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1. 'B 299. Mesopotamia. Note on Demobilisation by Civil Commissioner, Baghdad.'
- Description:
- Abstract: Note on demobilisation by Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner, Baghdad (enclosed in letter to the India Office, No 20517, dated 28 September 1918).The note gives details on the two areas that demobilisation would need to cover, namely the repatriation of the fighting force and the transference to Civil Government of those parts of the military administration that could be used for national benefit.The note is broken down into a number of sub-headings:Strategical and Political Considerations: Including the proposal of the need for a mobile military force, comprised wholly of British troops, that could react to any instability or disturbances caused by the previous decade of war, and which could protect India and support reforms in other countries.Maintenance in Baghdad of Troops and War Material: outlining proposals for the use of horses, mules, skilled individuals within British units, and mechanical transport for the civil administration of the country.Directorate of Telegraphs: regarding the question of whether or not to amalgamate it with the Indo-European Telegraph Department.Inland Water Transport: regarding the current usage of water transport for military purposes and the likelihood that once railways have been established it would only be required for fuel supplies and building materials.Medical Services: The need to evacuate the medical building established during war-time; the ongoing need for some of the temporary services during demobilisation; and those buildings that might be of use to the civil administration including sanitary and water installations and hospitals.Works Department: Effect of the department's work on the civil population, including electric lighting and water installations and the need for it to be taken over by the civil department.Remounts; Veterinary Services; Irrigation and Agriculture; Surveys; Stationary Department; Graves RegistrationRoyal Air Force: The need to maintain a wing of the Air Force in Baghdad; and regarding the other supplementary activities that could be developed including surveys and postal services.Royal Navy: That there would be no need for a naval detachment after the warRepatriation of Prisoners of War now interned in India: 25,000 turkish prisoners of war in India, with about 5,000 being inhabitants of Iraq, and a further 5,000 expected to wish to be repatriated to Iraq. The likelihood of many working for the labour corps, and arrangements with the civil administration for security of those who cannot be realised without guarantees.Indian Immigration: Need for a definite policy regarding the question as there may be a number of requests to remain in Iraq as cultivators.The Appendix (folio 4) lists includes summaries of a number of related documents to be consulted:Memorandum by the Civil Commissioner Baghdad (Arnold Talbot Wilson) to the Chief of General Staff, General Headquarters, Mesopotamia, No. 18791, 8 September 1918Memorandum No. A/2120/31, 26 September 1918, from the Deputy Adjutant-General, General Headquarters to the Civil Commissioner, BaghdadObservations by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (undated)Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The copy of the note marked '46' is the one which has been foliated.Pagination: The booklet also contains an original typed pagination sequence.
2. 'Administration of Mesopotamia. Fortnightly Report by the Civil Commissioner, No. 17 (1st - 15th July [1918])
- Description:
- Abstract: This printed memorandum is a fortnightly administrative report (No 17) submitted by Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, covering the period 1 to 15 July 1918. The report is split into four sections: (I) Administrative, which includes District Organisation, Revenue Board, Irrigation and Agricultural Departments, Blockade and Customs; (II) Judicial Department; (III) Civil Police; and (IV) Finance Branch, which includes details of the Control of Expenditure, Separation of Sanctioning and Audit Functions, Organisation of a Cadre of Accountants, Pay of Officers, Revenue Accounts, Pensions Office, and Local Inpsection of Accounts. The report also includes an appendix (folio 94v) concerning the 'Organization of Civil Administration in Baghdad Vilayet', listing divisions and districts.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at folio 92, and terminates at folio 94, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 11-158; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence
3. 'The Use of Aeroplanes in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf'
- Description:
- Abstract: This printed report consists of a note prepared by Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, Officiating Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, concerning the use of aeroplanes in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. The note consists of two parts: the first covers South-West Persia and the second Mesopotamia.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence for this file commences at folio 39, and terminates at folio 40, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 7-153; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
4. 'Eastern Committee. The future of Mesopotamia. (Note by Sir Percy Cox.)'
- Description:
- Abstract: This note was written by Major-General Percy Zachariah Cox in April 1918 in his capacity as Civil Commissioner, Baghdad. It consists of two main parts. The first part deals with the premises for British policy, namely, the proclamation issued on British arrival in Baghdad, that they had come to emancipate the country from the 'oppressive rule' of Turkey; the announcement of policy in the telegram, 29 March 1917, from the Secretary of State for India to the Viceroy which advocated annexation of the Basrah [Basra] Vilayet and the creation of a 'veiled protectorate' in Baghdad Vilayet.It discusses the 'difficulties' this would create with President Woodrow Wilson's principles of self-determination (paragraph 4) and the issues surrounding the creation of an 'Arab facade'.Part II deals with observations on more detailed issues and considers: the nature of Arab authority, dynastic or representative and Arab attitudes to King Hussein, Sherif of the Holy Places in the Hejaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī, Shereef of Mecca]; personnel available for establishing a local administration; relevance of Indian models of administration and British supervision; requirements for Indian troops after the end of hostilities; ways of popularising British administration through irrigation, education and civilian health; elements the British should foster; measures to consolidate commercial influence in Mesopotamia.Physical description: Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the first folio, on number 1, and ends on the last folio, on number 3. There are three copies of this item, of which only one (the foliated one) has been digitised.
5. 'Mesopotamia: customs tariff'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file contains a letter from Louis Mallet, British Ambassador at Constantinople, to Sir Frederic Arthur Hirtzel, Secretary for the Political Department of the India Office, dated 15 April 1919. It also contains a memorandum by Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, dated 16 April 1919. Both items relate to potential changes to the customs tariff in former Turkish territories, and discuss the potential benefits or problems with proposals such as creating a custom union between Arab states, and with involving the League of Nations in decisions relating to any increases in tariffs.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 38, and terminates at f 38, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
6. 'Mesopotamia: Future Constitution'
- Description:
- Abstract: This printed report consists of a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, dated 6 April 1919, to the Secretary of State for India, concerning the future constitution of Mesopotamia. There are also fifteen enclosures, some accompanied by appendices. These enclosures and appendices consist of telegrams, notes, a circular memorandum and draft reply by Wilson and others, including E B Howell, Revenue and Financial Secretary, Baghdad; F C C Balfour, Military Governor and Political Officer, Baghdad; Edward William Charles Noel, Political Officer, Sulaimaniyah [Sulaymānīyah]; Ronald E Wingate, Political Office, Najaf [al-Najaf]; Gerard Evelyn Leachman, Political Officer, Mosul; Stephen Hemsley Longrigg, Political Office, Kirkuk; L M Yetts, Political Officer, Ramadi [al-Ramādī]; and R Marrs, Political Office, Amarah [Amārah].Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence for this file commences at folio 31, and terminates at folio 36, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 7-153; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
7. 'Mesopotamia: land policy. Draft notification'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file contains a draft notification by Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson dated 27 June 1919. The notification relates to land policy in Mesopotamia and seeks to provide 'conditions upon which permission to lease agricultural land in the occupied territories of Mesopotamia may be given to persons other than domiciled inhabitants of those territories'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 60, and terminates at f 60, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
8. 'Despatch from Civil Commissioner, Mesopotamia, to Secretary of State for India'
- Description:
- Abstract: This printed report contains a despatch (No 344436/75/19) from Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, Acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia at Baghdad, to Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India, dated 15 November 1919, enclosing a note by Miss Gertrude Lowthian Bell, Oriental Secretary to the Civil Commissioner, entitled 'Syria in October 1919' (folios 90-98), dated 15 November 1919.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this report commences at folio 89, and terminates at folio 97, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 7-153; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
9. Note on future arrangements for the disposal of official business relating to Egypt, Aden, Cyprus, Palestine, Persia, the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia
- Description:
- Abstract: This printed report is a note by Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner at Baghdad, dated 30 March 1919, and circulated by Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India on 14 April 1919. It consists of four possible options for future arrangements for the disposal in the United Kingdom of official business relating to Egypt, Aden, Cyprus, Palestine, Persia, the Persian Gulf, and Mesopotamia. These are: (1) Administration by the Foreign Office or by a Department under the Foreign Office; (2) Administration by an entirely separate Department; (3) Administration by the present Colonial Office or by a reconstituted Colonial Office, the Dominions coming under the Privy Council; or (4) Administration by the India Office, reconstituted as the India and Middle Eastern Office, with a special Under Secretary of State for the Middle East.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence for this file commences at folio 53, and terminates at folio 53, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 7-153; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.