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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [99r] (202/454)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
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FLOODS ROUND QURNA 175
conference at Ruta to decide whether to attack Quma or
merely to leave a “ holding " detachment opposite it; and
two days later their decision could be inferred from the fact
that three Turkish battalions were said to have left, leaving
only five Arab and Kurdish battalions. On the 14th, a
widely extended force of some hundreds of Arabs advanced
from the north-west of Qurna, but would not face the fire of
our guns.
At this time also, a Turkish motor patrol boat was reported
to have entered the Hammar lake and to be threatening Arabs,
who had been friendly to us, with reprisals. On the ISthi
therefore, Generals Davison and Fry made a reconnaissance
up the Euphrates to select a position which would afford us
a closer control of the various water-ways * but they came
to the conclusion that the extent of the marshes and flood,
passable everywhere by the Arab mashuf, prohibited any
such idea.
On the 17th the issue became clear. The controlling banks
of the Tigris just above Muzaira’a were broken* in several
places and the water from the Shwaiyib river extended
westward to north of Muzaira a. The whole area round
Muzaira a became a sheet of water or a sea of mud, and the
area could evidently not be held for much longer/ All the
troops and several hundred Arab
coolies
A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory.
were put on to combat
the inundations, but they had little effect; and General
Barrett reported to India on the 17th that he intended to
withdraw troops gradually from Qurna and Muzaira’a' to
Basra. Till the end of February the troops and Arabs laboured
at keeping the water within bounds, but then any idea of
holding Muzaira’a was abandoned. A pontoon bridge, con
necting Qurna with the left bank of the Tigris, constructed
by a bridging train sent from India, was completed by the 26th
February, and it was decided only to leave a detachment on
the left bank to guard the bridge-head. Troops had been
withdrawing daily and a new post was established at Kurmat
Ali, consisting of three heavy guns and a battalion of infantry,
to watch the “ new channel ” of the Euphrates.
The floods were also affecting the situation to the wesfof
Basra, the desert between there and Shaiba being under water,
in places to a depth of three feet. Camels could not travel
through these floods with their sticky, muddy bottom, and at
times even carts could not proceed. This made it very difficult
It is not certain whether this was done by hostile
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
or caused by
the rough weather, but it was probably the latter.
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 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 I.' [99r] (202/454), 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_100048172214.0x000003> [accessed 23 April 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:3r, 4r:216v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence