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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎97r] (198/454)

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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9>"
LORD HARDINGE AT BASRA 171
were under orders to leave India for Basra; and another
infantry brigade was being made up in India to meet possible
eventualities.
Sir Percy Cox had just received letters, dated 19th January,
from Ibn Saud and Major Shakespear. A messenger from the
Sharif of Mecca and his son Abdulla had reached Ibn Saud on
the 17th. This messenger said that the Turks were pressing the
Sharif to proclaim a Jahad and to mobilize his tribesmen. But
before doing so, the Sharif was anxious to ascertain the views
and attitude of Ibn Saud. After consultation with Shakespear,
Ibn Saud was said to have urged the Sharif to avoid compliance
and to have explained to the messenger how he himself had
temporised with the Turks. At the time Sir P. Cox received
this letter, one of those rumours, common to the East and
difficult to investigate or explain, was current in Kuwait, to the
effect that Ibn Saud’s force had been checked by tribesmen
under Ibn Rashid. In any case, the news received confirmed
the opinion that for the time being Ibn Saud was unable to
intervene effectively in the Arab situation on the Euphrates.
In his reply to an address by a deputation from the British
community of Basra, Lord Hardinge said that he had come to
see for himself the local conditions, so that he could deal
adequately and promptly with the problems regarding our
administration of the area. While it was impossible, he said, to
lay down plans for the future, without a full exchange of views
with the other great Powers who were our Allies, he felt con
fident that a more benign administration would restore to Iraq
the prosperity which was her due. Lord Hardinge thanked
the British community for the unremitting and cordial assist
ance they had rendered to Force “ D ” ; and he assured them
that, in the post-war settlement, steps would be taken to
protect them and their interests, as well as those of all well-
disposed inhabitants of Basra and the country around.*
* On the 3rd March, Lord Hardinge sent Lord Crewe a memorandum embody
ing his views on the future status and administration of Basra. For administra
tive reasons and to give security to our oil interests in Persian Arabistan, Lord
Hardinge advocated the occupation by our troops of Amara and Nasiriya
as embracing the vilayet of Basra. From a military point of view the operation
appeared, he said, to offer little difficulty, provided it was undertaken at the
most seasonable time of year and with a sufficiency of troops and river transport.
He did not raise any question of an advance to Baghdad, though he showed
that, if we were to redeem the assurances given to certain Arab chiefs, in
return for their support, that Basra would never again be subject to Turkish
authority, a continuance in the future of Turkish authority in Baghdad
would be most detrimental to the prosperity and security of Basra.
The memorandum was intended to induce a discussion which would prepare
H.M. Government for the inevitable post-war decision, and it did so. We
are not concerned here with this discussion beyond the fact that it shows
that Lord Crewe and the 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. regarded the occupation by us of Basra
vilayet as inevitable sooner or later.

About this item

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.' [‎97r] (198/454), 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_100048172213.0x0000c7> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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