Special Commissions (Dardanelles and Mesopotamia) Act 1916
Encyclopedia
The Special Commissions Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. V) was set up to investigate the World War I
operations in the Dardanelles Campaign
and the Mesopotamian campaign
.
Following the disasters in Mesopotamia
and the Dardanelles
in 1916, the recently ousted British Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith
, demanded a select committee to inquire into the relevant military campaigns. Instead the new Government appointed a statutory Special Commission, because a Government may…prefer to…appoint…an outside element...less likely to be influenced by party bias.
The terms of the Act required that at least one naval and one military officer from the retired lists should serve on each Commission.
The following were appointed
The Commission The commission summonded over 100 witnesses. It was highly critical of many individuals and the administrative arrangements.
The following were appointed
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
operations in the Dardanelles Campaign
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
and the Mesopotamian campaign
Mesopotamian Campaign
The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, mostly troops from the Indian Empire, and the Central Powers, mostly of the Ottoman Empire.- Background :...
.
Following the disasters in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
in 1916, the recently ousted British Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
, demanded a select committee to inquire into the relevant military campaigns. Instead the new Government appointed a statutory Special Commission, because a Government may…prefer to…appoint…an outside element...less likely to be influenced by party bias.
The terms of the Act required that at least one naval and one military officer from the retired lists should serve on each Commission.
Mesopotamia 1916-17
The Commission of Inquiry's remit was to inquire into the origins, inception and conduct of operations of war in Mesopotamia.The following were appointed
- Lord George HamiltonLord George HamiltonLord George Francis Hamilton GCSI, PC, JP was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Background:...
; (Chairman) - Earl of DonoughmoreRichard Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of DonoughmoreRichard Walter Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore KP, PC , styled Viscount Suirdale until 1900, was an Irish peer and Conservative politician...
- Lord Hugh CecilHugh Cecil, 1st Baron QuickswoodHugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood PC , styled Lord Hugh Cecil until 1941, was a British Conservative Party politician.-Background and education:...
- Archibald Williamson, 1st Baron ForresArchibald Williamson, 1st Baron ForresArchibald Williamson, 1st Baron Forres PC , known as Sir Archibald Williamson, 1st Baronet, from 1909 to 1922, was a Scottish businessman and politician....
- J. Hodge
- J.C. WedgwoodJosiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron WedgwoodColonel Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood, DSO, PC, DL sometimes referred to as Josiah Wedgwood IV was a British Liberal and Labour politician who served in government under Ramsay MacDonald...
- Admiral Cyprian Bridge, (retired Naval)
- General Rt. Hon. Sir Neville Gerald LytteltonNeville LytteltonGeneral Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton GCB, GCVO, PC was a British Army Officer. He served as Chief of the General Staff.-Army career:...
The Commission The commission summonded over 100 witnesses. It was highly critical of many individuals and the administrative arrangements.
- William BabtieWilliam BabtieLieutenant General Sir William Babtie VC KCB KCMG was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth armed forces...
, responsible for medical provision on the Mesopotamia front, was heavily criticised
Dardanelles 1916-19
See Dardanelles CommissionDardanelles Commission
The Dardanelles Commission was an investigation into the disastrous 1915 Dardanelles Campaign. It was set up under the Special Commissions Act 1916....
The following were appointed
- William Pickford, 1st Baron SterndaleWilliam Pickford, 1st Baron SterndaleWilliam Pickford, 1st Baron Sterndale PC was a British lawyer and judge. He served as a Lord Justice of Appeal between 1914 and 1918, as President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division between 1918 and 1919 and as Master of the Rolls between 1919 and 1923.-Legal and judicial...
; Chairman - Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of CromerEvelyn Baring, 1st Earl of CromerEvelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, GCB, OM, GCMG, KCSI, CIE, PC, FRS , was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator....
; (d. 29 Jan 1917) - Andrew FisherAndrew FisherAndrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
; - Thomas MackenzieThomas MackenzieSir Thomas Noble Mackenzie GCMG was a Scottish-born New Zealand politician and explorer who briefly served as the 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1912, and later served as New Zealand High Commissioner in London....
; - Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron CawleyFrederick Cawley, 1st Baron CawleyFrederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley PC, JP , known as Sir Frederick Cawley, Bt, between 1906 and 1918, was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician. A wealthy cotton merchant, he represented Prestwich in parliament between 1895 and 1918 and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster...
; - James Avon Clyde, Lord Clyde;
- Stephen Gwynn
- Walter Francis RochWalter Francis RochWalter Francis Roch , sometime MP for Pembrokeshire from 1908 to 1918 was a Welsh politician and landowner, whose political career ended when he continued to support Asquith over David Lloyd George...
; - Admiral Sir William Henry May
- William Nicholson, 1st Baron NicholsonWilliam Nicholson, 1st Baron NicholsonField Marshal William Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson, GCB , was a British Army officer who, in a half-century of service, rose through the ranks in India and the Boer War to the rank of Field Marshal...