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'History of the Great War based on Official Documents: Operations in Persia 1914-1919' [‎126v] (257/566)

The record is made up of 1 volume (279 folios). It was created in 1929. 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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218
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
The affair of that the rebels' strength in front of him was only about forty
Dasht-i- anc i j n an y case two hundred at the most—and that to delay
December would give them time to collect more men and make his task
1916 . impossible, issued orders for the column to start at 9 a.m.
next morning (25th) for Miyan Kutal, where he felt certain of
obtaining supplies. At a later hour that night Colonel Hunter
gave him further information regarding the natural strength
of the Pir Zan position and told him of various current
rumours of the rebel numbers and intentions. Colonel Twigg
thereupon decided to commence his movement next day by
effecting a lodgment on the Pir Zan range about two miles
to the south-west of Dasht-i-Arjan.
The flat and open valley here, lying at a height of 6,600 feet
above the sea, is about six miles long by three broad and is
entirely surrounded by precipitous mountains which rise some
two thousand feet above it, their slopes to within two or three
hundred yards of the summits being heavily wooded, strewn
with huge rocks and intersected by great clefts. The summits
are for the most part sheer cliffs of bare rock, honeycombed
with caves and holes and accessible between Dasht-i-Arjan
and the Pir Zan by very few paths.
On the morning of the 25th December, after pushing on the
15th Lancers (at 8.30) towards the foot of the Pir Zan,
Colonel Twigg detached a section 124th Baluchis and the
South Persia Rifles infantry company under Captain G. H.
Weldon at 9 a.m. to ascend the range to the west of the road
and, moving along its top, to act as right flank guard to the
main column, which then also started to advance slowly. At
10 a.m. both the cavalry in front and Captain Weldon's party
were fired on ; and half an hour later the 23rd Mountain
Battery guns were ordered to fire a few shells at a small group
of the enemy seen on the heights above where Captain Weldon’s
party was assumed to be. At 11.30 a.m., however, there were
still no signs of this party, and Colonel Twigg halted the main
body while Colonel Hunter, to assist Captain Weldon's party if
possible, took the two South Persia Rifles guns into action on a
low hill near an old caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). about five miles from Dasht-i-
Arjan. The range of these old 7-pdrs. was, however, quite
insufficient, while their ammunition proved defective; and at
noon Captain Weldon rejoined the main column having failed
in his task, owing to the treachery of his guides and his
inability to get sufficient of the Persian infantry to advance in
face of the opposition encountered in a most difficult piece of
ground.

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Content

A confidential publication compiled, by arrangement with the Government of India, under the direction of the Historical Section of The Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General FJ Moberly. The volume is part of the Official History of the Great War series produced by the British Government.

The volume begins with a preface by Moberly and is then divided into 11 (I-XI) chapters, plus appendices, as follows:

  • Chapter I: Introductory
  • Chapter II: August 1914 to June 1915, Enemy efforts to bring Persia into the War
  • Chapter III: July to November 1915, Enemy action and Persian weakness necessitate Allied intervention
  • Chapter IV: December 1915 to May 1916, Successful results of Allied operations
  • Chapter V: May to December 1916, Turkish invasion of Western Persia and British measures in South and East Persia
  • Chapter VI: December 1916 to August 1917, Effects of British success in Mesopotamia
  • Chapter VII: September 1917 to April 1918, The failure of Persia to maintain her neutrality necessitates further British intervention
  • Chapter VIII: May to July 1918, The effect in Persia of the German successes in France; and the anti-British outbreak in Fars
  • Chapter IX: July to September 1918, The tide turns in favour of the Allies
  • Chapter X: October to 11th November 1918, The effect of our victories
  • Chapter XI: Conclusion

The volume contains fourteen maps, some of which are in a pocket in the inside back cover, as follows:

  • 1. Operations at Bushire 1915 (folio 275)
  • 2. Portion of Perso-Afghan frontier (folio 276)
  • 3. Operations at Dilbar, 13th-15th August 1915 (folio 66)
  • 4. Operations of General Dyer in Sarhad, April-August 1916 (folio 277)
  • 5. Wanderings of German parties in Persia and Afghanistan (folio 278)
  • 6. Affair of Dasht-i-Arjan, 25th September 1916 (folio 128)
  • 7. Affair of Kafta, 5th July 1917 (folio 144)
  • 8. Northern Fars (folio 177)
  • 9. Action of Deh Shaikh, 25th May 1918 (folio 182)
  • 10. Shiraz (folio 194)
  • 11. Operations from Bushire, September 1918-January 1919 (folio 279)
  • 12. Plan of East Persia L. of C. (folio 231)
  • 13. Operations for relief of Firuzabad, October 1918 (folio 236)
  • 14. Persia (folio 280)

The volume also includes a bibliography (folio 14).

Extent and format
1 volume (279 folios)
Arrangement

At the front of the volume there is a contents page (ff 6-14), list of maps (f 14), and list of illustrations (f 14). At the back of the volume is a general index (ff 269-73). All refer to the volume's original pagination.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 281; 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 file 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: Operations in Persia 1914-1919' [‎126v] (257/566), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/28, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100050147653.0x00003a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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