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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [98v] (203/660)
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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168 HISTORY OF THE WAR: MESOPOTAMIA
was kept up by the Sumana, the launches and motor boats
by which means also the village garrison was kept supplied
with food and ammunition.
The main British artillery position near the brick kilns was
occupied by the 63rd Field Battery (six guns), 86th Heavy
Battery (two 5-inch guns) and the l/5th Hants Howitzer
Battery (four howitzers). In the north-east sector, in addition
to the two 15-pounders in the fort, the 76th Field Battery
were posted near 17th Brigade headquarters. In the north
west sector the remaining two 15-pounders of the Volunteer
Battery were at first located close in rear of the left
of the first line. The remaining guns were posted in the
southern sector : the 82nd Field Battery in the most northerly
palm grove to the north-west of the town, with the two 4-inch
guns of the 104th Heavy Battery to the east of this grove;
two 5-inch guns of the 86th Heavy Battery near the river
bank west of the town, and near them in barges on the river
the four naval 4-7-inch guns. Owing to the situation of the
British force, its artillery fire had necessarily to be divergent,
whereas the Turkish guns had all the advantages of being able
to bring a converging fire to bear on Kut.
At this time General Townshend was apprehensive of a
determined enemy attack on his unfinished defences, and he
was afraid that the moral of a number of his troops had
suffered as a result of their exhausting retreat and subsequent
investment by the enemy. In particular he considered that
the small number of British officers remaining in the Indian
units was an especially disturbing factor.
But the Turks showed no great inclination to come rapidly
to close quarters. During the next few days they began their
investment by a converging movement on both banks of the
river, north and south of the Kut peninsula. Advancing
against the northern British front, the Turkish infantry, in
extended order, moved as far forward as they could under the
British gunfire, and then dug themselves in and began to sap
forward. In this way they began the formation of a network
of trenches which was soon to close the neck of the peninsula.
At the same time, a force, estimated by General Townshend
as a division, crossed the Shatt al Hai about five miles from the
Tigris and approached the eastern flank of the peninsula,
threatening the British bridge of boats and blocking the
British line of retreat.
On the 8th December, in a communique to his troops, General
Townshend said : "I am glad to tell you that I am promised
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.' [98v] (203/660), 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_100045738549.0x000004> [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