![‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 60. (From 1st to 31st July 1919.)’ [‎75r] (154/252)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000112.0x000232/IOR_L_MIL_17_5_3324_0154.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 60. (From 1st to 31st July 1919.)’ [‎75r] (154/252)")
‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 60. (From 1st to 31st July 1919.)’ [75r] (154/252)
The record is made up of 1 volume (124 folios). It was created in 10 May 1919-31 Jul 1919. 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
7,
Special.
APPENDIX 82 i
(Dj. No. 63179)
Telegram P. No. X.-7257, dated 22nd July 1919.
(Despatched 2-20 P.M., received 11-30 p.m., 22nd July 1919.)
From—The General Officer Commanding, Force “ D,” Bagdad^
To-—The Secretary, War Office, London.
(Repeated General Allonby, Cairo, the Chief of the General. Staff, Simla.)
Priority.—-
Deference telegram of July 15th from
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 Civil Commissioner
(Dy. No. 62996) and his reply No. 8107 July. 19th (Dy. No. 62994 ?) in which
I have concurred. As Military situation is much affected I should be glad if
my views could be put before H. M. Government. Foreign Office propose to
reply to a petition received through the General Officer Commanding the
Egyptian Expeditionary Force from certain Mesopotamians in the Sheriffian
Army who have neither status nor backing in this country. We have already
givep pledges that, if we are the mandatory for this country, we shall govern ac
cording to the wishes of the people. There are neither leaders nor class, nor oph
nion existing able to take an advanced par t. Half of the population are Kurds,
Persians, Arabs, Christians, and Jews. Sunni and Shiah, all grouped and mutu
ally unsympathetic. Pan Arabic, Pan Islam, Sheriffian Persian Pan, Kurd and
intrigues are fife added to Dussian Bolshevism and Indian sedition.
Tins is the real centre of Jewry and wealthy traders as well as the ancient
churches. Accessible Government by sympathetic political officers has been
very successful and must continue for some time, In the proposed Foreign
Office reply under reference the term bureauratic is most unsuitable description.
Half my force has been called into the field on account of the present Kurdish
unrest due to intrigues. On this Tigries alone, between Baghdad and the Sea,
there are nearly 100,000 Shiah Arabs well armed and mounted, exceedingly
well pleased for the moment with our system but who do not know themselves
the motives that sway them.
The Euphrates has nearly as many more. All trade river and rail routes
would close in the event of unrest among them. The armed population liable
to be disturbed is our half a million and the doubling of the garrison may be
made necessary by any false political step and progress impossible. The only
possible course is the gradual development of present sympathetic system and
the training of Arabs to be honest officials.
S,
Working copy to G. S. (M. O. 1).
Copy to Collection, G. S, (M. O. 3).
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About this item
- Content
The volume contains a chronological list of brief summaries of papers relating to the activities of the Indian Expeditionary Force D (also known as the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force) between 1 and 31 July 1919. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: telegrams, memoranda, and tables.
An index to the contents of this volume can be found at folios 3-7.
The volume concerns:
- Supply of food, weaponry, construction materials, and other items to Force D
- Military personnel issues, including reinforcements, demobilisation, and travel and accommodation arrangements for families of soldiers
- Railway construction in Mesopotamia
- Intelligence concerning a planned ‘Pan-Islamic upheaval after Ramzan [Ramaḍān]’
- Discussion of the activities of the King-Crane Commission
- Discussion of propaganda produced by ‘Feisal’ [Fayṣal Al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] calling for the ‘complete Independence of Arabia’
- British censorship of telegrams, photographs, and newspapers
- Disposal of surplus weaponry by Force D
- Report on the conditions in South Kurdistan following the defeat and capture of ‘Sheikh Mahmud’ [Shaikh Maḥmūd Barzanjī]
- Financial administration of Mesopotamia
- Matters relating to the government of Mesopotamia, including: requests by Arab officers for a ‘purely national Civil Government in Mesopotamia’; British opposition to greater involvement of local populations in government; and the usefulness of Mesopotamia for British policy in the wider Middle East
- Assessment by the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. of the conditions in Basrah [Basra] and Nasiriyeh [Nasiriyah] (ff 54-55)
- Discussion of violence in Central Kurdistan, including: the killing of administrative officials by ‘local Gendarmerie’; reports of Kurds near Amadia [Amadiya] ‘attacking Christian villages’; and British preparations for ‘quietening the district’
- The appointment of Colonel William Nafew Haskell as the Allied High Commissioner in Armenia
- Events in Persia [Iran], including: the surrender of high profile rebels: the activities of Bakhtiari [Bakhtiyārī] tribes; and British attempts to recruit Persian Kurds to fight ‘in case of incursion by Bolsheviks’.
The volume also contains:
- Weekly returns of sick and wounded for the weeks ending 24 May 1919 (ff 9-10), 31 May 1919 (ff 16-17), 7 June 1919 (ff 39-41), 14 June 1919 (ff 67-68), 21 June 1919 (ff 77-78), and 28 June 1919 (ff 92-94)
- Ration strength of Force D on 10 May 1919 (ff 36-38), 5 July 1919 (ff 43-44), 12 July 1919 (f 58), 19 July 1919 (f 81), and 26 July 1919 (f 109)
- Distribution of Force D including details of lines of communication, 1 July 1919 (ff 110-122).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (124 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 124; 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-122; these numbers are printed and are located in the bottom centre of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Dimensions: 21 x 33cm
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 60. (From 1st to 31st July 1919.)’ [75r] (154/252), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3324, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100143647432.0x00009b> [accessed 30 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3324
- Title
- ‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 60. (From 1st to 31st July 1919.)’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:123v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence