"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. مجلد I" [و‎‎١‎٦‎٨] (٤٥٤/٣٤٠)

OPERATIONS AT BUSHIRE
309
The British garrison at Bushire was reinforced by a squadron
of the 16th Cavalry and the 11th Rajputs from Basra, the
43rd Erinpura Regiment being sent from India to replace the
Rajputs in Mesopotamia.
Bushire town and its administration having been taken over
on the 8th August, a combined naval and military expedition
was despatched against Dilwar.* Landing having been effected
on the 13th in the face of considerable opposition, punitive
operationsf were carried out till the night of the 15th/16th, by
which time Dilwar fort and village had been captured and
destroyed. The force then returned to Bushire, where
Brigadier-General Brooking, commanding the 33rd Brigade in
Mesopotamia, was now sent by General Nixon to take command.
Hostilities of a desultory nature against General Brooking’s
force at Bushire were carried out by Persian tribesmen until the
9ch September, when an attack by some six hundred of them
gave General Brooking the opportunity he desired. He counter
attacked and inflicted a severe defeat on them on that day,
which, for the time being, put an end to enemy activity near
Bushire. The operations were carried out in extreme heat,
and cost the British over one hundred and fifty naval and
military battle casualties, besides many due to the climate.
The Russians also were much concerned at the Persian
Government’s inaction in the face of the continued German
hostile activities; and, in support of our common policy,
Russian troops were landed at Enzeli on the Caspian at the
beginning of September. This had the desired effect of
bringing home to the Persian Government where the German
action was likely to lead them ; and they seemed at last
inclined to consider the question seriously. The effect at the
oil-fields was also almost immediate; and General Nixon
reported on the 16th September that the situation had much
improved, and that four leading Bawi Shaikhs had made
formal submission to the Shaikh of Mohammerah.
During August the Indian authorities had many causes for
anxiety. German schemes for landing arms in India, to assist
the revolutionary plots already subsidised by them, had come
to light; military precautions had to be taken on the North-
West Frontier to meet a Jahad by Mohmands, Swatis and
Bunerwals, which was expected to materialise at the end of
* H.M.S. Juno, Pyramus, Lawrence and Dalhousie, with half the 96th
Infantry and two machine guns.
■f It has been decided not to describe operations in Persia in any detail in
this history.