'PAPERS RELATING TO THE MESOPOTAMIAN COMMISSION from SIR E. BARROW'S ROOM' [‎389v] (788/1386)

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omn ' r . l ‘ Mm f T- ln< 1,s f 1 { w ' tll0,lt 'loctors, without medical equipment, without
needful supplies and land transport, and above all without river craft to
convey a greatly increased army up the Tigris and Euphrates to the
Uur shortcomings are now painfully obvious, but they did cot become
so ti,I i he necessity tor reinforcing General Nixon arose. Whatever short-
conungs there may have been, real failure only occurred after the battle of
Ltesiphon.
It must bo borne in mind that there was no intention on the part of the
Government to advance beyond the Ibis fa Vilayat till October 1915 and
mdeed, sanction for that operation was only given on the 23rd of that
month. 1 dl we leit Ivnrna at the very end of May 1915 the need for river
snipping on a large scale had not arisen. So long as onr operations were
oanned to the Shatt-el-Arab and the Karim, om-resources in this respect
as well as our medical requirements, appear to have been fully adequate’
General Garrett had been generally satisfied, as an advance was not con
templated beyond Kurna, to which point light draught Gulf steamers could
ascend. J Jus is what he says on this subject:—
t JGtracts from a Hopovt from General Sir A. A. Barrett to the Yincent-Bingley Commission
dated Sth May 1916.
' 1 am of opinion that during my period of service in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. the med-eal sta^
a.ad equipment was adequate. LtU scaii
" ' i ' he strength of the force was at first two brigades only, and was gradually increased to
u-c bn»de». with Which wo held Ahwaz on the Kannn Riven, Ku?oa and'sL ba with
Bussorah as base and headquarters. ’ " IU1
“• I V ' a: ; S'^'en to understand that our advance would be confined to such points as would be
faqii.red m bold the Bussorah Vilayat, the limits of which were roughly the towns and
districts of Amara on the Tigris and Nasriyeh on the Euphrates. ^
" For this purpose I considered that the river steamers and barges used for conveyino-
d uops and supples to these points would be sufficient to bring back sick and wounded to
• iy base, and that empty transport steamers, supplemented by the hospital ship ‘Madras'
; V i r 1 , 1 ;‘! , 1 . V1Slte ; 1 US . t 7 iCe C ! unn - of co » llnund ’ v;onld the necessary accommodatio'i
>i talcing the sirk and wounded back to India.
“ Shortly after our occupation of Bussorah I represented the necessity fer providing mo re
! T"' S ‘ e , amoi ; s for transport purposes, and 1 understood that the Government of Indfa ‘ was
taking steps to procure them.
••Aiy senior medical officer (Colonel P. Hehir, Indian Medical Service), did not ask for
of-Vp I,g ni0 V‘j an r f,lll J BatJsficd with his arrangements for the comfort and w-ffiare
sewvl'vs' ^ after the various engagements, and with the organisation of the medic.:,I
Gammon? * mple SUpplieS 0f tents, blankets, and medical comforts on board the
[! uas n °t possible to get these landed in sufficient numbers durino- the first few duV
operations, but afterwards no difficulty was experienced in providing all that was wanted.' “ ’
, • i :c ‘ ^ re f te,s i t ll ^ m1)er . of casualties m any one engagement was approximately 50(1
mnp/oycT ^ ^ m,ght liavo 1x3611 ex PCcted considering the number of troops
‘•Accommodation for Indian sick and wounded at Bussorah was not at first satisfartoVy
cao-MH?.? 13 S , ° n remedlod ’ thai)ks to the energy and resource of medical officers and Lid
re.splcts f satiSSry the Vari ° US ll0Sl)itals and was satifified that the arrangements were in all
;‘A large snppiy of comforts was provided by the Bombay branch of the Bed Cross
Sociery in whom ! was frequently asked to state if anything further was required.
r< o complaints reached me at any time.”
The insufficiency of shipping and medical arrangements only beo-an to
present tliemselves after the battles round Shaiba Uth to 14th Aprifl915
as will be seen from General Nixon’s report, dated 19th Mav to the
Commission:— , -
f Extracts from a report from General Sir J. E. Nixon to the Vincent-Binglev Commission
dated 19th May 1916.
I lynched Basra on (he 9th April, and the Turks got in touch with Shaiba on the llfi.
^ty’ued till the 14th. The casualties numbered about 1,200 and there were
_ . wounded I m-Kish prisoners. Some nine miles of water separated Shaiba free'.
T a ' J: IS m - v 1 ' ecollectl *o n t,iafc a shortage of medical officers and subordinates on the ; n 7f| (
i.rlus was reported later, and that the general hospitals at Basra became overcrowded
Butt the hospital ship, the • Madras, did not arrive till the 1st May.
T The Beport of the Commission has not yet been received, but the above quoted reoorts
were forwarded oy 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. to the Commission. ^