W.W.I British Indian Army Medical Units in Mesopotamia Campaign Glass Lantern Slide Archive, Circa 1916

British Indian Army

Photograph

British Indian Army medical and transport lantern slide archive, circa 1916, documenting the hospital, personnel, river craft, and built environment of the Mesopotamia Campaign during World War I. The sign for "No. 10 Indian General Hospital" places the group within the British Indian Army medical network operating at Basra after the disastrous siege of Kut and the rapid expansion of medical facilities for Indian Expeditionary Force D. The slides record the imperial military system through hospitals, military harbor craft, Indian attendants, British soldiers, and institutional buildings.

Photo archive of 8 glass lantern slides, each 3.25 x 3.25 inches, likely Basra, Mesopotamia, present day Iraq, circa 1916. The slides show a group portrait of Western military men in shirtsleeves and campaign dress; a group of Indian men posed outside a palm shaded compound; an Indian man in turban, coat, and light trousers standing near a building; and a large institutional structure identified by a foreground sign reading "No. 10 Indian General Hospital." Other views show soldiers and crew aboard a river vessel marked "B.12"; a river steamer or launch moving along a waterway; a long bungalow or hospital ward with verandah, fencing, and palms; and a cemetery or memorial setting with military graves, crosses, and a decorated headstone. The images emphasize hospitals, transport, quarters, and personnel, with Indian and Western subjects appearing within the same military geography.

No. 10 Indian General Hospital was part of the medical expansion that followed the early failures of the Mesopotamia Campaign, when heat, disease, inadequate evacuation routes, and insufficient hospital capacity exposed the weakness of British Indian medical planning. Basra became the principal receiving and hospital base for the campaign, linking river transport from the front to permanent and temporary medical facilities near the Gulf. Light surface wear, minor fading, and occasional abrasions visible; glass show no signs of cracking or scratching, mounts appear intact. Overall very good condition. A small record of British Indian Army medical logistics and colonial military presence in Mesopotamia during the First World War.

Item #23550

Price: $700.00