Fortified positions, Kurna, Mesopotamia, 1915 (c)

Photograph, World War One, Mesopotamia (1914-1918), 1915 (c).

Kurna (Al Qurnah in modern Iraq) was captured from Turkish forces by the Indian Expeditionary Force supported by Royal Navy riverine forces in December 1914. The town was of strategic importance because it was situated at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers where they form the Shatt al-Arab Waterway which flows into the Persian Gulf.

From an album of 210 photographs compiled by Lieutenant Henry Curtis Gallup during his service with the 5th Hampshire Howitzer Battery (Territorial Force) in Mesopotamia during World War One (1914-1918), 1915-1916.