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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎13v] (31/454)

The record is made up of 1 volume (223 folios). It was created in 1923. 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. .

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6 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
sufficiently remote from water the night before, until they
have constructed causeways, possibly some miles in length,
along which they can defile. It becomes, therefore, an ordinary
precaution to surround camps or trenches by protective dams
or other earthworks. Unfortunately, moreover, the flood
season occurs at the best time, climatically, for military
operations. The weather from March to May is better than
at any other time; there is little rain and a reasonable
temperature prevails ; but the subsidence of the floods is
followed immediately by the extreme heat of June, July and
August.
Nor does the subsidence of the floods help towards the
water supply of moving troops. Floods generally recede
wholesale, leaving few if any pools behind them ; any water
remaining, such as in marshes or lakes, is usually brackish
and unfit for human consumption.
Trees are scarce, being limited practically to a few date-
palms, and consequently all wood for building has to be
imported. There is also an almost total absence of stone; con
sequently, such roads as existed before 1914 were unmetalled
and for the greater part without bridges. Tracks across the
desert soon cut up and become heavy under artillery and
transport traffic. Caravans were accustomed to pass from
point to point by the line which circumstances might make
the easiest at the time, and a caravan route may have many
possible variations, great and small. Land communication
was so unsatisfactory and the rivers so universally regarded
as the best means of travel, that, up to 1914, little attention
was paid to the location and condition of roads and our
information relating to them was imperfect.
The principal roads before the war were in Northern Iraq,
where well-used routes radiated from Baghdad. The following,
practicable under favourable conditions for wheeled transport,
were the main routes; wheeled transport was not used
extensively, however; camels, donkeys and—in the hilly
country—mules being the principal means of transport:—
Basra to Nasiriya.
Baghdad to Najaf via Musaiyib and Karbala.
Baghdad to Hilla.
Baghdad to Falluja (for Damascus and Aleppo).
Baghdad to Samarra (for Mosul).
Baghdad to Delli Abbas via Ba’quba (for Kifri, Kirkuk
and Mosul).
Baghdad to Khaniqin (for Kermanshah).

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Content

The volume is the first 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 divided into two parts. The first part, entitled, 'Part I. Before the Outbreak of Hostilities', consists of the following five chapters:

  • General Description of the Country
  • The Turks in Mesopotamia
  • British Pre-War Policy
  • The Army in India and Pre-War Military Policy
  • Inception of the Operations

The second part, entitled, 'Part II. The Campaign in Lower Mesopotamia', consists of the following seven chapters:

  • The Landing in Mesopotamia of Force "D" and the Operations Leading to the Occupation of Basra
  • The Occupation of Basra and the Capture of Qurna
  • Commencement of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
  • Development and Defeat of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
  • Operations in Arabistan and the Capture of Amara
  • Operations on the Euphrates and the Occupation of Nasiriya
  • The battle of Kut and Occupation of Aziziya

The volume also includes nine maps, entitled:

  • The Middle East
  • Lower Mesopotamia
  • Map 1 - To illustrate operations described in Chapter VI
  • Map 2 - To illustrate fighting near Qurna
  • Map 3 - To illustrate fighting round Shaiba
  • Map 4 - To illustrate operations in Persian Arabistan
  • Map 5 - To illustrate operations in the Akaika Channel 27th June to 5th July 1915
  • Map 6 - To illustrate operations near Nasiriya 6th to 24th July 1915
  • Map 7 - To illustrate the Battle of Kut 28th September 1915
Extent and format
1 volume (223 folios)
Arrangement

The volume contains a page of errata (folio 5), a list of contents (folios 6-8), a list of maps and illustrations (folio 9), appendices (folios 185v-192), an index (folios 192v-214v), and eight maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 217-224).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 225; 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
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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎13v] (31/454), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048172213.0x000020> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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