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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [116r] (240/660)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
TURKISH MOVEMENTS DOWNSTREAM 201
and it did not appear to him that the situation there had
recently altered materially for the worse—General Young-
husband should not advance on Shaikh Saad till the 4th January.
The reason for this decision, which he communicated to
Generals Nixon and Townshend, was that much work still
remained to be done before the force advancing under General
Younghusband could be considered to be properly organised.
The news regarding the enemy dispositions on that and the
following three days was indefinite. On the 1st an aeroplane
reconnaissance from Ali Gharbi reported an enemy force
at Shaikh Saad, with detachments pushed five or six miles
downstream, which had constructed entrenchments on both
banks of the river. The whole enemy force there was roughly
estimated at 2,000 Turkish cavalry, at least 600 infantry,
and 1,000 Arabs. The next day General Townshend reported
that no signs of the enemy could be seen at Es Sinn, and that
he had come to the conclusion that the Turks had no force
downstream of Kut. He had heard that a fresh Turkish
division had reached Baghdad and he mentioned the arrival
downstream of the Firefly in Turkish hands * On the evening
of the 3rd January, General Townshend telegraphed that large
bodies of hostile troops, estimated at two divisions, were seen
moving down the left bank from the enemy’s camp upstream
at 4.45 p.m. ; and that this indicated a night attack upon him,
for which he was preparing. Next day, however, he reported
a quiet night and that the enemy movement reported the
previous evening was inexplicable, unless it was a night march
to Es Sinn. They could then see two bodies of Turkish infantry,
one about two battalions and the other half a battalion,
digging trenches a few miles eastward of Kut, roughly astride
the direct road on the right bank of the river leading from
Shaikh Saad.
On the 29th December General Nixon had sent General
Aylmer his instructions for the forthcoming operations.f
In these General Aylmer was told to begin his advance with
all the available force at his disposal on or about the
3rd January. His primary object was to effect the relief of
General Townshend’s force at Kut, while his secondary object
was to cover the concentration at Kut of further reinforce-
* General Townshend said that there was a very strong rumour among the
Arabs that one of the two breechblocks of the Firefly’s 4 • 7-inch gun had been
left on board. This was found subsequently to be true, the breech-block being
a spare one which had been kept below,
t Sent by hand of an officer.
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.' [116r] (240/660), 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_100045738549.0x000029> [accessed 5 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