Description
Object description
British officer served with 1/120th Rajputana Infantry, 18th (Belgaum) Indian Bde, 6th (Poona) Indian Div in Mesopotamia, 1915-1916, including Siege of Kut-el-Amara, 12/1915-4/1915; prisoner of war in Mesopotamia, Ottoman Empire, 4/1916-11/1918
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as officer with 1/120th Bn Rajputana Infantry, 18th Indian Infantry Bde, 6th (Poona) Indian Div during Siege of Kut-el-Amara, Mesopotamia, Ottoman Empire, 12/1915-4/1916: problem of food shortage and reasons for using up rations; rations including barley bread and mule meat; use of stale grain meant for horses to make porridge; effects of hunger on morale; question of discipline; Turkish artillery bombardment of garrison and town; surrender of garrison and attitude to end of siege; daily routine including fishing in River Tigris; question of morale and opinion of senior officers; attitude to end of siege; prior recollection of leave period in GB; opinion of messing arrangements and accommodation; question of discipline; daily routine and recreational activities; mule stew and ginger tea; further details of end of siege. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Mesopotamia, Ottoman Empire, 4/1916-11/1918: separation of officers and other ranks; opinion of Turkish rations; journey from Kut-el-Amara to Baghdad and attitude of civilian population towards prisoners of war; journey to prisoner of war camp in Mosul; attitude to treatment of other ranks by Turks on march to camp; casualties due to heat and starvation; lack of medical treatment and problem of disease; reasons for Mesopotamian campaign not being remembered; return to GB aboard hospital ship, 11/1918.
REEL 2 Continues: Reflections on Siege of Kut-el-Amara and period as prisoner of war in Mesopotamia, 1915-1918: attitude to survival during siege story of employment as cobbler; posting to Baghdad, Iraq, 1921; post-war reunions of survivors from siege; memories of battalion adjutant and Indian officer; question of regimental spirit; opinion of Turks and their treatment of prisoners of war; story of failed attempt by Royal Navy to deliver supplies to garrison during siege.