View source for Special Commissions (Dardanelles and Mesopotamia) Act 1916

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{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Special Commissions (Dardanelles and Mesopotamia) Act 1916
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            =
| year                  = 1916
| citation              = [[6 & 7 Geo. 5]]. c. 34
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The '''Special Commissions (Dardanelles and Mesopotamia) Act 1916''' ([[6 & 7 Geo. 5]]. c. 34) was set up to investigate the [[World War I]] operations in the [[Battle of Gallipoli|Dardanelles Campaign]] and the [[Mesopotamian campaign]].
The [[Walcheren Campaign]] of 1809 and the [[Crimean War]] had been investigated by parliamentary committees.<ref>Grigg 2002, pp435-6</ref> The British prime minister, [[H. H. Asquith]], therefore initially proposed a [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|select committee]] to inquire into the disasters at the [[Dardanelles]] (the [[Gallipoli Campaign|Gallipoli Bridgeheads]] were finally evacuated in the winter of 1915-16) and in [[Mesopotamia]] (where the British and [[British Indian Army|Indian]] force at [[Siege of Kut|Kut]] surrendered in April 1916). Instead, he was persuaded to agree to appoint a statutory special commission, because '"a Government may… prefer to… appoint… an outside element... less likely to be influenced by party bias."<ref>Anson, I, 400, op.cit</ref>
The terms of the Act required that at least one naval and one military officer from the retired lists serve on each Commission.
Historian [[John Grigg]] writes that the inquiries were “an enormous waste of busy people’s time”. [[Maurice Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey|Maurice Hankey]] had to spend 174 hours preparing material for the Dardanelles Commission. Grigg argues that just the fact of setting up the inquiries was an unfortunate admission that mismanagement had occurred. Coming after the crisis over the extension of conscription to married men in May 1916, which had come close to bringing down the government, and against the backdrop of the costly [[Battle of the Somme|Somme Offensive]] (whose results were obviously disappointing, contrary to unconvincing official claims of Allied victory), and the decline in Asquith’s physical stamina and “grip”, the inquiries contributed to the slow decline of the [[Asquith coalition ministry]]’s authority. By the end of the year many politicians – and General [[Sir William Robertson, 1st Baronet|Robertson]] - had come to feel that a change was needed in the management of the war, causing the crisis of November-December 1916 which eventually led to Asquith’s replacement as prime minister by [[David Lloyd George]].<ref>Grigg 2002, pp435-6</ref>
==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 Hamilton]], chairman
*[[Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore|Earl of Donoughmore]]
*[[Hugh Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood|Lord Hugh Cecil]]
*[[Archibald Williamson, 1st Baron Forres]]
*[[John Hodge (politician)|J. Hodge]]
*[[Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood|J.C. Wedgwood]]
*[[Admiral Cyprian Bridge]], (retired Naval)
*[[Neville Lyttelton|General Rt. Hon. Sir Neville Gerald Lyttelton]]
The Commission summoned over 100 witnesses. It was highly critical of many individuals and the administrative arrangements.<ref>U.K., Parliament. Mesopotamia Commission. 1917. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Separate Report by Commander J. Wedgwood, D.S.O. M.P., and Appendices; Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty. London, UK: H.M.S.O. Cd. 8610.</ref> [[William Babtie]], responsible for medical provision on the Mesopotamia front, was heavily criticised.
==Dardanelles 1916-19==
''See [[Dardanelles Commission]]''
The following were appointed:
*[[Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer]] (initial chairman, died 29 Jan 1917)
*[[William Pickford, 1st Baron Sterndale]], Chairman
*[[Andrew Fisher]]
*[[Thomas Mackenzie]]
*[[Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley]]
*[[James Avon Clyde, Lord Clyde]]
*[[Stephen Gwynn]]
*[[Walter Francis Roch]]
*[[William May (Royal Navy officer)|Admiral Sir William Henry May]]
*[[William Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson]]
==Sources==
*'Appendix 1', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 10: Officials of Royal Commissions of Inquiry 1870-1939 (1995), pp.&nbsp;85–8. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16611. Date accessed: 12 August 2007.
* {{Cite book |last=Grigg |first=John |title=Lloyd George: From Peace To War 1912-16 |publisher=Penguin |year=2002 |orig-year=1985 |isbn=0-140-28426-5}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Public inquiries in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1916]]
[[Category:1916 in military history]]
[[Category:World War I legislation]]
[[Category:Military history of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Gallipoli campaign]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern theatre of World War I]]
[[Category:H. H. Asquith]]