'WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. ''D''. Volume 30. PART I. (From...

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 15 January 1917. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: telegrams, tables, and memoranda containing instructions and reports. An index to the contents of this volume can be found at folios 3-9 and a summary of the contents can be found at folio 10. The volume mostly concerns:. Reinforcements and supplies for Force D, including: river craft, weapons, rations, and animals; Appointments of staff; Lists of sick and wounded soldiers; Prisoners of war; Updates from the Tigris line, especially at Kut [Al-Kut, also rendered in text as Kut-al-Amarah] and near the Hai [Nahr al Gharraf, river]; Updates from the Euphrates line, especially at Hillah; Updates from the Caucasus region; Turkish [Ottoman] forces: movements; re-organisations of troops; reports of supply problems; intelligence from deserters; estimations of strength and composition; distributions for week ending 2 January (ff 58-67) and for week ending 9 January (ff 128-137); Intelligence provided by General Headquarters, Egyptian Expeditionary Force; Discussions regarding the placement of certain departments under control of the Director, Inland Water Transport; Situation in Persia [Iran]: Sir Percy Sykes's activity at Shiraz; status of operations at Bushire [Bushehr]; movements of German and Turkish forces at Kermanshah and Hamadan; planned Russian attack on Daulatabad [Dowlatabad]; necessity of securing control in southern Persia; Activities of Ismail Bey [Ismā'īl Beg], son of Ibrahim Pasha [Ibrāhīm Pāshā]; Discussions about how to handle rupture between Ibn Rashid and his brother-in-law, Saud Ibn Saleh Al Subhan [Sa'ūd bin Ṣāliḥ al-Sabhān, also referred to in text simply as Al Subhan]; Status of railways construction; Impact of weather conditions; Proposals regarding Bin Saud ['Abd al-'Azīz bin 'Abd al-Raḥmān Āl Sa'ūd], Al Subhan, and the Shammar [tribal federation]; Discussions about whether Force D's operations should be offensive or defensive in nature; The volume also contains:. Distribution and composition of Force D, including details of: lines of communication; general organisation; units captured at Kut-al-Amarah [Al-Kut]; and names of General Officers and Brigade Commanders (ff 11-29); Appreciations [reports] from the Directorate of Military Operations summarising the situation in Mesopotamia on 7 January (ff 115-116) and on 14 January (ff 176-177); Three diaries of information from 16 December 1916 (ff 38-52), 23 December 1916 (ff 76-85), and 30 December 1916 (ff 153-160), covering: climate and floods; military accounts; aviation; a bomb raid against Shumran [Ash Shumrani] Aerodrome; medical affairs and statistics; port administration and river conservancy; prisoners of war; photographs; inland water transport; 'Arab Labour'; nursing staff in Mesopotamia; lines of communication; the Anglo-Persian Oil Company; and stone in Mesopotamia; Article on 'British Hospitals in Basrah [Basra]', author unknown (ff 90-95); Whilst the volume contains copies of earlier material dating from October 1916 onwards, the bulk of the material dates from January 1917.

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.

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