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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME II.' [157v] (323/660)
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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280 HISTORY OF THE WAR: MESOPOTAMIA
The provision of additional accommodation at Basra
rendered difficult by the state of the ground, which owiJ?
the recent rain was everywhere ankle deep in mud or wat °
General Lake, describing to the Mesopotamia Commission ;
a visit he made to the camp at Makina Masus,* says that h
had to walk there as even after two days without rain ridi *
was impracticable. Wheeled transport could not move in the f
mud ; and, as he said, the British soldier, with his usual
felicity of expression, had aptly translated the name of the
site into “‘Muck in the Marshes." Moreover, in less than two
months’ time the flood season was due and would make matters ^
very much worse.
Roads in the Basra area, above flood level and with bridges
over the many large canals high enough to allow mahailas to
pass beneath them, were of earth only and few and far between’
and many more would be required to connect landing places!
stores, depots, camps and hospitals. For the traffic these roads
would have to support, metalling would be required ; but stone
for metalling was quite unprocurable locally.
The provision of accommodation and roads and the protection
of the area from floods were the most urgent works, and orders
were issued for these to be expedited immediately. They
included an embankment 9 miles long, 10 feet high and 30 feet
wide at the base, extending from Maqil to near Shaiba, and
the total lengths in the Basra area amounted to some twenty-
four miles, f
The labour question in Mesopotamia was always a difficult
one. The local Arabs were unreliable and, although some
Persian labour was imported with successful results, the
numbers obtainable were limited. There were political ob
jections to bringing large numbers of Indian labourers into the
country and, when the seriousness of the situation overcame
these objections, it was found that Indians themselves were
much averse to going to Mesopotamia, and large numbers of
them refused to embark at the last moment. In addition to
retarding all works, this labour shortage had the further result
of affecting the battle efficiency of the troops in Mesopotamia;
for soldiers there had to be employed in large numbers on the
most urgent works, and, as many of them had only a few months’
service, their necessary military training was much interfered
with.
i
* In the Basra area.
t The greater part of them were constructed by April.
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.' [157v] (323/660), 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_100045738549.0x00007c> [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