Betrayal of an Army: Mesopotamia 1914-1916

by N S Nash

Overview

The British invasion of Mesopotamia was initially successful in securing the oil fields around Basra by November 1914.

Despite evidence of stiffening Turkish resistance and inadequate supply lines which relied solely on the River Tigris, the Expeditionary Force was disastrously ordered to advance on Baghdad under the command of the ambitious, capable but flawed Major General Charles Townshend. After a pyrrhic victory at Ctesiphon in November 1915 the British were forced to withdraw to Kut. After a five month siege Townshend had little option but to surrender due to heavy losses and inadequate supplies.

Such was the humiliation and loss of life that the British Parliament ordered a Mesopotamia Commission to be set up. This attributed responsibility and blame to the toxic combination of incompetent leadership and wholesale military misjudgement.

This fine book re-examines the circumstances and personalities that brought about such a disastrous and costly outcome to a classic example of mission creep.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399013536
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	09/09/2021
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

NA ‘Tank’ Nash CBE was educated at Latymer Upper School before entering the catering industry with J Lyons and Co Ltd. He enlisted in the Honourable Artillery Company in 1957 and served until conscripted for National Service in 1960; he was a member of the Army Catering Corps for thirty years, rising to the rank of Brigadier. He resigned his commission in 1991. For thirty-three years, from 1973, he wrote humour under the pen name ‘Sustainer’ and his work was published internationally in a variety of military journals. His books for Pen and Sword include K Boat Catastrophe, ‘Strafer’ Gott – Desert General, Chitral Charlie – The Rise and Fall of Major General Charles Townshend and Valour in the Trenches.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Photographs vii

Acknowledgements x

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Hardinge at Bay 1

Chapter 2 Mesopotamia and its Oil 5

Chapter 3 Invasion and the Capture of Basra 11

Chapter 4 The Capture of Kurnah 24

Chapter 5 Chitrál Charlie, his Regatta and the Capture of Amara 36

Chapter 6 The Capture of Kut 53

Chapter 7 What Next? 73

Chapter 8 Advance to Ctestphon 86

Chapter 9 The Pyrrhic Victory at Ctesiphon 94

Chapter 10 The Retreat to Kut 107

Chapter 11 The Siege: Early Days, December 1915 126

Chapter 12 January 1916: The Battles of Sheikh Saad and the Wadi River 144

Chapter 13 February-March 1916: The Battle of the Dujaila Redoubt 182

Chapter 14 April 1916: The Battle of Sannaiyat and Capitulation 196

Chapter 15 Aftermath 216

Chapter 16 The Inquiry 221

Chapter 17 The Debate 236

Chapter 18 Responsibility - the Reckoning 262

Appendix A Whatever Happened to Old …? 268

Appendix B Witnesses Who Appeared Before the Mesopotamia Commission 282

Appendix C An Analysis of Kipling's Mesopotamia 285

Bibliography 291

Index 293