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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [148v] (305/660)
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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264 HISTORY OF THE WAR: MESOPOTAMIA
sound and he considered that any abandonment of Kut with
guns and stores would be disastrous to our prestige and quite
uncalled for. General Nixon at the same time approved of
General Aylmer’s plan for an advance with a portion of his
force on the right bank and he hoped that conditions would
admit of an early start.
With these instructions before him, General Aylmer felt
that he had no alternative but to attempt to carry the Hanna
position by an assault as early as possible.
On the 19th January General Nixon handed over his com
mand in Mesopotamia to Lieutenant-General Sir P. H. Lake*
and sailed from Basra. By his ability, determination and the
confidence he inspired in his force—and after overcoming very
great difficulties with limited means—General Nixon had
achieved unbroken success during his first six months’ operations
in Mesopotamia ; and this at a period when no other British
force in any theatre of war could make the same boast. At
the end of this period General Nixon had found himself with
his advanced force well on the road to Baghdad and with only
the broken remnant of a frequently defeated Turkish force to
bar his further progress. He was aware that the capture of
Baghdad was deemed to be politically desirable and it appeared
to him that he would be to blame if he missed the opportunity
which circumstances appeared to offer him. He failed. On
the one hand it has been said that his plan was “ based on
political and military miscalculations and attempted with tired
and insufficient forces and inadequate preparations."f On
the other hand, there are those who were on the spot and in a
position to judge who say that it was only through sheer bad
fortune that he failed to achieve his object. It is no concern of
this narrative to offer an opinion ; but it may well point out
that, as war is not an exact science, no commander has ever
achieved great military success without incurring risks and
committing mistakes ; that General Nixon had undoubtedly
displayed many of the qualities of a great commander; and
that owing to the breakdown of his health at a critical stage
he was never given the opportunity to retrieve his failure and
re-establish his reputation. As Lord Hardinge told the
Mesopotamia Commission, in paying a tribute to General
Nixon’s work—and Lord Hardinge had greater facilities
* General Lake had been Chief of the General Staff in India and had been
in close touch with the operations in Mesopotamia since their inception. Hn
was also well acquainted with the situation in India and the East generally
and knew the policy of Government.
t “ Mesopotamia Commission Report.”
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.' [148v] (305/660), 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_100045738549.0x00006a> [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