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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎112v] (229/454)

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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202 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
came into action. They were disposed in an arc extending
from the west to the south of Shaiba. All of them were
quickly located by the British artillery, who silenced completely
the greater part of the Turkish field guns within about fifteen
minutes of their coming into action. These field guns were
mostly in position on the forward slopes near South mound
and as they were without shields their gun detachments
suffered severe loss. They were withdrawn during the middle
of the day, their movement being unseen owing to the mirage,
and some of them subsequently came into action to the south
ward of Shaiba. The two Turkish heavy guns kept up an
accurate fire, though they never managed to locate the British
batteries, from whose fire their longer range rendered them
immune. On the whole, the Turkish artillery did little harm
to the British throughout the day.
The Turkish infantry attack was mainly directed against
South salient, though their attacking line extended on both
sides of this—on the north as far as Kiln Post and on the south
to cover the portion of the defences held by the 120th Infantry.
This attack was definitely repulsed without much difficulty
by 8 a.m., when the enemy retired, leaving small parties in
observation. Some of these dug themselves in to the west
and south-west, about seventeen hundred yards from the
British trenches, and considerable numbers of the enemy
collected in the tamarisk groves to the south. “ S ” Battery
R H.A. had, in the meanwhile, taken up a position in rear
of the British left, where it remained all day.
At this time the British right had not yet been seriously
en g a g e d, but about 9 a.m. a large body of Arabs with six
standards occupied North mound. From here, throughout
the day and the subsequent night, they made several half
hearted attempts to advance, but these were easily broken
up by rifle and machine-gun fire.
About 1.30 p.m., some thirty hostile mahailas made an
unsuccessful attempt to sail into the area between Shaiba
and Basra, but except for this there was a definite lull in the
fighting till 2 p.m. Shortly after this hour the Turkish infantry
renewed their attack against South salient and the British
left, assisted to some extent by Arab tribesmen. The right
of their line on this occasion extended almost to the water-line,
but the Arabs here displayed no great vigour. Their snipers,
however, were troublesome, especially to the British artillery
observation post on the extreme British left, and Major
Wheeler of the 7th Lancers volunteered to move out with

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.' [‎112v] (229/454), 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_100048172214.0x00001e> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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