War Diary for the Mesopotamia Line of Communication, ADMS Base, Basra (WO 95/5238/3)

[John NZ]

On 22/08/2018 at 08:32, charlie962 said:

may be Lt Col William Arthur Woodside RAMC ? (he was 7th Meerut Div 1912)

In 1917 he was MiD for Mespot campaign (and subsequently got a DSO)            

Correct.
He was my Grandfather and I have his medals that include a MiD and DSO.

I also have several photos, from around Basra, which I was told included TE Lawrence and either the Sheik of Iraq or Saud.  

We had a receipt for his Holland and Holland shotgun sent out to Meerut at the house in Ireland.

My mother said he was off Gallipoli on a hospital ship and brought the wounded back through the Red Sea and had to turn the ship's hoses on those on deck to keep them cool.

I have a picture of a hospital ship that came from Ireland though can't recognise her.  There is nothing written on the back of the photo.

If anyone wishes I could copy the pictures +/- take a picture of the medals.

Some of the medals come from the South African War in which he was captured by the Boer and imprisoned with Winston Churchill.

 

[charlie962]

2 hours ago, John NZ said:

anyone wishes I could copy the pictures +/- take a picture of the medals

Yes please! Welcome to the forum.

Charlie

[John NZ]

15 hours ago, charlie962 said:

Yes please! Welcome to the forum.

Charlie

I'm not sure of the history of some of these pictures as there's nothing written on them.
I'm fairly certain they are associated with my grandfather, rather than another family member, as he was the only one to serve in Arabia.
The people in the pictures, I don't know but I think my grandfather would be in the last group photo,seated, and to the left of the nurses.
The single image of him was probably taken post the South African war and before the Great War.

[charlie962]

Thanks for posting these.

I think the very dark collar tabs (purple) are worn by the medical men, the white collar tabs by a political officer. Tricky to tell with effects of orthographic film. 

Charlie

Edited 26 April , 2023 by charlie962

[John NZ]

1 hour ago, charlie962 said:

Thanks for posting these.

I think the very dark collar tabs (purple) are worn by the medical men, the white collar tabs by a political officer. Tricky to tell with effects of orthographic film. 

Charlie

Interesting about the colour of the tabs.

I wondered if the man walking in the topee with the white tabs might have been TE Lawrence as he seems to be a point of interest for the photographer.

Also thought of the European woman standing in the group picture.
She could have been medically related but interesting she was there in a group of political people and influential Arabs.
Was thinking about Gertrude Bell but, from the images I've seen, there isn't much of a likeness.

1 hour ago, charlie962 said:

Thanks for posting these.

I think the very dark collar tabs (purple) are worn by the medical men, the white collar tabs by a political officer. Tricky to tell with effects of orthographic film. 

Charlie

Any idea of the name of the hospital ship?

[charlie962]

Amongst others on this forum, @Ghazala is particularly up to speed on TEL 

[charlie962]

This is the political officer in all those photos. Not TEL.

[charlie962]

Is it  not Sir Percy Cox and as you suggest, Gertrude Bell ?

Percy Cox https://g.co/kgs/5nbv2c

Edited 26 April , 2023 by charlie962

[charlie962]

You may even come across a named version of similar photos if you search for Sir Percy Cox. 

Illustrated London News 31/3/17 courtesy Findmypast newspapers.

At Basra:

No3 is named as Miss Bell.

Edited 26 April , 2023 by charlie962

[ZeZe]

Hi John, 

The hospital ship appears to be similar to H.M.H.S. Vita

https://www.grandadswar.org/photos/hm-hs-vita-2/

https://www.qaranc.co.uk/hospitalships.php (Scroll to bottom of page)

Regards ZeZe

[John NZ]

6 hours ago, charlie962 said:

You may even come across a named version of similar photos if you search for Sir Percy Cox. 

Illustrated London News 31/3/17 courtesy Findmypast newspapers.

At Basra:

No3 is named as Miss Bell.

Goodness, three incredibly influential people for the Middle East in the same photograph.

I'd read about Gertrude Bell before, and had heard of Percy Cox, but no more than that.
What amazing people they were.

Always understood it was Saud in the picture but Basra seemed removed from his area of influence. 
What a man he was too.

I wonder how the same, but non annotated, picture came to be in with our family things in Ireland.
Ordering copies of photos from newspapers used to be a common thing but can't imagine doing so in a war especially when so far away, 

Thanks for that.

My grandfather was in India again in the 1920's as my mother was born in Simla.
They were in Jersey at the outbreak of the Second War and returned to Ireland when they could hear the guns in France.

I was born beside the Suez Canal.

[John NZ]

6 hours ago, ZeZe said:

Hi John, 

The hospital ship appears to be similar to H.M.H.S. Vita

https://www.grandadswar.org/photos/hm-hs-vita-2/

https://www.qaranc.co.uk/hospitalships.php (Scroll to bottom of page)

Regards ZeZe

Thanks for the links

[charlie962]

https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/mec/mecaphotos-bell.html#ibnsaud

[John NZ]

2 hours ago, charlie962 said:

https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/mec/mecaphotos-bell.html#ibnsaud

Goodness, some of the photos in that link look familiar.

I noticed right at the top of that page a link to 'John Glubb photo gallery'.

Met him in a pram as a baby with my parents when our paths crossed beside the Suez Canal.  He thought my parent were too young to have a child. 

[charlie962]

Those photos are around Nov/Dec 1916 when Ibn Saud visited Basra.  If your GF is in the photos no wonder he kept a copy.

That last photo with your gf apparently seated front row has more senior officers standing behind him, it seems. It would be interesting to identify some others