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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [150r] (304/454)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
ROUTES TO NASIRIYA
275
General Gorringe was entrusted with the conduct of these
operations. For these, the force placed at his disposal at
first consisted of an infantry brigade with certain divisional
troops; and a naval flotilla under Captain Nunn was to
co-operate with him. General Nixon had decided that the
advance should be made by water across the Hammar lake
and up the Euphrates, as he considered that to move by the
desert route at that time of year would be a very hazardous
operation, requiring much preparation and a large amount
of transport. As, therefore, it was anticipated that all move
ment would be by water, no animal transport* was arranged
for. In addition to the naval guns, field guns would be
mounted in river steamers, mountain guns and machine guns
would be put on rafts, and as many heliums as it was possible
to tow would be taken.
The instructions given by General Nixon on the 23rd June
to General Gorringe were to the effect that he was to open
the waterway from the Hammar lake to the Euphrates and
to secure effective occupation of Suq ash Shuyukh and Nasiriya.
Just above Suq ash Shuyukh, the water of the Euphrates
dispersed into a maze of channels on its way to the Hammar
lake.f Only two of these channels, the Akaika or Kurma
Safha and the Mazliq, were navigable by steamers ; and in
1915, the Mazliq channel was closed by a bar to vessels larger
than an ordinary mahaila. The other channels could only be
traversed by mashufs or at the best by light heliums. The
ground along and near the banks of these various channels
was often comparatively high and capable of cultivation,
while in between them were generally reed-grown swampy
depressions or inundations, according to the time of year.
While, in June 1915, the British force knew little of the area
to the west of the Hammar lake, they had ascertained by
reconnaissance that the best water route to Nasiriya lay along
the old channel of the Euphrates via Qurna, across the Hammar
lake and up the Akaika channel. This channel was known to
be blocked by a solid looking dam about half a mile from its
entrance to the Hammar lake.
General Nixon had endeavoured to increase his knowledge
of the area from local and native sources and by aeroplane
reconnaissance; but the two Maurice Farman aeroplanes
were of old pattern, unsuitable for flying in the extreme heat,
* In any case, with the shipping available it would have been impossible
to send transport animals.
f See Map 5.
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.' [150r] (304/454), 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_100048172214.0x000069> [accessed 4 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