CHAPTER XII.

DECEMBER 12, 1916-FEBRUARY 24, 1917--FIGHTING ON THE TIGRIS.

During the night of the 12th December the last preparations were completed. General Marshall concentrated his troops in the forward area from which he was to march on the Hai stream, and General Cobbe got ready to bombard the Turkish trenches on the north of the Tigris, so as to give the impression that the British intended once more to attack Sannaiyat.

On the 13th the bombardment opened, and the new campaign had begun. General Maude himself moved his Headquarters some miles forward, and after dark General Marshall’s force, with the Cavalry on their left, struck out across country for the Hai.

The night march was carried out without mishap. At 6 A.M. on the morning of the 14th the column had reached its objective unobserved; and the enemy, taken by surprise, made no stand in defence of the stream. It was crossed by General Marshall at Atab, and by the Cavalry a little farther south at Basrujiyeh. The first move of the campaign had been a complete success.

The Thirteenth had borne their part in the night march, and owing to the completeness of the surprise had sustained no casualties. They got over the stream unopposed, and without any difficulty, for in their Colonel’s words it was “almost a dry bed,” and after an hour’s rest for watering and feeding the horses they marched northwards up the right bank of the stream with the Cavalry Division, while General Marshall’s Infantry marched up the left bank, the Turks retiring upon their intrenched position covering Kut. The force was, according to Private Massey, shelled by the gunboat _Firefly_, which the Turks had taken during Townshend’s retreat on Kut, but without result.

But if the enemy had permitted thus easily the seizure by the British of a point on the Hai, they were none the less determined to cling tenaciously to the several strong positions which they still held on the south bank of the Tigris, and two months of severe fighting were yet to take place before they could be dislodged from the last of these. During that time the main fighting had, of course, to be done by the Infantry and guns, but the Cavalry was constantly engaged in covering their flanks, “in reconnaissances, in harassing the enemy’s communications west of the Hai, and in raids, capturing stock and grain.” The letters and diaries of the Thirteenth will be quoted as before to show the work of the mounted arm, and their share in it.

_2nd Lieutenant Guy Pedder--December 19, 1916._--“We are standing-to at the moment, all packed up ready to move, securing the first opportunity I have had of writing since we started scrapping. We left that camp from where I last wrote[21] on the evening of the 13th, and marched all night and came under Arab fire about 8.30 next morning. We marched on and on, but my squadron did not get any show, as we were on flank guard out of it all. We got to a very famous spot in this part of the world and we had got the Turks pushed back a few miles. We got to bed very cold and very empty about 10 o’clock, the wretched horses having had their saddles on for 27 hours. Next morning I woke up at 5 and found our transport had got up and a ripping hot breakfast was ready for us. We had had practically nothing since midnight the night before. We marched off again about 8, but did not do much all day (a very long and tiring one). The Regiment only had a couple of casualties, and we were shelled a bit. Next day was much the same, getting back after dark. Then Sunday we were told we were going to have a day’s rest; however, about 9 o’clock, Pearson and I were sent out with two troops to report on some mounted troops right away in the distance. We galloped out and got as close as we dare and reported about 800 Arabs, and galloped back, the battery having got our range firing over our heads, to find the whole Regiment were out, and as D had turned [out] quickest we formed the advance-guard. We went about five miles at a tremendous pace but could not catch them, and then were told to act as rearguard to the Regiment, which was moving back to camp, and then the fun began. Directly we turned homewards on came any number of what we thought were Arabs shooting at us from long range, and making it very unpleasant; however, we did our job and got back all right with only three men hit, two slightly; five horses, three killed. We found out afterwards that we were up against a mixed force of Turks and Arabs. I thought the firing was too unpleasantly good for Arabs. Yesterday we went out in force and waited about all day, but never got a show. Directly we turned homewards we were shelled. The Regiment was extremely lucky, no one hit. Two shells burst only a few yards from me and my troop, but no one was hit and the horses only made a slight fuss for a second or two. My men were excellent under fire.... This sort of fighting is better than in France, as though there is not so much cover there is more room and space, and of course there is not nearly so much shelling. We could not possibly camp at night so close to the line in France as we do here. I hear our English mail is on its way from its last standing camp from where I last wrote, and is being brought up by camels. I am more than grateful for that waistcoat, especially in the evening and first thing in the morning, when we get an icy cold wind. During the day the weather is perfect, just like spring at home.”

_Captain W. H. Eve--December 19._--“These Arabs and Turkish Cavalry are wretched brutes to fight. They won’t let you get near them. Then directly you start home away from them they attack and worry.... It always seems to be the way. Luckily as a rule they are apparently pretty bad shots. I am rather hopeless of ever being able to get at them mounted, but I shall try, and we may get the Infantry out of their trenches one day. But there’s nothing to worry about, we are right on top of them. The job is to get near them.”

_Lieutenant Munster--December 19._--“We left our camp a week ago and have been skirmishing about ever since. So far we have had only very slight casualties, and it does not appear to me as though we Cavalry should become heavily engaged. Up to now we have been occupied in keeping the Arabs from interfering with operations against the Turks. We are quite comfortable, and on full rations. There seems to be no difficulty about supplies. The weather has not broken yet. Our horses are having a hard time just now.”

Private Massey writes in his diary regarding these casualties: “As the bullets which the Arabs use are as big as a man’s little finger, with flattened nose just rounded off, they make a big noise going through the air, as well as making terrible wounds.” The horses suffered most.

_Lieutenant Chrystall._--“We have been doing, as you will no doubt have seen by the papers, a little fighting, and have been doing a lot of night marching on ‘operation scale,’ which means waterproof sheet, one blanket, and biscuits and bully, and out all day. Our horses at times have been forty-four hours without water, which of course is very hard. Well, we were bemoaning our fate when we were ordered out on Christmas Eve morning for an all-night show, and thinking we will never have any Christmas dinner at all. We returned to camp about 3 P.M. on Christmas Day and found a much-belated Christmas parcel awaiting us, and all your splendid parcels. We had a meal fit for a king, and we had to thank all you good people for it.”

_Captain W. H. Eve--December 27._--“Personally I see no show ever for us, and am sorry I ever joined the Cavalry.... I have no delusions about it now.... I shall never get a gallop with my squadron....”

_2nd Lieutenant Guy Pedder--December 30._--“We are back again in the same camp as we started out from for this show,[22] and got back just in time, as it has rained almost ever since. We are pretty comfortable in our tents, after much digging. I mean, we dig out the inside of our tents, and make a trench all round to keep the water out. You achieve three things by doing this: (1) your tent is much warmer; (2) you have much more room and do not bump your head every time you turn round; (3) you keep dry.... We can’t possibly move up again for another show until the sun comes out and dries the mud, which is ankle-deep now. (Thank goodness! I was able to buy a pair of gum-boots from our Ordnance here.) Ormrod, Hill, and Lord arrived with a draft. They marched up-country and brought us some horses which we wanted badly. One night the Arabs scored over them well. Ormrod had his gun stolen out of his tent, Hill and Lord had all their kit taken, including bedding, valises, &c., and the sentries were on duty all round and within a few yards of the spot! The Arab is a marvellous thief.... The actual Christmas parcels have not arrived yet; all the same, we had a wonderful Christmas dinner only about three miles from Kut--soup, fish, mutton, and vegetables (we got the mutton after raiding an Arab Fort on Christmas Eve), champagne, two bottles for six of us (gift from Lord Curzon, I believe), an enormous plum-pudding which I bought at the E.F.C.[23] before we left here, also there was a Christmas cake and pudding given by telegraph. There is an E.F.C. up here now, but owing to transport difficulties it runs out of everything you want very quickly; but the best thing of all is our regimental coffee-shop (the only one in Mesopotamia, I believe). Even right up here it is open again, and you can buy anything from getting soda-water bottles refilled to buying assorted chocolates.... A tremendous thunderstorm is raging as I write, and it is coming down in buckets; to-morrow the mud will be knee-deep.”

_2nd Lieutenant J. O. P. Clarkson--December 30._--“Here’s a good story and true. One of our monitors had been up to an advanced position to shell the Turks, but had got heavily shelled itself. After a few days of this they tried to pull the Turks’ leg a bit. They rigged a _mahailla_ (Arab boat) with funnels and mast to represent a monitor, towed it up during the night, and the next day put it into position, burning oily rags and brown paper to represent its being under steam. It was not shelled. They towed it up higher still. It was not shelled. The next day a notice appeared from the Turkish trenches, and it ran, “Your real monitors amuse us, but your dummy one is superb.”

_Lieutenant Munster--December 30._--“Still here and still raining. There can hardly be any doubt that we shall not be moved at present, the mud is so awful. I used to think the mud at Aldershot could not be surpassed, but now I am inclined to think Mesopotamia beats it. We have to build little mud walls round our tents to keep the water out. I did not build mine deep enough, and as a result I think I had a foot and a half of water in my tent. It came just two or three inches short of the level of my bed. I woke up and saw my boots and clothes floating about.”

_January 4, 1917._--“We have been in our permanent camp about ten days now, and are quite likely to be here all the winter. After the winter come the floods, and before the floods have gone down the great heat comes on, so that October, November, and December are considered to be the only fighting months of the year. This year active operations did not start until December 14th, and the Cavalry withdrew to permanent billets on December 26th.”

_Captain W. H. Eve--January 17._--“I got your letter of December 3rd when we got back here to standing camp the day before yesterday. We are still all whole and flourishing, and I am very fit indeed. We left the base November 3rd.... The ‘show’ was to start on the 14th,[24] and we marched from here on the evening of the 13th. From the papers you will probably have gathered more or less what we did to start with.

“We were on the left or outer flank of the Infantry attack, away on the south. Marched all night, crossed the river Hai (nearly dry then) at dawn on the 14th; meeting with no opposition, then turned north up its western bank, and kept pace with the Infantry attack.

“Our part of the show was a success, a complete surprise to the enemy apparently, and in fact we didn’t run into any of them for some time. We had a little sniping from Arabs and a few Turk Cavalry, but no real fighting. We had a longish trek though, about twenty-six hours for our horses under saddle, as we did not get back to doss down by the river until about 9 P.M., 14th.

“The next two days we spent in reconnaissance wide on the flank, had long days for the horses, no water from morning till night (luckily cool weather), but we had no fighting, only got shelled once or twice.”

_Sunday._--“I had a little scrap with the squadron. We got a sight of about 800 Arabs and Turks, and the Regiment, which was for duty that day, turned out after them. We could not catch them, but on going home had a rearguard fight, which devolved on my squadron, and wherein they pleased me.

“This rearguard business, the worst and most unsatisfactory to do, is the Arabs’ great game. We had two or three more days’ reconnaissance. We accomplished nothing, and then were sent on a show to try and bridge the river Tigris higher up. This was a failure, and we rather got it in the neck, so you won’t see anything of it in the papers. The Regiment that day was in reserve, so I saw very little of it, but of course I know what happened.

“On Christmas Eve we went off to deal with a hostile Arab chief down south. That meant another night march, and so on. But we found the bird had flown, and had to content ourselves with sacking his fort and village, and collecting what cattle and sheep we could.

“We got back here on Boxing Day, and it then rained for a week or more, and we lived in mud. But here, of course, we are in permanent camp and under canvas. I must say that so far we have been more than lucky with our weather when out.

“On the 7th we left here again, only got back on the 15th, during which time we were trekking about again, chasing after Arabs, and eventually were chased by them, as usual, on our way home. I had really no fighting.... I have told you all this about ourselves, though it is not in the least important, just to show you the sort of life we lead.”

During this week the Regiment marched down to “Hai Town,” a considerable place on the Hai stream, and collected some supplies and Arab arms. Private Massey gives a sad account of the soldiers’ disappointment at the loss of a good meal in a deserted village.

“Here we seized several fowls and killed a few calves, taking only their livers, kidneys, and hearts, which we carried in our water-buckets. We camped close to the village for the night. After unsaddling our horses and watering and feeding were over, we lit a fire and commenced to cook the spoils of victory. But alas! when the water was nearly boiling for tea, and the livers and kidneys were frizzling in the mess-tins over a hot fire, the order was given, ‘Fall in for line picket!’ Of course that was enough to test the temper and patience of a parson, let alone a soldier, and a steady stream of expletives could be heard as we sloped arms and marched away. That night I had biscuits and bully, a poor substitute for fried liver and kidneys.”

It was hard, but Private Massey and his “messing-in chum,” M‘Nulty, had better luck a few days later at another village, and the diary triumphantly records how, “During the night M‘Nulty managed to get several livers, kidneys, and hearts from the slaughtering place, and we had fried liver and kidneys served up hot before réveillé next morning, as well as a mess-tin full of hot cocoa, made from tablets I had sent from England.”

_Private Hugh H. Mortimer--January 18._--“Round about the back of beyond. Yours of the 5th ulto. duly to hand about five or six days ago. I say about, because one has no idea as to days and dates, &c., out here, Sundays included. Sometimes we get a volunteer Church parade when things are quiet, but that has been very seldom of late. The last one we had, last Sunday but one, I volunteered for one the night before, but what ho! the parade was for 11 A.M., and we had been on the trek reconnoitring and Arab-chasing five hours by then. We are quite seasoned hands at these quick turn-outs now; often we’re all bivouacked down, giving it the bells in Snore Land, unless it happens to be your turn for guard, then somebody strolls round in a quiet hurry, kicks the sergeant in the ribs, and whispers, ‘Turn out at once; parade two hundred yards west of camp midnight.’ The kicks, &c., are passed on, and we are all saddled up, transport packed, &c., &c., and perhaps three or four miles away in less than an hour, and all that done in the dark, and no noise above a whisper, unless somebody gets a kick in the seat from a bobbery horse, and then there is some excuse for letting it rip.

“Yes, one day is much of a muchness with the next, unless it is that one has no time to think about what day it happens to be. Often I have asked five or six chaps the date to put in a letter, and then had to consult the orderly sergeant at the finish. Still, I don’t suppose it would make any difference to one’s destination if one happened to snuff it on a Friday or Sunday. We get in bags of warm spots now ever since we came right up, about two months ago. Sort of places that make the short hairs stand out on the back of the neck, and wonder if the next 12-pounder or so on has your number on it. I thought I knew a bit of what it feels to sit in a trench with them coming over in France, but galloping about in open country with shrapnel flying about licks it hollow. I saw one drop in a machine-gun section about fifteen yards on my right some fortnight ago, and that one bagged four men and three horses, and then several pieces hummed past me.... Then again the cod was galloping across a hail-storm for a mile from cover to cover. I took the Hotchkiss gun across--I am a nob at Hotchkiss guns now--and the remainder of the section followed some thirty yards behind at the canter. We got five shrapnel quick, and not more than thirty or forty yards away, and two of them in front of me and one behind the two parties. I looked round after the thud, having a good horse, and you talk about dust-flying--well, I thought ‘There’s only me in this section now,’ and made a lightning spurt for a deep donga, dropped into it with a crash, and pulled up. About six seconds afterwards two more crashes, and there appeared the rest of the team, a bit pale and smiling rather sickly smiles, but not a scratch on either men or horses, so you may judge of the luck of the mob. The worst of this country is, you can’t depend on the district for any supplies like you can in France; after we’ve had nothing but a couple of biscuits and one 12-oz. tin of bully from day to day for several days, when we get out of touch with the ration stands, that just seems to be the time when one could do with about four good sit-down knife-and-fork square meals per diem. When it’s like that I go up two extra holes in my belt and try not to think of steak and chips or anything in that line. Never mind, I will make it all up when and if I get home. Roll on that time too. Have just received a letter from Fannie, and she says people at home say, ‘Oh, he’s safe in Mesopotoom,’ but by the H.P. I never felt unsafer in France, Somme or no Somme. You may think that it’s generally understood that the last round is for yourself, before being taken alive by Arabs, although the Turks seem to fight very fair, and there are no tanks to walk behind and no trenches to bob down in.”

_Lieutenant Chrystall--January 20._--“To-day we were within one and a half miles of Kut. ‘So near and yet so far,’ and we hear to-day some trenches have been taken, so things are looking up a bit. To-day we got a splendid ration of beef, a sirloin, probably the first one ever seen in Mesopotamia.... One has to be very drastic with these people, the women being just as bad as the men. If you do not take strong steps they will shoot you in the back, even if they have shown the white flag, which they usually do when we are advancing, but when retiring they shoot at you.”

_Captain Eve--January 20._--“When we approached our objective, the big native town [Hai Town], they came out with a white flag and pretended to be friendly, and we treated them as such, and _bought_ supplies and things from them, and of course they made a fortune out of us.... Then Sunday, the 14th, we started back. As soon as we had left, our rearguard was heavily attacked (native regiments), and we had some casualties, and were very much delayed, and the Regiment sent to their support, but had very little to do.”

_January 26._--“I wish I could tell you _really_ all about things out here, but it is quite impossible. Only I do wish now above all else that I could have gone to Infantry or gunners. I have slowly but surely come to the conviction that we are years out of date, and entirely or almost entirely useless, and will never take a real part again.”

_2nd Lieutenant J. O. P. Clarkson--February 2._--“Since my last letter we have done quite a bit. First we tried to go round the Pushtikuh Mountains,[25] so early one morning we started off in order to cross the bridge. It took us over two hours to get across, and then we were the leading unit of the 2nd Brigade. We went past a fort to the Wadi river for water, and then pushed on to try and cross the marsh. But we got hopelessly bogged, at least the guns and the transport did, although they had double teams in as it was. Meanwhile we were all anxiously looking at the sky, as there was a devil of a storm coming up. So those people who had crossed the marsh had to recross it again. We camped down just off the marsh, and had scarcely got the lines down when it started to pour with rain. We crawled into our valises (no tents), and slept, and woke up soaking, boots full of water and thoroughly wet. It was still raining. We got up at 5 A.M., and had to wait until they had got all the waggons out of the marsh, some having been left there the evening before. We waited about five hours. Luckily it then turned out fine, and we started back. Our things were more or less dry by the time we got into our camp by the fort about twelve or sixteen miles from the Arab village. We got back to our permanent camp about 2 P.M. next day. The going after that rain was very heavy, and both men and horses came in very tired. We had a very short rest and now are out again.”

The Regiment had returned on the 27th January to the Hai river, and from there during the following week made several reconnaissances to the westward, beyond Kut, where the Turks had a bridge across the Tigris, and some strong intrenched positions on the south bank. They had been dislodged from some points lower down, but still held on desperately to the westerly bends of the river in order to protect from attack the line of communications of their main force in Sannaiyat. Until the 4th February the Thirteenth, though at times under heavy fire from rifles and machine-guns and artillery, got off practically without loss. Then there was a sharp fight, in which the Cavalry was called upon to act dismounted in conjunction with the Infantry, and the Thirteenth had some casualties. An officer was killed and two wounded, with a few non-commissioned officers and men.

The officer killed, Lieutenant Munster, was much respected in the Regiment, “a very gallant, zealous, and capable officer,” as his Colonel reported. All accounts agree in describing him as a man of exceptional character, who, though young, had already made his mark. Quiet and reserved, with strong religious views, he was spoken of in unusual language by many of those about him. “I am not good at expressing myself,” one of them wrote, “but I may say his daily life was one which I shall try to follow: it was one of doing good to his fellow-men; my admiration for him was unbounded, and my grief worse and more intense than I ever felt in my life.” His death seems to have been due to his unselfish devotion, for having led his men forward and seen all of them under cover preparing for another rush, he walked across the open to avoid exposing one of them in sending a message to another officer, and was shot through the heart. Such was the fire at the moment that his Colonel said: “I judged it inexpedient to attempt to recover his body, and to remove a brother officer, Mr Williams Taylor, and some men who were wounded, until after dark.”

Nor were they the only two to distinguish themselves on this day. Captain Robinson, commanding “B” Squadron, had been wounded in leading the advance shortly before, and Sergeant Tassie of “D” Squadron received the D.C.M. for his coolness and courage in bringing up ammunition when the transport animals were shot down.

Other officers of the Regiment also showed great courage on this day, and it is a temptation to record what was afterwards written of them by an eye-witness--a Captain in one of the Indian regiments of the Brigade.

“Our Brigade was ordered to attack dismounted, Hussars on the left, ourselves in the centre, with Watson’s Horse echeloned to the right rear. This meant that the Hussars had to advance across the open with no cover, whilst we had the cover afforded by the high banks of the nullah. After an advance of about 1400 yards the fire became so heavy that the Hussars decided to left-shoulder and make for the nullah, with the object of working down it and thus coming to assaulting distance. Their casualties had been pretty heavy. They eventually made the nullah in advance of our line, and cleared out some advanced patrols of Turks who were holding it there.

“Captain Willis and I were now sent down by my C.O. to gain touch with the Hussars by working down the nullah.

“I met Captain Newton and asked him who was commanding. He said he was for the moment, because Captain Eve and Captain Steele were outside, and he was reorganising the men preparatory to making a further advance.[26] Just as he spoke a renewed burst of machine-gun and rifle fire made me look over the top to see what was happening. I saw Eve and Steele helping in a wounded man who had been hit in the leg. The man had an arm round each of their necks. The Turks furiously opened up at them, and I don’t know how they got away, for the ground all round was being thrown up by bullets.

“I don’t think Eve realised he was doing anything exceptional, his only concern seemed to be getting the man in without giving him pain. What struck me most was the cool way he handed the man in, carefully caught up the thong of his crop, which he always carried, and then jumped down into the nullah under a perfect hail of machine-gun bullets. He turned to me as if nothing in the world had happened, and we discussed the situation.[27]

“A few minutes later I went back and brought my squadron forward.

“By this time the C.O. of the Hussars and my own C.O. had arrived, and we all went down the nullah together.

“When we were talking to Eve, a man came up and said that a private of the Hussars was lying about forty yards outside the nullah and shouting for help. My C.O. turned to me and said, ‘See if you can get him in,’ but Eve said, ‘Nonsense, he is a man in my squadron.’ So he and Captain Jeffrey immediately left the cover and finally found the man. The man had only had his arm shattered, so after Eve had spoken to him he got up and they all came in safely....

“Eve realised that it was impossible to leave these wounded men until dark, because we anticipated a counter-attack about dusk, and it was necessary to be hampered as little as possible then.... Also the presence of numerous Arab irregulars made the possibility of leaving our wounded out of the question....

“It was one of the most gallant things I have ever seen, and was just typical of Eve. I know he did not give it another thought, and only considered he had done his duty, but that too is only typical of the man.”

Captain Eve’s own comment upon the day was short:--

“It went very well,” he writes, “but we weren’t allowed to hold on to what we had got, which rather took the gilt off the gingerbread. We had bad luck in officers, as you will have seen, Bob [Captain Robinson] and Williams Taylor being both hit, and poor Munster being killed. But the casualties among the men were very light, and in fact we were very lucky.

“This was undoubtedly from our own point of view the most satisfactory day we have had, though it was only a side-show.”

BUSSOORIE

A letter of the 6th February gives a more detailed account.

_Captain Eve--February 6._--“We came under pretty hot rifle and Maxim-gun fire, but not shell-fire. They shelled the guns and the horses in rear but not us. Well, the men are something to be proud of. They just advanced as they should. It was really just like a day on the sand-hills at Meerut. We had very few casualties in our advance, that is among the men, and the Turks did not wait for us in their advanced position, nor again in their first line, which was a big and deep dry canal. We got it fairly hot from enfilade Maxim-gun fire just before we got to this, but we got there all right.... All this time I had been with ‘C’ and ‘D’, the others on my left and behind. Then after we had got settled in our trench ‘B’ came in, and at last ‘A’, and I found I was commanding the lot. I also found poor old ‘B’ had dropped into it badly, Bob shot through the leg (slight), Williams Taylor badly in the thigh, and Munster killed. Barrett was therefore commanding, and only Hill left with them. The rest were all right, though Williams of ‘A’ had a bullet through his hat which made a furrow along the back of his head. I then found our flanks were in the air as neither of the other Regiments was up; but the Turks made no attempt to counter-attack, and we were pretty safe, except that one of their Maxim guns kept firing down the trench. So I couldn’t go any farther without support, and reported by signal. Presently one of the others came up on our right, and our guns got very busy. Then the only bad thing that I saw happened. They tried to send our ammunition pack-horses up to us across the open. They got to within about 200 yards, and then got properly caught by Maxim-gun fire. The men got hit and the horses loose, and then the poor beasts stood, just being shot to death, one going after another. Sergeant Tassie on his own, and I think young Stirling did too, ran out to them across the open, and succeeded in getting one in, and he then went back and brought in ammunition off a horse that had been killed. It was a very fine thing, and I have pushed in his name for a D.C.M....

“The Colonel was delighted with the Regiment, and so was the Brigade.... The men were very pleased with themselves, and I with them. They were just first-class.... Poor old Munster was shot right through the chest and killed instantly. He was such a nice man--very shy and reserved, but a real good sort, and every one is so sorry.

“My best bit of news of all is that Tassie has got the D.C.M. I know how pleased you will be.... He wears the ribbon, but I hope will have it presented in public some time. I am pleased and proud about it.

“Williams had another bullet clean through his helmet on Friday. He was trying to snipe a sniper, and was successful too--killed his man.”

_February 16._--“Yesterday, Thursday, we started at 5, breakfast at 4 A.M.--out to the same ground on the left flank. We kept the horses well back, and I was left in charge of them, and had a desperately dull day. However, I missed nothing, as the Division had very little to do except for the gunners. But it was a real good day--the Infantry did well, in fact it was quite a little victory. We completely cleared the south bank--took 1500 prisoners, including fifty officers, two battalion commanders among them, and killed a great number, including most of those trying to get back across the river, as we sank the whole of their pontoons and coracles while crossing. Also we got three of their aeroplanes. It was a good show altogether, and finishes this stage of the operations. The next, as you can see, must be to force the passage of the river and clear them out of Kut on the north.

“This will mean heavy fighting.”

Private Massey, after describing how the enemy tried to get across “in pontoon boats and oracles,” says: “They looked a dejected lot indeed, clothed in rags, no boots, and they had had very little food for some time. They eagerly took cigarettes offered them, and went limping off to the river dock for removal to the prisoners’ camp, resembling as they went a tribe of lame and ragged beggars. But the Turk has a stout heart, is as brave as a lion, and will fight like the very devil on a handful of dates and a morsel of flour.”

Pity that with all his fine qualities, which appeal so strongly to the British soldier, he has not yet learnt to treat his prisoners without brutality.

_Captain Eve--February 16._--“I don’t suppose we shall be wanted until we have the crossing secure, but after that we may have some fun.... We, of course, have had nothing to do with it really, but then we are only Cavalry.”

_February 19._--“We were in camp two days afterwards (after the action on the 4th), then were out on a foraging expedition on the 7th. On the 9th we were out on reconnaissance again all day and half the night, then had two or three days very bad weather, and on the 14th and 15th had two very long days and nights.

“But the last one was the final successful show which cleared out the Turks from this southern bank altogether. It was quite a good show, but we were sitting out wide on the flank all the time, and had really very little to do with it, and could see nothing. Still, it is quite good, and one feels something is accomplished at last. Now we have far the hardest part in front of us, but we shall do the job all right before long.

“Since the 15th we have been left in peace, and very glad of it we were. The horses begin to look a little better already.

“I have told you all this just to give you an idea how we are worked. Most days we are fifteen to twenty hours under saddle, and short and irregular water, besides long distances, and much night work, worst of all. Our unfortunate horses began to look like shadows, but are recovering a little now, and we have had one batch of very nice remounts, though we are still about one hundred short.

“All the men are very fit indeed, and so are we. It is desperately cold at times, but we are managing by degrees to get our tents out from the permanent camp.

“My squadron, of which I am now again in command, Twist having rejoined for duty, has sunk from six of us to four, as Pearson has left us to join probably the Australians, and Pardon is laid by with a badly sprained ankle.

“I expect we shall be busy again in a few days. We have been extraordinarily lucky in the weather, take it all round, and I should think Maude will take advantage of it while it lasts. Let’s hope so.”

_February 21._--“I am starting my chat to-day because we are going out to-morrow, so I make certain of catching the mail. We shall have had a six days’ easy--haven’t been out since Thursday, the 15th, and it has been very nice. To-morrow I fancy the next stage of the proceedings is to start, probably crossing to the north. I don’t imagine we shall have anything to do but sit on the flank at first, and until the Infantry as usual have done the work....

“I started to write to mother after my chat to you last Friday evening, and then a most terrific thunderstorm with heavy hail and a gale of wind suddenly came on, and we had to turn out and stand to the horses, only just in time to stop a stampede. In fact, for a minute or two after we were with them, I thought they might go. I got to mine, Follow Me and Caprice tangled up together. We held them all right, but it was pretty miserable--pitch dark, blowing a hurricane, and hail you couldn’t face. The men were top hole. When the storm passed, we got the lines down again (in water) and made all secure. We were, of course, wet through, and I then found our tent flooded out, beds in an inch of water, &c.... It blew and rained hard in the night, and the poor wretched men were wet through and in the open, all flooded or mud. Box and I kept dry in our tent, and it held all right against the wind....

“The men, as a matter of fact, have got into the way of making themselves the most cosy little dug-outs. They dig down and cover up with their waterproof sheets. They are wonders--never have any of them sick--two rubbed heels is my total sick in the squadron, and yet in permanent camp there would probably be a sick-list of ten....

“The river has risen tremendously the last few days, and is only a few feet from the top. Let’s hope it does not rise any more or we shall be completely flooded out.... I have got thirteen extra men out from permanent camp, and with the new horses can turn out something like a respectable squadron.... I am still short of horses, could do with any amount more like the last lot. Do you remember how in peace time it was always too many horses and no men? And now it is the exact opposite, just when horses are wanted.”[28]

_February 23._--“Well, we didn’t go out on Thursday, yesterday, the whole show being postponed owing to the river having risen too much. It has since fallen, and the show started early this morning, and so far is going very well indeed, and we are standing-to in readiness.

“Besides this show, we have taken a great part of the first and second lines of the Sannaiyat position and repulsed five or six counter-attacks, so all is very well....

“Payne overheard the following between two of the men the other day. ‘That there Major Fry, ’e’s been made a Colonel.’ ‘What, ’im? _What’s_ wrong with him?’ I think it good enough for ‘Punch’ if only one could draw a picture for it....”

General Maude had certainly been lucky in the weather, the winter floods not having yet made the river impassable, and he was taking full advantage of his chances. The “quite good show” of the 15th had been the last of a series of carefully-planned and hard-fought Infantry attacks, which had gradually torn away the Turkish hold from point after point upon the south bank of the Tigris. The enemy was now thrown across the river, and in desperate anxiety for his long line of communications. They were still covered by a swollen river more than three hundred yards broad, but they were not safe from a resolute attack, and after some skilful feinting here and there the blow was about to be driven home.

Maude was not the man to lose an hour. On the 23rd of February, just before daybreak, some Infantry, English and Goorkha, were ferried across the Tigris at the Shamran bend, west of Kut, and after hard fighting succeeded in establishing themselves on the northern bank. Before dark the same afternoon a bridge had been completed. The end of the long suspense had come. The Turks had fought stubbornly for more than two months, but their line of communications had now been struck, and their main force must go or be captured.