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'History of the Great War based on Official Documents: Operations in Persia 1914-1919' [‎127v] (259/566)

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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220
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
exact target. With some difficulty, under cover of a heavy
supporting fire, Captain Wittkugel and the wounded were got
away, but it took two more difficult and toilsome hours to
transport them down through the boulder-strewn forest in the
dark
The affair Of They reached the main body at the old caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). at
Dasht-i-330 p m>) but an Indian officer and nineteen rifles 124th
December Baluchis, as well as a Persian officer and about twenty South
1916 . Persia Rifles, who had all been missing since the morning,
were still out; and although they could be heard firing in the
distance it was impossible to locate or support them. At this
stage Colonel Twigg received information that the enemy had
been strongly reinforced and meant to cut Col. Twigg’s line of
retreat by blocking the passes in his rear ; and several Persian
officers warned Colonel Hunter to look out for treachery on
the part of some of the South Persia Rifles, of whom many
were said to have already deserted or to have gone over to the
enemy. Meanwhile the fires of the enemy indicated an
encircling movement. Colonel Twigg had just decided to j
avoid being cut off by starting immediately to march back to
Khan-i-Zinian, when a party of the enemy made a bold
attack from a point about 150 yards off to the south. This was
beaten off, but nearly all the Persian muleteers immediately
fled and many of the camels and mules made off.
Orders to evacuate the valley were issued about 10.30 p.m.
and within a few minutes the whole of the South Persia Rifles
went off, abandoning the remainder of the column, which, }
owing to the muleteers’ desertion, did not start till 1 a.m.
Thanks to the cool behaviour of the Indian troops, however,
the retirement was most orderly, Dasht-i-Arjan being reached
at 3.30 a.m. Here, the order for the Persian garrison to
accompany the column to Khan-i-Zinian caused some confusion
and the desertion of more muleteers ; but by 6 a.m. the whole
force with its wounded had got safely over the Sin-i-Safed pass
immediately to the east of Dasht-i-Arjan. Khan-i-Zinian was
reached at 9.30 a.m., and at 11 a.m. the Indian officer and
section 124th Baluchis, which had been missing for twenty-four
hours, also marched in, having had a most adventurous experi
ence. That night (26/27th) the camp was attacked by a small
enemy party, who were easily driven off by the piquets; and
next day the march w T as resumed to Chenar-i-Rahdar and con
tinued on the 28th to Shiraz.
The total casualties in Colonel Twigg’s column had been only
ten, seven of them being in the South Persia Rifles. The action

About this item

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' [‎127v] (259/566), 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_100050147653.0x00003c> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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