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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [29v] (63/540)
The record is made up of 1 volume (266 folios). It was created in 1927. 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.
34
HISTORY OF THE WAR: MESOPOTAMIA
General Staff on this matter on the 2nd August giving his
views pending a reply from Baratoff, whom he had asked to
give certain details as to when he would reoccupy the Diyala
line and as to his supply and transport requirements. General
Maude still stipulated for a vigorous Russian offensive every
where and that his own advance should be conditional on the
Russian movements ; but he might possibly have to cut down
the number of his infantry divisions for the advance from
four to three. After going into some factors affecting the
maintenance question he said that he realised the governing
factor in the problem was what the Russians could do. The
advantages of a combined British and Russian offensive if it
could be arranged were manifest, for it would give us the
initiative, a valuable asset. The Turkish concentration seemed
to be behindhand so that, granted an early Allied move, there
was a good prospect of breaking up that concentration piece
meal; while the moral effect of our advance would be
substantial both in Mesopotamia and in neighbouring countries.
A passive attitude by us would allow the enemy to complete
his concentration and deliver his main stroke as he thought
fit; and though this attitude might be forced on us by Russian
inaction, we should not adopt it till it was clear that there was
no other alternative open to us. The fact of having unreliable
allies need not necessarily paralyse us in the pursuance of war.
Should a continued offensive by the whole Russian forces and
ourselves be decided on after the receipt of the Russian reply,
it must be carried out, said General Maude, on the principles
outlined previously with due caution and coinciding, step by
step, with Russian progress.
On the 5th August General Maude replied to the Chief of the
Imperial General Staff’s telegram of the 2nd regarding possible
developments in Mesopotamia. Assuming that rumours of
movements were accurate and that these had already begun,
he calculated that eleven Turkish divisions, numbering
approximately 67,000 rifles with 308 field and heavy guns*
could be concentrated south of Mosul by the end of September.
This number added to the Sixth Army troops in Mesopotamia
would give a total of 96,500 rifles and 452 field and heavy guns.
The Russian force on the Persian front, consisting of some
22,000 sabres, 31,000 rifles and 102 guns, was being held in
check by 10,000 Turks with 36 guns ; and as the latter seemed
unlikely to detach more than another 5,000 men with 48 guns
for this purpose, this would mean that they could bring
81,500 rifles and 370 guns against General Maude. The enemy
i.e., 24 field and 4 heavy guns per division.
About this item
- Content
The volume is the fourth 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 V. The Campaign in Upper Mesopotamia, 1917-1918 - North-West Persia and the Caspian, 1918', and consists of the following ten chapters:
- May, June and July 1917
- August and September 1917: The Capture of Ramadi
- October to December 1917 - Occupation of the Jabal Hamrin, Action of Tikrit and Death of General Maude
- January to March 1918: Dunsterville's Mission and the Action of Khan Baghdadi
- April and May 1918: Operations in Kurdistan and Arrangements to Counter the Turco-German Threat beyond our Northern Flank
- British Plans to Stop the Enemy's Advance into Persia and to Obtain Control of the Caspian
- The Fall of Baku
- British Advance up the Tigris: Actions of Fat-Ha Gorge and on the Little Zab
- The Battle of Sharqat and the Armistice
- Conclusion
The volume also includes fourteen maps, entitled:
- The Middle East
- Mesopotamia
- Map 34 - Operations near Ramadi: July and September 1917
- Map 35 - Operations in the Jabal Hamrin: October and December 1917
- Map 36 - Actions at Daur and Tikrit: 2nd and 5th November 1917
- Map 37 - Operations on the Euphrates line: March 1918
- Map 38 - Action of Khan Baghdadi: 26th March 1918
- Map 39 - Operations in the Kifri-Kirkuk area: April and May 1918
- Map 40 - The Cavalry affair of the 27th April 1918, and the action of Tuz Khurmatli, 29th April 1918
- Map 41 - Operations of "Dunsterforce", 1918
- Map 42 - Operations at Baku, August-September 1918
- Map 43 - Operations on the Tigris: 18th-30th October 1918
- Map 44 - Action by 7th Cavalry Brigade near Hadraniya: 29th October 1918
- Map 45 - Battle of Sharqat, 29th October 1918
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (266 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a preface (folios 5-6), a chronological summary of the campaign in Mesopotamia (folios 7-8), a list of contents (folios 8-11), a list of maps and illustrations (folios 11-12), appendices (folios 197-232), an index (folios 233-254), and twelve maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 256-267).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 268; 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 file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
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- 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 IV.' [29v] (63/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/4, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049244984.0x000040> [accessed 14 March 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/4
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:2v, 4r:186v, 188r:255v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence