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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [176r] (356/540)
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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CASSELS’ SITUATION
295
A squadron 23rd Cavalry, sent at 6 a.m. on the 27th October
by General Cassels to reconnoitre southwards, soon came in
touch with a Turkish detachment in position astride the road
about two and a half miles south of Huwaish. Its strength
was estimated at 400 to 500 infantry, with machine guns and
with at least three guns. These opened fire on the 23rd Cavalry
and then on the Light Armoured Motor Brigade, which General
Cassels could see working over the ground three to four miles
away to the south-westward. General Cassels decided to attack
this Turkish detachment as soon as his own guns had come
into action and after he had received air reports which he
expected shortly. His main objects in making this attack
were to force the enemy to disclose his strength and dispositions
and to conceal his own weakness ; while, if he were successful
in ejecting the Turks, he would hold their position himself
with the Huwaish fine as a second position in rear. In the
meantime he instructed the 23rd Cavalry squadron to remain
in observation.
At 7.45 a.m., from a copy of General Cobbe’s operation
order of the previous evening dropped for him from an aero
plane, General Cassels learnt that the 7th Cavalry Brigade
had been ordered back to Shuraimiya ; and soon afterwards
it appeared evident, from the air reports he received, that the
enemy had evacuated his position at and below Humr and was
concentrating at Sharqat and some three or four miles south
of that locality. General Cassels’ patrols on the Tigris left
bank also reported that there were no signs of any enemy on
that bank. At 9 a.m., when the ferry across the Tigris two
miles above Huwaish had been established, General Cassels
reported his general situation to Corps headquarters and
expressed confidence in his ability to hold up the enemy until
the 17th Division attack developed. This message was not
received by General Cobbe till 1.50 p.m. and is an instance
of the great delays which took place in the transmission of
messages during these operations, due to constant breakdowns
in the means of communication. In the meantime General
Cobbe had instructed the 63rd Squadron, R.A.F., to be prepared
to send aeroplanes promptly to bomb the enemy if there were
any indications of a heavy enemy attack on the 11th Cavalry
Brigade and had pointed out to General Fanshawe how
important it was to get troops to a point opposite Sharqat.
At 10.45 a.m. General Fanshawe, learning that General
Cassels had asked for more 18-pounder ammunition, sent
twelve wagon loads escorted by a troop of the 32nd Lancers to
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.' [176r] (356/540), 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_100049244985.0x00009d> [accessed 31 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