"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. المجلد IV". [و‎‎١‎٣‎٣] (٥٤٠/٢٧٠)

WAR OFFICE INSTRUCTIONS
213
going to Baku and it was hoped that if evacuation became
necessary the destruction of the oil resources would be carried
out, by force if necessary.
They sanctioned the despatch of a detachment up to a
battalion to Krasnovodsk, but, in view of the possibility of
hostile transports entering the port there from Astrakhan,
guns were all important and consequently at least a section
of a battery should be sent there also, even though it only
took equipment ammunition. Attempts must be made to
obtain local supplies and in this General Malleson was asked
to assist ; but it was too much to expect him to undertake
responsibility for the full supply. Crude oil was obtainable
at Krasnovodsk.
General Dunsterville was to be instructed not to hesitate
to dispose of any remaining Bolshevik influence at Baku if
necessary, and in carrying out these instructions he could rely
on the full support of the War Office.
In Mesopotamia during the period under review in this chapter
there were few incidents of importance. The total strength
of the Turkish Sixth Army appeared to have decreased by about
200 sabres, 3,000 rifles and a few guns and aeroplanes, the
main reduction having taken place on their Tigris front; and
about 100 sabres and 1,800 rifles had moved from the area
between Mosul and Kirkuk to Saqqiz and Sauj Bulag. The
Turkish XIII and XVIII Corps seemed to have been disbanded
and on no front was there more than a single division remaining.
The Tigris group was beheved to consist of the 14th Division
(7th, 9th and 43rd Regiments), the Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya
groups were found by the 2nd Division (1st and 18th Regiments)
and that in the Sauj Bulag area by the 6 th Division (16th and
22nd Regiments). As already related, the command of the
Sixth Army had been taken over from Halil by Ah Ihsan.
On the British side, beyond the movements into Persia
already mentioned, the only important change in dispositions
was the occupation of Tikrit on the 12th July by a detachment
of the 1st Corps so as to cover the extension of the railway
from Samarra.
On the 10th July a reconnaissance by two British officers,
under Arab escort and accompanied by a Yezidi chief, left
Balad for the Jabal Sin jar, where they received a cordial
reception from the Yezidis. They found that this tribe was
then in complete subjection to the Turks, as the result of
punitive measures by the latter in retaliation for Yezidi raids
on the Nisibin-Mosul line of communication. Consequently,