Anticipating an Ottoman armistice following the defeat of the Ottomans in Palestine and the recent surrender of Bulgaria,[3] British Premier David Lloyd George ordered Sir William Marshall, Commander-in-Chief on the Mesopotamian front, to remove any residual Ottoman presence from that theater by twin advances up the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and capture the oil fields near Mosul on the Tigris.

In just 39 hours they covered 120 kilometres (75 mi) to the Little Zab River, where the "Dicle Group" of the Ottoman Sixth Army, led by İsmail Hakkı Bey, who was the commander of the Ottoman 14th Division, was awaiting them.

Seeing his army's rear threatened, İsmail Hakkı Bey withdrew another 100 kilometers (62 mi) to the north to Al-Shirqat, where Cobbe attacked him on October 29, sending the 11th Cavalry Brigade to pin the Ottoman front while the 17th Division came up to support them.

İsmail Hakkı Bey was aware of the peace talks at Mudros, and decided to spare his men rather than fight or break out.

On November 1, 1918, Mosul was peacefully occupied by the 7th and 11th Indian cavalry brigades, after the British forces ignored the request of the Ottoman Commander-in-chief, Ali İhsan (Sâbis), to withdraw to the positions they had held at the armistice.