18 - To illustrate Tigris Corps Operation Order No. 26, dated 6th March 1916
- Map 19 - To illustrate operations between 10th March and end of April 1916
- Map 20 - The action of Bait Isa on 17th and 18th April 1916, and the attack on Sannaiyat 22nd April 1916
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (323 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a list of contents (folios 6-10), a list of maps and illustrations (folio 11), appendices (folios 254-290), an index (folios 291-312), and eleven maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 314-324).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 325; 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.
Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [36v] (79/660), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100045738548.0x000050> [accessed 30 April 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/2
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:3r, 3r, 4r:70v, 72r:79r, 160v, 80r:102v, 104r:160r, 161r, 313v, 161v:281v, 283r:313v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence