Battle of Sharqat
Part of theMesopotamian Campaign ofWorld War I
Date October 23–30, 1918 Location North ofBaghdad, present-dayIraq Result British–Indian–Assyrian victory[1]
Belligerents
British Empire  India Assyrian volunteers	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
SirWilliam Raine Marshall, SirAlexander Cobbe, Malik Yaqo Agha Petros	İsmail Hakkı Bey
Strength
2 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry brigades	"Tigris Group" (Dicle Grubu) ofOttomanSixth Army; five infantry regiments and one rifle regiment[2]
Casualties and losses
1,800	11,322[citation needed]–13,000[2] POW with many more wounded and killed[citation needed]

TheBattle of Sharqat (October 23–30, 1918) was fought between the British and the Ottoman Empire in theMesopotamian Campaign inWorld War I,^[3] It was the last battle fought inMesopotamia during the war and one of the final conflicts between the two powers.^[4][5]

Anticipating an Ottoman armistice following the defeat of the Ottomans inPalestine and the recent surrender ofBulgaria,^[6] British PremierDavid Lloyd George ordered SirWilliam Marshall, Commander-in-Chief on the Mesopotamian front, to remove any residual Ottoman presence from that theater by twin advances up theEuphrates andTigris rivers, and capture the oil fields nearMosul on the Tigris. There was a lack of available transport, after a large amount had been supplied toDunsterforce for its advance acrossPersia, so Marshall persuaded the government to limit the advance to the Tigris Front only.

An Anglo-Indian force consisting of the17th and18th Indian Divisions and the7th and11th Indian Cavalry Brigades, led by SirAlexander Cobbe, leftBaghdad on October 23, 1918. In just 39 hours they covered 120 kilometres (75 mi) to theLittle Zab River, where the "Dicle Group" of the OttomanSixth Army, led byİsmail Hakkı Bey, who was the commander of the Ottoman14th Division, was awaiting them. The Sixth Army had been weakened due to lack of replacements. His forces consisted of the XVIII Corps, which comprised the 14th and 46th Divisions, and the XIII Corps, which comprised the 2nd and 6th Divisions.

Seeing his army's rear threatened, İsmail Hakkı Bey withdrew another 100 kilometers (62 mi) to the north toAl-Shirqat, where Cobbe attacked him on October 29, sending the 11th Cavalry Brigade to pin the Ottoman front while the 17th Division came up to support them. The 17th were delayed in arriving, and the cavalry were shelled by Ottoman guns overnight. In the morning the13th Hussars charged the hill where the guns were, and made a dismounted charge up it with fixed bayonets, successfully capturing the guns. İsmail Hakkı Bey was aware of the peace talks at Mudros, and decided to spare his men rather than fight or break out. He surrendered on October 30.^[7] The 18th Division advanced on Mosul, 50 miles further north, and were 12 miles short of the town when the armistice was declared.

On November 1, 1918, Mosul was peacefully occupied by the7th and11th Indian cavalry brigades, after the British forces ignored the request of the Ottoman Commander-in-chief,Ali İhsan (Sâbis), to withdraw to the positions they had held at the armistice.

• Moberly, F. J.Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign. Imperial War Museum, Volume IV 1927. Reprint edition 2011.ISBN 1-84574-939-1.
• Erickson, Edward J.Ordered to Die: A history of the Ottoman Army in the First World War. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2001.ISBN 0-31309-558-2.

• Battle of Sharqat, 1918, at FirstWorldWar.com
• Battle of Sharqat, at The Western Front Association

• Battles of the Mesopotamian campaign
• Battles of World War I involving the Ottoman Empire
• Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom
• Battles of World War I involving British India
• Battles in 1918
• 1918 in Iraq

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