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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [122v] (253/660)
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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214 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
the country and threatening the flank and rear of hostile
bodies.
Land transport was to march on either bank between the
fighting troops and the river ; and the river transport was to
move abreast the columns on land, headed by the three gun
boats. General Younghusband’s headquarters were to be on
board the Julnar.
On the morning of the 4th, a south-easterly gale caused
considerable damage to the bridging train and delayed the
start of General Younghusband’s force until 10.45 a.m. But
the only opposition encountered was from two squadrons of
Turkish cavalry and some two or three hundred Arabs on the
right bank of the river. The cavalry brigade drove these
back without difficulty and the day’s march was completed
by 2.30 p.m.
Resuming his advance on the morning of the 5th, General
Younghusband’s force reached, at about 2.30 p.m., the eastern
end of the Musandaq reach, where it camped. During the
march small mounted bodies of the enemy on both banks had
fallen back before the British advance.
On the 4th and 5th January, General Aylmer learnt from
General Townshend that enemy columns were moving east,
evidently to oppose General Aylmer, probably at Es Sinn;
that General Townshend now assumed that the two large
columns he had reported moving on the 3rd (see preceding
chapter) had also gone downstream ; and that the enemy
camps upstream of Kut were either gone or much reduced.
This was the first clear indication received by General Aylmer
that his advance had obliged the Turks to weaken their hold
on Kut and that they were moving large forces downstream to
oppose him. In consequence of this news, General Aylmer
telegraphed to General Younghusband * that at least 20,000f
enemy had moved down the left bank from Kut during the
last few days, including 8,000 moving that morning. General
Aylmer did not think they could cross to the right bank except
very slowly and in small numbers and he expected them to
occupy the Es Sinn position, though it was quite possible that,
in spite of what must be great transport difficulties, they might
move further downstream4
* This telegram reached General Younghusband during his march on the
5th.
t An over-estimate. . .
J Kiesling says that Nur-ud-Din decided in Goltz’s absence at Kermansna
to hold Kut with a small force and to detach the larger portion of his force o
oppose General Aylmer’s relieving column.
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.' [122v] (253/660), 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_100045738549.0x000036> [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