Talk:Al-Gharraf River

Latest comment: 7 years ago by Spinney Hill in topic First World War

First World War edit

I came upon the page when I was reading about the First World War and found a brief reference to an attack by the Turks on the British on the Shatt on 7 February 1916.[1]I looked on Wikipedia to find out more about it.I did not find anything except what I found to be a very confusing article which I have attempted to correct in a series of edits.What was in the article did not say much about things that actually happened on the river rather than in the battles in which the British attempted to relieve their forces at Kut.It said nothing much about the Siege of Kut itself,in which I suspect the waterway played a prominent part. I only have the internet and 3 general histories of the 1st World War at my disposal.I don't have a specialist book about the Mesopotamian campaign. Can anybody with more knowledge than me and more detailed resources contribut further from where I left off? I became interested in this campaign because my grandfather took part in it, although I don't think he was sent to Iraq until 1917 or 1918. Obviously I can't speak to him about it as he died in the 1970s

--Spinney Hill (talk) 14:00, 8 February 2016 (UTC)Reply

On 28 May 2016 I accessed the source on the web page for 20 May 1916 and found the following:

"South bank of Tigris to Shatt-el-Hai cleared of Turks. 3 officers, 110 men, Cossacks from Mahidasht join British on Tigris at Ali Gherbi." I am not sure why this does not reflect what is in the wikipedia article.Would you amend the article to something you think better reflects the source? Thanks for pointing out the retrieval date which should of course be 28 May 2016. I have checked the source again today. Spinney Hill (talk) 10:48, 13 January 2017 (UTC)Reply

Hi Spinney Hill. It does not help that you added the website's homepage as the source, rather than the source itself. I have fixed the ref, but it still does not entirely back up the article, which warranted the addition of {{better source}}. Kind regards - Quasar G t - c 11:35, 13 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

I have changed the text a little adding in the evacuation of Kut by the Turks. I have used the same website for this. My ref books-Keegan's "First World War",Liddell Hart's "History of the world war" and AJP Taylor's "first world war" barely mention the recapture of Kut.Spinney Hill (talk) 12:49, 13 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

References

  1. ^ http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/the-great-war/diary-of-the-great-war/the-diary-of-the-great-war-1916/322-1916-diary/5470-7-february-1916. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)