CHAPTER XVII.

THE SUMMER OF 1917.

The summer of 1917 was comparatively quiet; General Maude writes of it in the following words:--

“For the remaining five months of the period under review the heat was considerable, and during the latter part of June, July, and beginning of August it was intense. Consequently, movements could not be undertaken by either side without grave risk of incurring substantial casualties from heat-stroke and heat exhaustion. The troops enjoyed a well-earned respite from the continuous fighting in which they had been engaged during the five months terminating in April, but they were by no means idle. Our hold over the area was made secure, defensive positions and pivots were prepared, and training was carried on in the early mornings and late evenings as the temperature permitted. Manly sports, too, which are so essential to the wellbeing of the soldier, especially when temporarily inactive in the military sense, were freely indulged in, with beneficial results to the health and future fitness of the army for service in the field. Arrangements had been made for a proportion of the troops to proceed to India on leave during the summer months, and those who had been on service for a considerable time derived much benefit from the change and rest thus obtained.”

India during the hot-weather months is not usually regarded by Englishmen as a pleasant country, but no doubt its settled cantonments and civilised cities were preferable to camp-life in Mesopotamia, and its cool “hill stations” were a godsend to men worn out with exposure to the fierce heat of the Arab plains.

General Maude’s remark that the troops who remained in Mesopotamia were “by no means idle” is well within the mark, for not only were a considerable part of them engaged during the month of May in such punitive expeditions against the Arabs as the one mentioned in Chapter XVI., but at some points these expeditions extended into June and even the beginning of July, when, as he says, the heat was intense. Nor were such minor movements the only operations which the troops were called upon to undertake. In June the Russians reported that in consequence of the increasing heat they had found it necessary to evacuate the line of the Diala river, and they withdrew across the Persian border from which they had advanced. This necessitated the occupation of the district by a British force, and in August this force had to drive back a body of Turkish troops. Moreover, in July it was thought necessary to push a column forward on the line of the Euphrates, and there was some fighting with the Turks in this direction, fighting which was stopped only by “a blinding dust-storm” and “the commencement of an abnormal heat-wave.” On both flanks of the army, therefore, the troops had active work to do in the summer months.

Nevertheless the bulk of the British troops about Baghdad did no doubt enjoy a peaceful summer in their standing camps along the banks of the Tigris; and this was the case with the Thirteenth, who were left undisturbed among the palm groves at Chaldari. There they rested and recruited their strength for any further campaigning that might occur when the summer was over. Before that time arrived the regiment was thoroughly fit for service again--its numbers full, in officers, men, and horses, and its health excellent.

The following brief extracts from letters and diaries seem to be all that is available for this peaceful interlude in their Mesopotamian war record.

_Captain S. O. Robinson--May 13, 1917._--“It is too hot to fight out here now, and we are sitting down for the hot weather after a very successful winter campaign. I expect people at home look upon this as a side-show, which of course it is compared with Europe, but all the same there has been plenty of hard fighting, under most difficult and trying conditions.

“Those at the top, responsible for running the show, have run it very well indeed.

“I have not had any letters from any of you for weeks, but expect letters will turn up eventually; the advance was so rapid that they are bound to have gone wrong.”

_2nd Lieutenant Guy Pedder--June 7._--“Just been told I may go on the next leave to India; if so, I shall sail from Basra on the 18th, and will probably go up to Mussoori or some hill station....

“Our routine at present is: 5.30-7, training remounts; 7-8, stables, and nothing else all day but lie in a tent and get bored, so I shall be very pleased to get away. It’s not really hot yet, but quite hot enough to stay in a tent all day. Absolutely no news.... Well, cheerio, GUY. No letter from you for three weeks.”

2nd Lieutenant Pedder had returned shortly before from hospital, on recovery from his wound received at Lajj.

_2nd Lieutenant F. N. Payne--July._--“The Cavalry have a splendid camp all along the river. They have an ice-barge, cinema, ice-cream shop with many coloured drinks, polo, bathing, and fishing, so that it is ten per cent cooler than in Baghdad. They can dress as they please, and are pretty comfortable.

“Most of the officers have had mud walls built round their roomy tents.”

A pleasant picture, and a contrast to the earlier phases of the Mesopotamian War, when our ill-equipped and out-numbered troops were struggling with all the initial difficulties and hardships, or vainly throwing away their lives in desperate assaults on the Turkish trenches to relieve Kut.

_2nd Lieutenant Pedder--August 28._--“Here I am back again and very fit. Most of the people here are very fed up. They had one very hot spell, otherwise the heat hasn’t been too bad, and they have got plenty of ice and soda, &c. It is still pretty warm, but much pleasanter than Basra or being on the river coming up....

“Robinson lent me a very good book the other day, ‘In Mesopotamia,’ by Martin Swayne.

“We are giving a concert to-night, and each mess has got at least three guests.

“In a week’s time the Division is holding a race-meeting. I am not riding, as I have had no time to train my horses....

“A week after our meeting there’s to be a huge regatta at Baghdad, and then I suppose war, at least I certainly hope not before then.”

_September 4._--“Many thanks for your letter, dated July 8th, which arrived a week ago. We won’t get another mail for another week, when we expect the Colonel, who arrived Basra on the 1st.

“Hurrah, it’s getting cooler. However, when it gets cool we’ll move, and I don’t know which is preferable--heat and peace, or pleasant climate and fighting: I wouldn’t vote for either.

“I got back just in time for the Cavalry Division Race Meeting, but not early enough to train ‘Matches’ for the Lajj Cup. The meeting was a great success. The Regiment did awfully well--won three events out of six. Ormrod won the big event, Baghdad Cup given by Maude; Hartigan won the Kut Cup, and was second in the Lajj Cup; and Peat, who is now my servant and was Eve’s, won the Br. Ranks open, a very fine performance, as there were forty-two starters, and it was a flat six furlongs. Our Brigade showed its superiority by winning every event.

“They are starting a great Sporting Club at Baghdad with its grounds 1½ miles outside, where there will be golf, tennis, cricket, racing (?), polo, and boating. It’s a great scheme, and will be a godsend if we are stuck here after cessation of hostilities.

“Did you see the Colonel has got D.S.O. now as well as Croix de Guerre, also FitzGibbon has got M.C. as well as Italian Medal?

“I go out shooting occasionally, but there’s not much.... It’s still too hot to go out or do anything before 5; however, it’s not as unbearable as it was.”

_Captain S. O. Robinson--September 10._--“It is still very hot here in the middle of the day, and when you do get any wind it is generally accompanied with dust.

“We are expecting a large draft of men this week, and shall be very glad to get them, as we are very short at present.”

_September 18._--“We have had a dust-storm for the last three days, which is very unpleasant, but the wind usually drops at night. I am writing this in a mud hut, so am out of it for the time being.

“The British army is more or less settling down in the occupied portion of this country. I only hope we shan’t get a rude shock.

“We have quite transformed the ancient capital of the Caliphs. It is now a modern Eastern town, quite a different place to what it was six months ago.”

The following extract is from the diary of Lance-Corporal Bowie, continued from the extract in Chapter XVI.

“On the conclusion of this[57] we marched back to our camp at Chaldari, and here commenced our summer routine and the training of remounts, and drafts of men from England for the next operations.

“On the 31st May the Cavalry Brigades were inspected by Lieut.-General Sir Stanley Maude, who, after making us a very stirring speech congratulating us on the splendid work we had done during the advance on Baghdad, presented the awards which had been won by men of our machine-gun squadron at Baghela in our action of the 25th February, S.Q.M.S. Luff, Sergeant Bush, and Lance-Corporal Lonsdale all receiving the Military Medal for gallantry there.

“On 16th August we held a boxing competition at Chaldari for the Cavalry, the most notable event being the fight between Private Wells, Thirteenth Hussars, _versus_ Private Harriss, Fourteenth Hussars, when Wells added greatly to his reputation by gaining the verdict over Harriss, who was at one time the Bantam Champion of India.

“Some little time after this, the Regiment was invited by the Sheikh of a neighbouring Arab village to beat up his estate for wild boar. This we accepted, and all ranks had a most enjoyable day’s sport in consequence.

“It was during our stay here that the first Baghdad Racing Meeting was held. It was on September 1st, and this proved a great day for us, some of our own horses winning some most exciting races. Six races there were, numerous entries, big fields, and a band to enliven the proceedings. There were twenty runners for the Kut Cup, which was won by ‘Whiskers,’ belonging to Lieutenant Ormrod, and ridden by Lieutenant Hartigan, both of the Thirteenth Hussars, and almost as many for the Baghdad Cup, a two-mile steeple-chase, which was won by ‘Venus,’ owned and ridden by Lieutenant Ormrod. For the Lajj Cup another big field turned out; this was won by ‘Flying Heckle,’ owned by Major Daniels, and there were more than a score of runners for the Deli Abbas Cup. This was won by ‘Percival,’ a horse owned and ridden by Lieutenant Denning. Dearly, indeed, are these cups prized by their fortunate possessors, who were presented with them by Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude at the conclusion of the day’s sport.

“Shortly after this, on September 10th, we held our first Baghdad Regatta. This was a very small affair, but contained many popular events, such as pontoon races, launch races, gufa races, dinghy races, and tilting competitions. One race in particular which we were very proud to carry off was the gufa race. In this we gained both first and second place, beating all other competitors by several hundred yards. It should be here explained that a gufa is nothing more or less than a large circular basket about 3 feet in depth and 8 feet in diameter, covered with skin. This race was really the tit-bit of the day’s sport, much amusement being caused by our frantic efforts to propel such an unwieldy craft on such a river as the Tigris.”

So ends Lance-Corporal Bowie’s diary for the summer. It must be admitted that if the Thirteenth had shown themselves forward in action they were not behindhand in sport. The two things do not perhaps always go together, but it is remarkable how often they do.