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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [131r] (270/660)
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.
ATTACK BY BRITISH LEFT
231
the mud and the continuous hostile fire ; but the patient
endurance and gallantry displayed in their performance by the
men of the transport and medical corps, and by bhistis and
followers of every description, was, according to General Young-
husband’s report, beyond praise.
Early in the afternoon* General Aylmer had placed the
headquarters of the 9th Infantry Brigade with the l/4th
Hampshire and 107th Pioneers, from the General Reserve, at
General Younghusband’s disposal; but though they were
pushed up about three miles northward from the bridge they
had not been put into the fight; and just before dark they
were again withdrawn to the camp.
On the right bank of the river, the British attack had met
with more success. At about 1.30 p.m. the Cavalry Brigade
moved up near the left of the 28th Brigade, coming under fire
from Turkish trenches. Finding apparently that these trenches
hampered their further operations in this area, the Cavalry
Brigade moved off about 2.30 p.m. to a position about four
miles southward of Shaikh Saad. From here the guns of
“ S ” Battery, R.H.A., forced some enemy advancing from
Shaikh Saad to retire again ; and throughout the afternoon
large bodies of mounted Arabs, which threatened the left flank
of the Cavalry Brigade, were kept at a distance without much
difficulty by machine gun fire.
The 28th Brigade advanced from their trenches to commence
the attack about 2 p.m., as the sound of heavy firing from the
left bank reached them. As on the previous day, the 56th
Rifles and a company 128th Pioneers were on the right, with
the 53rd and 51st Sikhs (less one company) prolonging the line ;
and the Leicestershire on the extreme left.
As the attack developed, the front of the firing line extended
necessarily rather widely to the left and this limited the power
of the single field battery available (28th Battery) to support
the advance ; but its fire, directed by a forward observing officer
among the infantry, was very effective, while the four guns of the
23rd Mountain Battery, with their guns dug in, fired at 2,500
yards’ range and kept down the fire of the Turkish trenches
flanking the advance. The Turkish artillery which replied could
not be engaged,t but had little effect on the British artillery.
* By this time General Aylmer had learnt from an aerial reconnaissance
that, in addition to holding the trenches on either side of the river, the Turks
had a force echeloned to their left rear about five miles from the river. This
force was estimated to be 3,000 strong.
t The records do not say whether they were out of range or could not be
located.
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.' [131r] (270/660), 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_100045738549.0x000047> [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