‘On to Baghdad’: The Siege of Kut al-Amara
ChrestomatherAfter its defeat at the battle of Ctesiphon, in November 1915, the British-Indian 6th Division, retreated southwards, towards Kut al-Amara. During the retreat the usual order of battle…
On to Baghdad: The Battle of Ctesiphon
Sisir Sarbadhikari and his fellow volunteers of the Bengal Ambulance Corps arrived in Iraq on July 9, 1915. In the following months General Townshend’s British-Indian force pushed steadily…
On to Baghdad: From Calcutta to Aziziya
Sisir Sarbadhikari § moved into the Bengal Ambulance Corps barracks, at Alipore, on April 1st 1915. The volunteers' training was completed in three months at the end of which…
On to Baghdad: Joining Up
Sisir Sarbadhikari's On to Baghdad has much in common with Kalyan-Pradeep. Sarbadhikari’s war experiences in Mesopotamia and his time in captivity overlapped closely with Capt Kalyan Mukherji’s. They were in…
On to Baghdad: 1
Sisir Sarbadhikari’s Abhi Le Baghdad (On to Baghdad) is in my view, one of the most remarkable war memoirs of the 20th century. In no small…
From Iraq, 1916, to the end of the road, in Ras al-‘Ain, Syria, 1917
After the defeat and surrender of General Tonwshend’s Indo-British forces at Kut al-Amara, Capt Kalyan Mukherji was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at Ras al-‘Ain. This town is…
Iraq 1915-16: The Siege of Kut al-Amara
After their defeat at Ctesiphon, on November 22, 1915, General Tonwshend's troops (consisting principally of the 6th Poona Division) were driven back to the town of Kut…
Iraq 1915: The Battle of Ctesiphon
The British campaign in Mesopotamia proceeded at a brisk pace through most of 1915. British and Indian troops swept northwards, brushing aside Turkish resistance and advancing confidently…
‘I spit in the face of patriotism’
Within a few months of arriving in Iraq, Captain Kalyan Mukherji had arrived at a devastatingly clear summation of the war. On October 20, 1915, in al-Aziziya, he…
Iraq 1915: ‘A river of blood… why this bloodshed?’
All of Kalyan Mukherji’s letters from Mesopotamia are reproduced in Kalyan-Pradeep. For the most part they are short, hurried and matter of fact. But some of them,…