MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Admission and Discharge Book for Field Service. A medical logbook (Army Book 27A) for the Base Isolation Hospital in Basra, recording the names and afflictions of over 250 Indian, Persian, Kurd, Arab, Chinese, Turkish, African, and Mauritian participants in the Mesopotamian Campaign. A search of the National Archives returns only four documents related to this hospital, none of them medical records. In the aftermath of the capture of Baghdad in March 1917 a vast network of hospitals was set up from the capital down to Basra, treating both soldiers of the British and Indian armies and Turkish prisoners. "During 1918 the principal hospital areas on the lines of communication were Baghdad, Kut, Amara and Basra. Special dental, ophthalmological and other departments, such as bathing establishments, were instituted and excellently organized. All the hospitals were made as perfect as possible" (MacPherson & Mitchell, p. 355).Basra itself contained approximately 14 hospitals including Base Isolation Hospital. This medical logbook notes the race, age, rank, name, and role of each of the 250 people admitted in 1918. Some of the afflictions include abscesses, tachycardia, malaria, influenza, sepsis, and scurvy. The majority of soldiers survived their stays, although the dates of death of those who did not are also recorded.

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