'File II. IRAQ (3) Vol. 1 Shaikh of Kuwait's Date Gardens on the Shatt-al Arab. (Kuwait's relations with Turkish Govt. and Turkish demand that Kuwaitis should take out Turkish Nationality Certificates)' [‎184r] (385/636)

Coru.i»Le?ntlca, ,
a.nd tJtio cavalry ,nominally t«ha ^Ist^, conslst/ing
••; .1% ;. r: %|l# nb'L/ rin/'. - /ui • . r ' •
professodly Uig 4lBrt»,4Snd.,anfl 4Lr*c- 01 ' biic line,and faricaz
(or Hoadquartors) hcvLtallcn or tlic Grondonnerl 0 j K ud nore too,!
suspect,tliare was considerable Juggling with, units. If tie
Infantry were really wliat they purported to be,— three regi—
-raents and a battalion,besides details such as Ib.tiyat,G-en-
-darmerle Training School,etc,, — they must have been further
below strength than is usual even here*
The Baghdad Army Corps have evidently tali on the Native
Army of British India as their model in matters of uniform
and equipment. All the troops were clad in khafcL,generally
drill; and most of them wore puttis* Their ammunition boots
were in some cases of the familiar British Indian paotem*
Indeed but for the headdress,—an Arab Kerchief dyed khaki,—
the parade might have been,as regards uniform,one of Indian
troops; and the Staff are evidently dissatisfied with the
local Kafiyah,as they have since obtained from me the services
of a sopoy to show thorn how tho Indian Pug pi is tied and
worn. The oft'icers of some units wore white kerchiefs,which
would be a most unpractical and dangerous distinction on
active s - rvice.
The troops reviewed were mostly,! fancy,mongrel townsmen
and Arab peasants. Their appearance was hard and sturdy,but
rather coarse—bred. They gave me the impression of resembling
the Khedive 1 s Pallah troops,though of shorter stature,and I
should 9 x 7 ) 0 ct them to prove obedient, possessed of physical
strength and endurance,and possibly capable of a smart drill.
It would not surprise me if they were found to be delicieot
in combativeness. Some of the men were evidently much dis—
-tressed,but they had been kept under arms in the sun for a
long time before the parade began; and the temporuture in the
shade on this afternoon was at one time over lib Hahrenheit.