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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [158r] (320/540)
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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MARSHALL’S INTENTIONS
261
General Marshall, learning, even before the capture of
Damascus on the 1st October, that, owing to General Allenby's
victories, the Turks were hurriedly withdrawing troops from the
Caucasus* and that there was no longer any danger of an enemy
advance on Kazvin, agreed fully that the time had come to take
the offensive against the Turkish force covering the approaches
to Mosul. The main part of this force was holding a position
of great natural strength, astride the Fat-ha gorge, which the
Turks had been preparing for nearly eighteen months, with a
second strong position astride the Tigris at its confluence with
the Little Zab.
General Marshall would have preferred to make the Turks
fight on ground of his own choosing by carrying out his main
advance via Kirkuk. But the lack of available transport,
owing to the requirements of Persia and of the collection of
the Mesopotamian harvest, prohibited such a course, so that
the only alternative was a direct advance up the Tigris.
At a conference at Baghdad on the 5th October, attended
by General Cobbe, General Marshall explained his intentions
and gave general instructions for the operations. The main
advance up the Tigris would be carried out by the 1st Corps
and 7th and 11 th Cavalry Brigades under the command of
General Cobbe, his right flank being covered by a small column
from the Illrd Corps. This column, commanded by General
Lewin, was to advance on the line Tauq-Kirkuk-Altun
Kopri and prevent the enemy forces in that area from moving
down the Little Zab. Further, the 56th Infantry Brigade was
to move from the Euphrates to assist in constructing the railway
line northward of Tikrit.
A good many preliminary movements of troopsf not required
for the operations would be necessary, to bring them back to
the railways so as to release transport required for the advance;
and these movements with other necessary preparations would!
i t was co nsidered, take about twelve days.J
*It was reported that four Turkish divisions were being withdrawn.
t The disposition of General Marshall’s force at the beginning of October
was briefly as follows. Troops amounting to nearly a division were on the
Persian line of communication and in Persia ; the 14th Division, east of the
Diyala, was distributed from Khaniqin to Shahraban; the 13th Division west
of the Diyala, had one brigade group in the Qara Tepe-Kifri-Tuz Khurmatli
a ^., an . d the other about Delli Abb as ; the 17th Division was in the vicinity
of riknt on the Tigris right bank ; the bulk of the 18th Division was about
bamarra, with a brigade at the Tigris-Adhaim junction ; the 15th Division
was on the Euphrates with its advanced troops at Sahiliya to the north of
6th, 7th and 11th Cavalry Brigades were at or near Shahraban,
-tsaghdad and Falluja respectively.
+ By the 13th October it became clear that they would take longer.
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.' [158r] (320/540), 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_100049244985.0x000079> [accessed 2 April 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