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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [‎91v] (189/660)

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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154 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
could not well resort to their usual tactics of preparing a
defensive position, partly for want of time and means, and
partly because the terrain on the right bank of the Tigris
would enable General Nixon to manoeuvre them out of such
a position.
General Barrow again stated his anxiety about the situation
in the oilfields and the danger to our communications and
base, concluding that we ought to send a brigade to Ahwaz ;♦
and he was still doubtful of the wisdom of remaining in
occupation of Nasiriya.
Assuming the successful relief of Kut, General Barrow then
proceeded to discuss the best military policy for the future.
In view of the increasing Turkish strength he came to the
conclusion that we must abandon all idea of going to Baghdad
and that General Nixon must be restricted to the defensive.
If General Nixon could hold a position about Kut, so much
the better; if not, he would have to fall back at least as far
as Amara—possibly to Qurna. In either case he should be
at once ordered to prepare strong defensive positions at and
about Qurna and in the Shaiba area. General Barrow was
not in favour of sending the two additional divisions asked for
by General Nixon, for, if we should have anything like 60,000
Turks to deal with, the only reasonable course, in his opinion,
was to retire to the Qurna-Shaiba line. “ When we have
established a firm base in the Shaiba area, Quma and the
Karun valley, we may consider our oil interests as fairly safe
and our grip on the throat of Mesopotamia as absolutely
secured .... With five divisions in so defensible an
area, he (General Nixon) can defy the whole Turkish army
indefinitely.”
On this day (27th December) H.M. Government decided to
evacuate the remaining positions in the Dardanelles.
At the War Committee meeting on the 28th the situation
in Mesopotamia was gone into fully. The various recent
telegrams between the 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. , India and General Nixon,
General Barrow’s two appreciations of the 20th and 27th
December, and a memorandum on the future conduct of the
war, signed by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, were
all considered. As Lord Kitchener considered that it would
be impossible to send from Egypt | the two additional divisions
asked for by General Nixon, the idea was abandoned. *
* He supported his contentions with letters he had received from the Anglo-
Persian Oil Company and from Admiral Slade.
f Troops from the Dardanelles had by this time arrived in Egypt.

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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.' [‎91v] (189/660), 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_100045738548.0x0000be> [accessed 10 February 2025]

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