With the beginning of the First World War in Europe, British commanders worried about losing access to precious oil reserves in the Persian Gulf region.

[2] The threat in the region came from the Ottoman Empire whom had entered the war on the side of the Central Powers and were geographically the closest of Britain's enemies to Abadan where much of the Gulf's oil infrastructure was located.

[4] Despite the lack of Ottoman priority in Mesopotamia, British forces landed in Fao, at the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in November 1914 setting in motion the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I.

The British successes were in large part due to the lack of effective Turkish opposition in the region with Sir Percy Cox remarking, "After earnest consideration of the arguments for and against I find it difficult to see how we can well avoid taking over Baghdad.

The district was covered in wetlands, the product of seasonal flooding, so the troops maneuvered north in small boats through the series of marshes and canals to reach the city.

However the barge managed to shore up the river enough to allow British and Indian troops to wade across where they overran the Turkish positions with gunboat support, routing the defenders entirely.