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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [‎35v] (77/660)

The record is made up of 1 volume (323 folios). It was created in 1924. 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. .

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48 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
thus amounted to 9,316. It had been found necessary to detain
at Kut a large part of the cavalry as well as many of the
transport animals, until a sufficient reserve of fodder had been
accumulated at Aziziya.
General Nixon received on the 24th October the sanction to
advance on Baghdad,* and on the 26th General Townshend
received from headquarters the following telegram: “ V erv
secret. Army Commander has been promised reinforcements
on a liberal scale and has been given discretion to advance as
soon as he considers it desirable. He wishes advance on
Baghdad to begin by November 14th, by which date the
modified scale of transport with two days’ rations should have
reached you. Impossible to meet your full demands without
incurring too great delay, but transport will continue to be
pushed up from Basra by every available means. The 23rd
Cavalry has been sent you as divisional cavalry and should reach
you in ample time.”
At this time, Mr. Chamberlain was doing all he could to get
the Indian infantry divisions despatched from France at an
early date ; but Lord Kitchener decided that the requirements
of the situation in the Near East must give other divisions
precedence. Mr. Chamberlain also asked Lord Kitchener to
send General Younghusband’s 28th Indian Infantry Brigade
at once from Egypt to reinforce General Nixon in Mesopotamia,
with the idea that their place in Egypt could be taken by the
reinforcements from France.f But Lord Kitchener found
himself unable to agree to this at first, though finally orders
reached General Younghusband on the 10 th November to
proceed with his brigade to Mesopotamia.
The situation of General Townshend’s force at Aziziya at this
time was anything but comfortable. The dust and flies were
extremely trying and almost impossible to contend with;
and there was much sickness from fever and from beri-beri.
On the 26th October, a careful medical inspection of the British
troops proved that many of the men were showing signs of their
hard campaigning, and this applied particularly to the Norfolks,
who could not turn out for the time being more than 400 effective
soldiers.
On the night of the 27th/28th October, General Townshend
moved out from Aziziya with the greater part of his force to
attack the Turkish advanced detachment at Kutuniya. The
enemy—whose strength was estimated at 1,000 Arab irregular
* See ante, p. 28.
t This brigade had returned to Egypt from Aden some weeks previously

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Content

The volume is the second volume of an official government publication compiled at the request of the Government of India, and under the direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General Frederick James Moberly. The volume was printed and published at His Majesty's Stationery Office, London.

The contents provide a narrative of the operations of 1914-1918 in Mesopotamia, based mainly on official documents.

The volume is in one part, entitled, 'Part III. The First Campaign for Baghdad', and consists of the following fourteen chapters:

  • The Decision to Advance to Baghdad
  • Commencement of the Advance Towards Baghdad
  • The Battle of Ctesiphon - the First Day's Operations
  • Battle of Ctesiphon (Continued) and the British Retirement to Kut
  • The Decision to Hold Kut and British Policy Consequent on the Failure to Reach Baghdad
  • The Siege of Kut: First Phase (December 1915)
  • Commencement of the Relief Operations
  • The Action of Shaikh Saad
  • The Action of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. and the First Attack on Hanna
  • Operations up to the End of February, 1916
  • The Second Attempt to Relieve Kut; the Attack on the Dujaila Redoubt
  • The Third Attempt to Relieve Kut; the Successful Advance to and First and Second Attacks on Sannaiyat
  • The Last Attempt at Relief; Bait Isa and Sannaiyat
  • The Siege of Kut; the Last Stages

The volume also includes nine maps, entitled:

  • The Middle East
  • Lower Mesopotamia
  • Map 8 - The Tigris from Kut al Amara to Baghdad
  • Map 9 - The Battle of Ctesiphon
  • Map 10 - The affair of Umm at Tubul
  • Map 11 - The defence of Kut al Amara
  • Map 12 - The fort at Kut; with special reference to the Turkish attack on 24th December 1915
  • Map 13 - River Tigris between Ali Gharbi and Shumran
  • Map 14 - The action at Shaikh Saad
  • Map 15 - The action of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
  • Map 16 - The first attack on Hanna; 21st January 1916
  • Map 17 - The attack on the Dujaila Redoubt, 8th March 1916
  • Map 18 - To illustrate Tigris Corps Operation Order No. 26, dated 6th March 1916
  • Map 19 - To illustrate operations between 10th March and end of April 1916
  • Map 20 - The action of Bait Isa on 17th and 18th April 1916, and the attack on Sannaiyat 22nd April 1916
Extent and format
1 volume (323 folios)
Arrangement

The volume contains a list of contents (folios 6-10), a list of maps and illustrations (folio 11), appendices (folios 254-290), an index (folios 291-312), and eleven maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 314-324).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 325; 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.

Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [‎35v] (77/660), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100045738548.0x00004e> [accessed 5 February 2025]

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