Sailor in the Desert

A British Royal Navy sailor recounts his service about the HMS Clio and the action he saw during the Mesopotamian campaign during World War I. Sailor in the Desert is the personal account of a Royal Navy sailor’s experiences during the Mesopotamian campaign of 1915. As an able seaman on an armed sloop supporting the British expedition up the River Tigris, Philip Gunn’s recollections give a rare perspective of this ill-fated campaign. At the outbreak of war, Phillip Gunn was serving on HMS Clio ,