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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [151r] (306/540)
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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9MMM0
SUCCESSFUL EVACUATION 247
with peremptory orders for the British troops to return to the
line of defence. The enemy shelling had ceased, the Turks
had not yet entered the town and the Baku people, they said,
meant to continue the fight. But General Dunsterville refused
to sacrifice more lives in a vain cause. Whereupon the
Dictators said that the fleet would be ordered to sink his ships.
General Dunsterville, however, decided to take this risk. He
knew that it would take some time for the fleet, which had no
searchlights, to receive and carry out these orders ; while even
their obedience was uncertain, as they disliked the Dictators
and were not unfriendly towards the British. The only real
danger was from a guardship at the entrance of the port ; but
she had no large guns and General Dunsterville hoped to pass
her unseen in the dark.
The departure of the President Kruger was delayed till past
midnight by families of the crew ; but she got off at last and
was just passing the guardship when one of her crew turned
on all the electric lights. This led to a challenge from the
guardship and to her opening fire, fortunately without effect.
The three steamers carrying troops all reached Enzeli safely
next day.*
The Armenian followed the President Kruger and was hit
by several small shells from the guardship ; but she managed
to get through to Enzeli without loss of life.
A certain amount of material had to be destroyed in Baku
and the animals were handed over to Bicharakoff’s contingent;
but all the personnel and guns were safely brought away,
thanks to the foresight and capacity of General Dunsterville,
Commodore Norris and the officers under them.
Baku had been taken by the Turks without German
assistance. Colonel von der Goltz saysf that till the end of
August the Germans had only a weak mixed brigade at Tiflis ;
and, though reinforcements came by sea from South Russia,
followed by a Bavarian cavalry brigade, great difficulties were
* A fine testimony to the gallantry of the British at Baku is afforded by a
document presented to General Dunsterville at Enzeli in the following terms :
“ We the Committee and crew of the S.S. Kursk have witnessed with
intense admiration the heroic conduct of your brave British soldiers in the
defence of Baku. We have seen them suffering wounds and death bravely
in defence of our town, which our own people were too feeble to defend. It is
wonderful to us that these fine fellows from that distant island in the North
Sea should have come all this way to the Caspian and have given up their lives
there in the cause of honour and glory. We are so much impressed by their
bearing and valour and by the whole episode of the British endeavours to
save Baku from the Turks, that we wish to be at once taken over as a body
and granted British nationality.”
t ‘‘Meine Entsendung nach Baku.”
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.' [151r] (306/540), 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_100049244985.0x00006b> [accessed 18 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