‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 15. PART II. (From 16th to 31st October 1915.)’ [‎94r] (192/306)

APPENDIX 447
{Dy. No. 25349)
Telegram P. ; No. 766-37-Q., dated 25th October 1915.
(Despatched 4-15 p.m. ; received 7-20 a.m., 26th October 1915.)
From—The General Officer Commanding, Force “ D,” Kut-al-Amarah,
To—The Chief of the General Staff.
Is it possible to expedite delivery of river craft now in hand, as the neces
sity for more is increasing ? They will be delivered, I presume, in the order
asked for in my telegram referred to below.
This refers to my 766-10-Q. (Dy. No. S.-17782) of August 11 th.
Working copy to Q. M. G-.
Copy to M. S. C., Gr. S. (M. O. 1, M. 0, 2 ).
Telegram P., No. 211-113-A., dated 25th October 1915.
(Despatched 4-15 p.m., received 9-15 a.m., 26th October 1915.)
From—The General Officer Commanding, Force “ D,” Kut-al-Amarah,
To—The Chief of the General Staff.
A report has just been received by me from 6 th Division that, on night
of 23rd-24th October two Afridis of the 20th Infantry, when on picquet duty
shot Sikh sentry and wounded Sikh havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. and then made off.
Desertions have now taken place in Mesopotamia on five occasions in
this battalion among trans-frontier men.
On 19th November 1914 there were 6 cases.
On 27th February 1915, at Shaiba, an intelligent havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. in charge of
a picquet deserted, and has probably since been of much assistance to the
enemy.
On night of 12th-13th April 1915, while the battle of Shaiba was in
progress, another deserted from a picquet.
On night of 27th-28th September 1915, just before the battle of Sinn
two more "deserted, and gave away useful information ; but fortunately
Nur-ud-Din refused to believe them.
APPENDIX 448
[Dy. No. 25153)
Now comes the case reported above, and Nur-ud-Din will probably obtain
considerable benefit from it.
Orders have issued for 20th Infantry to be sent at once to Amarah, and
they are being replaced by another battalion In my opinion the 20th Infantry
has now been shown all possible consideration, since the time when the request
for its removal from Mesopotamia was made by General Barrett in his 207-G
(Dy. No. S.-4218) of February 27th.
I now desire to repeat that request, and I recommend that this battalion
should bo despatched to some place in India 3 where it would be unable to do any
more harm, and that another good battalion from India should be sent here
in its place.
Working copy to A. G., G. S. (M. O. 2 ).
Copy to M. S. C., G. S. (M. O. 1 , M. O. 3).
Telegram P., No. S.-25357, dated 26th October 1915.
(Despatched 3 p.m.)
From—The Chief of the General Staff,
To—The General Officer Commanding, Force “ D,” Kut>al-Amarah.
W^e do not understand the effective strengths given in your No, 3-51-A. G.
(Dy. No. S.-25005) of 21st instant, as it appears that in some cases the Sep
tember drafts sent on the troopships “ Taroba,” “ Thongwa” and “ Elephanta ”
are included in some units, and left out in others. This makes the return
almost valueless as a statement on which to have drafts prepared. All drafts
landed in the country, whether they have joined units or not, should be includ
ed in these returns as far as possible. In order to do this Adjutant General’s
Office at the Base should have the necessary information in its possession. In
future drafts will leave Bombay and Karachi on the 25th and 27th of each
month, respectively, and they should therefore arrive in time to enable them
to be included in the return which is due from you on the 5th of each month.
In your telegraphic return for that date, this fact should be stated.
APPENDIX 449
{Dy. No. 25357)