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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎147r] (298/454)

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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SHORTAGE OF RIVER TRANSPORT
269
suitable available craft had to be requisitioned. Such vessels
were seldom satisfactory and many of them sunk or were
badly damaged on the overseas voyage. The evidence given
before the Mesopotamia Commission shows many of the diffi
culties and the mistakes made ; but whether the Commission
were correct in their allocation of the blame for the shortage
is another matter* The whole question is very involved and
technical; many individuals and several different authorities
were concerned ; and all the relevant facts do not appear to
have been brought to light, and are still somewhat obscure.
In these circumstances, to enter into great, but unavoidably
incomplete, detail in this narrative might lead the reader to
draw inaccurate conclusions.
On the 12th June, General Nixon asked for more aeroplanes.
The Viceroy telegraphed the gist of his report to the India
Office a few days later and strongly recommended the provision
of more and better aircraft; and by the end of the month he
received a reply that the War Office had agreed to detail two
flights of the Royal Flying Corps from Egypt for service in
Mesopotamia. . , •
By the middle of June the heat everywhere m Mesopotamia
had become so great as to affect seriously the health of the
troops ; and this was further aggravated by the difficulty of
convalescence in this trying chmate.t Owing to the amount of
sickness and the numbers of the medical corps who had been
invalided, General Nixon was obliged on the 18th ^ mak e a
special application for more medical personnel; and these the
Government of India proceeded to arrange for. As an instance
of the amount of sickness, General Nixon reported on the
24th that the l/4th Hampshire Regiment could only muste
16 officers and 289 other ranks medically fit for service, but,
nevertheless, he had to utilise this battalion m the impending
0 Tflways th alto thfcapture of Amara, General Nixon
■estimated the situation of the Turkish troops as follows at
Baghdad four battalions ; at Kut al Amara, ten battalions and
twelve guns; at Nasiriya, five to seven battalions with a few
guns; Lid retiring up the Tigris from Amara, the remnant
of twelve battalions, a cavalry regiment and nine guns.
rt t y oT^nS r a“^“th^tXey could reject no instance when
the heat had been so oppressive.

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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.' [‎147r] (298/454), 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_100048172214.0x000063> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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