'The Road to Persia from Mendali', 1917 (c)

Watercolour by Captain (later Major General) Cecil Wotton Toovey (1891-1954), 82nd Punjabis, 1917 (c). From a Sketchbook with 28 pages of sketches of Mesopotamia and Waziristan, 1917-1919.

A figure with donkey walking in front of a small stone building. Mandali, famed for its date production, is in Iraq, close to the Iranian border. Its population includes Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen communities.

The 82nd Punjabis arrived at Basra from India on 15 January 1916. It participated in the offensive that resulted in the occupation of Baghdad in March 1917. The regiment remained in the city until moving on to the Persian border.

Having served in Mesopotamia, Toovey saw action on the North West Frontier of India, where he was awarded the Military Cross for his actions on 21 December 1919.

Captain Toovey served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at General Headquarters (GHQ), India, from 1927 to 1929. Toovey was Brigade Major for the 2nd Rawalpindi Infantry Brigade, between 1929 and 1931. In 1932 Toovey was back on active duty on the North West Frontier, receiving a bar for his Military Cross. He returned to England in 1933 where he served at the War Office in London, rising through the ranks to lieutenant colonel in 1937. Toovey took command of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment in 1937 and was promoted to colonel in 1939. Toovey served in Eritrea in 1941 before returning to India as Deputy Adjutant General GHQ India. Promoted to major general in 1943, Toovey commanded the Rawlpindi District prior to his retirement in January 1947. He died in 1954.

Credit line: 'Son of Maj GenToovey'