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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [202r] (412/660)
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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ARRIVAL OF 13th DIVISION
367
artillery fire from Kut * The only lines of retreat from this
position lay past Kut or over the Hai bridge ; and the force
was absolutely dependent, for its reinforcements and munitions,
on an uncertain line of communication 1,250 miles long. But
the Turkish soldier, said Goltz, endured such unusual and
unfavourable conditions with the greatest tranquillity and
did not allow his attitude to be in the least influenced thereby.!
In this description, however, Goltz seems to have rather
overlooked the advantages of the Turkish position astride
the Tigris below Kut. Both flanks of their position on the
left bank were well secured by river and marsh. On the
right bank their strong Sinn entrenchments made a direct
advance against them hazardous, while the British, handicapped
by the lack of drinking water and insufficient land transport,
would find it difficult to detach a sufficient force to make a
successful wide turning movement and at the same time
ensure that their communications with Shaikh Saad were not
severed by a Turkish advance down the Tigris.
By the 24th March all the infantry but one battalion, and
the 66 th Brigade, R.F.A., of the 13th Division, had reached
Shaikh Saad ; two of its Engineer Field Companies (72nd
and 88 th) and the 69th (Howitzer) Brigade, R.F.A., were on
their way there by river steamer ; and the remainder of the
division, including its transport, was moving up by road. The
section of road from Qurna to Amara was again open, but it
was doubtful if it would be possible to keep the section from
Amara to the front open owing to the floods. That day the
Tigris rose again to a higher level than before and one that was
generally believed to be its maximum, and two days later
such a considerable distance on the Amara-
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
road was
inundated as to stop its use completely.
It had been apparent for some days from aeroplane reports
that the flood encroachments were a source of considerable
trouble to the Turks, especially at Hanna, and on the 24th
General Gorringe’s artillery partially destroyed dams con
structed there to keep the floods out of the trenches. The
results appeared so satisfactory that General Lake in a telegram
that night to India and London said that it seemed quite
possible that the floods might reheve General Gorringe of the
necessity for taking Hanna by assault.
* The ferry was within range of the 5-inch guns in Kut, but the gunners
could not observe their fire properly without aeroplanes.
t Von Kiesling, in " Alit Feldmarschall von der Goltz Pascha in Meso-
potamien und Persien.”
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.' [202r] (412/660), 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_100045738550.0x00000d> [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