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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [74v] (155/660)
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. .
Transcription
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122 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
Some half-hour later the 18th Brigade also withdrew, and
finally just before 8.30 a.m„ the 17th Brigade followed.
The Cavalrv Brigade then commenced a gradual retirement
bv regiments, and as this was completed the Turkish 7th and
9th Regiments began to advance, inclining southward to gain
touch with their 44th Regiment. About this time also the
Iraq Cavalry Brigade arrived and came up on the left of the
51st Division.
The whole British retirement was carried out under heavy
enemy gunfire and was characterised by great steadiness and
precision The Turkish 51st Division followed only for a short
distance though the Turkish cavalry and some of their artillery
carried on the pursuit till about 11 a.m. The Turkish account
says that it was not till about noon that their 45th Division
onrl XIII Armv Corps were rallied and brought back to join
the 51st Division. „ . „ , . x . , f .
When the British Cavalry Brigade had retired for about a
mile, General Townshend’s force was strengthened by the
arrival of General Melliss’s column, which came into line
between the 17th Infantry Brigade and the cavalry. Leaving
his bivouac at daybreak, General Melliss had moved well
inland and marched rapidly to General Townshend s assistance.
From now on the hostile pressure was slight, though the
Turkish guns continued to fire and the Turkish cavalry to
threaten the rear detachments till shortly after 11 a.m., when
they finally gave up the pursuit.
General Townshend had determined to shake off the enerny
pursuit by long marching, and he decided not to halt till he
reached Qala Shadi some twenty-six miles distant. The troops
were very tired, Arab horsemen hung on to the flanks and rear
of the column, and many private accounts testify to the trials
of the march. Darkness came on with the column still march
ing, and by then the troops were so weary that it required
constant effort to keep them going, in spite of the fact that they
knew they could expect no mercy from the Arabs. e
impenetrable blackness of the night and the roughness o e
track, with the growing exhaustion of the men, increased e
difficulties of maintaining formation and decreased the average
pace, and so the force stumbled on only half awake. Ihe ea
of the column reached Shadi about 9 p.m., but the rear g ua f
did not get in till the early hours of the next day, and ai ran
were thankful to lie down and sleep on the road in co umn
they were. But even sleep was difficult, as the co
intense and there was no food to distribute.
About this item
- 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 View the complete information for this record
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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [74v] (155/660), 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_100045738548.0x00009c> [accessed 10 February 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/2
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:3r, 3r, 4r:70v, 72r:79r, 160v, 80r:102v, 104r:160r, 161r, 313v, 161v:281v, 283r:313v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence