'Railways - Mesopotamia and L of C [Lines of Communication] Policy'

Content

The file, marked secret, contains correspondence and notes regarding rail and river transportation for the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War. The papers cover a number of matters, including:

• Strategic considerations of the use of rail and river communications
• Supply of railway materials, rolling stock, and personnel to Mesopotamia [Iraq] from India, other parts of the British Empire, and allied territories
• Problems with unloading and shipping congestion at Basra
• Progress of railway construction, including weekly reports from the General Officer Commanding or Director of Railways to the War Office, starting from August 1917
• Capacity estimates (for troops, food, ammunition, and materials) and efforts to increase it
• Complaints of shortages of railway stock and personnel in India due to the demand in Mesopotamia
• Preparations for a commission, led by Sir Henry Francis Edward Freeland, to be sent to review rail and river transportation in Mesopotamia
• Questions of flooding and damming of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Correspondents include: the Commander-in-Chief, India; the Chief of the Imperial General Staff; the General Officer Commanding, Mesopotamia; the War Office; the Director of Railways, Mesopotamia; the War Section, Army Department, Government of India; and Major General Sir Henry Francis Edward Freeland.

Extent and format

1 file (100 folios)

Arrangement

The file is arranged in chronological order, from the rear to the front.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 102; 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 present in parallel; these numbers are written in coloured crayon and pencil; where they have been written in pencil and circled, they have been crossed through.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

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.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/L/MIL/5/787

History of this record

Date(s)

18 May 1917-21 Dec 1917 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Inland water transport

People & organisations

Government of India, Army Department, War SectionChief of the General StaffCommander-in-Chief

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Cite this record in your research

'Railways - Mesopotamia and L of C [Lines of Communication] Policy', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/5/787, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000465.0x0002ed> [accessed 11 March 2025]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100000000465.0x0002ed

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