IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3245

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 31 January 1916. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: letters, telegrams, notes, tables, and memoranda.

A summary of the contents of this volume can be found at the start of IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3244. The volume concerns:

• Appreciations [reports] and intelligence summaries from the Directorate of Military Operations
• The advance of General Fenton Aylmer
• Battle of Umm-ul-Hannah [Hanna] and subsequent evacuation of the wounded
• Consideration of a proposal to introduce French troops into Mesopotamia
• Supply of river craft and other military supplies including aircraft
• Oil exports
• Reinforcements for Force D, especially reinforcements for the Royal Flying Corps
• Consideration of how the Tigris flood season would affect operations
• Conclusions from an interview between Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and Bin Sa’ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Shaikh of Kuwait [Shaikh Jābir II al-Mubārak Āl Ṣabāḥ] in December 1915
• Speculation about how long General Charles Townsend’s supplies inside Kut would last
• A discussion about the speed of post to and from Mesopotamia
• Proposed future re-organisation of Force D.

The following tables appear:

• The distribution of the troops in Force D on folios 14-18 and 154-155
• The strength of Force D on folios 67-68, 98, and 137
• Distribution of the Turkish [Ottoman] Army on folios 106-111
• Embarkation statement for troops which embarked at Bombay [Mumbai] and Karachi for Basrah [Basra], in January 1916 on folios 169-178.