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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [183v] (371/454)
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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340
HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
owing to the floods, troops in Southern Mesopotamia were
unable to march from May to August except in a very few areas
for short distances.
During June, owing mainly to the Nasiriya operations, the
hampering effect on the military operations of the lack of river
craft made such an impression on Major-General Kemball
(General Nixon's senior general staff officer), that he asked
General Nixon’s permission to intervene to take up himself
the question of this shortage as a question of primary import
ance affecting the whole policy of the campaign. After personal
investigation he assembled a conference in Mesopotamia of the
senior administrative staff and corps officers on the 30th June,
and as a result he submitted some days later to General Nixon
a comprehensive memorandum on the subject.
General Nixon was thus able for the first time to give the
Government of India a broad and clear view of the situation.
On the 8th July, in a telegraphic report on the operations up
the Euphrates, he stated that these operations had been
hampered throughout by the type of river vessel at his disposal,
and that he was sending by post a letter explaining the need
for the urgent supply of nine light-draught steamers. This
letter, dated KHh July, forwarding General KembalTs
memorandum, was received in India on the 21st, and was
followed by a supplementary letter written on the 17th and
received in India on the 27th July.
In his communication of the 10th General Nixon, referring
to the attached memorandum and his previous reports, said
that he trusted that it would be realised how much operations
were dependent on an efficient and adequate river flotilla.
He explained how he had from the first recognised that he
must make the most of existing resources, owing to the difficulty
of getting suitable craft from India or Burma—even if they
existed there—across the sea in the monsoon. But he empha
sised what a great source of anxiety to him the question had
proved, and he pointed out how the course of events must
inevitably tend to a steady diminution of his available craft.
He urged most strongly that the six paddle-steamers and
three stern-wheelers asked for in his telegram of the 8th should
be provided.
General Kemball in his memorandum said that, as there was
every sign that the war would be a protracted one, the time
had come to take stock of our resources and to meet the
demands of the future. He showed, from a review of the past
operations in Mesopotamia, how urgent was the supply of nine
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.' [183v] (371/454), 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_100048172214.0x0000ac> [accessed 3 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