IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3237

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 16 and 30 September 1915. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: telegrams, letters, memoranda, lists and tables.

The volume mostly relates to:

• Reinforcements and supplies for Force D, including: river craft; aeroplanes; road vehicles; personnel; food; weapons; and ammunition
• Staff appointments and details of injured and sick officers
• Updates on progress at the Tigris line, especially at Sinn, Sannaiyat [As Sina‘yat] and Kut-al Amarah [Al-Kut]
• Proposals to advance on Baghdad after taking Kut-al Amarah
• Distributions of Force D (f 50) and of the Turkish [Ottoman] troops (f 123)
• Russo-Turkish operations at Van
• Discussions of the situation in Persia [Iran], including the impact that the withdrawal of British Consul, Thomas George Grahame, from Isfahan to Ahwaz [Ahvaz] has had on employees of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
• Conversations between Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and the Shaikh of Muhammareh [Khorramshahr] with regards to negotiating with leaders of the Bakhtiari [Bakhtīyārī] tribal confederation to protect the oil fields and ‘maintain order’ in Arabistan [Khuzestan]
• The rejection of Turkish forces from Najaf [An-Najaf] by the local population
• Discussions about how to govern holy places between the Basrah [Basra] Vilayet [a province under the Ottoman Empire] and Baghdad in anticipation of them coming under British control, and the extent to which the Persian Government should be consulted on this matter.

The volume also includes:

• Appreciations [reports] from the Directorate of Military Operations summarising the situation in Mesopotamia on 20 September (ff 47-48) and 27 September 1915 (f 113)
• A ‘Brief report on the possibilities of the Development of Irrigation in the Basrah District’ by Lieutenant P A Stoddard, Indian Army Reserve Officer (Special Irrigation Officer), (ff 64-71), which is accompanied by comments from Cox and Brigadier-General Joseph Cameron Rimington, Royal Engineers
• Copies of correspondence between Edmund George Barrow, Military Secretary, India Office, and Bertram Blakiston Cubitt, Under-Secretary of State for India, on the subject of aviation units for service in India and Mesopotamia, which include tables of personnel and vehicles required (ff 91-96)
• The Quartermaster General’s Embarkation Statement, listing reinforcements and details for Force D which embarked at Bombay [Mumbai] and Karachi (ff 128-134).

The vast majority of material in the volume dates from September 1915, with the exception of a small amount of material which dates from May, June and August 1915.

A summary of the contents of this volume can be found at the start of IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3236.