The British Indian Expeditionary Force landed near Basra with the 6th Poona Division under Lieutenant-General Arthur Barrett and Sir Percy Cox as political officer. Sheikh Mubarak Al Sabah of Kuwait also sent forces against Ottoman positions near Umm Qasr and Basra. Britain then recognized Kuwait as an independent government under British protection. The operation interrupted completion of the Baghdad Railway and restricted Ottoman and German reinforcement toward the Persian Gulf. The advance stalled after Basra when the force turned north toward Baghdad, creating the operational problem that river gunboats would help solve.
Chapter · 15:04-17:05
Basra, Kuwait, and the Baghdad Railway in 1914
The opening Mesopotamia campaign connected the Basra landing, British protection of Kuwait, and an effort to block Ottoman and German reinforcement toward the Persian Gulf.