Mesopotamia Campaign · WW1
The 1917 Battle of Baghdad
How the British and Indian Army under Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude seized Baghdad from the Ottoman Sixth Army in March 1917, and the human cost commemorated today at Baghdad North Gate War Cemetery.
Background
After the humiliating surrender at Kut in April 1916, the British reorganised the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. Command passed to Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude, who spent the second half of 1916 rebuilding supply lines along the Tigris, upgrading river transport, and retraining the Indian and British divisions that would form the backbone of the renewed offensive.
The Advance up the Tigris
Maude's offensive opened in December 1916. Methodical operations along both banks of the Tigris broke the Ottoman defences at the Hai Salient, Dahra Bend and finally the Second Battle of Kut on 23 February 1917. With the Ottoman Sixth Army under Halil Pasha in retreat, Maude pressed north toward Baghdad without allowing the enemy time to consolidate.
The Battle for Baghdad, 8–11 March 1917
The final defensive position was chosen along the Diyala River, a tributary joining the Tigris about ten miles south of Baghdad. Between 8 and 10 March 1917 British and Indian units forced a crossing under heavy fire. The Loyal North Lancashires suffered severely in the first assaults, but a second crossing by the 8th Brigade succeeded on the night of 9 March.
With the Diyala line broken and a wide flanking movement threatening their line of retreat, the Ottoman forces abandoned Baghdad on the night of 10 March. British cavalry entered the city on 11 March 1917, and Maude issued his famous Proclamation to the People of Baghdad shortly afterwards.
The Human Cost
The Mesopotamia Campaign killed tens of thousands of Commonwealth soldiers. Many of those who fell in and around Baghdad in 1917, and in the operations that followed, are buried or commemorated at Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery. Others whose graves are unknown are commemorated on the Basra Memorial to the Missing.
Commemoration Today
Baghdad North Gate contains more than 4,000 First World War burials. Access to the cemetery has been extremely limited for decades, and the site has suffered from lack of maintenance. Our project documents its current condition and the individuals commemorated there.