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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎170r] (344/454)

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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ADVANCE BEYOND KUT FORBIDDEN
313
might follow them into Baghdad. That is, if they were well
on the run, and no opposition was offered, he was willing to take
the responsibility of entering Baghdad. He understood that
the Government did not want us to enter Baghdad and then
have to retreat before superior numbers. But he gathered that
his orders gave him latitude to pursue, and if he found there
was no one left in Baghdad he might proceed there in the
gunboat flotilla with a battalion and bring away the European
women detained there. Apparently General Nixon raised no
objection and told General Townshend in such an event to
telegraph, as he might be able to enter Baghdad with him.
By the 28th General Townshend reached Amara and started
his plans for the advance, which General Nixon had instructed
him to draw out and submit.
On the 6th September a wire from India informed General
Nixon that the Turks refused to consider an exchange of the
British women detained in Baghdad; and he was told on the
same day, with reference to this information, that he must not
undertake operations farther up the Tigris than those already
authorised without reference to the Commander-in-Chief in
India.
As regards the Turkish strength and dispositions in Meso
potamia and the possibility of reinforcements reaching the
enemy, the War Office, on the 17th August, telegraphed a report
from Athens that Jamal Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was said to be leaving Syria
for Mesopotamia with two Army Corps. The War Office,
however, considered that this force was not likely to exceed
one Army Corps of trained men.
On the 3rd September General Nixon referred to a report of
doubtful value, which he discredited, to the effect that six
thousand Turkish infantry had recently arrived at Mosul on
their way to Baghdad ; but if this force existed, it might be
that of Jamal Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. .
At the beginning of September the British Intelligence Staff
in Mesopotamia estimated that the Turkish position covering
Kut was held by five to six thousand troops with twelve guns ;
that five hundred infantry with five guns were at Ctesiphon,
where a strongly entrenched position was being constructed ;
that at Baghdad were eight battalions of recruits and possibly
twelve guns, and that on the Euphrates line, about Kifi, were
three thousand Turks. As possible reinforcements there might
be, as mentioned above, six thousand infantry at Mosul; and there
were three thousand infantry at Khaniqin whose withdrawal
from there was probably dependent on the situation in Persia.

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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.' [‎170r] (344/454), 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_100048172214.0x000091> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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