The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-23
GENERAL STANLEY MAUDE MAKES
PUBLIC RESUME OF OPERATIONS
LEADING TO CAPTURE OF BACDAD
Night Before Citys Fall Most Of Fighting Was Hand
Hand with Turks Stubbornly Contesting Advance
English Proved to Turks They Were the Masters Of
the Day and the Losses Sustained by British Sweep
Were Severe

London, England-Lieut.-G Gen. Sir
Stanley Maude's dispatches covering
the operations in Mesopotamia from
Aug. %, 1916, the date he assumed
command, to March 81, 1917, three
weeks after the fall Of Bagdad. are
published in the London Gazette of
July 10. His preliminary summary
shows the wide area of responsibility
covered by his army, the distance
from Basra to Kut Ell Amara being
1S0 miles, from Basra to Ispahan 270
miles, from Basra to Bushire 2i0
miles, and from Bushire to Kut near
1y 400 miles, as measured on the map
The enen1y's plan, General Maude
states briefly, was to contain the Bri-
fish forces in Mesopotania while he
developed a vigorous campaign in
Persia, thus threatening India. The
true solution was therefore a resolute
offensive with concentrated forces or
the Tigris, thereby effectively threat.
ening Bagdad and automatically re-
lieving pressure in Persia and on the
Euphrates.
This being the principal object y
the report states that "the suisse
quent operations are divided into
eight phases: I
+
Aug. % to Dc. IL.
rSecond-The consolidation of oul
position on the Hal. from Dec. 13 te
Jan. 4.
.sThird-The operations in the
Khadairi Bend, from Jan. to 10.
"Fourth-The operations agains
the Hal salient, from Jan 20 to Feb
IS. sa
.'FifthLThe operations in the Dab
ra Bend, from Feb. 6 to Is.
.sSixth-The capture of Sannaiya
and passage of the Tfgris, from Feb
IT to "a.
4.Seventh-The advance on Bag
dad, from Feb rs to March II.
.Eighth-The operations subse
quent to the fall of Baghdad, from
March IL to 81.
Before resuming active operation
it was necessary to improve the health
and training of the troops, to perfec
our somewhat precarious lines o
communications, to develop our re
surces, to amass reserves of supplies
ammunition, and stores at the front
In order to carry out the above, head
quarters were retained at Basra til
the end of October"
General Maude gives warm thank
10 MS predecessor Slf ISICy 4dhN IL
the firm foundations laid for the en-
suing winter campaign. The exten
sion of Basra as military port am
base was continued, and the layini
of railways completed;- various direc
| torates were created, e. g. inland wa
ter transport, port administration an
conservaney, works, railwa avs, suppl
and transport, and ordnance. Change
were made in the organization of tn
army, the grouping of formations an
units being adjusted; hospital accom-
mediation was reviewed and expand
| ed; and the remount and veterinar
| service was overhauled and reconsti
| tuted Lines of communication de
lenses were also recast. The arm.
was much encouraged by the visit o
the incoming commander-in-chief
Sir Charles Monro. General Maud
found time to visit the Persian OF
field at Ahwaz where the Karun from
lies (Ahwaz is about 100 miles nortl
of the confluence of the Euphrate
(Shat ell Arab and Karun rivers). B.
the end of November. the genera
concentration upstream of Sheikl
Salad was completed.
Paragraph Z recapitulates the Tur
kish position in December. The San