!['HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [‎105r] (218/660)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100025551852.0x000001/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_66_2_0218.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [‎105r] (218/660)")
'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [105r] (218/660)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
SECOND ATTACK
179
Colonel Lethbridge of the Oxfords was now in command of
the north-east corner of the fort. A company of his men—
fifty strong—and the Volunteer artillerymen held the stockade,
and in front of them a party of the 103rd held the shattered
walls of the bastion. The fort walls—or what remained of
them—to the westward and eastward of the bastion were
held by the 103rd and Oxfords respectively. Captain W. F. C.
Gilchrist, 52nd Sikhs, of the Divisional Staff, had been tem
porarily attached to the Oxfords and commanded their com
pany on the extreme right as well as the Rajput company of
the 119th. It was arranged that the party of the 103rd in the
bastion, under Captain Goldfrap, after firing at the first signs
of an assault, should retire right and left to the side galleries,
thus uncovering the stockade and allowing of a cross-fire from
three directions to bear on the assailants.
It was as the moon was rising behind clouds and haze, about
8 p.m., that the second attack started. The Turkish infantry
headed by lines of bombers dashed at the bastion, from which,
as arranged, the 103rd retired into the side galleries. Rapid
fire was at once opened from the stockade, but smoke and
dust in the difficult light made it hard to distinguish details,
in spite of flares. The enemy bombers immediately got to
work and very soon the 103rd in the side galleries were almost
wiped out, while the casualties at the stockade had also been
very heavy ) and for a time it looked as if the stockade would
be outflanked. The din was appalling, as in addition to the
local machine gun and rifle fire and the bursting of bombs,
the supporting British heavy guns and howitzers were keeping
up a heavy stream of lyddite shells on the enemy trenches
and one of the field batteries of the 10th Brigade was also
assisting with shrapnel and star shell.* For nearly an hour
the fire from the stockade kept the assailants of the bastion
at bay, though the defenders suffered severe casualties and
the machine gun in the centre of the stockade was put out of
action. First, the
sepoys
Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank.
working it were hit one by one,
and then Captain Dorling, R.F.A.,']' attempted to work it,
but he found that the gun was disabled, and then he himself
was wounded. Soon after this one of the enemy s rushes
brought them within more effective bombing distance , and
one of the Turkish bombs falling right among the defenders
* Up to this time the War Office had been unable to supply any high-
explosive shell for the field batteries in Mesopotamia.
t Forward artillery observation officer in the fort. When telephonic
communication was destroyed, he took an active part in the defence.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [105r] (218/660), 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_100045738549.0x000013> [accessed 15 May 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100045738549.0x000013
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100045738549.0x000013">'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [‎105r] (218/660)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100045738549.0x000013"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100025551852.0x000001/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_66_2_0218.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100025551852.0x000001/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- 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