Tag Archive for Mesopotamia

REINFORCEMENTS IN THE DESERT

British Lick Their Wounds from Iraq Defeat, Prepare for a Baghdad Offensive; British War Cabinet is Cautious. Special to The Great War Project. (23-26 September) Despite defeats in Mesopotamia earlier in 1916 – the ignominious collapse at Kut on the Tigris River — the British are determined to reverse their losses in the desert. Some…

BAGHDAD: THE NEXT PRIZE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

British Turn Retreat into Advantage With Sights on Baghdad, British Command Hesitates. Special to The Great War Project (28-31 August) The war in the Middle East is now focusing on Baghdad. It is a very complex picture. Here’s what it looks like. The British defense forces capitulate at Kut, on the Tigris River south of…

CARVING UP THE GLOBE

Small States Around the World Especially Vulnerable; Endgame at Kut in Iraq, A Humiliation for the British Special to The Great War Project (19-22 April) The war has unleashed deep ethnic hatreds all across Europe, the Middle East and even in the far Pacific. By now, the Ottoman Turks have slaughtered nearly one million ethnic…

BRITISH DESPERATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Food Stores at Kut All But Gone; A Bribe for the Bey. In Contested Waters, Return of the U-Boats Special to The Great War Project (21-25 March) On this day a century ago, the British introduce a new weapon into the war at sea — the depth charge. A British ship drops an underwater explosive…

RUSSIAN COSSACKS OVERRUN TURKISH CITY

Ottomans Stunned at Fall of Erzurum on Caucasus Front; Relentless Turkish Siege of British at Kut . Special to The Great War Project. (16-19 February) In the Mesopotamian [Iraqi] desert, the Turks tighten their deadly noose around the small and increasingly hungry British and Indian troops at Kut. In mid-February 1916, precisely a century ago,…

KUT UNDER SIEGE FOR A MONTH

Ottoman Force Inflicting Heavy Losses; Food Supplies Dwindling. ‘As Near as Hell As We Are Likely To See.’ Special to The Great War Project (18-21 January) The siege of Kut on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia [Iraq] grinds on. “The British were fighting a steady and harsh battle against the Turks,” writes historian Martin Gilbert,…

SIEGE IN IRAQ NOW A MONTH LONG

British Trapped in Kut; Food and Ammunition Dwindling. After Seesaw Battle, British Reinforcements Fail to Reach the Town. Special to The Great War Project (14-17 January) British troops are under siege at the town of Kut on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia [Iraq]. The Ottoman forces launch their siege on Christmas Eve of 1915. It…

IN IRAQ, BRITISH VICTORIES TURN SOUR

Each Success Brings Greater Peril Turks Withdraw, Then Toughen Stand Special to The Great War Project (29 September-1 October) In Mesopotamia — today’s Iraq — the British are about to seize the town of Kut, on the Tigris River a century ago. It is not an easy task, and the British and their allied Indian…

BRITISH PROBE DEEPER INTO IRAQ

An “Effortless” Campaign? Now Supply Lines Over Stretched, Reinforcements Needed. Special to The Great War Project (2-4 September) The British campaign in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq) is proving, so far, to be one of the few bright spots for the British, at this moment in the war, a century ago. With little resistance, the British steam…