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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [39r] (82/454)
The record is made up of 1 volume (223 folios). It was created in 1923. 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. .
Transcription
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ARMY IN INDIA : PRE-WAR MILITARY POLICY 57
arrangements unsatisfactory in the following main respects ;
the field army was insufficient having special regard to the
fact that the Home authorities could give no guarantee as to
the date of arrival of reinforcing troops* from England and
overseas , the numbers of troops allotted for internal security
were considered excessive in consideration of the improved
communications and the assistance that should be got from
the volunteers and police; the distribution of troops was
unsatisfactory, the number of small stations being too great
and the concentration of field army brigades being desirable,
while each divisional area ought to contain not only the field
army division but also the troops required for the internal
security of the area ; and munitions of war should be increased,
by the establishment of more local manufactures and the
accumulation of adequate reserves, to render India independent
of England for several months.
The scheme was drawn up primarily to meet the contingency
of war with Russia on or beyond the
North-West Frontier
Region of British India bordering Afghanistan.
,
and it marked a distinct advance in the organisation, command'
and training of the army. It was never completed. The
Anglo-Japanese alliance, the Russo-Japanese war, and the
Anglo-Russian convention altered the whole situation, and
Lord Kitchener himself, before he left India, acquiesced in,
if he did not initiate, a considerable reduction in military
expenditure and a relinquishment of part of the increases and
additions he had advocated in men, buildings, munitions and
stores.
The Army in India Committee of 1912 again reviewed
the whole military position having regard to the altered
situation, and their “ Majority Report" defined the conditions
governing the upkeep of the military force in India as follows :—
(|) Maintaining internal security and tranquillity.
“(ii) Being in a position to deal with the States and frontier
tribes which adjoin India, in so far as they may be
likely to be hostile.
“(hi) Being able, in the event of war with a great outside
Power, e.g., Russia, to hold our own pending
reinforcement from Home.”
They went on to rejectf the idea that it was “the duty
of the Government of India to maintain forces out of Indian
* This applied also to munitions.
t It is to be remembered in considering this question that India does not
enjoy the same unrestricted privileges of membership of the Empire as the
self-governing Dominions. f
About this item
- Content
The volume is the first volume of an official government publication compiled at the request of the Government of India, and under the direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General Frederick James Moberly. The volume was printed and published at His Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
The contents provide a narrative of the operations of 1914-1918 in Mesopotamia, based mainly on official documents.
The volume is divided into two parts. The first part, entitled, 'Part I. Before the Outbreak of Hostilities', consists of the following five chapters:
- General Description of the Country
- The Turks in Mesopotamia
- British Pre-War Policy
- The Army in India and Pre-War Military Policy
- Inception of the Operations
The second part, entitled, 'Part II. The Campaign in Lower Mesopotamia', consists of the following seven chapters:
- The Landing in Mesopotamia of Force "D" and the Operations Leading to the Occupation of Basra
- The Occupation of Basra and the Capture of Qurna
- Commencement of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
- Development and Defeat of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
- Operations in Arabistan and the Capture of Amara
- Operations on the Euphrates and the Occupation of Nasiriya
- The battle of Kut and Occupation of Aziziya
The volume also includes nine maps, entitled:
- The Middle East
- Lower Mesopotamia
- Map 1 - To illustrate operations described in Chapter VI
- Map 2 - To illustrate fighting near Qurna
- Map 3 - To illustrate fighting round Shaiba
- Map 4 - To illustrate operations in Persian Arabistan
- Map 5 - To illustrate operations in the Akaika Channel 27th June to 5th July 1915
- Map 6 - To illustrate operations near Nasiriya 6th to 24th July 1915
- Map 7 - To illustrate the Battle of Kut 28th September 1915
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (223 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a page of errata (folio 5), a list of contents (folios 6-8), a list of maps and illustrations (folio 9), appendices (folios 185v-192), an index (folios 192v-214v), and eight maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 217-224).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 225; 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 volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [39r] (82/454), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048172213.0x000053> [accessed 5 April 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:3r, 4r:216v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence