| Battle of Basra (1914) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Mesopotamian campaign of World War I | |||||||||
 Map showing the initial British attack and capture of Basra, 1914. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Ottoman Empire | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 500 casualties | 1,300 casualties | ||||||||
The Battle of Basra was a battle of World War I which took place south of the city of Basra (modern-day Iraq) between British and Ottoman troops from November 11 to November 22, 1914. The battle resulted in the British capture of Basra.
Once the Ottoman Empire entered the war against the allies, the completion of the Berlin–Baghdad railway became a threat to the allies, as the actual origin was Hamburg and the intended terminus Basra. This route from the North Sea to the Indian ocean posed a major threat to the British Empire which acted promptly to seize Basra and blockade Hamburg. After the capture of Fao by the British, the Ottoman army began to converge on Basra. The British had the mission of securing the Persian oil fields by capturing Basra, and they advanced up the river towards Basra. [1]
On November 7, 1914, British troops began the march from Fao to Basra. [2] The Ottomans attacked the British camp at dawn on November 11, but were defeated. [1] The Ottomans prepared defensive positions at Saihan, and on November 15 the British attacked. The Ottomans were beaten, suffering 250 casualties and the British continued to advance. [3] The main Ottoman position was at a place the British called Sahil. The Ottomans had 4,500 soldiers dug in near some palm groves and an old mud walled fort. On November 19, the British advanced with two brigades of British and Indian infantry, some artillery and cavalry. Their advance was hampered by a rain storm, which made movement difficult. Ottoman fire, both rifle and artillery, was inaccurate. The British and Indian troops pressed on and when they came close the British artillery finally found the range, bringing fire directly upon the Ottoman trenches. The mud walled fort fell, and with that the entire Ottoman force got up and ran. [4] Due to the condition of the ground, the cavalry was unable to pursue. Ottoman losses were maybe 1,000; the British and Indian troops lost 350. [4] On the river, the British gunboats encountered a launch with a deputation from Basra to tell the British that the city had been abandoned by the Ottomans, asking for troops to occupy it and stop looting. [5] Several battalions were loaded on the gunboats and on November 22, the Indian troops of the 104th Wellesley Rifles and 117th Mahrattas occupied Basra. [6]
The capture of Basra was a major step in protecting the Persian oilfields and refineries. However, the ambiguity of the mission would lead to mission creep that would lead the British to advance up the river. [7]
Notes
References
The siege of Kut Al Amara, also known as the first battle of Kut, was the besieging of an 8,000 strong British Army garrison in the town of Kut, 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. In 1915, its population was around 6,500. Following the surrender of the garrison on 29 April 1916, the survivors of the siege were marched to imprisonment at Aleppo, during which many died. Historian Christopher Catherwood has called the siege "the worst defeat of the Allies in World War I". Ten months later, the British Indian Army, consisting almost entirely of newly recruited troops from Western India, conquered Kut, Baghdad and other regions in between in the Fall of Baghdad.
The Battle of Ctesiphon was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire, against the Ottoman Empire, within the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I.
The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British Raj, against the Central Powers, mostly the Ottoman Empire. It started after British amphibious landings in 1914 which sought to protect Anglo-Persian oil fields in Khuzestan and the Shatt al-Arab. However, the front later evolved into a larger campaign that sought to capture the key city of Baghdad and divert Ottoman forces from other fronts. It ended with the Armistice of Mudros in 1918, leading to the cession of Iraq and further partition of the Ottoman Empire.
The fall of Baghdad occurred during the Mesopotamia Campaign, fought between the forces of the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire in the First World War.
The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 30 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. The combatants were, on one side, the Ottoman Empire, with some assistance from the other Central Powers; and on the other side, the British as well as troops from the British Dominions of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the Russians, and the French from among the Allied Powers. There were five main campaigns: the Sinai and Palestine, Mesopotamian, Caucasus, Persian, and Gallipoli campaigns.
Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, was a British soldier who during the First World War led an overreaching military campaign in Mesopotamia. His troops were besieged and captured at the Siege of Kut, which was possibly the worst defeat suffered by the Allies.
General Sir John Eccles Nixon was a senior commander of the British Indian Army. He gave the orders for the ultimately disastrous first British Expedition against Baghdad during the First World War.
The Fao Landing occurred from 6 November to 8 November 1914 with British forces attacking the Ottoman stronghold of Fao and its fortress. The landing was met with little resistance from the Turkish defenders who fled after intense shelling. It was the first military operation of the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I which was carried out to protect the British Empire's oil supplies in the Persian Gulf.
The Battle of Dujaila was fought on 8 March 1916, between British and Ottoman forces during the First World War. The Ottoman forces, led by Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz were besieging Kut, when the Anglo-Indian relief force, led by Lieutenant-General Fenton Aylmer, attempted to relieve the city. The attempt failed, and Aylmer lost 3,500 men.
Dunsterforce was an Allied military force, established in December 1917 and named after its commander, Major-General Lionel Dunsterville. The force comprised fewer than 350 Australian, New Zealand, British and Canadian officers and NCOs, who were drawn from the Western and Mesopotamian fronts. The force was intended to organise local units in northern Iran (Persia) and South Caucasus, to replace the Tsarist army that had fought the Ottoman armies in Armenia. The Russians had also occupied northern Iran in co-operation with the British occupation of southern Iran, to create a cordon to prevent German and Ottoman agents from reaching Central Asia, Afghanistan and India.
The two Battles of Ramadi were fought between the forces of the British and Ottoman Empires in July and September 1917 during World War I. The two sides contested the town of Ramadi in central Iraq, about 100 km west of Baghdad on the south bank of the Euphrates River, where an important Ottoman garrison was quartered. The town's strategic position on the road between Aleppo and Baghdad made it a key British target during the Mesopotamian campaign, but the hostile climatic conditions meant that it took two attacks over the course of three months for the town to fall.
The Battle of Qurna, was between British forces and Ottoman forces that had retreated from Basra, which they lost at the Battle of Basra (1914) during the Mesopotamian campaign of World War I.
The 6th (Poona) Division was a division of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1903, following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army.
The Battle of Wadi, occurring on 13 January 1916, was an unsuccessful attempt by British forces fighting in Mesopotamia during World War I to relieve beleaguered forces under Sir Charles Townshend then under siege by the Ottoman Sixth Army at Kut-al-Amara.
The Battle of Es Sinn was a World War I military engagement between Anglo-Indian and Ottoman forces.
The Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad occurred between 6–8 January 1916 during the Mesopotamian Campaign of the First World War. The battle took place along the banks of the Tigris River between the Anglo-Indian Tigris Corps and elements of the Ottoman Sixth Army. The engagement was the first in a series of assaults by the Tigris Corps to try to break through the Ottoman lines to relieve the besieged garrison at Kut.
The Battle of Shaiba was a battle of World War I fought between British and Ottoman forces, the latter trying to retake the city of Basra from the British.
The Battle of Amara, also known as the Second Battle of Qurna, was a military engagement between the forces of the British and Ottoman Empires during the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I. The battle took place in the flooded marshes and islands along the Tigris river between the towns of Qurna and Amara and resulted in the British capture of Amara and rout of Ottoman forces in the area.
The Battle of Nasiriyah was a battle in World War I that took place in the Mesopotamian city of Nasiriyah between British and Ottoman forces in July 1915. It was a pivotal battle in the Mesopotamian campaign of World War I and saw 5,000 British and Indian troops face off against a Turkish garrison of a similar number. British and Indian forces under the command of Lieutenant General Sir George Frederick Gorringe attacked Nasiriyah with the intention of protecting the British stronghold of Basra and destroying a major Turkish supply center in the region. British forces defeated the Turkish forces in Nasiriyah and it became the latest addition to a long string of successes against Ottoman forces in the campaign, coming right after the capture of Amara and the Battle of Qurna.
The command of Charles Townshend in the Mesopotamian Campaign which led to the siege of Kut has been the object of much controversy. Townshend successfully led his "Regetta up the Tigris" to come very close to Baghdad, but was defeated. Townshend's behavior in Ottoman captivity has been especially controversial.
