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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [181v] (367/454)
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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336 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
Townshend continued to receive reports from Sannaiyat of
attacks and threatened attacks, but he steadily declined to
detach troops from his main enterprise to go to that place till
6 p.m., when he sent there one company each of the 76th
Punjabis and 2/7th Gurkhas. But the threatened attack did
not materialise and the detachment rejoined headquarters
early on the 29th.
By 10 a.m. on that day the naval flotilla, having passed the
obstruction* in the Tigris, reached Kut—about forty-five
minutes after the arrival there of General Delamain’s cavalry—
and pressed on in pursuit of the enemy’s steamers. But the
low state of the river rendered navigation very difficult, and
it was not till the morning of the 30th that two of the enemy’s
steamers—the Pioneer and Basra —were overtaken. By this
time the Sumana had run aground and broken both her
rudders, the Shaitan had been hit by a shell from the Turkish
rearguard guns and was also aground, and the Comet was
alone. She at once engaged the enemy steamers and was
soon joined by the Shaitan, who had managed to follow on.
They appear to have hit the Basra, for she dropped two
mahailas —full of ammunition—which she was towing and
found safety in her superior speed.
About noon, when the British gunboats came under fire
from the mountain guns of a Turkish force which had emerged
from inland and was now behind them, the Shaitan again ran
aground, and for a time the position appeared critical as the
leading portion of General Townshend’s pursuing force was far
behind. Fortunately, however, she managed to get off again,
and the S.N.O. (Lieut. Singleton), deciding that further pursuit
was too risky, brought his two craft back to Kut.
General Townshend’s orders for the pursuit had allotted
General Fry’s force, i.e., the 63rd Field Battery, half the 17th
Sapper Company and the 18th Infantry Brigade to carry out
the pursuit by river, moving in steamers behind the naval
flotilla, while the cavalry were to pursue by land up the left
bank of the Tigris. General Delamain’s brigade was to march
in and occupy Kut, while General Hoghton’s brigade remained
to clear up the battlefield and evacuate the wounded. In
regard to the latter, the evidence given before the Mesopotamia
Commission shows that the improvised arrangements for the
reception and accommodation of the wounded proved inadequate.
* The Turks had left behind two men to fire an old muzzle-loading gun
covering this obstruction. But this futile, though gallant, resistance was
quickly disposed of.
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.' [181v] (367/454), 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_100048172214.0x0000a8> [accessed 2 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