IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3292

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 1918. 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 labour requirements of Force D, including proposed reorganisation of supervising personnel for labour units
• Staff appointments, promotions and training
• Supplies for Force D, including: road transport, rations, coal, weapons, ammunition, animals, and shrapnel
• Lists of sick and wounded soldiers
• Turkish [Ottoman] forces: movements; intelligence from deserters; status in western Asia Minor; construction of railways; and distribution as of week ending 29 January (ff 192-193)
• Details of tonnage [amounts of cargo] transported on ships
• Railway and port traffic reports
• Demand for personnel across multiple departments
• Complaints regarding the ban on exporting dates
• Updates from action around Kasri Shirin [Qasr-e Shirin, also rendered in text as Qasri Shirin and Kasrishirin], including intelligence that tribes in the vicinity are friendly towards the Turkish army
• Discussions about persuading Russian forces to defend the border at Persia [Iran] and the possibility of sending a British detachment to help
• Details of the [Major-General Lionel] Dunsterville Mission, including: updates; supply of intelligence and personnel; request that Dunsterville shares copies of reports with the Commander-in-Chief in India; and details of Dunsterville’s remit (ff 77-79)
• Details of the Transportation Commission led by General Henry Freeland, including: updates; discussions about future peacetime railway policy; and the sharing of information with the Commander-in-Chief in India
• German troops: movements; information on Wireless Formations in Mesopotamia; status at different fronts; composition of troops; intelligence from captured aviators; and changes in command
• Plans for cultivation activities in Mesopotamia
• Plans to build mills in Mesopotamia
• Affairs in Persia, including concerns about the new cabinet and a proposed agreement between His Majesty’s Government and the Persian Government
• Reports about recent events at Nejef [Najaf]
• Naval Commander-in-Chief’s desire to take control of wireless stations
• Plans to disrupt Turkish forces’ supply and communication lines
• Status of Russian forces in Persia
• Reaction of Percy Cox, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to the High Commissioner of Egypt’s concerns over ‘growing uneasiness among Arabs’
• Tests of Abadan petrol
• Correspondence difficulties with the French Agent at Basrah [Basra].

The volume also contains:

• Statement showing strength of the different contingents serving with Force D as of 17 November 1917 (ff 7-16)
• Monthly distribution report of motor vehicles in service with Force D on 1 November 1917 (ff 27-35)
• Appreciations [reports] from the Directorate of Military Operations summarising the situation in Mesopotamia and Persia on 20 January (ff 79-80) and 28 January (ff 180-181).

Whilst the volume contains copies of earlier material dating from November 1917 onwards, the bulk of the material dates from January 1918.