'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎71v] (147/470)

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assistant to the Assistant Political Officer, and put him in charge of both town police
and Najaf road Shabanah.
Until, however, British officers are more plentiful than they are at present, this
is impracticable.
10. Shabanah.— Earty in the year the task of reorganising the Shabanah force
was taken in hand by Capt. Boyle, who was appointed Officer Commanding
Shabanah, Hillah, Musaiyib and Hindiyah districts. .Diwaniyah Shabanah are at
present under direct orders of the Assistant Political Officer, District, who is
re-organising the force. It will have a strength of 1 officer and 170 other ranks.
The sanctioned strength of the Hillah Shabanah is : mounted, 6 officers and
556 other ranks; foot, 8 officers and 392 other ranks. Actual strength on 31st
December, 1918 : mounted, 5 officers and 477 other ranks; foot, 7 officers and 280
other ranks. Of the mounted men, however, between 40 and 50 have not yet
provided themselves with horses.
The work of the Officer Commanding Shabanah during the year has been to weed
out the weak and inefficient, of whom there were a goodly proportion, and to instil
into the Arab the rudiments of discipline, while at the same time making the condi
tions of service sufficiently attractive to bring in the type of recruit required. The
large measure of success which has been attained towards the accomplishment of
these objects is due in no small measure to the personality of Capt. Boyle and the
wholehearted manner in which he has thrown himself into a difficult task.
After his first fears of being sent overseas had been overcome, the tribesmen
came willingly enough from their native districts into Hillah to undergo training;
and the sight of their brethren returning clad in a khaki uniform, in place of the
rags and tatters in which they went, proved an incentive to recruiting.
The way in which the Arab has taken to drill must have surprised even the
most optimistic of his admirers. He has taken to it with the zest of an English
schoolboy engaging in a new and fascinating game. How far he looks on it all as
a game, of which he will tire when the novelty has worn off, it is at present impossible
to say. * J
Barracks. During the year there was no means of housing the Shabanah who
came into Hillah for training, and they lived where they could find accommodation
m the town.
This most undesirable state of affairs has now been ended by the fitting up of
roomy khan in Hillah as barracks, capable of accommodating 300 men. A special
Sub-Assistant Surgeon has been appointed to attend to the Shabanah, and a
dispensary is being fitted out, with accommodation for about 20 in-patients. The
creature comforts of the men have been catered for by the appointment of an official
coffee-man, who supplies coffee several times daily, the price being recouped bv
cuttings from the month’s pay. ' 1
Much has thus been done to popularise the service and mitigate the boredom
which barrack life must cause to the tribesman.
hecruiknimL In the beginning of the year recruits were easily obtained in the
towns, while the tribesman was distinctly shy of service. Subsequently, as reported
by ( apt. Boyle in his report on Hillah Shabanah, Januarv-November 1918 the
ilow of town recruits ceased and the tribesmen began to conie in freely.
At present tlie position has again been reversed and, whereas townsmen are
obtainable, a certain number of tribesmen have tendered their resignation, and a
recent batch of tribal recruits only enlisted on condition that thev were not to be
sent into Hillah to do their training.
The fact that the cultivation season is in {nil swing probably has a good deal to
£ present ^ SlUmp “ recrultin g> an(1 these ups and downs are inevitable for
Traininy.— The training which the Shabanah have so far received is such as to
hnp^ion thlVe 'sHh' 7 h™’ ^ ^ ^ has been under'the
1 ession that the Shabanah may one day form the nucleus of an 4rab army
I he result of this policy is that the Assistant Political Officer looks' with some
suspidon on the Shabanah What the Assistant Political Officer requires is an
efficient district police, and lie views with some concern the inculcation of the
” S Tf ~tV f the S0 H Wl A 80 0 '4° f »'*<•* “ «** district Hiclan
ine result ol this is that, considered as a district police force the Shabamh
cannot be said to have been an unqualified success. If it' should be dedded t “