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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [58v] (121/540)
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
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■ — ■ I .ri a
88 HISTORY OF THE WAR: MESOPOTAMIA
notice of enemy’s concentration either on the EuDhrate*
or on the Tigris.
“ 6 . The general situation makes it important that no
more troops than are absolutely necessary for the carrying
out of your mission, as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 are
locked up in Mesopotamia during the hot weather in 1918
and I therefore wish you to keep in view the possibility
of reducing your forces before then, and to make all
possible preparation to economise force to the fullest
extent by strengthening your defences and improving
your communications.
“7. It is of vital importance to economise shipping to
the fullest extent, and you will therefore make every
endeavour to develop local resources to that end in con
sultation with Sir Percy Cox.
“ 8 - Please acknowledge and ask for explanation if any
points are not clearly understood.”
The above is mainly noteworthy as being the first official
intimation of a possible reduction of strength in Mesopotamia
owing to the unlikelihood of an imminent enemy offensive.
The instructions in paragraph 1 for an active defence were
evidently intended to ensure that our superiority in numbers
in Mesopotamia should be utilised as much as possible to
assist indirectly our operations in Palestine, where General
Allenby s force had now reached within a few miles of Jerusalem.
Altogether five Turkish divisions were by now reported as
having gone to Palestine from Aleppo, where only two remained;
and the fact that a German unit numbered 701 was reported
as having passed through Rayak in Syria qn its way to Palestine
m the second week of October tended to confirm former reports
that a German division also had gone there.
In Russia anarchy and civil war prevailed everywhere.
In Moscow and Petrograd, Lenin and Trotski had gained the
upper hand and had published a decree calling on all belligerent
nations to commence peace negotiations at once. The state
of the Russian army was getting worse ; its officers were
powerless; and it was extremely doubtful if they would be
a e to maintain any army at the front during the winter,
more especially as the Bolsheviks, afraid lest the army should
e used against them, were doing their utmost to prevent a
military recovery. There was, however, a hope that national
roops (Armenians and Georgians) would be raised in the
Caucasus, which, with the assistance and support of the Allies,
would be able to continue to offer opposition to the Turks.
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.
- 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 IV.' [58v] (121/540), 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_100049244984.0x00007a> [accessed 3 January 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