IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3227

The volume contains a chronological list of brief summaries of papers relating to the activities of the Indian Expeditionary Force D (also known as the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force) between 10 and 31 December 1914. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include letters and telegrams containing reports, instructions, and casualty lists.

A summary of the contents of this volume can be found at folio 2 under the subheading ‘Consolidating Position’:

• ‘Engineer Field Park sailed’
• ‘Turkish [Ottoman] prisoners sent to India’
• ‘Reinforcements sailed’
• ‘Sniping at Qurneh [Al Qurnah]’
• ‘No. 104 Heavy Battery mobilized’
• ‘Sniping at Qurneh’
• The arrival at Basrah [Basra] of: Survey Section; 1 Company Sirmoor Sappers and Miners; and Search-light Section.

Topics also covered include: requests for supplies and equipment; the movements of Turkish troops; plans for the administration of Basrah; and the activities of Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also known as Ibn Saud].

Summaries of the contents of previous volumes can be found at folio 1.

The title page contains the following reference: ‘9th December. Turkish Surrender at Qurneh.’

The bulk of the material dates from 10-31 December 1914, but the volume also contains a small number of copies of telegrams dated from November and early December 1914.