Middle East
Front
(383)1916
January
- 08
- Key eventEnd of the evacuation of GallipoliOn the night of 8–9 January 1916 the last British troops sailed from Helles. After eight months of fighting the Gallipoli campaign ended in Allied defeat.
- End of the Battle of Sheikh SaadOn 8 January 1916 Aylmer's exhausted troops did not renew their attack at Sheikh Saad. The Turks withdrew in the night; the British had lost about 4,000 men.
- 13
- Ottoman troops in KermanshahIn January 1916 Ottoman battalions arrived in Kermanshah. The city was not captured, but was a centre of Persian nationalists allied with Germany.
- Russians take KangavarOn 13 January 1916 Baratov's corps took Kangavar in western Persia after hard fighting, routing Kanitz's detachments and the Turkish battalion supporting them.
- 14
- Fighting on the WadiOn 14 January 1916 the British found the Turkish trenches on the Wadi empty. The Turks slipped away to the Hanna defile; the Tigris Corps lost over 1,600 men.
- Percy Lake appointed commander in MesopotamiaOn 14 January 1916 Gen. Percy Lake, chief of staff of the army in India, was appointed commander in Mesopotamia in place of the gravely ill Gen. John Nixon.
February
- 16
- Key eventRussians capture ErzurumOn 16 February 1916 Cossacks rode into Erzurum, left by the Turks. The fall of a fortress thought impregnable was Russia's greatest success in the Caucasus.
- War Office takes over the Mesopotamian campaignIn mid-February 1916 control of operations in Mesopotamia passed from the Government of India and the India Office to the War Office in London.
- 26
- Charge at AgagiaOn 26 February 1916 the Dorset Yeomanry caught the Senussi retreating from Agagia, broke them with a charge and captured their commander, Ja'far al-Askari.
- Russians take KermanshahAt the end of February 1916 Baratov's corps entered abandoned Kermanshah. Persian nationalists, Germans and Turks fell back towards the Iraqi border.
March
- 05
- Resignation of FarmanfarmaAt the turn of February and March 1916 the government of Prince Farmanfarma, Britain's closest friend in Tehran, fell. It had lasted just over two months.
- Resignation of the Persian foreign ministerAlong with Farmanfarma's government in March 1916, Persia's foreign minister Moshaver ol-Mamalek left office, not Mohtasham os-Saltaneh as the chronology says.
- 06
- Sepahsalar becomes prime minister of PersiaIn early March 1916 Mohammad Vali Khan Tonekaboni, the Sepahsalar, hero of the 1909 revolution and advocate of accord with Russia, became Persian premier.
- Sarem od-Dowleh becomes foreign minister of PersiaIn early March 1916 Prince Akbar Mirza, Sarem od-Dowleh, a grandson of Naser al-Din Shah educated in England, became head of Persian diplomacy.
April
- 06
- Start of the advance on TrebizondOn 6 April 1916 a flotilla with two plastun brigades sailed from Novorossiysk to Lazistan, covered by the Black Sea Fleet. Russia was moving on Trebizond.
- First attack on SannaiyatAt dawn on 6 April 1916, after a night march, the 7th Division attacked the Turkish position at Sannaiyat. Fire halted it hundreds of metres short.
May
- 15
- Blockade of the Hejaz coastIn mid-May 1916 British warships began blockading the ports of the Hejaz. The blockade was requested by the Sharif of Mecca himself, who was preparing a revolt.
- Russians take RowanduzIn mid-May 1916 a Russian detachment from Persian Azerbaijan stormed Rowanduz in Kurdistan, a few days' march from Mosul.
- Russians halt before KhanaqinIn mid-May 1916 Baratov stood before Khanaqin but did not take it. The Turks were bringing reinforcements from Kut and the Russians were told not to attack.
June
- 05
- Key eventStart of the Arab RevoltOn 5 June 1916 the sons of the Sharif of Mecca, Ali and Faisal, proclaimed near Medina the Arabs' independence from the Turks. Thus began the Arab Revolt.
- Ottoman offensive in western PersiaAt the start of June 1916 the whole Ottoman XIII Corps stood at Khanaqin. Baratov's Russians began to fall back, and the Turks moved into Persia.