'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎375v] (753/862)

COMMUNICATIONS
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was the closing of the Mediterranean to merchant shipping in June
1940; the second was Rashid Ali’s coup d'etat in May 1941 under the
instigation of the Axis Powers, and the breaking of the provisions of
the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty; the third was the increased importance of
Iraq as a link in the chain of supply through Persia to Russia later in
the same year, consequent on the German advance through southern
Russia.
The closing of the Mediterranean to merchant shipping caused
much traffic to Turkey and the Balkans to be diverted to the port of
Basra for carriage by rail through Tel Kotchek. A considerable traffic
for Palestine and Egypt also went by sea to Basra, where port facilities
were extensive but the inland routes inadequate. All the railways
were strained to the utmost and some of the traffic was forced to take
the desert route through Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan . Additional rolling-stock was
ordered but took many months to arrive, and Rashid Ali’s coup d'etat
temporarily stopped the greater part of this trans-Iraq traffic. By the
time things had settled down after the campaigns in Iraq and Persia
the situation had been changed by the prime importance of using
every route possible to aid Russia. Members of British railway
companies flew to Basra to investigate how traffic could be increased
on the Persian railways and what would be required by the Persian
and Iraqi railways to handle it. As a result of their recommendations
the capacity of all railways was greatly increased by the provision of
more rolling-stock, more personnel, and more passing-loops. Trans
port of bulky goods by river-craft on the Tigris was increased, facilities
at the river-port of Kut al Imara were installed, and a metre-gauge
line was built from there through Aziziya to join the Baghdad-
Khanaqin line at Jassimiya, mile 40, about 4 miles north of Baquba.
This line had been sanctioned in September 1941, after the disturb
ances caused by Rashid Ali’s usurpation; its importance was increased
by the urgency of the Russian situation. Survey of the line began in
February 1942 and it was opened for working on 17 December the
same year. Much of the rolling-stock and equipment was secured, as
in the last war, from the metre-gauge railways in India.
This line from Kut al Imara was planned to feed railhead at
Khanaqin, whence haulage of some 600 miles by road took the goods
on to Tabriz. Facilities for handling cargoes at the head of the Persian
Gulf were also greatly expanded, and the trans-Iranian railway soon
had two new standard-gauge termini at Tanuma opposite Basra and
at Khorramshahr (Mohammerah) on Persian soil at the mouth of the
Karun. Only a small section of the former is within Iraq territory,