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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [97r] (200/660)
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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STRENGTH OF KUT GARRISON
165
Three hundred transport carts and all the cavalry, except a
squadron 7th Lancers* and a squadron 23rd Cavalry, accom
panied the column ; but “ S ” Battery, R.H.A., left two guns
behind in ordnance charge at Kut (owing to casualties in
men, horses, and ammunition wagons), thus becoming a four-
gun battery.
After the departure of the Cavalry Brigade, the strength
of General Townshend’s force in Kut amounted to 301 British
officers, 2,851 British other ranks, 225 Indian officers, 8,230
Indian other ranks, or a total of 11,607 troops, and about
3,530 followers. Excluding sick and wounded and deducting
artillery, cavalry and technical troops, this gave General
Townshend about 7,000 effective infantry.!
There was a total of 43 guns, comprising nineteen 18-
pounder quick-firing guns of the 10th Brigade, R.F.A.,! two
13-pounder quick-firing guns left by “ S ” Battery, four
howitzers of the l/5th Hants Battery, four 5-inch guns of the
86th Heavy Battery, two 4-inch guns of the 104th Heavy
Battery, four 15-pounders of the Volunteer Artillery Battery,
and eight naval guns (four 4-7-inch in horseboats, a 12-pounder
and two 3-pounders in the Sumana, and a spare 12-pounder
intended for the Firefly).
All the infantry units were much reduced in strength.
For instance, on the 4th December the effective strength of
the Norfolks was seven officers and 234 other ranks, of the
Dorsets twelve officers and 315 other ranks, and of the Oxfords
eight officers and 332 other ranks. Of the Indian infantry
battalions the strongest was the 103rd Mahrattas, with five
British officers and 546 Indian ranks, and the weakest was the
104th Rifles, with two British officers and 329 Indian ranks.§
During the 6th December Turkish guns fired a certain
number of shells into Kut from the north and north-east;
and the British divisional cavalry in observation on the sand
hills north of the peninsula were subjected to a harassing
fire by enemy snipers, in consequence of which they were with
drawn. It was on this morning that General Townshend
telegraphed to General Nixon suggesting a withdrawal to
Ali Gharbi, and it was probably with the idea that this
might be necessary that, as soon as the Cavalry Brigade had
all crossed the river, he issued orders for the bridge at the
* Left behind to strengthen the divisional squadron (23rd Cavalry),
t For detail of units, see Appendix XIII. J One was a spare gun.
§ Vide " My Campaign in Mesopotamia ” (Townshend), Appendix, Part IV,
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.' [97r] (200/660), 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_100045738549.0x000001> [accessed 15 May 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