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.
Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude KCB CMG DSO was a British Army officer. He is known for his operations in the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War and for conquering Baghdad in 1917.
The 13th (Western) Division was one of the Kitchener's Army divisions in the First World War, raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It fought at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia and Persia.
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 Mesopotamian campaign, fought between the forces of the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire in World War I.
Major General Sir Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, was a British soldier who during the World War I 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.
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 Indian Army, also called the British Indian Army, was involved in World War I as part of the British Empire. More than one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom more than 60,000 died during the war.
The 14th Indian Division was formed during World War I, for service in the Mesopotamian Campaign. It was composed of battalions of the Regular British Army, the British Territorial Force and the British 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 36th Indian Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service with the Indian Army during the First World War. It took part in the Mesopotamian campaign and later formed part of the North Persia Force. It remained with the Force until withdrawn in June 1921.
The 28th Indian Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service with the Indian Army during the First World War. Formed in October 1914, it defended the Suez Canal in early 1915, ended the Ottoman threat to Aden in July 1915, took part in the Mesopotamian Campaign in 1916 and 1917, before finishing the war in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. It remained in Palestine until it was broken up in 1920.
The Battle of Mount Hamrin was an unsuccessful British effort to cut off part of the Ottoman Sixth Army after the capture of Baghdad during the Mesopotamia campaign during the First World War.
The Battle of Istabulat was a part of the Samarra offensive during the First World War occurring when the British Empire attempted to further its strategic position after the capture of Baghdad from the Ottoman Empire.
The 7th (Service) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment was a unit of 'Kitchener's Army' raised immediately after the outbreak of World War I. After a short period of training it fought in the Gallipoli Campaign, distinguishing itself at the Battle of Chunuk Bair. Afterwards it served in Mesopotamia, including the capture of Baghdad. It ended the war with the North Persia Force at Baku on the Caspian Sea.
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.
Ottoman Empire 
Frederick Maude 
