IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3240

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 1 and 15 November 1915. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: telegrams, letters, memoranda, lists and tables.

A summary of the contents of this volume can be found at folios 7-8. The volume mostly relates to:

• Reinforcements and supplies for Force D, including: weapons; land vehicles; river craft; sea craft; and ammunition
• Details of a potential aviation unit in Mesopotamia
• Staff appointments and movements
• Prisoners of war held and exchanged
• Movements of Turkish [Ottoman] forces from Bitlis to Mosul and the rumoured arrival of Turkish infantry at Dair-az-Zor [Deir ez-Zor]
• Dispositions of the Turkish forces and intelligence on their potential reinforcements
• Russo-Turkish operations
• Discussions about Persia [Iran], including: the potential effects of Persia entering the war; the impact on the oil fields; support from the Shaikh of Muhammareh [Khorramshahr]; the situation on the Arabistan [Khuzestan] frontier; and the attitudes of the Bakhtiari Khans [Bakhtīyārī Khāns]
• Proposals to construct a railway from Basrah [Basra] to Nasiriyah
• Activities of tribes between Aziziyah [Al ‘Aziziyah] and Kut [Al-Kut, also rendered in text as Kut-al-Amarah]
• Discussions about the creation of an autonomous ‘Arab state’ and negotiations held between Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry McMahon, High Commissioner of Egypt, and the Sharif of Mecca [Al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, Sharīf of Mecca]
• Proposed advance to Baghdad, including: discussions about publishing a proclamation about the occupation of Baghdad (draft at ff 47-48); edits to this proclamation suggested by General Nixon, General Officer Commanding Force D (f 108), and the Viceroy of India (ff 113-114); and the decision to alter the proclamation based on McMahon’s promise of the velayets [a province under the Ottoman Empire] of Basrah and Baghdad to ‘the Arab party’
• Arrival of General Headquarters at Aziziyah from Kut.

The volume also includes:

• Composition of Force D at the end of November 1915 (ff 3-6)
• Appreciations [reports] from the Directorate of Military Operations summarising the situation in Mesopotamia on: 1 November 1915 (ff 15-16); 8 November 1915 (ff 81-82); and 15 November 1915 (ff 153-154)
• Distribution of Force D for week commencing 17 October 1915 (ff 25-27) and week commencing 24 October 1915 (ff 111-123)
• A table providing details on ‘Ships for Indian Divisions’ (ff 137-138).

The vast majority of material in the volume dates from November 1915, with the exception of a small amount of material which dates from October 1915.