IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3322

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 31 May 1919. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: telegrams, memoranda, and tables.

An index to the contents of this volume can be found at folios 3-8. The volume concerns:

• Military personnel issues, including the granting of leave, demobilisation of troops, and transfer of units from Mesopotamia to India
• Supply of animals to Force D
• Dispatch of water tanks from Mesopotamia to India
• A report on the performance of Kachin recruits in the 85th Burma Rifles (ff 32-33)
• Dispatch of units from Force D to respond to ‘disturbances’ in India and on the North-West Frontier
• Spread of the ‘Ikhwan movement’ in Bahrein [Bahrain], Kowait [Kuwait], and Mesopotamia
• Intelligence concerning public opinion in Mesopotamia, including: opposition to the British occupation; the preference of ‘leading men’ for direct British administration; and hostility towards the involvement of Sheikh Faisul [Shaikh Fayṣal bin Al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] in the post-war Government
• The number of troops required to occupy Mesopotamia
• Railway construction in Mesopotamia
• Reports of ‘serious disorders’ at Sulaimaniyah [Sulaymaniyah] and a ‘serious rising’ in southern Kurdistan led by Sheikh Mahmud [Shaikh Maḥmūd Barzanjī]
• Matters relating to the administration of Mesopotamia, including: arrangements for the financial management of British administration; conditions of employment for Army officers hired to work in the civil administration; and the creation of administrative provinces, including an ‘Arab province of Mosul’ and a ‘fringe of autonomous Kurdish States … with British political advisers’
• Maintenance of waterways in Mesopotamia
• Discussion of the creation of a daily train service between Baghdad and Basrah [Basra] carrying mail and passengers.

The volume also contains:

• Weekly return of sick and wounded dated 29 March 1919 (ff 10-11), 5 April 1919 (ff 64-65), 12 April 1919 (ff 108-109), 19 April 1919 (ff 112-114), 26 April 1919 (ff 129-130)
• Distribution and composition of Force D, including details of lines of communication and general organisation, 19 April 1919 (ff 24-38), 1 May 1919 (ff 78-89)
• State of supplies on 30 April 1919 (ff 66-67)
• Strength return of Force D on 12 April 1919 (f 120).