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File 788/1919 Pt 4 ‘MESOPOTAMIA DISPOSAL OF RIVERCRAFT’ [‎69r] (134/240)

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File 788/1919 Pt 4 ‘MESOPOTAMIA DISPOSAL OF RIVERCRAFT’
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Ref: IOR/L/PS/10/805/2

The record is made up of 1 item (119 folios). It was created in 26 Apr 1920-3 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. .

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. taka craft to India presumably months hence.
(H) Accounts Officer, at-re uesf ^ «• • ^
’ -o-iuest of the Ministry the Secratanr
of State t or India v/ired ¥icerov India •md — , ai ^
India and OitxI Baglidad 6 weeks
aeo to assist in appotoat of an Accounts Officer to the board
here and Civil in consultation with the Financial Adviser 0.H.Q.
(Colonel Stevens) indicated a suitable available and Officer
a month si. * . A month ** since the officer «•' first
inatructe b to report for duty and outise information was
given to tne Commissioner a week ago that at that date the Officer
n.i cuesvion had been sitting in a camp in Baghdad "awaiting orders"
wnat time tae Commissioner was pressing- daily for his services apd
stated they had 'no knowledge of his whereabouts". She
Otfleer lias not yet reported for duty*
' ,10
(12) . The Commissioner whilst holding a military appointment
7/8,3 ted to ills present post on the personal selection of the
late General Officer Crosmanding-inpChief (Sir Geo.Mollunn) with whom
no .i-' d come in contact on first arrival in Mesopotamia as Secretary to
Major General Sir F. Free lands Mission on Transportation sent out
from the War Office in 1917.
\
(13) The Com issioner is not responsible for opinions expressed
by any other Officer and it is most unlikely that his views would
lead on Officer of Colonel Scott’s long; service and ability to make
a report contrary to his own independent opinions. Moreover a
Colonel Scott (Late Bg. General, C. France and ahine) was
aoqaintad with the D.A. & f.J.G. (%. General Ifcmbro) in France
and Germany.
(14) file Coniraiasioiiar holds his appoininent in tn.e direct
interests of the public and he eonsiders it his duty to iiis Ministry
to keep it advised on all matters likely yo be of interest or on
which public questions may be raised* He re/rets extremely
?5 want of harmony* in tV p - past months but sugp.ests, without
suspicion of criticism and uith clue respect to the Com 1 %t> in Gsief,
that if a broader recognition of the Gormiissioiierfs responsibilities
A

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This part concerns the disposal of river craft in Mesopotamia and contains material relating to:

  • The arrangements made by Lord Inchcape [James Lyle MacKay], of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company Limited, with the Ministry of Munitions towards the purchase of the Government’s surplus river craft in Mesopotamia
  • The vessels purchased by the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company from the Government through financial arrangements in Bombay [Mumbai], from March to August 1920
  • The transfer of the Inland Water Transport Department in Mesopotamia from military to civilian authorities, and the amount of military transportation vessels to be maintained
  • The suggestion of the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, to the Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill, that they convince the civilian and military authorities respectively to agree to the sale of the river fleet in Mesopotamia
  • The wishes of General James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane to retain a portion of the river craft until the railway from Basrah [Basra] to Baghdad has proved its reliability, and consideration that he can carry his supplies by water more cheaply than could be done by possible purchasers
  • The criticism of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, of British Army control over the oil fleet as being ‘uneconomical’, for charging three times that of civilian organisations and railway transportation
  • The financial statement of the Ministry of Munitions to Parliament on the ‘Disposal of Surplus Government Property’, together with a ‘Memorandum on Disposals’ (ff 40-47)
  • The schedules of the Inland Water Transport Headquarters, Basrah, for fitting out and delivering the vessels to Keti Bandar, Calcutta [Kolkata] and Rangoon [Yangon] (ff 34-37)
  • The shortage of personnel in the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force to make the arrangements for the delivery of vessels to the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company
  • The observation by the War Office that it would entail an actual loss to make the vessels (all but nine) seaworthy and deliver them to Lord Inchcape under the stipulations
  • The responsibility for policing inland waterways in Mesopotamia and the possible takeover, by civil authorities, of four armed gunboats on loan from the Admiralty
  • The ‘non-delivery’ of river craft to the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company due to the change in the military’s position
  • The reluctance of British military authorities in Mesopotamia to place river transport solely under private control, in case of a possible emergency in Government transportation.
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1 item (119 folios)
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English in Latin script
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File 788/1919 Pt 4 ‘MESOPOTAMIA DISPOSAL OF RIVERCRAFT’ [‎69r] (134/240), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/805/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100148183206.0x000090> [accessed 6 October 2024]

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Reference
IOR/L/PS/10/805/2
Title
File 788/1919 Pt 4 ‘MESOPOTAMIA DISPOSAL OF RIVERCRAFT’
Pages
3r:4v, 6v:7v, 8v:10v, 11v, 16v:56v, 57ar, 57r:75v, 76v:105v, 106ar, 106r:106v, 107v, 107r, 108r:121v
Author
East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms
Open Government Licence