1914 On 6 November 1914, British offensive action began with the naval bombardment of the old fort at
Fao, located at the point where the
Shatt-al-Arab meets the Persian Gulf. At the
Fao Landing, the British Indian Expeditionary Force D (IEF D), comprising the 6th (Poona) Division led by Lieutenant General
Arthur Barrett with Sir
Percy Cox as
Political Officer, was opposed by 350 Ottoman troops and 4 guns. After a short engagement, the fort was overrun, killing many enemy troops. By mid-November the Poona Division was fully ashore and began moving towards the city of
Basra. The same month, the ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh
Mubarak Al-Sabah, contributed to the Allied war effort by sending forces to attack Ottoman troops at Umm Qasr, Safwan, Bubiyan, and Basra. In exchange the British government recognised Kuwait as an "independent government under British protection." Mubarak soon removed the Ottoman symbol from the Kuwaiti flag and replaced it with "Kuwait" written in Arabic script. On 22 November, the British
occupied the city of Basra after a short fight with soldiers of the Iraq Area Command under
Suphi Bey, the Governor of Basra. The Ottoman troops abandoned Basra and retreated up the river. After establishing order in the town the English forces continued their advance, and at the
Battle of Qurna they succeeded in capturing Subhi Bey and 1,000 troops. This put the British in a very strong position, ensuring that Basra and the oilfields would be protected from any Ottoman advance. The main Ottoman army, under the command of
Khalil Pasha, was to the north-west around Baghdad that made only weak efforts to dislodge the British.
1915 File:Meso-WW1-2.jpg|July, British offensive File:Kut1915.jpg|September, British offensive File:Ctesiphon1915.jpg|November, British offensive File:Meso-WW1-3.jpg|November, British offensive (detail) On 2 January,
Süleyman Askerî Bey took over as head of the Iraq Area Command. With Gallipoli, the Caucasus, and Palestine taking priority, the Ottoman Army had few resources to move to Mesopotamia. Süleyman Askerî Bey sent letters to Arab sheiks in an attempt to organise them to fight against the British. He wanted to retake the Shatt-al-Arab region at any cost. Early on the morning of 12 April, Süleyman Askerî attacked the British camp at
Shaiba in what became known as the
Battle of Shaiba. He had about 4,000 regular troops and about 14,000 Arab irregulars provided by Arab sheiks. Although the irregulars proved ineffective, the Ottoman infantry launched a series of relentless attacks on the fortified British camp and later attempted by bypass it. When the British cavalry and infantry counterattacked the defensive forces Suleyman Askari pulled his troops back. The next day the British attacked his defensive positions. It was a hard-fought infantry battle in which the British infantry overcame tough Ottoman opposition. Ottoman losses numbered 2400 men killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, as well as two artillery field pieces. The retreat ended up the river at
Hamisiye. Süleyman Askerî had been wounded at Shaiba. Disappointed and depressed, he shot himself at the hospital in Baghdad. In his place
Colonel Nureddin was appointed commander of the Iraq Area Command on 20 April 1915. Nureddin was one of the few officers to reach high command without the benefit of a staff college education. He did, however, have extensive combat experience. Due to the unexpected success British command reconsidered their plan and General
Sir John Nixon was sent in April 1915 to take command. He ordered
Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend to advance to
Kut or even to
Baghdad if possible. Townshend and his small army advanced up the Tigris river. They defeated several Ottoman forces sent to halt him. In July 1915, a force led by
G. F. Gorringe captured the city of Nasiriyah, capturing the Turks' largest supply depot in southern Mesopotamia. Although his advance was very difficult to sustain logistically, it was maintained. In late September 1915, amidst the recent defeat of Serbia and entry of Bulgaria into the war and concerns about German attempts to incite jihad in Persia and Afghanistan,
Grey (Foreign Secretary) and other politicians encouraged a further push to Baghdad. The
CIGS Murray thought this logistically unwise, but
Kitchener advised the Dardanelles Committee (21 October) that Baghdad be seized for the sake of prestige, then abandoned. Enver Pasha worried about the possible fall of Baghdad. He realised the mistake of underestimating the importance of the Mesopotamian campaign. He ordered the 35th Division and Mehmet Fazıl Pasha to return to Mosul, their old location. The 38th Division was reconstituted. The
Sixth Army was created on 5 October 1915, and its commander was a 72-year-old German general,
Colmar von der Goltz. Von der Goltz was a famous military historian who had written several classic books on military operations. He had also spent many years working as a military adviser in the Ottoman Empire. However, he was in Thrace commanding the Ottoman
First Army and would not reach the theatre for some time. Colonel Nureddin the former commander of the Iraq Area Command was still in charge on the ground. On 22 November, Townshend and Nureddin fought a
battle at Ctesiphon, a town south of Baghdad. The conflict lasted five days. The battle was a stalemate as both the Ottomans and the British ended up retreating from the battlefield. Townshend concluded that a full scale retreat was necessary. However, Nureddin realised the British were retreating and cancelled his retreat, then followed the British. Townshend withdrew his division in good order back to
Kut-al-Amara. He halted and fortified the position. Nureddin pursued with his forces. He tried to encircle the British with his XVIII Corps composed of the 45th Division, 51st Division and 2nd Tribal Cavalry Brigade. The exhausted and depleted British force was urged back to the defences of Kut-al-Amara. The retreat finalised on 3 December. Nureddin encircled the British at Kut-al-Amara, and sent other forces down river to prevent the British from marching to the relief of the garrison. The
Mesopotamian Half Flight from Australia was formed in 1915 to give air support. On 7 December, the
siege of Kut began. From the Ottoman perspective the siege prevented the Sixth Army from performing other operations. From the British perspective defending
Kut, as opposed to retreating back to Basra, was a mistake since Kut was isolated. It could be defended, but it could not be resupplied. Von der Goltz helped the Ottoman forces build defensive positions around Kut. The Sixth Army was reorganised into two corps, the XIII and the XVIII. Nureddin Pasha gave command to Von der Goltz. With the reorganisation, the Sixth Army laid siege to the British. New fortified positions established down river fended off any attempt to rescue Townshend. Townshend suggested an attempt to break out, but this was initially rejected by Sir John Nixon; however he relented. Nixon established a relief force under the command of General
Fenton Aylmer. Aylmer made three major attempts to break the siege, but each effort was unsuccessful.
1916 On 20 January, Enver Pasha replaced Nureddin Pasha with Colonel Halil Kut (Khalil Pasha). Nureddin Pasha did not want to work with a German general. He sent a telegram to the War Ministry "The Iraq Army has already proven that it does not need the military knowledge of Goltz Pasha ..." After the first failure, General Nixon was replaced by General
Lake. British forces received small quantities of supplies from the air. These drops were not enough to feed the garrison, though. Halil Kut forced the British to choose between starving and surrendering, though in the meantime they would try to lift the siege. Between January and March 1916,Townshend and Aylmer launched several attacks to lift the siege. The attacks took place at the
Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad, the
Battle of the Wadi, the
Battle of Hanna, and the
Battle of Dujaila Redoubt. These series of British attempts to break through the encirclement did not succeed and their costs were heavy. Both sides suffered high casualties. In February, XIII Corps received 2nd Infantry Division as a reinforcement. Food and hopes were running out for Townshend in Kut-al-Amara. Disease was spreading rapidly and could not be cured. On 19 April Field Marshal Von der Goltz died of
cholera. On 24 April, an attempt by the steamer
Julnar to supply the town by river failed. With that there was no way the British could supply Kut. Rather than wait for reinforcements, Townshend surrendered on 29 April 1916. The remaining force in Kut-al-Amara of 13,164 soldiers became captives of the Ottomans. The British viewed the loss of Kut as a humiliating defeat. It had been many years since such a large body of British soldiers had surrendered. Also this loss followed only four months after the British defeat at the
Battle of Gallipoli. Nearly all the British commanders involved in the failure to rescue Townshend were removed from command. The Ottomans proved they were good at holding defensive positions against superior forces. The British refused to let the defeat at Kut stand. Further attempts to advance in Mesopotamia were ordered by the politicians on the War Committee (18 September), including
Curzon and
Chamberlain, who argued that there would be no net savings in troops if a passive policy in the Middle East encouraged Muslim unrest in India, Persia and Afghanistan, and despite the opposition of
Robertson. A major problem for the British was the lack of logistical infrastructure. When ships arrived at Basra, they had to be unloaded by small boats which then unloaded their cargo which was then stored in warehouses, which there were not enough of in Basra. Ships often sat for days waiting to be unloaded. Then supplies had to be sent north along the river in shallow draft river steamers because there were almost no roads north. Usually the amount of supplies being sent north was barely adequate to supply the forces in place. A plan to build a railway was rejected by the Indian Government in 1915, but after Kut it was approved. After the defeat at Kut, the British made a major effort to improve the ability to move men and equipment into theatre, and keep them supplied. The port at Basra was greatly improved so that ships could be quickly unloaded. Good roads were built around Basra. Rest camps and supply dumps were created to receive men and material from the port. More and better river steamers were put into service moving supplies up river. New hospitals were also set up to better care for the sick and wounded. As a result, the British were able to bring more troops and equipment to the front lines and keep them properly supplied for a new offensive. The new commander, General
Stanley Maude, with secret orders from Robertson not to attempt to take Baghdad, was given additional reinforcements and equipment. For the next six months he trained and organised his army. At the same time, the Ottoman Sixth Army was growing weaker. Khalil Pasha received very few replacements, and ended up disbanding the weak 38th Division and used its soldiers as replacements for his other divisions, the 46th, 51st, 35th, and 52nd. Robertson changed his mind when it seemed that the Russians might advance to
Mosul, removing any Turkish threat to Mesopotamia, and authorised Maude to attack in December 1916. File:Meso Campaign.jpg|Indian anti-aircraft machine gunners in action during the
Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad File:British Gun boat on River Tigris (WWI).png|British gun boat on the
Tigris File:Mesopotamian campaign 6th Army field HQ.png|Ottoman Sixth Army field HQ
1917 Maude's offensive was launched on 13 December 1916. The British advanced up both sides of the
Tigris river, forcing the Ottoman army out of a number of fortified positions along the way. General Maude's offensive was methodical, organised, and successful. Khalil Pasha was able to concentrate most of his forces against Maude near Kut. Maude switched his advance to the other bank of the Tigris, bypassing most of the Ottoman forces. The Ottoman XVIII Corps escaped destruction only by fighting some desperate rear guard actions. It did lose quite a bit of equipment and supplies. The British occupied Kut and continued to advance up the Tigris. By early March, the British were at the outskirts of Baghdad, and the Baghdad garrison, under the command of the Governor of Baghdad province Halil Kut (Khalil Pasha), tried to stop them on the Diyala river. Maude outmanoeuvred the Ottoman forces, destroyed an Ottoman regiment and captured the Ottoman defensive positions. Khalil Pasha retreated in disarray out of the city. On 11 March 1917, the British entered Baghdad and colonial sources claim the Iraqi people greeted them as liberators. The British Indian Army played a significant role in the capture of Baghdad. Amidst the confusion of the retreat a large part of the Ottoman army (some 15,000 soldiers) were captured. A week after the city fell, Maude issued the oft-quoted Proclamation of Baghdad, which contained the famous line "
our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators". Khalil Pasha withdrew his battered Sixth Army up river and established his headquarters in Mosul. He had about 30,000 troops left with which to oppose Maude. In April, he received the 2nd Infantry Division, but overall the Ottoman strategic position was bad in the spring of 1917. After the capture of Baghdad, Maude stopped his advance. He felt his supply lines were too long, conditions in the summer made campaigning difficult and he had been denied reinforcements he felt he needed. Maude died of cholera on 18 November. He was replaced by General
William Marshall who halted operations for the winter. File:Maude in Baghdad.jpg|British troops entering Baghdad, March 1917. File:The Mesopotamian Campaign, 1916-1918 Q25175.jpg|Indian troops guarding Baghdad railway station. File:The Mesopotamian Campaign, 1916-1918 Q25185.jpg|British and Indian troops examining a wrecked Turkish artillery gun. File:The Mesopotamian Campaign, 1916-1918 Q25187.jpg|Indian troops guarding Turkish prisoners captured at
Sannaiyat, 24 February 1917. File:Mesoptamiacamp.jpg|British soldier feeding a starving Turkish soldier.
1918 The British resumed their offensive in late February 1918 capturing
Hīt and
Khan al Baghdadi in March, and
Kifri in April. In March 1918, Britain faced an uprising by a rebel organisation called Jam'iya al-Nahda al-Islamiya in
Najaf, and
laid siege to the city until May, when the rebels surrendered. For the rest of the 1918, the British had to move troops to the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in support of the
Battle of Megiddo. General Marshall moved some of the forces east in support of
Dunsterforce (General
Lionel Dunsterville) in
Persia during the summer of 1918. His very powerful army was "astonishingly inactive, not only in the hot season but through most of the cold". The fight in Mesopotamia was not wanted any more. Negotiation of armistice conditions between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire began with the turn of October. General Marshall, following instructions from the
War Office that "every effort was to be made to score as heavily as possible on the Tigris before the whistle blew", went on the offensive for the last time. General
Alexander Cobbe commanded a British force from Baghdad on 23 October 1918. Within two days it covered 120 kilometres, reaching the
Little Zab River, where it met and engaged Ismail Hakki Bey's Sixth Army, most of which was captured in the resulting
Battle of Sharqat. File:Indian Army troops in Mesopotamia prepare to fire against enemy aircraft, c. 1918.jpg|Indian troops prepare to fire against enemy aircraft with
Lewis guns. File:British and Indian troops cross through the Jebel Hamarin pass, Mesopotamia.jpg|British and Indian troops cross through the
Jebel Hamarin pass. File:6inch26cwtHowitzer10HorsesMesopotamia1918.jpeg|Reaching
Little Zab River, 120 kilometres in two days. ==Armistice of Mudros, October==