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File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [456r] (925/995)
The record is made up of 1 volume (491 folios). It was created in 28 Jun 1920-11 Feb 1921. 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
now are• We do not really require more units at present. What
we chiefly want is to have existing units brought up to
strength in personnel and equipment* At present moment though
we were promised 3 squadrons in Mesopotamia by April 15. Royal
Air Force are unable to keep more thah 16 machines in air in
Mesopotamia and Persia or to make more than six m available for
any single operation during this critical period*
Araoured cars cannot be sent out of Baghdad owing to weak
ness or inefficienty of personnel# Tanks Save been refused us,
(8) British units in country contain such large proportion
of immature and almost untrained young soldiers that they cannot
be used for operations during the hot weather whole brunt of
which fills os the Indian regiments.
Some of the Indian regiments supplied from India recently
are much below strength and I am cfeolbly informed that half # eg
of the regiment whicE recently arrived at Basrah had not finished
their first musketry course and there were insufficiency of
trained men in regiment to man, its Lewis guns, ..
Eivery Militaiy Department in ^subordinate personnel,
British units in the country are consequently further depleted
in order to meet the essential departmental needs with the
result that some units cannot parade more than 300 strong*
Motor transport in the country is worn out and of low
efficiency* When for example urgent call was made for
(? currenti) operations on the 50 reserve lorries at tige rail
head of Quraitu it was found that only 8 were serviceable.
Defence vessels are unreliable*
(9) If Home and India will furnish us with efficient
units and keep them up to strength by a system of relief(s)
similar to that adopted in time of war thus (? enabling)
us to send men on leave to India without depleting our strengths,
and making automatic provision for casualties, and if War Office
will send us equipment we need, I have little doubt that we
shall carry on all right with existing units#
(10) Finally in my iudgnent ffegsHttafam Head
Quarters in Mesopotamia snouid not again leave Bagadad.
Experience of last two months convinces me that it will be
some years before this can be done without much administrative
inconvenience and loss of efficiency and, in an emergenqy
serious risk*
(11) Presuming that His Majesty! s (Sovemment required
an independent appreciation of situation I have not shown this to
General*’Officer Commanding in Chief but I am sending him a
copy*
Addressed
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.
repeated to Viceroy.
About this item
- Content
The volume consists of correspondence, memoranda, drafts, and departmental notes relating to rebellion against British mandatory rule in Mesopotamia [approximately corresponding to present-day Iraq], later known as the Iraqi Revolt of 1920.
The volume covers the period from the start of unrest in May 1920 to British imposition of control in October of the same year. The majority of the volume comprises reports from political officers across Mesopotamia on the situation in their respective divisions and districts.
Other matters discussed within the volume include:
- The suspected causes of the uprising, including fears of ‘Bolshevik’ and pro-Turkish influence
- Settlement of the border between Syria and Mesopotamia
- Military strategy and operations, including the need for reinforcements
- The severing of British lines of communication, particularly rail
- The efficacy and principles of the use of armoured cars and air raids as means of control following numerous cases of misidentification and disproportionate force that resulted in the deaths and injuries of innocent people
- Political and civil policy in the region
- Identification and arrest of some of the leaders of the rebellion
- The prominence of events in Mesopotamia in the British press
- The question of disarming the tribes following the suppression of the rebellion.
Principal correspondents include officials at: the 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. ; the Office of the Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia (from November 1920, the High Commissioner); the War Office; General Headquarters of the military in Mesopotamia; and the Government of India, Foreign and Political and Army departments.
The volume contains cuttings from several publications, including: The Times , The Statesman , The Observer , The Daily Herald , The Daily Mail , The Baghdad Times , and The Near East .
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence. A second divider is included, for File 4722/1918 Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’. This was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (491 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in approximate chronological order, from the rear to the front.
The subject 4722 (Mesopotamia) consists of ten volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/755-764. The volumes are divided into twelve parts, with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 comprising one volume each. Part 10 is missing. Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’, was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 489; 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. Multiple intermittent additional foliation sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly, f 89a.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [456r] (925/995), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/761, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100137804989.0x00007e> [accessed 6 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/761
- Title
- File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:89v, 89ar:89av, 90r:113r, 114v, 118v:120r, 121v, 127v:169v, 173r:192v, 194r:211v, 213r:223v, 225r:227r, 229r:261v, 262v:263v, 266r:279v, 280ar, 280r:293v, 294v, 295v:317v, 318ar, 318r:333v, 334v:341v, 342v:359v, 360v:400v, 404r:424v, 425ar, 425r:489v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence