Review Battles On The Tigris, The Mesopotamian Campaign Of The First World War

Wilcox, Ron, Battles On The Tigris, The Mesopotamian Campaign Of The First World War, Pen & Sword, 2006

 

Battle On The Tigris by Ron Wilcox is a military history of England’s Mesopotamian campaign during World War I. It only provides the British perspective and cheers on that side. Most of it is a blow by blow account of each battle but it also provides some perspective on the leadership or lack thereof during the war and scandals over the lack of support the troops received. It provides a good starting point for someone interested in this little known part of the First World War.

 

In November 1914 an expeditionary force from India landed in southern Basra province to protect the oil fields in Persia but quickly morphed a three year campaign to defeat the Ottomans. The vast majority of Wilcox’s account is on each battle which was fought and there were many of them. The most important was the 1916 Ottoman siege of Kut. The British were pushing on Baghdad but were defeated and retreated to the town where they were surrounded. In the end over 13,000 Indian and English troops surrendered in one of the biggest defeats for London during the entire conflict.

 

Wilcox should be commended for not just focusing upon the campaign but the larger issues of leadership and logistics. On the former the author points out that India was put in charge of the Mesopotamian campaign but lacked the forces and supplies to carry out anything but an expeditionary force. Originally the UK troops were just to protect the Persian oil fields but quickly turned to an offensive operation to seize Baghdad simply because one general after another thought they could do it. The India Office was almost completely cut off from the day to day operations which gave the commanders the leeway to transform the campaign into one based upon their own ambitions. The disconnect between the two meant that not enough troops were sent and things like medical supplies and river transport which was paramount in maintaining the soldiers were completely inadequate. It wasn’t until the defeat at Kut that the war in Mesopotamia was taken more seriously by the British government. The author thinks India was incompetent and should be blamed for what happened during the first two years of the fighting.

 

In support of that argument Battles On The Tigris has a full chapter on the medical conditions in Mesopotamia. Because there were not many doctors in India few were sent to Iraq. The first battles were largely skirmishes but as the British moved north they encountered more and more resistance leading to more casualties. They were completely neglected. Many sat in the scorching sun or the rains which were heavy during one year with no attention because there was nothing to give them. There’s one stark account of ferries bringing back the wounded who couldn’t move and defecated all over themselves because there were so many packed onto the vessel. A formal investigation was launched and caused a scandal. This is something that is not covered in many other books on the subject.

 

The main drawbacks of Battle On The Tigris is its occasional cheerleading for the British and the negative portrayal of Arabs. At one point after the UK was defeated in a battle the author still said it was a military achievement given the difficult circumstances. Another time Wilcox writes that dead Arabs were “speared and shaken off lances of the Indian cavalry like ripe fruit.” He would’ve never said that about the British soldiers. His account of the Arabs makes them out to be ruthless brigands who would turn on both the Ottomans and British to rob and steal from them and slit their throats. This kind of writing is sprinkled throughout and is a major distraction.

 

Despite its problems Battles On The Tigris is a good introduction to the Mesopotamian campaign. It takes both a micro and macro look at the fighting on the UK’s side. While it praises the British on their capabilities it also criticizes them for neglecting their troops. It is a good starting point for further research into World War I in Iraq.

 

Link to all of Musings On Iraq’s book reviews listed by topic