'Military Report on Iraq. Area 2 (Upper Euphrates)' [‎6r] (16/140)

On 7th March, 1918, Hit was occupied, the Turkish force
there having retreated to avoid envelopment. This force
was, however, rounded up near Khan Baghdadi between
26th and 31st March, on which occasion over 5,500 prisoners,
12 guns, and 57 machine guns fell into our hands. After this
disaster the Turks had no considerable forces on the Euphrates,
but the length of the line of communication discouraged
any further move upstream on our part, and the advance in
Palestine subsequently rendered such move unnecessary.
After the battle of Khan Baghdadi no permanent advance
was made beyond Hit until after the armistice, when Anah and
Dair-al-Zor were occupied without opposition.
As our advance proceeded, Civil Administration was under
taken, and Political Officers were established at Ramadi, Anah,
Albu Kamal and Dair-al-Zor. The Ramadi division consisted
of the old Turkish Qadhas of Fallujah, Ramadi, Hit, Anah
and Albu Kamal, which places were administered by Assistant
Political Officers. Anah, Hit and Fallujah were latterly placed
in charge of Arab Civil Officials.
Since the conclusion of the armistice with Turkey in the
autumn of 1918 various influences have been at work shaping
recent events on the Middle and Upper Euphrates. The chief
of these influences has undoubtedly been the desire for Arab
independence. For some years before the war there had been
in all Arab-speaking provinces of the Turkish Empire a strozig
movement for the establishment of an autonomous self-
governing Arab State. This movement took definite shape
in 1915, when the Sharif of Makkah threw in his lot with the
Allies, and began actual hostilities against the Turk. The
delay in conclusion of a definite peace with Turkey, unavoidable
though it undoubtedly was owing to the various and conflicting
incidents to be considered, created a feeling of unrest and
uncertainty in the Arab mind, particularly in Syria where the
foundations of the new Arab State were being laid at Damascus.
In the autumn of 1919 the British forces in Aleppo and
Damascus evacuated those towns where an Arab Government
was set up. On 11th December, 1919, an Arab force under a
certain Ramadhan al Shallash occupied Dair-al-Zor, imprisoning
our Political Officers there. The reason given for this advance
was stated to be that the boundary of the newly formed Arab
State had been fixed by the Peace Conference as the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Hauran. This particular incident ended by the release of our
Political Officers, but the Arab Government, whilst disclaiming
any knowledge of or responsibility for the actions of Ramadhan
al Shallash, was allowed to retain possession of Dair-al-Zor
pending a final settlement of the frontier by the Peace
Conference. Encouraged by their successful occupation of
(C4206) B 2