محاضر اجتماعات لجنة إدارة بلاد الرافدين [و‎‎١‎٢] (٧٨/٢٣)

I have already got some Prisoners of ►•ar from Baghdad,
and they speak very highly of the treatment acooTded to them by
the British, and especially the officers. The stories I have
heard of the treatment of the British on their way from Xut as
far as Mosul are not as bad as I had surmised. The Indian
Sepoys came in for actual blows when they lagged behind, but the
British suffered chiefly from neglect and 'want of provisions*
Por the latter there seems to have been no "bundobast” whatever
on the march, and, when they came across a field of corn, they
consumed it. »ihat happened to them beyond Mosul I can find out
nothing.
A large number of Prisoners of V.ar are no?/ working on
the new barracks, and they realise that there is a considerable
increase in the number of Prisoners to be expected in the near
future. Our numbers aro, in faot, increasing rapidly, and are
now very near 4000.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) HeM.RALLIDAY,
Major C.H.Clutterbuck, I.A.
D.A.Q.M.G. 5th (Uhow) Division.
Prisoners of War Camp,
Sumerpur•
5th April, 1917.
To
Lieutenant-Colonel H.M.Halliday, I.A.,
Commandant, Prisoners of War Camp, Sumerpur.
Sir,
With reference to the effeot produced by the fall of
Baghdad on the Prisoners of War interned in the Camp under your
command, I have the honour to report the following:-
1. The news of the fall of Baghdad oame as a stirprise. It
first caused great depression in the Camp and for a time most
of the Prisoners of ?/ar, especially the Civilians, looked quite
sad and dejected.
2. Of all the Prisoners of War who rooeived the nov/s with
delight were the pro-Arab party and the Shias who come from
Kerbela, Hajef, Eillah and Kadhemein.
3. The fall of Baghdad has aroused in the Prisoners of War,
both combatant and non-oombatant, an interest in the Revolt of
the Sherif of Mecca. A question which I am often asked is
"Are the Allies going to annex Mesopotamia and Syria to the
Hedjaz?" Some Prisoners,go so far as to state that the Allies
have promised tho Mcsle£/5f such annexation to the Dominion
of the Sherif. Thoir reason for such supposition, they say,
is that some of the Roly Moslem Shrines are located in
Mesopotamia.
4. The majority of the Civilian ox-officials aro now happy
but they do not dare express their Joy fearing their pro-Turk
fellows.