Sunken gunboats, hospital boats and dhows in the Gulf: waterfront scenes from the Mesopotamian Campaign 1914-1918

[Thompson, Alfred Tulloch]. [Photograph album of the Mesopotamian Campaign 1914-1918].

€ 7,500.00

Compiled by the British army surgeon Alfred Tulloch Thompson of Darlington, County Durham, during the Mesopotamian campaign of 1914-18, this prettily presented collection of snapshots of towns such as Basra and Amara reveals the integration of British troops and military life into the local landscapes. Alongside native villages, women fetching water, mosques, and street scenes are subtle signs of the war. One snapshot shows a "sunken Turkish gunboat", likely sunk deliberately by Ottoman forces to block the Shatt-al-Arab channel. Another two are labelled as the 3rd and 32nd British General Hospitals - important to a surgeon - while another shows a hospital boat. Many scenes show the Tigris and local boats (including a dhow plying the "Persian Gulf"), though one additionally shows a "P Boat," a British river steamer. Other images show locals going about daily life in wartime, as well as portraits of British soldiers - likely fellow members of the RAMC, including several of Thompson himself (one showing him in traditional Arab costume).

Light wear and occasional light fading, but altogether very well preserved.