'Railways - Mesopotamia and L of C [Lines of Communication] Policy' [‎16v] (32/204)

Content

The file, marked secret, contains correspondence and notes regarding rail and river transportation for the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War. The papers cover a number of matters, including:

• Strategic considerations of the use of rail and river communications
• Supply of railway materials, rolling stock, and personnel to Mesopotamia [Iraq] from India, other parts of the British Empire, and allied territories
• Problems with unloading and shipping congestion at Basra
• Progress of railway construction, including weekly reports from the General Officer Commanding or Director of Railways to the War Office, starting from August 1917
• Capacity estimates (for troops, food, ammunition, and materials) and efforts to increase it
• Complaints of shortages of railway stock and personnel in India due to the demand in Mesopotamia
• Preparations for a commission, led by Sir Henry Francis Edward Freeland, to be sent to review rail and river transportation in Mesopotamia
• Questions of flooding and damming of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Correspondents include: the Commander-in-Chief, India; the Chief of the Imperial General Staff; the General Officer Commanding, Mesopotamia; the War Office; the Director of Railways, Mesopotamia; the War Section, Army Department, Government of India; and Major General Sir Henry Francis Edward Freeland.

Extent and format

1 file (100 folios)

Arrangement

The file is arranged in chronological order, from the rear to the front.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 102; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; these numbers are written in coloured crayon and pencil; where they have been written in pencil and circled, they have been crossed through.

Written in

English in Latin script

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