Atlas of Battles

siege, major, First World War

Siege of Kut

Siege of Kut was a siege conducted on 7 December 1915 at Kut, in what is now Iraq; it lasted 5 months. It was part of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I, which ran from 1914 to 1918. The recorded result: Ottoman victory. Recorded strength: 25,000–45,000, including 13,000+ besieged in Kut against 25,000–80,000.

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Picture of Major-General Townshend, Khalil Pasha and other unidentified officers after surrender of the Kut Garrison in 1916. Published in 1919. IWM Caption: The Mesopotamia Campaign 1914 - 1918 Gener
Picture of Major-General Townshend, Khalil Pasha and other unidentified officers after surrender of the Kut Garrison in 1916. Published in 1919. IWM Caption: The Mesopotamia Campaign 1914 - 1918 Gener. British Official Photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought7 December 1915lasted 5 months
WhereKut, Iraq32.506N, 45.825E
OutcomeOttoman victory
BelligerentsUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandagainstOttoman Empire
Part ofMiddle Eastern theater of World War I1914 to 1918

Where it sits in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I

Fao Landing, 1914Battle of Basra, 1914Battle of Qurna, 1914Battle of Ardahan, 1914Battle of Manzikert, 1915Battle of Kara Killisse, 1915naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, 1915Battle of Shaiba, 1915Siege of Van, 1915Landing at Cape Helles, 1915Battle of Kumkale, 1915Battle of Krithia, 1915Battle for Baby 700, 1915Battle for No.3 Post, 1915Battle of Amara, 1915Battle of Chamba, 1915Battle of Gully Ravine, 1915Battle of Nasiriyah, 1915Landing at Suvla Bay, 1915Battle of Lone Pine, 1915Battle of Sari Bair, 1915Battle of Krithia Vineyard, 1915Battle of the Nek, 1915Battle of Hill 60 (Gallipoli), 1915Battle of Scimitar Hill, 1915Battle of Es Sinn, 1915Battle of Ctesiphon, 1915Siege of Kut, 1915Battle of Robat Karim, 1915Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad, 1916Battle of Koprukoy, 1916Battle of Wadi, 1916Battle of Hanna, 1916Kermanshah Operation, 1916Battle of Dujaila, 1916Battle of Katia, 1916Battle of Romani, 1916Battle of Muş, 1916Battle of Bir el Abd, 1916Fall of Baghdad, 1917Battles of Ramadi, 1917Battle of Oramar, 1917Raid on Bir el Hassana, 1917Raid on Nekhl, 1917Second Battle of Kut, 1917First Battle of Gaza, 1917Second Battle of Gaza, 1917Battle of Istabulat, 1917Battle of Seray Mountain, 1917Battle of El Buggar Ridge, 1917Battle of Beersheba, 1917Third Battle of Gaza, 1917Charge at Huj, 1917Battle of Mughar Ridge, 1917Battle of Ayun Kara, 1917Battle of Nebi Samwil, 1917Battle of Jaffa, 1917Battle of Megiddo, 1918Battle of Abaran, 1918Battle of Mastara, 1918Capture of Erzincan, 1918Capture of Trabzon, 1918Battle of Charah, 1918Battle of Erzurum, 1918Capture of Erzurum, 1918Battle of Hijla, 1918First Battle of Amman, 1918First Transjordan attack on Amman, 1918Battle of Choloki, 1918Battle of Suldouze, 1918Battle of Ushno, 1918Action of Arsuf, 1918Battle of Karamaryan, 1918Battle of Goychay, 1918Battle of Kurdamir, 1918Battle of Salyan, 1918Battle of Abu Tellul, 1918Battle of Tulkarm, 1918Battle of Arara, 1918Battle of Nablus, 1918Battle of Tabsor, 1918Battle of Nazareth, 1918Capture of Jisr ed Damieh, 1918Battle of Haifa, 1918Battle of Samakh, 1918Second Battle of Amman, 1918Capture of Damascus, 1918Charge at Kaukab, 1918Charge at Kiswe, 1918Charge at Khan Ayash, 1918Battle of Sharqat, 1918Battle of Aleppo, 1918Charge at Haritan, 191819141918Siege of Kut, 1915
96 placed engagements of the Middle Eastern theater of World War I in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date7 December 1915
to 29 April 1916
PlaceKut, Iraq
32.506N, 45.825E
KindSiege, First World War
Strength25,000–45,000, including 13,000+ besieged in Kut25,000–80,000
Casualties and lossesBesieged forces: 13,164 captured including 6 generals; Relief operations: 30,000 dead or wounded10,000 dead or wounded
Commanders
  • Harold Courtenay Armstrong
Siege of KutSiege of KutBattle of DujailaBattle of Es SinnBattle of Sheikh Sa'adSiege of WasitBattle of HannaSiege of WasitBattle of HannaBaghdadNajafAl HillahKarbalaAl AmarahAs SamawahIlamAd Diwaniyah100 km32.506N, 45.825E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Siege of Kut
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 5 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Siege of Kut today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-04-03. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 20 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 7 to 32 m, 25 m of relief, flat country and today it is 55% built-up, 14% bare ground, 12% water.

built-up: 55%bare ground: 14%water: 12%cropland: 10%tree cover: 6%shrubland: 2%built-up 55%bare ground 14%water 12%cropland 10%tree cover 6%
west to east, 10.0 km10 to 24 mnorth to south, 10.0 km10 to 27 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1915

Siege of Kut is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 173 in present-day Iraq.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q815166, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Kut, revision 1381469616, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.