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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [132v] (269/540)
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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212 HISTORY OF THE WAR: MESOPOTAMIA
remembered that we could only maintain shipping so long as
we were able to get fuel from Baku.
Pending further instructions he was ordering General
Dunsterville to complete the force at Baku to two battahons,
to concentrate a third battahon and a battery at Enzeli and
to await orders regarding Krasnovodsk.
On the 13th August General Dunsterville reported that in
a letter of the 9th Colonel Stokes said that Bicharakoff would
probably return to Baku if he could, but that for the time being
he was engaged with a local rising of the Daghestanis.
On the 14th August the War Office telegraphed to India
and Mesopotamia that they considered it undesirable to lay
down a detailed policy for General Malleson. Our three
principal objectives were: control of the Caspian shipping,
the occupation of Baku as long as there was a hope of holding
it, and the permanent occupation of Krasnovodsk. The
object of occupying Baku was primarily to control the Caspian
shipping and secondarily, if it was impossible to effect its
continued occupation, to render the oil fields and port useless
to the enemy for many months. When this was done, unless
the situation at Astrakhan developed so as to justify hopes
of early Russian co-operation, we should not attempt to hold
Baku against superior forces but should transfer the detachment
to Krasnovodsk. It seemed quite likely that Alexeieff’s
activities north of the Caucasus might re-act favourably on
the situation at Baku and enable us to maintain our hold there.
Guns were the main consideration for Krasnovodsk and could
be most rapidly obtained from Mesopotamia, where the matter
should at once be taken in hand. The occupation of
Krasnovodsk was to be permanent, and both Mesopotamia
and General Malleson should make every effort to build up
a force there and arrange for a satisfactory defence seaward.
It was, however, too early yet to decide on the strength of its
garrison. The limits of the spheres of control laid down for
India and Mesopotamia should not hinder necessary action
by either party outside its sphere; and the man on the spot
must frequently take energetic and rapid action without
reference to India or the War Office.
At the same time the War Office replied separately to General
Cobbe s telegram of the 12th intimating their general con
currence in his proposals, but saying that at such a distance
the\ were unable to do more than outline the general policy
to be followed. There was no objection, if the situation
permitted, to a force up to three battahons and a battery
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.' [132v] (269/540), 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_100049244985.0x000046> [accessed 29 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