Samarra offensive

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Samarra offensive
Part of the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I
Date March 13 — April 23, 1917 Location North of Baghdad, present-day Iraq Result British victory.
Belligerents
British Empire  India  United Kingdom	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Frederick Stanley Maude	Khalil Pasha, Ali İhsan Sâbis
Strength
45,000	10,000 (Khalil), 15,000 (Ali Ishan)
Casualties and losses
18,000 (+ 37,000 sick)[1]	15,000[1]

The Samarra offensive (March 13 – April 23, 1917) was launched by the British against the Ottomans as part of the

.

After Baghdad fell to the British on March 11, 1917, there were still 10,000 Ottoman troops north of the city, led by Khalil Pasha, who could represent a threat to Anglo-Indian forces.

Furthermore, another 15,000 Ottomans under

by the Russians, and were attempting at joining Khalil's forces in northern Iraq.

The British commander,

railroad, running 130 km (81 mi) north of Baghdad.

Operations began on March 13, carried forth by 45,000 British troops. On March 19, they conquered

and its railroad fell into their hands.

Although it achieved its aims, the Samarrah offensive cost the British about 18,000 casualties, a considerable price (plus another 38,000 who were taken ill).^[1]

Further reading

• Barker, A. J. The Bastard War: The Mesopotamian Campaign of 1914–1918. New York: Dial Press, 1967.
  OCLC 2118235
• Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2014). World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection - 5 volumes. ABC-CLIO.
  ISBN 9781851099658.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
  )

References

External links

• Samarrah Offensive, 1917