Correspondence and papers relating to British prisoners of war in Baghdad, detained in the wake of the commencement of hostilities between Britain and Turkey in Mesopotamia [Iraq] in November 1914. The papers cover: the status of British subjects including British Indians in Baghdad; reports of Turkish troop movements in Mesopotamia; correspondence between the British and United States governments, the latter working as an intermediary between the British and Ottoman governments, to secure the good treatment and release of British prisoners in Baghdad; reports from the United States Consul at Baghdad (Charles Frederick Brissel) on conditions at Baghdad; a report on a journey made from Baghdad to Bombay [Mumbai] by British Indian employees of the Political Residency in Baghdad in November 1914 (ff 147-153); in June 1915, negotiations for the exchange of British subjects (including women and children) detained at Baghdad, with Turkish officials stranded at British-occupied Amara [Al ‘Amārah]. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office, including the Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Algernon Law, Sir Ralph Spencer Paget; the Government of the USA, including the US Consul at Baghdad and the US Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], Philip Hoffman.The volume contains two items in French; letters from the Ottoman Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, forwarded by the US Ambassador at Constantinople (ff 32-33, ff 49-50).The part includes a divider (f 1) which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.1 volume (217 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.The subject 94 (German War: Turkey) consists of 4 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/532-535. The volumes are divided into 4 parts, with each part comprising one volume (1, 3, 4 and 5). There is no part 2.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 215; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Papers concerning British women and children detained by Turkish authorities in Baghdad as prisoners of war, and an agreement for their exchange (brokered by the United States Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul]) for Turkish officials and their families captured in Amara during the British invasion of Mesopotamia. The file is a direct chronological continuation of File 94/1915 Pt 1 ‘German War:- Turkey. Prisoners’ (IOR/L/PS/10/532). The file covers: reports of the release and deportation to Mosul of the remaining British women and children held at Baghdad; the decision to extradite these women and children to Beirut and the Mediterranean, rather than down the river Tigris to the Persian Gulf; requests from the Ottoman Government for information of a number of Turkish officials and their families detained at Amara; lists of British and Turkish prisoners of war to be exchanged by both sides; the General Officer Commanding at Basra’s objections to the repatriation of some Turkish officials from Basra.Several items in the volume (correspondence from the Ottoman Government and the Comité Internationale de la Croix-Rouge) are in French.The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.1 volume (239 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.The subject 94 (German War: Turkey) consists of 4 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/532-535. The volumes are divided into 4 parts, with each part comprising one volume (1, 3, 4 and 5). There is no part 2.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 239; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
The volume contains correspondence in the form of telegrams, minutes, and reports concerning arms trafficking after the war. In particular, the correspondence is concerned with the ratification of the Arms Traffic Convention of 1919 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) by the League of Nations. The Convention covers the following subheadings: Export of Arms and Ammunition; Import of Arms and Ammunition; Prohibited Areas and Zone of Maritime Supervision; Supervision on Land; Maritime Supervision; and General Provisions.The correspondence covers the following:The establishing of an interdepartmental committee by the Ministry of Reconstruction to consider the question of the import and export of firearms in the United Kingdom after the warThe question of the supply of arms to Afghanistan, Tibet and Nepal in light of the ConventionThe interpretation of the term 'export' in the view of the existing arrangements to control arms traffickingThe measures to be taken by the British Government to give effect to the provisions of Chapters III and IV of the ConventionThe Air Ministry’s proposal that French, Italian, Belgian, and Japanese Governments should be urged to agree to prohibit export of small arms and ammunition to prohibited zonesThe application of the terms of the Convention in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden and the Red SeaThe exportation of arms and ammunitions to prohibited zones specified in Article 6 of the ConventionThe question of the adhesion of various governments including France, Bulgaria, Finland, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States to the ConventionThe export of arms to TurkeyThe volume includes multiple copies in both English and French of the draft convention amending the Convention signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919 for the Control of the Trade in Arms and Ammunition and Protocol.The main correspondents in the volume are the Ministry of Reconstruction; the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department; the Secretary of State for India; the Board of Trade; the Viceroy, Foreign Department; the Foreign Office; the Under-Secretary of State, Government of India; the Secretary of the Admiralty, London; the Treasury Chambers; and the League of Nations.The volume consists of three parts, each of which includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.1 volume (472 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.The subject 1355 (Peace Settlement: The Arms Traffic Convention 1919) consists of four volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/672-675. The volumes are divided into 6 parts, with part 1 comprising one volume, parts 2, 4 and 5 comprising the second volume, part 3 comprising the third volume, and part 6 comprising the fourth volume.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 474; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
The volume contains papers relating to the right of navigation in the Shatt-el-Arab (also referred to as the Shatt-al-Arab).It includes correspondence relating to the following: the alignment of the Perso-Iraq frontier at the mouth of the Shatt-al-Arab; the right of Persian [Iranian] vessels to navigate the Shatt-al-Arab and to anchor in Iraq waters; the proposal that the Shatt-al-Arab should be treated as an international waterway, and that an international commission should be appointed to look after it; the proposed establishment of a Conservancy Board to control the navigation in the Shatt-al-Arab, and the proposal that the Conservancy Board should also be charged with the superintendence of lighting and buoying throughout the Persian Gulf.The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; the Foreign Office; Sir Robert Henry Clive, HM Minister, Tehran; the Admiralty; the High Commissioner for Iraq; the Colonial Office; the Air Council (Air Ministry); and the Government of India Foreign and Political Department.The volume includes correspondence in French between Sir R H Clive and Mirza Abdul Hussein Khan Taimourtache (also spelled Teymourtache in the file) [Abdolhossein Teymūrtāsh], Minister of Court, Persia, dated 19 April 1928 (folios 353-354) and 26 July 1930 (folio 31).The volume includes a map and three charts of the Shatt al-Arab [IOR/L/PS/10/1098, f 131; IOR/L/PS/10/1098, f 163; IOR/L/PS/10/1098, f 262; and IOR/L/PS/10/1098, f 263].The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.1 volume (361 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.The subject 4480 (Persian Gulf) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/1098 and IOR/L/PS/10/1099. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 357; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.