‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 22. PART II. (From 16th to 31st May 1916).’ [‎85r] (174/246)

-aSwii-isBaiS!;-:. .HS*—
(ii) War Establishment of a squadron.
B—The number of men required to complete the total establishment of
three squadrons.
8 I would now request that the sanction of the Government of India be
accorded to this organisation, which has stood the test in France, and that the
extra establishment required be provided at an early date.
Working copy to Q. M. G.
Copy to M. S. V., G. S. (M. 0. 2).
Letter No. Ig..-2773, dated lOth May 1916. APPENDIX 373
(Received in War Section on 27th May 1916.) (7)y. No. 56249)
From—The General Officer Commanding, Force tc 'D/ } Basrah,
To—The Chief of the General Staff.
Regarding Turkish and Arab prisoners of war now in India and Burma.
Will you please inform me whether any valuable intelligence has so far
been obtained from the letters which these prisoners of war receive from their
homes or elsewhere ?
Presumably these letters are examined by our staff at the prisoners of War
Camp before issue to addressees ?
Elsewhere it has been found that a considerable amount of information
can be thus obtained. Of course the most valuable information is usually that
which has been obliterated by the Turkish Censor. It has been found quite
practicable in most cases to clean cff the obliterating markings (chemically or
otherwise) and the intelligence thus obtained is of course likely to be of con
siderable value.
2. In this connection it is obviously advisable that prisoners of war be
encouraged to correspond freely with Turkey and Syria in order to establish a
good supply of incoming correspondence from those countries.
Working copy to A. G.
Copy to M. S. 0., M. S. V., G. S. (D. C C).
Telegram P., No. 56268, dated 27th May 1916.
(Despatched 2-15 p.m.)
APPENDIX 374
(2ty. No. 56268)
( 1. The Chief of the General Staff,
From— 4
(.2. The Commander-in-Chief in India,
Tl. The General Officer Commanding, Force f< D,” Basrah.
To— %
(.2. The Secretary, War Office, London.
Your 62 Ord. (Dy. No. 55428), of 22nd instant repeated to War Office.
Towards the rearmament of 2 batteries each with four Q. F. A5" howitzers,
w r e can provide 16 wagons, 16 w r agon limbers, 8 howitzers, 8 carriages, and 8
carriage limbers. At present w r e cannot undertake to supply or maintain you
with any complete rounds of ammunition or with any stores special to and
forming battery equipment and carried on vehicles or howitzers such as spare
parts, sights, etc.
We undertsand you require to have 1,500 rounds per howitzer of which
H. E. should form 99 per cent. If the ammunition and equipment not avail
able in India can be supplied by the War Office, there are 2 alternatives to
choose from—
(1) To rearm Nos. 77 and 72 Batteries, R. G. A., which are at present
armed with 5 f/ B.L. Howitzers sending you extra harness, native
drivers and horses required for the wagons of the 2nd Line. The
disadvantage of this would be that for some time while becoming
efficient with a new and complicated equipment these 2 batteries
would be out of action.