Page 319 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

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tOK THE YEAR 1314 35
Failiyeh with a view to protecting his neutrality when the Turkish authorities
Siyelu hlUCUf,S °PJ[,0SltO tU° KarUa aad 0a tb° left baak of 010 Shatfc ab07e
During the months of September and October the Shaikh received many
Turkish Authorities and tho Shaikh. letters . and messages from Subhi Bey,
4. y. . , n the acting Vali of Basrah, appealing to
g® “ olhcr Sounds to join with the Turks. Af ter Djavid
Pasha, Vali of Baghdad, announced his intention of coming to Basrah at the
end of October, these messages became auito threatening, and the Shaikh
was considerably exercised by them, as no had a wholesome fear of Djavid
Very great assistance in encouraging the Shaikh was given by hia Vizier, Haji
Rais, who worked hard m cheering up the Shaikh and haranguing the Mullahs
and Headmen of the tribes in opposition to the “ Jihad ” propaganda started by
the Turks He continued to do this in spite of being denounced as a “ kafir **
and threatened with being shot. In short, he was extremely helpful and had
so much work and worry that he became quite ill.
During this period Saiyid Talib of Basrah made several overtures to TT1«e
Majesty’s Consul at Basrah and to His Majesty’s Consul at Mohammerah, both
directly and through the Shaikh, to help the British. Government. Ho made
such ridiculous demands, however, that his offers of assistance were rejected.
After the raid into Egypt and the attack on Odessa, on the 29th October,
Advance of Indian Esp.ditiouary Fore* “ d." a state of War with Turkey supervened
and the small Expeditionary [Force which
had been sent by His Majesty’s Government to Bahrain came up to the head
of the Gulf. I: is unnecessary to say much here on the subject, which has been
fully reported. It need only be stated that the Force accompanied by H. M. 8
“ Ooin ” and some armed launches attacked aud captured Fao on the Gth
November; on the 7th the transports arrived within sight of Abad': during
the next day or two the troops were landed opposite Abadan ; a n.w . attack
was made on the camp there on the night of 10th and 11th November and,
after a reconnaissance on the loth, the Turkish position near Zain was attacked
on the I7th November and the Turks driven out with heavy loss.
During the advance up the liver the Shaikh was of great assistance in
g;ving information of the enemy’s movements as his tribesmen on the right
bank of the Shatt-ol-Arab kept him well informed. Any information likely
to be of use was sent by His Majesty’s Consul by the Anglo-Persian Oil Com­
pany’s telephone and wireless to the Chief Political Officer with the Expe­
ditionary Force. The General Manager of the head office at Mohammerah and
his staff and the Manager of the Abadan Refinery gave all possible assistance.
On the evening of the 28th reliable information was received by the
Shaikh that Basrah was evacuated by the
Occupation of Ba<rjh-
Turks in the early morning. No time
was lost in communicating this to the Expeditionary Force, and it was decided
to send up a strong reconnoitring party the next day. On the morning of the
21st, however, a deputation of British and other merchants came down from
Basrah and reported that the Turks had left, and that the Customs House and
several other places were being looted by the bad characters of the place.
H. M. S. “ Espiegle,” “ Odin, ” and “ Lawrence ” were at once sent up to try
and find a way past the obstruction at Shainsummiyeh. This they did and
w ent to Basrah reaching there at nightfall. The troops made a forced march on
the night of the 21st and reached Basrah on the 22nd. Thelown speedily became
quiet.
On the outbreak of hostilities with Turkey the British subjects at Baghdad
and Basrah were detained, only the
British subjects at Baghdad and Bamfc.
Consuls being allowed to leave. Mr.
Bullard. Acting Consul nt Basrah, arrived at Mobammcrah on the 3rd Novem­
ber and Major Scott, Acting Consul-General at Baghdad, on the 6th idem.
The French Consul, M. Dozen, accompanied the latter from Baghdad. A
number of British subjects, men, women, and children, were detained at Bagh­
dad, and some 8 or 9 men nt Basrah. On occupying Basrah .t v as found that
the latter had not been badly treated.