Kut: The personal experiences of siege and captivity of Dr. Arthur Cane

By the start of WW1 oil had become a critical strategic commodity powering the Royal Navy’s dreadnaughts and Britain was dependant on oil from the Persian Gulf.  Britain had mobilised a large army in India and quickly moved a force of British and Indian regiments to the Persian Gulf in order to defend those vital oilfields.  Within one year Britain has sustained a major defeat at the siege of Kut and the diaries of Dr Arthur Cane provide a fascinating medical insight into this little known episode of WW1.