Mesopotamia in 1914

Overview

Mesopotamia, ancient Greek for ‘land between two rivers’, is a name for the area of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, corresponding roughly to modern Iraq and Kuwait and parts of eastern Syria.

By the 17th century, Mesopotamia was a part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, although Turkey failed to exercise full political and economic control of the local Arab population. Before the war Mesopotamia had a population of over 2,200,000, of whom around 1,500,000 were Arabs (FO 373/5/2).

In 1913, the Government of India purchased 2,000,000 shares in the capital of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), on behalf of the British Government (CAB 37/167/32). The British Navy  depended heavily on the oil produced by the APOC refineries. The principal refinery was based at Abadan, by Shatt-al-Arab river, which formed the southern border between Persia and Mesopotamia, running down to the Persian Gulf.

The Mesopotamian province of Basrah lay directly across the Shatt-al-Arab river from Abadan. On 11 September 1914, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, Viceroy of India, wrote to the War Office stating it was ‘important for us to keep a force ready to strike at Basrah, in the event of war with Turkey’ (CAB 37/167/32).

On 16 October 1914, when it seemed certain that the Ottoman Empire would enter the war on the side of the Central Powers, a Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force, known as Expeditionary Force D, was sent from India to Mesopotamia. Initial instructions from the British Government was that the force should ‘occupy Abadan, protect the oil tanks and pipeline, cover landing of reinforcements, if those should be necessary, and show the Arabs that we intend to support them against the Turks’ (CAB 37/167/32).

Early Allied success

Photograph of General Nixon and his Staff CAB 44/34

On 23 October 1914 the Expeditionary Force, under Brigadier-General Walter Delamain, anchored off Bahrain and on 31 October orders were received to ‘seize the mouth of the Shatt-al-Arab and to protect the oil refineries on that river’ (CAB 37/167/32).

On 5 November the force reached Shatt-al-Arab and the following day they bombarded and occupied the nearby Ottoman fortress of Fao. On 10 November Brigadier-General Delamain’s force occupied Saniyah and on 14 November Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Barrett arrived with reinforcements from India and took over command of the Expeditionary Force (WO 32/5215).

On 22 November Basra was captured and occupied, and the British headquarters were set up there to administer the region and safeguard the oil fields at Abadan. Because of the rapid progress made by British Empire forces, Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, suggested and sanctioned an attack on Kurna, situated at the junction of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates (CAB 37/167/32).

In January 1915 Kurna, was taken by a British forces led by Major-General Charles Fry, comprising two Indian battalions; the 104th Wellesley’s Rifles and the 110th Mahratta Light Infantry, and a double company of British soldiers from the Norfolk Regiment, accompanied by several gunboats. They captured the Governor of Basrah and a considerable number of prisoners and guns (WO 106/1558).

On 9 April, General Sir John Nixon arrived at Basrah and took over command from General Sir Arthur Barrett. From 12 to 14 April Turkish forces that had been assembled to retake Basrah attacked the British garrison at nearby Shaiba and were defeated by troops under the command of Major-General Sir Stanley Maude. The Turkish commander Sulaiman Askeri committed suicide after the battle (WO 106/1558).

During April and May 1915 a British division under Major-General Sir George Gorringe advanced with a force of 10,000 men towards Ahwaz, situated on the river Karun. The aim was to secure the river and so ensure better transportation for arms and supplies and to repair the oil pipeline there that had been damaged by the Turks.

The pipeline was repaired at the beginning of June and on 3 June 1915 the city of Amarah was captured by General Townshend. On 25 July, Nasiriyeh on the Euphrates was occupied by General Gorringe, completing the conquest of the Basrah vilayet (province) (WO 106/1558).

Pushing northwards along the river Tigris, the town of Ali al Gharbi was occupied on 1 August and on 29 September General Charles Townshend captured the city of Kut-el-Amarah. Townshend’s commanding officer, General Sir John Nixon proposed on 3 October that it would be possible to advance to Baghdad without extra support.

At the time, it was estimated that only 9,000 Turkish troops stood between Kut and Baghdad, and General Nixon had two divisions of infantry and one cavalry brigade at his disposal, which amounted to around 25,000 men (CAB 37/167/32).

By capturing Baghdad it was felt that it would send a message across the Middle East, particularly in Persia and Afghanistan, and would distract attention away from the disastrous campaign in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli. With the success and speed of General Townshend’s campaign so far, British high command believed he had taken on an aura of invincibility for the demoralised Turks (CAB 37/167/32).

Although Nixon’s plan had approval from the War Office, it took time for a decision to come through. The Secretary of State for India, Austin Chamberlain and the Viceroy of India, Lord Hardinge were against the proposal unless significant reinforcements could be found. As a result the advance did not resume until 11 November, allowing Turkish forces time to reinforce their position at Ctesiphon, the gateway to Baghdad (WO 106/1558).

The Battle of Ctesiphon and the retreat to Kut

Watercolour of the Liquorice Factory at Kut from an illustrated manuscript 'The siege of Kut-al-Amara 1915-1916', by Muhammed Amin Bey CAB 44/35

On 22 November 1915 General Townshend narrowly defeated Turkish forces at Ctesiphon but incurred heavy casualties against the more numerous Turkish defenders. As a result, on 29 November General Townshend’s troops began to head back to Kut-el-Amarah, followed closely by Turkish forces.

On 3 December the retreating British column under General Townshend re-entered Kut-el-Amarah but by 7 December Kut-el-Amarah was surrounded by Turkish forces (WO 32/5215).

On 7 December General Nur-ud-Din, commanding the Turkish forces besieging Kut, sent the following letter in French to General Townshend: ‘General, Your feeble troops are already surrounded by our superior army in a very narrow position. It will only take a decisive strike by my army to break your resistance. I should also point out that in choosing an inhabited town as a field of battle, you have gone against all civilized laws. To avoid causing unnecessary bloodshed, and above all to prevent the needless destruction of the poor and innocent inhabitants of the town, I have the honour to invite you to surrender your arms.’ (CAB 44/35)

On 8 December General Townshend replied that he had received no such instructions and that both Turkish and German forces had already used similar defensive tactics, which were not against the rules of war (CAB 44/35).

On 6 and 7 January 1916 a relief force was sent to Kut commanded by General Younghusband, which captured Shaikh Sa’ad and Ali-al-Gharbi. On 13-14 January the Turks were defeated at the Battle of Wadi. In light of the failure at Kut, the War Office in London took over control of operations from the Indian Government. General Nixon was replaced by General Sir Percy Lake and General Sir Fenton Aylmer was placed in charge of forces sent to relieve General Townshend (WO 32/5215)

On 21 January General Aylmer attacked Turkish positions at battle of Umm-el-Hannah but was unsuccessful. On 8 March General Aylmer made a night march and attacked Dujailah redoubt and was again repulsed retreated to Wadi. As a result, on 11 March Major-General Gorringe relieved Lieutenant General Aylmer in the command of the Tigris Army Corps (WO 32/5215).

Following further failed attempts by British forces to relieve General Townshend, the Kut garrison, comprising some 2,765 British and 6,000 Indian soldiers, surrendered on 29 April. On 1 May Khalil Pasha, the Turkish regional commander, agreed to exchange Townshend’s sick and wounded for equal number of Turkish prisoners. The survivors were marched off to Turkey as prisoners of war (WO 32/5215).

Advance to Baghdad and Mosul

Plan of present and proposed railway layout for Baghdad dated 31 July 1918, compiled from Surveys of Survey Party CO 1047/466

The Turks were distracted by the Russian operations in Persia and elsewhere, and the remainder of 1916 saw a period of build-up in British troops, supplies, and communications. On 18 August 1916, General Sir Frederick Maude assumed command of the 3^rd Indian Army corps. By 29 November the Shaikh Sa’ad–Sinn, Kurna-Amara and Basra-Nasiriyeh railways were completed; during December constant aeroplane bombardment destroyed Turkish targets including bridges and the towns of Sanna-i-Yat and Kut (WO 106/915)

On 25 February 1917, Kut was retaken by British forces and the Turks were pursued to Baghdad, which was captured on 11 March. A British General Headquarters was established in Baghdad. On 19 March, Fallujah on the Euphrates was occupied and by 24 April British forces had reached Samarrah. On 29 September the entire Turkish force at Ramadi surrendered, including the Turkish commander Ahmed Bey (WO 106/915)

On 18 November, General Maude died from a cholera infection and was replaced by Lieutenant-General William Marshall as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Mesopotamia (WO 106/915). In December, with British forces now overwhelmingly in control, a small force under General Lionel Dunsterville separated from the main forces and crossed Persia to assist in the recapture of Baku on the Caspian Sea, although the objective was not retaken until August 1918 (WO 106/915).

On 25 October 1918 the city of Kirkuk in the north of Mesopotamia was occupied, marking an end to much of the Turkish opposition (WO 106/917). Within a week, on 30 October, Turkey signed the Armistice of Mudros, which stipulated that all garrisons would surrender to nearest Allied commander and that ‘hostilities between the Allies and Turkey shall cease from noon, local time, on Thursday 31 October 1918’ (FO 93/110/80)

Despite the armistice, Allied forces advanced northwards with the intention of capturing Mosul and securing the oil wells there before the conflict was fully concluded. In November the 7^th and 11^th cavalry brigades occupied Mosul. General Marshall ordered the Turkish troops to evacuate the town by 15 November (WO 95/5093). The Turkish commander Ali Ihsan had not received instructions from his government to evacuate but agreed to carry out these orders under protest.

During his tenure as Commander in Chief of British Forces in Mesopotamia, General Marshall gave over 400 awards for gallantry and distinguished service, including 21 Distinguished Service Orders, 70 Military Crosses, 7 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 17 Distinguished Conduct Medals, 115 Military Medals, 22 Indian Orders of Merit (2^nd Class) and 141 Indian Distinguished Service Medals (WO 106/915).

Aftermath

Treaty of Sèvres FO 93/110/81

The Treaty of Sevres was signed on 10 August 1920. As part of the conditions of peace, the frontiers of Turkey were redrawn. The boundary of Mesopotamia was established to north of Mosul by a boundary commission and Mesopotamia became a British mandated territory. The mandate stated that ‘Syria and Mesopotamia shall … be provisionally recognised as independent states subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory authority until such time as they are able to stand alone’ (FO 93/110/81).

The mandate was replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty in 1922 (FO 93/142/2), following the inauguration of Faisal ibn Hasayn as King Faisal I of Iraq, although Britain still maintained control of Iraq’s foreign affairs and military administration. Iraq finally gained full independence from Britain on 3 October 1932 (FO 371/16047).

Key documents

• The siege of Kut-al-Amara 1915-1916, by Muhammed Amin Bey: original illustrated manuscript volume I 1922 CAB 44/35
• Memorandum on the Mesopotamian campaign by Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, Viceroy of India (1910-1916), December 1916 CAB 37/162/32
• Armistice of Mudros, 30 October 1918 FO 93/110/80
• Treaty of Sevres, 10 August 1920 FO 93/110/81
• Handbooks prepared by the Historical Section of the Foreign Office, no. 92, February 1919 FO 373/5/2
• Diary of operations of Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 WO 32/5215
• War Diaries, Mesopotamia 1914-1920 WO 95/4965-5580
• Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force: Despatch on operations by Lt Gen Sir W.R. Marshall 1917 Oct. 1-1918 Apr. 15 WO 106/915
• Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force: Despatch on operations by Lt Gen Sir W.R. Marshall 1918 Oct. 1-1919 Feb. 1 WO 106/917
• Operations of Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1918 (printed) WO 106/1558