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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [16v] (37/454)
The record is made up of 1 volume (223 folios). It was created in 1923. 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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12 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
less to their tribal organisation, but in many cases the tribal
bond is weak or absent. The town Arab is often of very
mixed blood and is generally in bad repute.
The marsh Arabs who are found on both banks of the
Tigris between Qurna and Amara and along the Lower
Euphrates are non-Arab in origin. They live mainly by
fishing and the produce of their buffaloes, but here and there
they cultivate a little rice. They generally bear rather a
bad reputation.
The Arab is generally intelligent, quick and impressionable ;
often he has a certain subtlety of mind which is capable of a
high state of cultivation. But he is slovenly and uncreative
in practical matters and is lacking in the power of co-operation
and of sustained labour in the face of difficulties. He has a
natural bent for intrigue, is much under the sway of personal
ambitions and jealousies, and is very much of a time-server.
His word is generally easily broken unless given under certain
forms or in certain circumstances which make it a point of
honour with him to keep it. For many of them blackmail
and thieving are normal and proper ways of earning a living.
At the same time, the Arab ideal of conduct is humane and
includes courtesy, generosity and hospitality, and may express
itself finely in action if it is not stifled by the desires of the
moment.
The Arab is used to continual warfare of a guerilla type.
He frequently commits acts of treachery and is generally
ready to rob or blackmail a weaker neighbour. In warfare
re g u lar troops he confines himself as a rule to raiding
and harassing of retreats; and his offensive operations are
rarely of a very determined and sustained character. During
the war, the tribes were found to be well provided with
mo ern rifles, especially in Lower Mesopotamia, and were
usually possessed of ample ammunition. They are, however,
poor marksmen.
Owing to the way in which the old tribes and tribal groups
scattered, as a result of their former invasions, it is
1 /'V ^ give any adequate description of the tribal system
in f ne 01 ^ g ener al terms. The largest unit is the group or
confederation of tribes. Some of these are of considerable
size, such as the Muntafik in Southern Iraq, the Anaiza in the
" y rian esert, and the Shammar who are the predominant
group in Lpper Mesopotamia and extend southwards to the
country between the Tigris and the Persian hills. The greater
groups may contain sub-groups, and the tribes again are
About this item
- Content
The volume is the first 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 divided into two parts. The first part, entitled, 'Part I. Before the Outbreak of Hostilities', consists of the following five chapters:
- General Description of the Country
- The Turks in Mesopotamia
- British Pre-War Policy
- The Army in India and Pre-War Military Policy
- Inception of the Operations
The second part, entitled, 'Part II. The Campaign in Lower Mesopotamia', consists of the following seven chapters:
- The Landing in Mesopotamia of Force "D" and the Operations Leading to the Occupation of Basra
- The Occupation of Basra and the Capture of Qurna
- Commencement of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
- Development and Defeat of the Turkish Counter-Offensive
- Operations in Arabistan and the Capture of Amara
- Operations on the Euphrates and the Occupation of Nasiriya
- The battle of Kut and Occupation of Aziziya
The volume also includes nine maps, entitled:
- The Middle East
- Lower Mesopotamia
- Map 1 - To illustrate operations described in Chapter VI
- Map 2 - To illustrate fighting near Qurna
- Map 3 - To illustrate fighting round Shaiba
- Map 4 - To illustrate operations in Persian Arabistan
- Map 5 - To illustrate operations in the Akaika Channel 27th June to 5th July 1915
- Map 6 - To illustrate operations near Nasiriya 6th to 24th July 1915
- Map 7 - To illustrate the Battle of Kut 28th September 1915
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (223 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a page of errata (folio 5), a list of contents (folios 6-8), a list of maps and illustrations (folio 9), appendices (folios 185v-192), an index (folios 192v-214v), and eight maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 217-224).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 225; 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 I.' [16v] (37/454), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048172213.0x000026> [accessed 7 April 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/1
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:3r, 4r:216v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence