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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [184v] (373/454)
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
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342 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
the required vessels early in November. On the 3rd November
a telegram from 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.
informed the Viceroy of
the dates by which the various craft might be expected in
Mesopotamia, i.e., from March to June 1916. Here we will
leave the matter for the present.
The Admiralty sent out from England during July and
August the materials for twelve shallow-draught gunboats for
Mesopotamia, to be put together at the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company’s works at Abadan. On the 30th August the local
Admiralty representative informed General Nixon that he
hoped to have the first gunboat ready by the middle of
November.
In October 1915 the sloop Alert arrived and berthed at
Abadan, being fitted to provide a naval depot, necessitated by
the coming increase in the naval flotilla.
Improvements in the port facilities of Basra were also
inaugurated at this period.
In March General Nixon had also been requested in his
instructions to report as to the employment of a light railway.
The incidence of the floods, however, prevented any adequate
survey for this for several months. On the 14th August General
Nixon recommended in a lengthy memorandum the construc
tion of a railway from Basra to Nasiriya, not only on military,
but also on political and commercial grounds.* He inserted
the two last recommendations on the special advice of his
political and civil advisers. In India the proposal was strongly
supported by the General Staff on military grounds, but, in
the usual course of official procedure, it had to be referred to
other departments of the Government of India to be reviewed
on its political and commercial aspects. On neither of these
grounds did it find favour, and when it reached the Financial
Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council he minuted:
“ • . . . If ... . His Excellency the Commander-in-
Chief and Army Member can definitely assure me that his
project is absolutely necessary for the safeguarding of our
military position ... I cannot, of course, resist a reference
home on this basis.” The reasons why the Commander-
in-Chief felt unable to give the required assurance and the
consequent rejection of the proposal will be dealt with in
the next volume.
In order to counteract to some extent the evil effect of the
Mesopotamian climate on the troops there, arrangements were
made in July to send at a time eight hundred British and
* At that time a railway up the Tigris was not considered practicable.
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.' [184v] (373/454), 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_100048172214.0x0000ae> [accessed 19 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