IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3249

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 March 1916. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: telegrams, letters, tables, and memoranda containing instructions and reports.

The volume mostly relates to:

• Reinforcements and supplies for Force D, including: weapons; ammunition; river craft; land vehicles; airplanes; animals; clothing; hospitals; chemicals; and tents
• Staff movements, salaries, promotions and status (e.g. sick, wounded, discharged, dead)
• Prisoners of war
• Situation in Turkey, in particular the anti-German feeling and Russian advances
• Updates from the Tigris line, especially around Kut [Al-Kut] and Hannah [Umm al Hannah] and with particular attention paid to the impact of flooding
• Updates from the Euphrates line
• Operations by the Russians in the Caucasus region
• Details of Turkish [Ottoman] forces, including: proposals for negotiations; distributions (ff 65-66); changes in command; and movements of troops
• Supply of weapons to Bin Sa’ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Āl Sa’ūd]
• Lines of communication and requests for more detailed intelligence
• Discussions about Sharif [Al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, Sharīf of Mecca], including: his plans; requests he has made of Great Britain; whether his policies for Arabia and Syria should be adopted in Mesopotamia
• Proposals for the formation of a Base Depot at Basrah [Basra]
• Articles published in England and in the Gulf.

The volume also includes:

• Distributions of Force D: on 5 March (ff 10-12); 12 March (ff 101-104); 26 March (ff 149-152); as of 29 March (ff 185-191); at 19 March (ff 199-202)
• Appreciations [reports] by General Charles Townshend (ff 15-16) and General George Gorringe (f 22)
• Appreciations from the Directorate of Military Operations summarising the situation in Mesopotamia on 20 March (ff 55-56) and 27 March (ff 147-149)
• Announcement by the Maharajah [Mahārājā] of Kolhapur in support of soldiers eating horse meat (f 161)
• ‘Statement showing the strength of reinforcements and details for Basrah which embarked at Bombay [Mumbai] and Karachi’ (ff 211-225).

The vast majority of material in the volume dates from March 1916, with the exception of quoted excerpts from a newspaper, dated 17 January 1916.

A summary of the contents of this volume can be found at the start of IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3248.