October 30th, 1918 - The Battle of Sharqat

Conflict: World War I

Combatants: Anglo-Indian vs. Ottoman Turks

Location: Iraq

Outcome: British victory

In the closing days of the war, General Sir William Marshall was ordered by British high command to drive out or defeat the remaining Turkish troops in the Middle East. Beginning on October 23rd of 1918, an Anglo-Indian force fought and pursued the Ottoman Turks north from Bagdad until reaching Sharqat. With peace imminent, General Ismail Hakki, the Turkish commander, surrendered on October 30th rather than sacrifice more of his soldiers to a lost cause.

British troops in Baghdad, Iraq on March 11, 1917 during World War I by an unknown photographer

Points of Interest:

• Sharqat was the last battle in Mesopotamia during World War I.

• Over 18,000 Turkish prisoners were taken in this final campaign.

General Sir W R Marshall by Frederic Whiting

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

Ellis, John, & Cox, Michael (2001). The World War I Databook. Bodmin, UK: MPG Books Ltd.

Keegan, John (2001). An Illustrated History of the First World War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.